Ignorance and Bliss [electronic resource] : On Wanting Not to Know
Mark Lilla2024
eBook
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Aristotle claimed that ‘all human beings want to know’. Yet we also want not to
know. Centuries after the Enlightenment, mesmerised crowds still follow
preposterous prophets; irrational rumours trigger fanatical acts; and magical
thinking crowds out common sense and expertise. Where does this will to
ignorance originate, and how does it shape our lives today?
Acclaimed essayist and historian of ideas Mark Lilla offers an absorbing
intellectual travelogue of the human will not to know. He ranges with brio from
the Book of Genesis and Plato’s dialogues to Sufi parables and Sigmund Freud,
revealing the paradoxes of hiding truth from ourselves. Lilla also exposes the
illusions that this impulse can lead us to entertain: our belief in the
ecstasies of prophet figures as a gateway to truth, the myth of children’s wise
simplicity, and the yearning for vanished, allegedly purer civilisations.
Main title:
Author:
Mark Lilla, Author
Imprint:
[Place of publication not identified] : Hurst Publishers, 2024
Collation:
1 online resource (1 text file) (256 pages)
Audience:
General / adult
System details:
Platform: epubMode of access: Internet
ISBN:
9781805261865
Language:
English
BRN:
531960
Electronic access:
More Information:
| Location | Collection | Call number | Status/Desc |
|---|---|---|---|
| Online | Online resource (Member logon) | indyreads - eBook |