Solitude: A Philosophical EncounterOpen Court, 2015 M12 15 - 390 pages In Koch's Solitude, both solitude and engagement emerge as primary modes of human experience, equally essential for human completion. This work draws upon the vast corpus of literary reflections on solitude, especially Lao Tze, Sappho, Plotinus, Augustine, Petrarch, Montaigne, Goethe, Shelley, Emerson, Thoreau, Whitman and Proust. "Koch uses the work of philosophers, historians, and writers, as well as texts such as the Bible, to show what solitude is and isn't, and what being alone can do to and for the individual. Interesting for its literary scope and its conclusions about all the good true solitude can bring us." —Booklist "Reading this book is like dipping into many minds, fierce and gentle. The author reveals his long study of great philosophers, and interprets their thoughts through the lens of his own experience with solitude. He traces our early brushes with solitude and the fear it can engender, then the craving for solitude that comes with full, adult lives." —NAPRA Review |
Contents
| 1 | |
| 11 | |
| 13 | |
| 29 | |
| 49 | |
| 57 | |
| 81 | |
6 Images of Solitude | 93 |
Arguments from Experience | 181 |
Some History | 201 |
Responses | 219 |
13 Women and Solitude | 249 |
14 A Universal Value? | 275 |
Epilogue | 299 |
Notes | 301 |
Very Select Bibliography | 363 |
EVALUATING SOLITUDE | 97 |
7 The Virtues of Solitude | 99 |
8 The Completions of Encounter | 137 |
The Arguments Apriori | 153 |
Comprehensive Bibliography | 365 |
Index | 373 |
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Common terms and phrases
alienation anchoress Ancrene Wisse Antony argue argument attunement awareness becomes Being-with called century chapter Chuang Tzu Cited claims consciousness contemplation death Descartes desert Desert Fathers desire discussion disengagement Emily Emily Dickinson emotion engagement existence experience expressions eyes feeling felt Franz Kafka freedom hermits human Ibid idea imagination individual inner insisted isolation Journal Koller Lao Tzu Leibniz living loneliness lonely meaning Menocchio metaphor metaphysical Mijuskovic mind monads moral nature objects Octavio Paz one's pain perhaps person Petrarch Phenomenology philosophical pond presence reflection relationship remarks Sarton seems sense separate silence social society solitary solitary experience solitude and encounter soul spirit Tao Teh Ching Taoism things Thomas Merton Thoreau thought Tillich tion trans true University Press virtues of solitude Walden Walden Pond whole wilderness woman women wonder words Wordsworth writing wrote York