Seven Letters to Melin: Essays on the Soul, Science, Art and Mortality - Couverture souple

Šafarík, Josef

 
9788024643755: Seven Letters to Melin: Essays on the Soul, Science, Art and Mortality
Couverture souple
ISBN 10 : 8024643758 ISBN 13 : 9788024643755
Editeur : Karolinum,Nakladatelstvi Univerzity Karlovy,Czech Republic, 2020

Synopsis

Josef Safařík's Seven Letters to Melin is an exploration of man's alienation from nature--and from himself--in the modern technological age. Conceived as a series of letters to Melin, an engineer who believes in the value of science and technical progress, the book grows skeptical of such endeavors, while also examining mankind's search for meaning in life. To help uncover this meaning, Safařík posits a dichotomy between spectator and participant. The role of participant is played by Robert, an artist who has committed suicide. The spectator, embodied by the scientist Melin, views the world from a distance and searches for explanations, while the artist-participant creates the world through his own active engagement.

Through these exchanges, Safařík argues for the primacy of artistic creativity over scientific explanation, of truth over accuracy, of internal moral agency over an externally imposed social morality, and of personal religious belief over organized church-going. Safařík is neither anti-scientific nor anti-rational; however, he argues that science has limited power, and he rejects the idea of science that denies meaning and value to what cannot be measured or calculated.

Safařík's critiques of technology, the wage economy, and increased professionalization make him an important precursor to the philosophy of deep ecology. This book was also a major influence on the Czech president Václav Havel; in this new translation it will find a fresh cohort of readers interested in what makes us human.

Les informations fournies dans la section « Synopsis » peuvent faire référence à une autre édition de ce titre.

À propos des auteurs

Josef Safařík (1907-92) was a Czech author and thinker.

Ian Finlay Stone graduated from the University of Cambridge and has translated works for various agencies and government bureaus.

Les informations fournies dans la section « A propos du livre » peuvent faire référence à une autre édition de ce titre.

Éditeur
Karolinum,Nakladatelstvi Univerzity Karlovy,Czech Republic
Date d'édition
2020
Langue
anglais
ISBN 10 
8024643758
ISBN 13 
9788024643755
Reliure
Broché
Nombre de pages
300
Coordonnées du fabricant
non disponible
Personne responsable
non disponible