Science, Religion and the Meaning of Life pp 165-188 | Cite as
How to Be an Agnostic: an Aphoristic A-Z
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Abstract
HEGEL ONCE REMARKED: ‘The owl of Minerva spreads its wings only with the falling of the dusk.’ Mary Midgley deploys the image in her memoir: ‘The thought for which I want to use it is that wisdom, and therefore philosophy, comes into its own when things become dark and difficult rather than when they are clear and straightforward. That it seems to me - is why it is so important.’
Keywords
Christian Tradition Radical Uncertainty Beautiful Thing Obsessional Neurosis Socratic Question
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7. How to Be an Agnostic: an Aphoristic a-z
- The Owl of Minerva: a Memoir by Mary Midgley, is published by Routledge (2005). The quote is on page x.Google Scholar
- The Daniel J. Boorstin quote is from an essay `The Amateur Spirit’, in Living Philosophies, edited by C. Fadiman, published by Doubleday (1990).Google Scholar
- The Francis Bacon quote is from The Advancement of Learning published in 1605.Google Scholar
- A summary of Karl Popper on Darwinism is in Unended Quest Chapter 37 (see above). Melvyn Bragg’s quote is in Devout Sceptics (see above).Google Scholar
- Oscar Wilde’s essay can be found in his collected works.Google Scholar
- John Elliot Gardner made this comment in an interview on the BBC’s Front Row with Mark Lawson.Google Scholar
- Roger Hull makes his comments on the American Sublime in the catalogue to the exhibition.Google Scholar
- Leslie Stephen’s An Agnostic’s Apology is in Atheism: a Reader (see above).Google Scholar
- Augustine ponders the question `What do I love when I love my God?’ in Book X.6 of his Confessions. The quote is from the translation by R. S. Pine-Coffin, published by Penguin Books (1961).Google Scholar
- Freud by Jonathan Leer, is published by Routledge (2005).Google Scholar
- Jeannette Winterson’s website is www.jeannettewinterson.com.Google Scholar
- Will in the World by Stephen Greenblatt, is published by Pimlico (2001.Google Scholar
- Thomas Carlyle’s quote on silence is in his essay `Sir Walter Scott’, in Critical and Miscellaneous Essays.Google Scholar
- The Spiritual Dimension: Religion, Philosophy and Human Value by John Cottingham, is published by Cambridge University Press (2005).Google Scholar
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© Mark Vernon 2007