Jonathan Lear is John U. Nef Distinguished Service Professor, Committee on Social Thought and Department of Philosophy, University of Chicago. He is the author of Happiness, Death, and the Remainder of Life and Open Minded: Working Out the Logic of the Soul (both from Harvard).
"Radical Hope" is a very rich and complicated repast that a reader
can savor over and over again, discovering new insights with each
reading. My review, in short, cannot do Lear's book justice.--Ryan
LaMothe"Psychologist-Psychoanalyst" (09/01/2007)
[A] luminous book.--Michael Ignatieff"New Republic"
(10/08/2007)
[Lear's] book exemplifies the best features of recent breakthrough
works in philosophy: it is analytically rigorous, yet grounded in
both history and anthropology, and open to world-views other than
those safely ensconced in the Western academy...Lear's account of
cultural devastation serves as an important rejoinder to those
constructions of society based on the beliefs of liberal
individualism.--Luke Gibbons"Field Day Review" (06/01/2008)
A sustained meditation on cultural collapse, a brilliant, moving
discussion of what it means to lose sense of one's existence
without losing hope that existence makes sense. Lear's meditation
centers on Plenty Coups, the last great chief of the Crow Nation,
who watched, and in many ways directed, the transition from a
nomadic hunting culture to one confined to reservations. Lear
argues that he exhibited a special version of courage, an ironic
and transcendental courage in the form of radical hope. His account
opens up meaning for anyone, anywhere, who lives in and thinks
about his or her world.--Mark Kingwell"Globe and Mail"
(11/25/2006)
Don't be alarmed by its grimly academic title; ["Radical Hope:
Ethics in the Face of Cultural Devastation"] is one of the most
profound and elegantly written books to come out in decades. The
book discusses a Crow Indian leader named Plenty Coups, who led his
people through their brutal transition from a nomadic hunting
culture to confinement on a government reservation. This is not a
work of history or anthropology, however, but an inquiry into how
an entire society can radically transform itself in order to
survive. Lear's book is visionary and--if you take its message to
heart--transformative. He has done one of those rare things:
produced a work that applies to literally every person on the
planet.--Sebastian Junger"Time" (07/12/2010)
In this very engaging book, Lear examines the cultural collapse of
the tribe of Native Americans known as the Crow Nation. He
describes his analysis as a form of philosophical anthropology, as
he focuses on the tribe's thinking and how its members attempted to
live when their values and lifestyle were being threatened. He
begins by examining the importance of bravery, courage, and honor
within the tribe's culture and how these values were tested when
the Crow were forced to abandon their warrior lifestyle and move
onto a reservation. Their chief, Plenty Coups, inspired the Crow to
use what Lear describes as "imaginative excellence" by trying to
imagine what ethical values would be needed in their new lifestyle.
Plenty Coups did this with a combination of such traditional
sources as dream interpretation and past ethical values, which gave
the Crow an opportunity to overcome their despair and lead a
meaningful life. In his analysis, Lear creatively uses
philosophical ideas to explain wha
Jonathan Lear's latest book, "Radical Hope: Ethics in the Face of
Cultural Devastation" consists in an inquiry, properly
characterized as a form of philosophical anthropology, into "a
peculiar form of vulnerability" that is arguably part of the human
condition...The general problem, however, that he deals with has to
do with what he calls the "blind spot" of any culture: the
inability to conceive of its own destruction and possible
extinction...I can only add my comments of well-deserved praise to
an already long list of similar comments by illustrious
commentators...Lear's book is not only a masterfully crafted and
deeply moving narrative, but it also offers us a timely
philosophical reflection that is highly relevant to our current
condition at this juncture of history. Needless to say, we live in
an age of deep and profound "angst" that the world itself, as we
know it, is vulnerable and could break down...Lear may be right
when he says that "if we could "give a name to our shared se
Lear, a psychoanalyst and professor of philosophy, delves into what
he calls the "blind spot" of any culture: the inability to conceive
of its own devastation. He molds his thoughts around a poignant
historical model, the decimated nation of Crow Indians in the early
decades of the twentieth century...What makes this discussion
relevant to mainstream readers is his application of the blind spot
hypothesis to the present, in which the twenty-first century was
ushered in by terrorist attacks, social upheavals, and natural
catastrophes, leaving us with "an uncanny sense of menace" and a
heightened perception of how vulnerable our civilizations are to
destruction, as were the Crow.--Deborah Donovan"Booklist"
(08/01/2006)
Lear's book breaks new ground, in an extremely interesting
way...What do I take away from this short, illuminating book? My
own version of radical hope, applied to very different
circumstances...This is what makes Lear's well-written and
philosophically sophisticated book so valuable. As a story of
courage and moral imagination, it is very powerful and moving. But
it also offers the kind of insights that would-be builders of 'new
world order' desperately need.--Charles Taylor"New York Review of
Books" (04/26/2007)
There is so much to learn here; Lear parses the differences between
mere optimism and radical hope, as it is manifest in Plenty Coups'
"fidelity to his prophetic dream." It's one of those books you want
to put in the hands of leaders the world over.--Susan Salter
Reynolds"Los Angeles Times Book Review" (10/01/2006)
Thought-provoking and highly-recommended...As Lear points out, with
the onset of reservation life it became increasingly problematic to
define what a warrior was and there was no longer a clear sense of
what it was to be outstanding as a chief. In a very real sense,
Lear's observation holds true today. The tribal water quality
specialist may do excellent work and the recipient of a tribal
scholarship may be a top-notch student. They may also be aware of
the tribe's history; participate in tribal ceremonies,
andunderstand the importance of place in tribal culture. But
neither understands how to constitute themselves as persons who
need to internalize the ideals associated with those social roles
for the benefit of the tribe...An examination of Lear's book is an
excellent starting point for those planning tribal workforce
development programs.--Mervyn Tano "International Institute for
Indigenous Resource Management "
[A] luminous book. -- Michael Ignatieff "New Republic"
(10/08/2007)
Since the 1980s he has emerged as the clearest and most persuasive
voice of Freudian critique writing today. His philosophical rigour
undiminished, he now writes with wisdom and grace about everything
from Plato's Republic to irony and the culture of pharmaceuticals,
teasing out contradictions, probing concepts and challenging
assumptions. The Freudian orientation of Lear's work?has
constrained his popularity. This new book, a sustained meditation
on the idea of cultural collapse, may change that. With an inspired
combination of cultural anthropology and philosophical reasoning,
drawing on such favored sources as Plato, Heidegger, Wittgenstein,
and Kierkegaard as well as Freud, Lear has rendered a brilliant
moving discussion of what it means to lose sense of one's existence
without losing hope that existence makes sense.
For those interested in the final years of the Crow nation or the
ethical challenges faced by victims of cultural destruction, this
book will prove enlightening.
Ask a Question About this Product More... |