테리 이글턴
| 테리 이글턴 Terry Eagleton | |
|---|---|
 2008년의 모습 | |
| 본명 | Terence Francis Eagleton |
| 출생 | 1943년 2월 22일(81세) 잉글랜드 솔퍼드 |
| 성별 | 남성 |
| 학문적 배경 | |
| 학파 또는 전통 | 대륙 철학, 마르크스주의 |
| 학문적 활동 | |
| 분야 | 문학, 철학 |
| 하위 분야 | 문학이론 |
| 주요 저작 |
|
테런스 프랜시스 이글턴 FBA[1] (Terence Francis Eagleton, 1943년 2월 22일~)은 영국의 문학 이론가, 비평가, 대중 지식인이다.[2][3] 랭커스터 대학의 영문학 석좌교수이다.
이글턴은 40권이 넘는 책을 출판했으며, 대표 저서로 《문학이론입문》(Literary Theory: An Introduction, 1983)이 있다. 《문학이론입문》에서 이글턴은 당대의 신흥 문학 이론을 설명하면서 동시에 모든 문학 이론은 필연적으로 정치적이라고 주장했다. 그는 또한 《포스트모더니즘의 환상》(The Illusions of Postmodernism, 1996), 《이론 이후》(After Theory, 2003) 등을 저술해 포스트모더니즘에 대한 비평가로도 알려져있다. 그의 사상은 마르크스주의와 기독교 신앙의 영향을 받았다.
어린 시절
[편집]테리 이글턴은 1943년 2월 22일 잉글랜드 그레이터맨체스터주 솔퍼드에서 프랜시스 폴 이글턴(Francis Paul Eagleton)과 로절린 이글턴(Rosaleen Eagleton, 혼전 성 Riley) 사이에서 태어났다. 아일랜드계의 노동계급 가톨릭 가정에서 자라면서 지역 가르멜회 수도원에서 복사로 일했다.
경력
[편집]이글턴은 케임브리지 대학교의 트리니티 칼리지에서 영문학을 전공했으며 지저스 칼리지에서 레이먼드 윌리엄스의 지도를 받으며 연구자 생활을 했다. 이때 사회주의에 관심을 갖기 시작하며 가톨릭 좌파 잡지인 《슬랜트》(Slant)를 편집했다.[4]
1969년 옥스퍼드 대학교로 옮겨 워덤 칼리지, 리너커 칼리지와 세인트캐서린스 칼리지에서 연구원과 강사를 맡았으며 1992년 토머스 워턴 영문학 교수가 되었다. 2001년 옥스퍼드를 떠나 맨체스터 대학교에서 존 에드워드 테일러 영문학 교수가 되었다.
《문학이론입문》과 《이론 이후》
[편집]《문학이론입문》(1983년 출간, 1996년 개정)에서 이글턴은 매슈 아놀드에서 시작하여 형식주의, 정신 분석 및 구조주의를 거쳐 후기 구조주의에 이르기까지 문학에 대한 이론적 접근의 역사를 조사한다. 그 과정에서 그는 이론은 필연적으로 정치적이라는 주제를 제시한다. 이론은 항상 관점에 물들지 않고 중립적인 것처럼 제시되지만, 사실 정치적 관점을 피하는 것은 불가능하다. 피터 배리는 이 책이 "문학 이론의 '공고화'에 크게 기여했고 학부 커리큘럼에 이를 확고히 확립하는 데 도움이 되었다"고 말했다.[5] 문학 비평에 대한 이글턴 접근 방식은 마르크스주의 전통에 확고하게 뿌리를 둔 접근 방식이지만, 그는 또한 구조주의, 라캉식 분석 및 해체와 같은 보다 최근의 사고 방식에서 나온 기술과 아이디어를 통합했다. 회고록 《게이트키퍼》(Gatekeeper)에 따르면 이글턴의 마르크스주의는 결코 단순한 학문적 추구가 아니다. 그는 옥스포드에 있는 동안 국제 사회주의자 크리스토퍼 히친스와 함께 노동자 사회주의 연맹에서 활동했으며 《런던 리뷰 오브 북스》(London Review of Books)에 정기적으로 기고했다.[6]
《이론 이후》에서 이글턴은 푸코의 문화 이론, 포스트모더니스트, 데리다 등을 돌아보면서 그 성과와 실패를 평가하고 추구해야 할 새로운 방향을 제시한다. 그는 그 이론들의 위대한 업적으로 연구 대상의 확장(젠더, 섹슈얼리티, 대중 문화, 탈식민주의 등을 포함)과 전통적인 가정에 대한 광범위한 자기 반성 비판을 평가한다. 그러나 이글턴은 다음과 같은 심각한 실수들을 지적한다. 규범에 대한 공격과 진리의 상대성에 대한 주장은 억압을 비판할 힘이 없게 만든다. 객관성을 거부하고 모든 형태의 본질주의를 (지나치게) 거부하는 것은 인식되지 않은 이상주의 또는 궁극적으로 죽음에 대한 무의식적인 두려움에서 태어난 인간의 물질성에 대한 최소한의 무지를 나타낸다. 그리고 문화 연구는 올바른 정치와 불가분의 관계에 있는 윤리에 대한 고려를 잘못 피했다. 이글턴이 문화 연구에서 탐구해야 할 새로운 길로 제공하는 것은 무엇보다도 미덕과 정치, 그리고 그것들이 어떻게 실현될 수 있는지이다. 윤리와 결부하여 《이론 이후》는 이러한 정치적 측면을 구체화한 후, 인간은 궁핍하고 타인에게 의존하며 존재한다는 것, 그들의 자유가 죽음이라는 공통의 사실에 묶여있다는 것을 극복한다.
저서
[편집]- Literary Theory: An Introduction (1983)
- 테리 이글턴 (1989). 《문학이론입문》. 번역 김명환 외. 창작과비평사. ISBN 9788936410742.
- 테리 이글턴 (2006). 《문학이론입문》. 번역 김현수. 인간사랑. ISBN 9788974188061.
- The Illusions of Postmodernism (1996)
- 테리 이글턴 (2000). 《포스트 모더니즘의 환상》. 번역 김준환. 실천문학사. ISBN 9788939203853.
- After Theory (2003)
- 테리 이글턴 (2010). 《이론 이후》. 번역 이재원. 길. ISBN 9788964450208.
- Reason, Faith, and Revolution: Reflections on the God Debate (2009)
- 테리 이글턴 (2010). 《신을 옹호하다》. 번역 강주헌. 모멘토. ISBN 9788991136229.
- Why Marx Was Right (2011)
- 테리 이글턴 (2012). 《왜 마르크스가 옳았는가》. 번역 황정아. 길. ISBN 9788964450550.
- Culture (2016)
- 테리 이글턴 (2021). 《문화란 무엇인가》. 번역 이강선. 문예출판사. ISBN 9788931021578.
같이 보기
[편집]각주
[편집]- ↑ Prof Terry Eagleton profile, Debrett’s People of Today, FBA Profile 보관됨 2013-07-24 - 웨이백 머신
- ↑ Vallely, Paul (2007년 10월 13일). “Terry Eagleton: Class warrior”. 《The Independent》.
...the man who succeeded F R Leavis as Britain's most influential academic critic.
- ↑ John Sitter, Chairman of the English Department at the University of Notre Dame and Editor of The Cambridge Companion to Eighteenth Century Poetry, has describes Eagleton as "someone widely regarded as the most influential contemporary literary critic and theorist in the English-speaking world" “Archived copy”. 2009년 8월 31일에 원본 문서에서 보존된 문서. 2009년 6월 23일에 확인함.
- ↑ Smith, James (2013). 《Terry Eagleton》. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 9780745657950.
- ↑ Barry, Peter (2009). 《Beginning Theory: An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory》. Manchester University Press. 273쪽.
- ↑ LRB archive. But only six contributions from 2014 to 2017
eligion, Politics & State
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Reason, Faith, and Revolution: Reflections on the God Debate Paperback – 6 April 2010
by Terry Eagleton (Author)
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 80 ratings
Part of: The Terry Lectures (18 books)
One of our most influential literary critics challenges those who too easily dismiss religion and faith
Terry Eagleton’s witty and polemical Reason, Faith, and Revolution is bound to cause a stir among scientists, theologians, people of faith and people of no faith, as well as general readers eager to understand the God Debate.
On the one hand, Eagleton demolishes what he calls the “superstitious” view of God held by most atheists and agnostics and offers in its place a revolutionary account of the Christian Gospel. On the other hand,
he launches a stinging assault on the betrayal of this revolution by institutional Christianity.
There is little joy here, then, either for the anti-God brigade—Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens in particular—nor for many conventional believers.
There is little joy here, then, either for the anti-God brigade—Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens in particular—nor for many conventional believers.
Instead, Eagleton offers his own vibrant account of religion and politics in a book that ranges from the Holy Spirit to the recent history of the Middle East, from Thomas Aquinas to the Twin Towers.]]>
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200 pages
6 April 2010
==
200 pages
6 April 2010
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Product description
Review
'Eagleton is one of Britain's leading literary critics and writes with verve and humour.' -- Paul Goodliff, Baptist Times--Paul Goodliff"Baptist Times" (06/18/2010)
""Reason, Faith, and Revolution" is a challenging, feisty contribution to the current public debate about God and religion. It is poetic, wise, and clear. Eagleton proves he is more than a literary critic; he's also an exceptional preacher." --Kurt Armstrong, "Christian Week"--Kurt Armstrong "Christian Week "
"[Eagleton's] gleeful, often satirical, piercing of the chinks in the armor of modern atheist apologetics is beneficial to any reader interested in the 'God Debate.'" --James Heiser, "thenewamerican.com"--James Heiser "thenewamerican.com "
"Eagleton's book began as a series of lectures delivered at Yale University. They must have been a riot.... He's fantastically rude all round, about 'Ditchkins, ' about religion itself, which 'has wrought untold misery in human affairs'.... It's terrific polemic."--Melanie McDonagh, "Evening Standard"
--Melanie McDonagh"Evening Standard" (07/16/2009)
"Eagleton's book is a brisk and welcome contribution to the ongoing discussion about the place of religion in the world today. Readers will find plenty to challenge them in this brief snapshot of today's 'God Debate.'"--;i>Association for Mormon Letters
"--Blair Dee Hodges "Association for Mormon Letters "
"There are plenty of things in this book to anger all sorts of people, and few will not find something in it with which to disagree strongly. And that's just fine. This is an exceptional contribution to recent debates around faith, religion, and atheism."--Dale B. Martin, Yale University--Dale B. Martin
"This is a good and stimulating reading for theologians, and invites in a provocative way to think about theology's identity and mission in times of deep changes and challenges." --Lluis Oviedo, "Religion & Theology"--Lluis Oviedo "Religion & Theology "
Eagleton's book "meets the challenge of the New Atheists with a sense of playfulness (for example, he melds the two leading lights of the movement, Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens, into one signifier, "Ditchkins"), and a dogged refusal to let Oxbridge-trained rhetoric stand in for actual reason. The result is a work bathed in wit and punctuated with soaring prose that, while sympathetic to religious truth-claims, ends with a flourish on his Marxist hopes for an embrace of "tragic humanism.""--Lyndon Shakespeare, "Anglican Theological Review"--Lyndon Shakespeare "Anglican Theological Review "
"Terry Eagleton has a deserved reputation as one of the most influential of British literary critics and cultural commentators who has developed over his many publications a highly effective communicative style. This book is no exception."--Oliver Davies, "Scottish Bulletin of Evangelical Theory"--Oliver Davies "Scottish Bulletin of Evangelical Theory "
"There is a great deal here that readers from different backgrounds will find informative. It is a polemical book, but the deeper sense of the polemic is the subtle and multi-formed argument that what is at stake here, in the distinction between religious and secularist values, is actually a way of being alive. As Eagleton powerfully states, faith is never about the superficial use of reason."--Oliver Davies, "Scottish Bulletin on Evangelical Theory"--Oliver Davies"Scottish Bulletin on Evangelical Theory" (05/01/2011)
."..[a] gloriously rumbustious counter-blast to Dawkinsite atheism...paradoxes sparkle throughout this coruscatingly brilliant polemic.... Eagleton is stronger on reason than Ditchkins, for he thinks carefully about what his opponents say.... This is, then, a demolition job which is both logically devastating and a magnificently whirling philippic.... It is easy to see why a lot of people will not be happy with this book. Much of what it says is too true."--Paul Vallely, "The Independent"
--Paul Vallely"The Independent" (07/17/2009)
''Eagleton is one of Britain''s leading literary critics and writes with verve and humour.'' -- Paul Goodliff, Baptist Times--Paul Goodliff"Baptist Times" (06/18/2010)
'A boisterous polemic ... Eagleton yields to none in his denunciation of institutional Christianity and a punitive, vengeful God as a betrayal of Jesus's championing of the poor and rejected.'--Jonathan Benthall"Times Literary Supplement" (12/11/2009)
"[B]etter than any previous book of its kind."--James Wood, "The New Yorker"--James Wood"The New Yorker" (08/31/2009)
"[Eagleton''s] gleeful, often satirical, piercing of the chinks in the armor of modern atheist apologetics is beneficial to any reader interested in the ''God Debate.''" --James Heiser, "thenewamerican.com"--James Heiser "thenewamerican.com "
"Brisk, funny, and challenging . . . . One of the most fascinating, most original and prickliest works of philosophy to emerge from the post-9/11 era."--Andrew O'Hehir, "Salon"
--Andrew O'Hehir"Salon" (04/01/2009)
"Eagleton is an unconventional and entertaining thinker. His book is as much about capitalism, politics, and literary criticism as it is about religion." --Kurt Kleiner, "The Globe and Mail"--Kurt Kleiner "The Globe and Mail "
"Eagleton writes with lucidity, wit and panache and, though an atheist himself, successfully shreds what the conflated Ditchkins say in their books."--Piers Paul Read"Spectator" (11/14/2009)
"Eagleton...is a powerful and engaging writer, perhaps no more so than when, with bursts of comic vituperation which recall Kenneth Tynan at his best, he is seeing off those he regards as second-rate opponents. But probably more relevant is the sense among many readers and critics that Eagleton is providing a welcome antidote to the rather simple-minded conception of religion that Dawkins and Hitchens selected for their demolition jobs. He is rather like a wise old schoolmaster explaining to two eager young students that the significance of "Hamlet" is hardly exhausted by describing it as 'a revenge drama'."--Laurie Taylor, "New Humanist Magazine"
--Laurie Taylor"New Humanist Magazine" (07/01/2009)
"Eagleton''s book is a brisk and welcome contribution to the ongoing discussion about the place of religion in the world today. Readers will find plenty to challenge them in this brief snapshot of today''s ''God Debate.''"--;i>Association for Mormon Letters
"--Blair Dee Hodges "Association for Mormon Letters "
"Erudite, but often entertaining volume." --Rich Barlow, "Boston Globe"--Rich Barlow "Boston Globe "
"Terry Eagleton is at his best as a critic, and much of the book, which is really a series of lectures delivered at Yale University, is devoted to incisive and angry analyses of what is wrong with our world in the twenty-first century."--Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi, "Metapsychology Online Reviews"--Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi"Metapsychology" (12/01/2009)
Eagleton''s book "meets the challenge of the New Atheists with a sense of playfulness (for example, he melds the two leading lights of the movement, Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens, into one signifier, "Ditchkins"), and a dogged refusal to let Oxbridge-trained rhetoric stand in for actual reason. The result is a work bathed in wit and punctuated with soaring prose that, while sympathetic to religious truth-claims, ends with a flourish on his Marxist hopes for an embrace of "tragic humanism.""--Lyndon Shakespeare, "Anglican Theological Review"--Lyndon Shakespeare "Anglican Theological Review "
About the Author
Terry Eagleton is Distinguished Professor of English Literature at the University of Lancaster, England, and Professor of Cultural Theory at the National University of Ireland, Galway. He is also Distinguished Visiting Professor at the University of Notre Dame. Eagleton is also the author of On Evil, published by Yale University Press.
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Publisher : *Yale University Press; 1st edition (6 April 2010)
Language : English
Paperback : 200 pages
ISBN-10 : 030016453X
ISBN-13 : 978-0300164534
Dimensions : 13.97 x 1.91 x 20.32 cmBest Sellers Rank: 128,692 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)56 in Agnosticism (Books)
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4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 80 ratings
Terry Eagleton
Terry Eagleton is John Edward Taylor Professor of English Literature at the University of Manchester. His numerous books include The Meaning of Life, How to Read a Poem, and After Theory.
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2.0 out of 5 stars All over the placeReviewed in India on 25 March 2021
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I bought the book because I kept seeing footnotes and references to it in Christian apologetic books and in other such places. With some interesting parts in between, the book as a whole seems to be all over the place, long-winded, lacking focus, lacking actual arguments and full of typical Marxist anti-capitalist rants. I don't know if it's me or the book, but it got a little frustrating after a few pages. Also, for all his contempt for the post-modern liberals, he seems to fit in with them just fine when it comes to the topic of Islam. He repeatedly quotes a Muslim author, who says that the true Islam is tolerant and that the Islamic hostility towards the Western world is because of former Western policies - claims that are both, historically & doctrinally (as in Islamic doctrine) speaking, verifiably false. Although I admit he knows how silly the New atheistic movement is, he's simply wrong about a whole bunch of other stuff that are just as important to consider.
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5.0 out of 5 stars great book and serviceReviewed in Canada on 4 April 2015
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5.0 out of 5 stars A Interesting Polemic Against Shoddy Thought, Fundamentalisms, and HypocrisyReviewed in the United States on 6 May 2014
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In this short work, originally given as lectures at Yale University, Eagelton, hardly a believer, turns his gimlet gaze upon three of the Four Horsemen (Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, and Daniel Dennit, called "Ditchkens" for short) of the New Atheist Movement. Far from a standard "Science doesn't touch on the topic of God" rhetoric, although that is present, Eagelton instead attacks along a few interesting lines: intellectual dishonesty, bourgeois banality, and narrow dogmatism. On an interesting side note, he leaves the fourth Horseman, Sam Harris, alone. This is despite Harris' record for supporting the torture and death of those who would refuse to go along with his Brave New World. Perhaps Eagelton found him beneath his notice.
On the First point, Eagelton points out that "Ditchkens" tends to blame all of the evils of the world, unreservedly, on religion. Eagelton points out that the sanctified science of Ditchkens has played as much a role in the destruction of lives and the furtherance of suffering, typically under the banner of the Enlightenment, as the hated religion. He also points out, through a scathing bit of satire, that behind the cheap theatrics and overblown arguments, Ditchkens arguments are, at best, category errors. For example, Hitchens' argument that religion is a failed attempt at explaining the Universe is the same as saying that " ... ballet is a failed attempt at running for a bus." He also attacks this as a form of Straw Man Arguments, not worthy of much more than scorn.He also assaults the Pollyanna like belief in "progress" that studs the prose of Ditchkens works. His distaste for what he calls Liberal Humanism, as expressed in this one sided, shallow humanism is as palpable as his disdain for the rest of the naive simplicity of any fundamentalism.
On the second point Eagelton blasts the bourgeois betrayal of social justice by Ditchkens. Chiefly he lampoons the "North Oxford" character of Dawkins, the failed revolutionary pretensions of Hitchens, and the obdurately clueless ponderings of Dennit. To be specific, he points out that these men are all cheerleaders for the neo-conservative war on terror, as well as any other number of self aggrandizement that they find. They have turned there back upon those who have suffered, generally at the hand of the much vaunted Enlightenment. He traces the hand that the Industrialized West has helped bring about the current rise of Islamism, and the role that science and "progress" have played in that. He particularly lifts up Hitchens, a former Marxist/Trotskite, up to scorn for not only betraying the Revolution (Eagelton is after all a Marxist) but for becoming the enemy.
The third point touches on the first, but is separate in that it is a special species of intellectual arrogance. To be exact, Eagelton points to the narrow, dogmatic, and almost silly extremes that Ditchkins will go in order to indite religion. Nothing is allowed to cloud the view that religion is not only wrong, but evil, and that Ditchkins is the enlighten bringer of good news. He holds up the hypocrisy of making their metaphysical and philosophical arguments into "science" while pointing out that they are actually harming the thing they seek to defend.
In parallel to his critique of Ditchkens, Eagelton also attacks the failure of Christianity to live up to what he sees as it's revolutionary potential. It, too, has cast its lot with power, and has betrayed what he sees as it's first commitment to truth and to the human race. When not excoriating the New Atheists, he is whipping the Church for it's weakness.
At the end Eagelton bids us to look to what he calls "Tragic Humanism" as a remedy for the failed Liberalism of Ditchkens and the rest of the New Atheist crowd.
In all, this is an excellent book, one that should be read, not just for it's assaults, but for it's call to something better.
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Dr. Peter Davies
5.0 out of 5 stars Eagleton's well targeted blastReviewed in the United Kingdom on 4 August 2009
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This is a good book. It's cheerful, straightforward, well argued and iconoclastic.
It shatters the idols that atheists such as Dawkins and Hitchens have made for themselves. It shows up the shallowness and inadequacy of many atheist positions. The fact that Eagleton is himself an atheist increases the depth of his critique of much contemporary atheism.
He is also good at pointing out some of the flaws in Christianity and in other belief systems such as multiculturalism. The following quotes are particularly memorable,
"Multiculturalism at its least impressive blandly embraces difference as such, without looking too closely into what one is differing over. It tends to imagine that there is something inherently positive about having a host of different views on the same subject.....Such facile pluralism therefore tends to numb the habit of vigorously contesting other people's beliefs..."
and
"Any preaching of the Gospel which fails to constitute a scandal and affront to the political state is in my view effectively worthless."
This book is challenging to all participants in the debate over God, and what he means both here on Earth and in Heaven and Hell. Read it, enjoy it, disagree with it...but go prepared to enjoy a lively conversation...and to learn some new ideas from it.
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Alan C.
4.0 out of 5 stars Watch the lectures first, then read at leisureReviewed in the United Kingdom on 29 April 2018
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Witty and thought provoking. A series of lectures and in my view best heard first as such (fortunately all available on Youtube. Then easier to read at leisure.
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Review
'Eagleton is one of Britain's leading literary critics and writes with verve and humour.' -- Paul Goodliff, Baptist Times--Paul Goodliff"Baptist Times" (06/18/2010)
""Reason, Faith, and Revolution" is a challenging, feisty contribution to the current public debate about God and religion. It is poetic, wise, and clear. Eagleton proves he is more than a literary critic; he's also an exceptional preacher." --Kurt Armstrong, "Christian Week"--Kurt Armstrong "Christian Week "
"[Eagleton's] gleeful, often satirical, piercing of the chinks in the armor of modern atheist apologetics is beneficial to any reader interested in the 'God Debate.'" --James Heiser, "thenewamerican.com"--James Heiser "thenewamerican.com "
"Eagleton's book began as a series of lectures delivered at Yale University. They must have been a riot.... He's fantastically rude all round, about 'Ditchkins, ' about religion itself, which 'has wrought untold misery in human affairs'.... It's terrific polemic."--Melanie McDonagh, "Evening Standard"
--Melanie McDonagh"Evening Standard" (07/16/2009)
"Eagleton's book is a brisk and welcome contribution to the ongoing discussion about the place of religion in the world today. Readers will find plenty to challenge them in this brief snapshot of today's 'God Debate.'"--;i>Association for Mormon Letters
"--Blair Dee Hodges "Association for Mormon Letters "
"There are plenty of things in this book to anger all sorts of people, and few will not find something in it with which to disagree strongly. And that's just fine. This is an exceptional contribution to recent debates around faith, religion, and atheism."--Dale B. Martin, Yale University--Dale B. Martin
"This is a good and stimulating reading for theologians, and invites in a provocative way to think about theology's identity and mission in times of deep changes and challenges." --Lluis Oviedo, "Religion & Theology"--Lluis Oviedo "Religion & Theology "
Eagleton's book "meets the challenge of the New Atheists with a sense of playfulness (for example, he melds the two leading lights of the movement, Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens, into one signifier, "Ditchkins"), and a dogged refusal to let Oxbridge-trained rhetoric stand in for actual reason. The result is a work bathed in wit and punctuated with soaring prose that, while sympathetic to religious truth-claims, ends with a flourish on his Marxist hopes for an embrace of "tragic humanism.""--Lyndon Shakespeare, "Anglican Theological Review"--Lyndon Shakespeare "Anglican Theological Review "
"Terry Eagleton has a deserved reputation as one of the most influential of British literary critics and cultural commentators who has developed over his many publications a highly effective communicative style. This book is no exception."--Oliver Davies, "Scottish Bulletin of Evangelical Theory"--Oliver Davies "Scottish Bulletin of Evangelical Theory "
"There is a great deal here that readers from different backgrounds will find informative. It is a polemical book, but the deeper sense of the polemic is the subtle and multi-formed argument that what is at stake here, in the distinction between religious and secularist values, is actually a way of being alive. As Eagleton powerfully states, faith is never about the superficial use of reason."--Oliver Davies, "Scottish Bulletin on Evangelical Theory"--Oliver Davies"Scottish Bulletin on Evangelical Theory" (05/01/2011)
."..[a] gloriously rumbustious counter-blast to Dawkinsite atheism...paradoxes sparkle throughout this coruscatingly brilliant polemic.... Eagleton is stronger on reason than Ditchkins, for he thinks carefully about what his opponents say.... This is, then, a demolition job which is both logically devastating and a magnificently whirling philippic.... It is easy to see why a lot of people will not be happy with this book. Much of what it says is too true."--Paul Vallely, "The Independent"
--Paul Vallely"The Independent" (07/17/2009)
''Eagleton is one of Britain''s leading literary critics and writes with verve and humour.'' -- Paul Goodliff, Baptist Times--Paul Goodliff"Baptist Times" (06/18/2010)
'A boisterous polemic ... Eagleton yields to none in his denunciation of institutional Christianity and a punitive, vengeful God as a betrayal of Jesus's championing of the poor and rejected.'--Jonathan Benthall"Times Literary Supplement" (12/11/2009)
"[B]etter than any previous book of its kind."--James Wood, "The New Yorker"--James Wood"The New Yorker" (08/31/2009)
"[Eagleton''s] gleeful, often satirical, piercing of the chinks in the armor of modern atheist apologetics is beneficial to any reader interested in the ''God Debate.''" --James Heiser, "thenewamerican.com"--James Heiser "thenewamerican.com "
"Brisk, funny, and challenging . . . . One of the most fascinating, most original and prickliest works of philosophy to emerge from the post-9/11 era."--Andrew O'Hehir, "Salon"
--Andrew O'Hehir"Salon" (04/01/2009)
"Eagleton is an unconventional and entertaining thinker. His book is as much about capitalism, politics, and literary criticism as it is about religion." --Kurt Kleiner, "The Globe and Mail"--Kurt Kleiner "The Globe and Mail "
"Eagleton writes with lucidity, wit and panache and, though an atheist himself, successfully shreds what the conflated Ditchkins say in their books."--Piers Paul Read"Spectator" (11/14/2009)
"Eagleton...is a powerful and engaging writer, perhaps no more so than when, with bursts of comic vituperation which recall Kenneth Tynan at his best, he is seeing off those he regards as second-rate opponents. But probably more relevant is the sense among many readers and critics that Eagleton is providing a welcome antidote to the rather simple-minded conception of religion that Dawkins and Hitchens selected for their demolition jobs. He is rather like a wise old schoolmaster explaining to two eager young students that the significance of "Hamlet" is hardly exhausted by describing it as 'a revenge drama'."--Laurie Taylor, "New Humanist Magazine"
--Laurie Taylor"New Humanist Magazine" (07/01/2009)
"Eagleton''s book is a brisk and welcome contribution to the ongoing discussion about the place of religion in the world today. Readers will find plenty to challenge them in this brief snapshot of today''s ''God Debate.''"--;i>Association for Mormon Letters
"--Blair Dee Hodges "Association for Mormon Letters "
"Erudite, but often entertaining volume." --Rich Barlow, "Boston Globe"--Rich Barlow "Boston Globe "
"Terry Eagleton is at his best as a critic, and much of the book, which is really a series of lectures delivered at Yale University, is devoted to incisive and angry analyses of what is wrong with our world in the twenty-first century."--Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi, "Metapsychology Online Reviews"--Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi"Metapsychology" (12/01/2009)
Eagleton''s book "meets the challenge of the New Atheists with a sense of playfulness (for example, he melds the two leading lights of the movement, Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens, into one signifier, "Ditchkins"), and a dogged refusal to let Oxbridge-trained rhetoric stand in for actual reason. The result is a work bathed in wit and punctuated with soaring prose that, while sympathetic to religious truth-claims, ends with a flourish on his Marxist hopes for an embrace of "tragic humanism.""--Lyndon Shakespeare, "Anglican Theological Review"--Lyndon Shakespeare "Anglican Theological Review "
About the Author
Terry Eagleton is Distinguished Professor of English Literature at the University of Lancaster, England, and Professor of Cultural Theory at the National University of Ireland, Galway. He is also Distinguished Visiting Professor at the University of Notre Dame. Eagleton is also the author of On Evil, published by Yale University Press.
Product details
Publisher : *Yale University Press; 1st edition (6 April 2010)
Language : English
Paperback : 200 pages
ISBN-10 : 030016453X
ISBN-13 : 978-0300164534
Dimensions : 13.97 x 1.91 x 20.32 cmBest Sellers Rank: 128,692 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)56 in Agnosticism (Books)
94 in Atheism (Books)
174 in History of Religion & PoliticsCustomer Reviews:
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 80 ratings
Terry Eagleton
Terry Eagleton is John Edward Taylor Professor of English Literature at the University of Manchester. His numerous books include The Meaning of Life, How to Read a Poem, and After Theory.
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2.0 out of 5 stars All over the placeReviewed in India on 25 March 2021
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I bought the book because I kept seeing footnotes and references to it in Christian apologetic books and in other such places. With some interesting parts in between, the book as a whole seems to be all over the place, long-winded, lacking focus, lacking actual arguments and full of typical Marxist anti-capitalist rants. I don't know if it's me or the book, but it got a little frustrating after a few pages. Also, for all his contempt for the post-modern liberals, he seems to fit in with them just fine when it comes to the topic of Islam. He repeatedly quotes a Muslim author, who says that the true Islam is tolerant and that the Islamic hostility towards the Western world is because of former Western policies - claims that are both, historically & doctrinally (as in Islamic doctrine) speaking, verifiably false. Although I admit he knows how silly the New atheistic movement is, he's simply wrong about a whole bunch of other stuff that are just as important to consider.
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Marek C Slowikowski
5.0 out of 5 stars great book and serviceReviewed in Canada on 4 April 2015
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great book and service
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5.0 out of 5 stars A Interesting Polemic Against Shoddy Thought, Fundamentalisms, and HypocrisyReviewed in the United States on 6 May 2014
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In this short work, originally given as lectures at Yale University, Eagelton, hardly a believer, turns his gimlet gaze upon three of the Four Horsemen (Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, and Daniel Dennit, called "Ditchkens" for short) of the New Atheist Movement. Far from a standard "Science doesn't touch on the topic of God" rhetoric, although that is present, Eagelton instead attacks along a few interesting lines: intellectual dishonesty, bourgeois banality, and narrow dogmatism. On an interesting side note, he leaves the fourth Horseman, Sam Harris, alone. This is despite Harris' record for supporting the torture and death of those who would refuse to go along with his Brave New World. Perhaps Eagelton found him beneath his notice.
On the First point, Eagelton points out that "Ditchkens" tends to blame all of the evils of the world, unreservedly, on religion. Eagelton points out that the sanctified science of Ditchkens has played as much a role in the destruction of lives and the furtherance of suffering, typically under the banner of the Enlightenment, as the hated religion. He also points out, through a scathing bit of satire, that behind the cheap theatrics and overblown arguments, Ditchkens arguments are, at best, category errors. For example, Hitchens' argument that religion is a failed attempt at explaining the Universe is the same as saying that " ... ballet is a failed attempt at running for a bus." He also attacks this as a form of Straw Man Arguments, not worthy of much more than scorn.He also assaults the Pollyanna like belief in "progress" that studs the prose of Ditchkens works. His distaste for what he calls Liberal Humanism, as expressed in this one sided, shallow humanism is as palpable as his disdain for the rest of the naive simplicity of any fundamentalism.
On the second point Eagelton blasts the bourgeois betrayal of social justice by Ditchkens. Chiefly he lampoons the "North Oxford" character of Dawkins, the failed revolutionary pretensions of Hitchens, and the obdurately clueless ponderings of Dennit. To be specific, he points out that these men are all cheerleaders for the neo-conservative war on terror, as well as any other number of self aggrandizement that they find. They have turned there back upon those who have suffered, generally at the hand of the much vaunted Enlightenment. He traces the hand that the Industrialized West has helped bring about the current rise of Islamism, and the role that science and "progress" have played in that. He particularly lifts up Hitchens, a former Marxist/Trotskite, up to scorn for not only betraying the Revolution (Eagelton is after all a Marxist) but for becoming the enemy.
The third point touches on the first, but is separate in that it is a special species of intellectual arrogance. To be exact, Eagelton points to the narrow, dogmatic, and almost silly extremes that Ditchkins will go in order to indite religion. Nothing is allowed to cloud the view that religion is not only wrong, but evil, and that Ditchkins is the enlighten bringer of good news. He holds up the hypocrisy of making their metaphysical and philosophical arguments into "science" while pointing out that they are actually harming the thing they seek to defend.
In parallel to his critique of Ditchkens, Eagelton also attacks the failure of Christianity to live up to what he sees as it's revolutionary potential. It, too, has cast its lot with power, and has betrayed what he sees as it's first commitment to truth and to the human race. When not excoriating the New Atheists, he is whipping the Church for it's weakness.
At the end Eagelton bids us to look to what he calls "Tragic Humanism" as a remedy for the failed Liberalism of Ditchkens and the rest of the New Atheist crowd.
In all, this is an excellent book, one that should be read, not just for it's assaults, but for it's call to something better.
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Dr. Peter Davies
5.0 out of 5 stars Eagleton's well targeted blastReviewed in the United Kingdom on 4 August 2009
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This is a good book. It's cheerful, straightforward, well argued and iconoclastic.
It shatters the idols that atheists such as Dawkins and Hitchens have made for themselves. It shows up the shallowness and inadequacy of many atheist positions. The fact that Eagleton is himself an atheist increases the depth of his critique of much contemporary atheism.
He is also good at pointing out some of the flaws in Christianity and in other belief systems such as multiculturalism. The following quotes are particularly memorable,
"Multiculturalism at its least impressive blandly embraces difference as such, without looking too closely into what one is differing over. It tends to imagine that there is something inherently positive about having a host of different views on the same subject.....Such facile pluralism therefore tends to numb the habit of vigorously contesting other people's beliefs..."
and
"Any preaching of the Gospel which fails to constitute a scandal and affront to the political state is in my view effectively worthless."
This book is challenging to all participants in the debate over God, and what he means both here on Earth and in Heaven and Hell. Read it, enjoy it, disagree with it...but go prepared to enjoy a lively conversation...and to learn some new ideas from it.
Read less
Report
Alan C.
4.0 out of 5 stars Watch the lectures first, then read at leisureReviewed in the United Kingdom on 29 April 2018
Verified Purchase
Witty and thought provoking. A series of lectures and in my view best heard first as such (fortunately all available on Youtube. Then easier to read at leisure.
Report
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9.4 
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