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No Limits
Inwardness: An Outsider's Guide
Where do we look when we look inward? In what sort of space does our inner life take place? Augustine said that to turn inward is to find oneself in a library of memories, while the Indian Buddhist tradition holds that we are self-illuminating beings casting light onto a world of shadows. And a disquieting set of dissenters has claimed that inwardness is merely an illusion--or, worse, a deceit.
Jonardon Ganeri explores philosophical reflections from many of the world's intellectual cultures, ancient and modern, on how each of us inhabits an inner world. In brief and lively chapters, he ranges across an unexpected assortment of diverse Buddhist, Hindu, Islamic, Chinese, and Western philosophy and literature from the Upaniṣads, Socrates, and Avicenna to Borges, Simone Weil, and Rashōmon. Ganeri examines the various metaphors that have been employed to explain interiority--shadows and mirrors, masks and disguises, rooms and enclosed spaces--as well as the interfaces and boundaries between inner and outer worlds. Written in a cosmopolitan spirit, this book is a thought-provoking consideration of the value--or peril--of turning one's gaze inward for all readers who have sought to map the geography of the mind.
Jonardon Ganeri explores philosophical reflections from many of the world's intellectual cultures, ancient and modern, on how each of us inhabits an inner world. In brief and lively chapters, he ranges across an unexpected assortment of diverse Buddhist, Hindu, Islamic, Chinese, and Western philosophy and literature from the Upaniṣads, Socrates, and Avicenna to Borges, Simone Weil, and Rashōmon. Ganeri examines the various metaphors that have been employed to explain interiority--shadows and mirrors, masks and disguises, rooms and enclosed spaces--as well as the interfaces and boundaries between inner and outer worlds. Written in a cosmopolitan spirit, this book is a thought-provoking consideration of the value--or peril--of turning one's gaze inward for all readers who have sought to map the geography of the mind.
- GenresPhilosophyNonfiction
131 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 10, 2021
9 people are currently reading
85 people want to read
About the author
Jonardon Ganeri
49 books45 followersJonardon Ganeri is a Fellow of the British Academy. He is the author of Attention, Not Self (2017), The Self (2012), The Lost Age of Reason (2011), and The Concealed Art of the Soul (2007). Ganeri's work draws on a variety of philosophical traditions to construct new positions in the philosophy of mind, metaphysics, and epistemology. He became the first philosopher to win the Infosys Prize in the Humanities in 2015.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 28, 2021
Ganeri’s survey of humanity’s grappling with what it means to have an inner world or life is mostly a great read. His ability to surf over millennia of human thought and lucidly explain ideas ranging from the Upanisads, Buddha and Augustine to Avicenna, Borges,
Kurosawa and Sartre is truly impressive. I really enjoy texts where an author can deftly make connections across a wide range disciplines and cultural contexts, and Ganeri has this gift. The book starts out strong but runs out of steam toward the end and seems to end abruptly. It doesn’t deliver the kind of intellectual payoff one might expect from the exciting early chapters. His discussions of dreams, doubles, heteronyms and the work of Pessoa can become pretty confusing. But overall this book is still a strong recommend.
Kurosawa and Sartre is truly impressive. I really enjoy texts where an author can deftly make connections across a wide range disciplines and cultural contexts, and Ganeri has this gift. The book starts out strong but runs out of steam toward the end and seems to end abruptly. It doesn’t deliver the kind of intellectual payoff one might expect from the exciting early chapters. His discussions of dreams, doubles, heteronyms and the work of Pessoa can become pretty confusing. But overall this book is still a strong recommend.
May 20, 2021
Inwardness by Jonardon Ganeri is a fascinating exploration of both what turning inward is and how we think about that internal place. Even writing that sentence makes me consider whether place is the right, or even just a good, word for it. If you like to think about things like this, you will find a lot in here to make you think and rethink many ideas you might currently hold.
Different ways of thinking about, or visualizing, what we mean when we say we turn inward, when we reflect and ponder what may be at our core, are discussed here with a very even hand. The appeal of many of them is expressed at the same time that some weaknesses or holes in those analogies are made evident. But this is not simply an exercise in refuting different ways of thinking about inwardness. Through every discussion in the book Ganeri offers the insights that each one gives, so we come away with a better understanding of not just a school of thought but of ourselves and how we think about abstract ideas.
I recently read another book that I thought was going to be similar to this one. Instead, it was more of a preachy history with some very good readings of various works. But it did little to stir anything inside me beyond finding the book largely interesting but not at all inspiring. This book, however, more than made up for my disappointment in the other one.
I would highly recommend this to readers who wonder about what it means to turn inwards, to reflect on not just oneself but on life itself. I would also suggest taking your time with it even though it would be easy to just breeze through it. Turn some of these ideas over in your head, do they feel right? Think about it. Think.
Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.
Different ways of thinking about, or visualizing, what we mean when we say we turn inward, when we reflect and ponder what may be at our core, are discussed here with a very even hand. The appeal of many of them is expressed at the same time that some weaknesses or holes in those analogies are made evident. But this is not simply an exercise in refuting different ways of thinking about inwardness. Through every discussion in the book Ganeri offers the insights that each one gives, so we come away with a better understanding of not just a school of thought but of ourselves and how we think about abstract ideas.
I recently read another book that I thought was going to be similar to this one. Instead, it was more of a preachy history with some very good readings of various works. But it did little to stir anything inside me beyond finding the book largely interesting but not at all inspiring. This book, however, more than made up for my disappointment in the other one.
I would highly recommend this to readers who wonder about what it means to turn inwards, to reflect on not just oneself but on life itself. I would also suggest taking your time with it even though it would be easy to just breeze through it. Turn some of these ideas over in your head, do they feel right? Think about it. Think.
Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.
April 3, 2022
An exceptional philosophy book which tackles an important thematic question that crosses much of philosophical history and yet often finds itself unexplored. Ganeri marshals a dazzling array of material drawing on the philosophical and literary traditions of India, Classical China, the Arab world, Japan, Argentina, and Europe he mounts his position. He critiques many established conceptions of Inwardness to leave himself two rival positions he offers as the best philosophical understanding and approach to inwardness. A erudite survey of inwardness throughout various philosophical traditions while also being a clear introduction and an original contribution to the discussion in its own right. Ganeri is clear, without sacrificing literary quality or imaginative writing. Overall, an excellent work.
October 27, 2021
This is the single worst book I've ever read. It combines condescension with a lack of originality and sheer repetitiveness. Perhaps I'm biased, though, because the subject is near to my heart. Even so, I get the sense that the author himself is ashamed of the work. The upside is that I now know what it's like for professors to read essays by students who are just trying to reach the minimum word count. My heart goes out to them.
August 8, 2021
Inwardness is like a college class. You spend a short amount of time getting the information and a significant amount of time after contemplating what you've learned. I flew through the first few pages, but it took days of thinking about it before I could continue. Some of the later material in the book feels convoluted. I think being able to visualize what he is saying is important here. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to review this book.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews