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Man and Values: A Personalist Anthropology
There are two ways in which we can be taught by others. On the one hand, a person who knows something we do not seeks to bring us into possession of that knowledge. On the other hand, a far more difficult task, the teacher enables us to recognize what we already know. The second method can be called the Socratic, and it characterizes the book you are about to read. From the very opening pages, the reader senses that he is being addressed by a wise man. Nonetheless, he is being addressed as an equal. Cormac Burke has developed what he calls an anthropology of freedom, a personalist anthropology. The great accomplishment of his book is that the reader ends by realizing that he already holds that anthropology. In a subtle mix of uncovering the obvious and displaying the untenability of alternatives, Burke enables the reader to see that, whatever he might have said on the level of chatter, deep down he has convictions about what it is to be a human being. From the Preface by Ralph McInerny
229 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2007
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About the author
Cormac Burke
15 books2 followersMsgr. Cormac Burke was born in Ireland and is a priest of the Prelature of Opus Dei. He has a half century of pastoral work in Ireland, the U.S., Spain, and Kenya, where he presently teaches at Strathmore University in Nairobi. He is the author of numerous books and many articles. His most recent book, also published, by Scepter, is Man and Values.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 2, 2008
This is one of the best books I have ever read, and many of my friends agree with me.
Delightfully written, Cormac Burke's book offers to the reader the untapped potential of being a human person fully and the marvelous happiness held out for those willing to grow in knowledge and love.
References to literature, film, current culture, ground the considerations Cormac Burke presents in easily discernible and identifiable contexts which make the book fun to read as well.
It is full of hope in a real and concrete way. By that I mean, the human person can be more than one could ever imagine! Very affirming, clear, helpful in "seeing" clearly who the human person is, how to become what we are called to be, and the joy of this discovery for oneself and for the world!
Delightfully written, Cormac Burke's book offers to the reader the untapped potential of being a human person fully and the marvelous happiness held out for those willing to grow in knowledge and love.
References to literature, film, current culture, ground the considerations Cormac Burke presents in easily discernible and identifiable contexts which make the book fun to read as well.
It is full of hope in a real and concrete way. By that I mean, the human person can be more than one could ever imagine! Very affirming, clear, helpful in "seeing" clearly who the human person is, how to become what we are called to be, and the joy of this discovery for oneself and for the world!
July 3, 2008
An unusual book. Burke proposes to see how far one can get with an "anthropology without God". Working from two natural presuppositions - (i) man is free; (ii) he is not yet what he can be - he presents his central thesis: the human person "grows", that is, fulfils or "becomes" himself, not by centering on self, but by opening out to what is of worth around him: to "values".
The nature of values, their recognition or discovery by the individual, the response to them, assimilating them, making them one's own: these become the main themes. Stress is put on how recognition and response become especially challenging in the areas of interpersonal relations and social life. Here jealousy and envy are presented as the big "spoilers" of personal development. Ideas that are well worth study...
One way of summing up Burke's book is to say that it was written for those who don't believe in God and only half believe in man. Blaming individualism and self-sufficiency for the loss of faith in man, it suggests that the only way to genuine human fulfilment is the use of one's powers - mind, will, emotions, conscience - to open out to values "higher" than self. Only if that opening-out and looking-up process is initiated can one begin to grow into oneself and, possibly, go on to the further transcendence of finding God.
Rather than providing answers, it sets out to stimulate questions. This appears particularly in the final section, "Beyond Anthropology".
With abundant illustrations taken from a wide range of literary, historical, psychological and other sources, the result is a very readable and thought-provoking book.
The nature of values, their recognition or discovery by the individual, the response to them, assimilating them, making them one's own: these become the main themes. Stress is put on how recognition and response become especially challenging in the areas of interpersonal relations and social life. Here jealousy and envy are presented as the big "spoilers" of personal development. Ideas that are well worth study...
One way of summing up Burke's book is to say that it was written for those who don't believe in God and only half believe in man. Blaming individualism and self-sufficiency for the loss of faith in man, it suggests that the only way to genuine human fulfilment is the use of one's powers - mind, will, emotions, conscience - to open out to values "higher" than self. Only if that opening-out and looking-up process is initiated can one begin to grow into oneself and, possibly, go on to the further transcendence of finding God.
Rather than providing answers, it sets out to stimulate questions. This appears particularly in the final section, "Beyond Anthropology".
With abundant illustrations taken from a wide range of literary, historical, psychological and other sources, the result is a very readable and thought-provoking book.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews