Anesthesia: A Brief Reflection on Contemporary Aesthetics

by Tripp York

Amidst competing claims of beauty, truth and goodness, Trajan, a young man named after a once celebrated Roman Emperor, attempts to decipher why it is that Kant is wrong, love is capricious, and why you should never take advice from a puppet. In this fictionalized diatribe against modern accounts of Eros, York explores the interconnections between love, death, and philosophy. The author follows various philosophical and theological meditations as espoused through the musing of several hedonistic college students as they attempt to navigate the world conferred upon them. Their desire for consistency lays bare the disconcerting conclusion that our current conception of love as yearning can only, logically, end in death.

112 pages, Paperback

First published October 15, 2008

About the author

Fred "Tripp" York (born 1973) is a professor of religion and Mennonite author.

Reviews

[Jm · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this up because I read his book on martyrdom (The Purple Crown). This is entirely different. Wow. Is this really the same writer? A book that criticizes modern accounts of romantic love, is very philosophical but entirely accessible to even the novice philosophy reader. It is an ugly little book meant to expose the limits of our understanding of what constitutes love. I say ugly because there is nothing beautiful, good and true within it, but I imagine that was intentional. And, therefore, this book, as a critique against both pop culture and the limitations of philosophy itself, rings so truthful.