Description:
This collection of essays is dedicated to a recently deceased philosopher and humanist, Nalin Ranasinghe. His central philosophical and humanistic preoccupation was with the human soul. Not surprisingly, his greatest inspiration was Socrates' credo "Care for your soul," and the title of his first book was 'The Soul of Socrates'. In this and his later writings, Ranasinghe expressed his growing concern over the idea that the human soul has been hijacked due to the way our civilization has developed: the highest and noblest aspirations of our civilization have been replaced by our obsession with money, pleasure, and power. We now live in a time where we do not know who we are, nor who the people around us are.
Despite all of the technical gadgets connecting us virtually, this is the age of disconnect and loneliness, as well as of the degradations of humanity. Ranasinghe insisted that the two keys for recovery are the self-knowledge of the soul and a continuous dialogue with others. We need to relearn how to relate to ourselves and others as unique individuals, not as objects for the satisfaction of our needs.
Following his ideas, the twenty essays presented here are divided into two parts: "the soul in reflection" and "the soul in dialogue." The contributors come from various countries around the globe and work in different disciplines, and their chapters aim to revive our interest in the soul and the obscured core of our humanity. This book will appeal to undergraduate and graduate students of philosophy; however, the essays are written in a non-technical language, also making them accessible to the general audience.
Brief description: Predrag Cicovacki has taught philosophy at the College of the Holy Cross (Worcester, Massachusetts, USA) since 1991, where he also served as Director of Peace and Conflict Studies and as Editor-in-Chief of 'Diotima: A Philosophical Review'. Cicovacki is the author of twelve books and the editor of eight. In 2012-13, Cicovacki was a Senior Nehru-Fulbright fellow in India. Over one hundred and fifteen of Cicovacki's articles and essays are published in, or translated into, English, Serbian, Russian, German, Spanish, Slovenian, Chinese, and Japanese.
Review Quotes:
When I was asked to review "The Human Soul", I hesitantly agreed. I was newly retired, and I didn't really want to read a philosophical tome paying tribute to Nalin Ranasinghe, someone I didn't know about. But I knew the editor of the collection of essays written in honor of him, and so I agreed to read and review the book. I'm glad I did.
"The Human Soul" opens a dimension of philosophy that is widely neglected in contemporary American thought even though the essays follow very much the most honorable aspects of the philosophical traditions of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. The essays written in honor of Nalin Ranasinghe would make an excellent introduction to philosophy for a freshmen honors seminar. They challenge common approaches to philosophy and offer various understandings of the soul, even to those who, like myself, have often been skeptical that souls exist. These challenges are uplifting, informative, and insightful in personal, social, and political contexts.
Three or four essays, in particular, grabbed my attention and provided new insights into Plato and Aristotle. Another essay opened my mind to areas I'd never considered before, where I can apply my work in ethics and nonviolence. And taken together, all the essays paint such a colorful and expansive portrait of Nalin Ranasinghe that, upon completing the book, I liked this man I never met and felt as though I knew him.
I enjoyed reading the book, and I am grateful for a number of new insights it provided me. As I read the book, I kept thinking that this is the sort of introduction to philosophy that advanced new students should be offered. It's different from anything else out there, and even though it's not intended as an introductory text, at least as far as I know, some professors and students might find it very valuable as such.
Barry L. Gan
Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Center for Nonviolence
St. Bonaventure University