Do you believe in God? Nine out of ten Americans unhesitatingly answer yes. But for Douglas Porpora, the real questions begin where pollsters leave off. What, he asks, does religious belief actually mean in our lives? Does it shape our identities and our actions? Or, despite our professions of faith, are we morally adrift?Landscapes of the Soul paints a disturbing picture of American spiritual life. In his search for answers to his questions, Porpora interviewed clerks and executives, Jews, evangelical Christians, Buddhists, Taoists, and even followers of Bhagwan Sri Rajneesh. He asked them about God, and about what they saw as their own place in the universe. What he found was a widespread inability to articulate any grand meaning of life. We lack heroes to inspire us. We lack a sense of calling, of transcendent purpose in our existence. Many of us seem incapable of caring deeply about the suffering of others. Our society is permeated with moral indifference. Yes, we are a believing people, but God is often a distant abstraction and rarely an emotional presence in our lives. Only such an emotional connection, Porpora argues, can be the basis of a genuine moral vision.Our emotional estrangement from God and the sacred keeps us from caring about social justice, keeps us from wanting to change the world, keeps us enclosed in our own private worlds. Landscapes of the Soul is a passionate call to broaden our spiritual and moral horizons, to raise our eyes to the greater reality that unites us all. Seller Inventory # DADAX0195134915

Contact seller

Report this item

Bibliographic Details

Title: Landscapes of the Soul: The Loss of Moral ...

Publisher: OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

Publication Date: 2001

Binding: Hardcover

Condition: New

Edition: First Edition.

About this title

Synopsis:

Do you believe in God? Nine out of ten Americans unhesitatingly answer yes. But for Douglas Porpora, the real questions begin where pollsters leave off. What, he asks, does religious belief actually mean in our lives? Does it shape our identities and our actions? Or, despite our professions of faith, are we morally adrift?
Landscapes of the Soul paints a disturbing picture of American spiritual life. In his search for answers to his questions, Porpora interviewed clerks and executives, Jews, evangelical Christians, Buddhists, Taoists, and even followers of Bhagwan Sri Rajneesh. He asked them about God, and about what they saw as their own place in the universe. What he found was a widespread inability to articulate any grand meaning of life. We lack heroes to inspire us. We lack a sense of calling, of transcendent purpose in our existence. Many of us seem incapable of caring deeply about the suffering of others. Our society is permeated with moral indifference. Yes, we are a believing people, but God is often a distant abstraction and rarely an emotional presence in our lives. Only such an emotional connection, Porpora argues, can be the basis of a genuine moral vision.
Our emotional estrangement from God and the sacred keeps us from caring about social justice, keeps us from wanting to change the world, keeps us enclosed in our own private worlds. Landscapes of the Soul is a passionate call to broaden our spiritual and moral horizons, to raise our eyes to the greater reality that unites us all.

Review:

"The meaning of life for me is just to enjoy myself." "It's all relative to your point of view." The rootless sentiments of today's college students are the springboard for Douglas V. Porpora's impassioned defense of the importance of moral foundations. Landscapes of the Soul is a cri de coeur from a self-identified left-wing "campus radical" who finds common cause with cultural conservatives like Allan Bloom because they share a belief that moral truths are real and independent of our varied perspectives. But Porpora thinks that the central problem is not skepticism, but rather a basic lack of interest in "cosmic meaning." The problem isn't that we don't believe in God; it's that we just don't care.

Porpora goes into the fabric of American culture, interviewing Catholics and Protestants, Jews and Buddhists, urbanites and rural folks, atheists and New Agers, and drawing from a variety of ages, races, and levels of education. He argues that no matter what your "point of view," the modern landscape of American morality is bleak, impoverished by the thin soil of a relativism that is as vacuous as it is pervasive. Porpora's remedy is a reorientation that is infused with spiritual meaning. He wants us to return to a way of being that asks incessantly: "Is there a human destiny we were meant to fulfill?" --Eric de Place

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

Store Description

Welcome to Our AbeBooks Store for books. I've been selling books for long and have achieved more than 99% positive feedback on eBay and amazon.com. I always strive to achieve best customer satisfaction and have always described book accurately. I got lot of Out of Print and Rare books in my store and still adding lot of books. I will ship book within 24 hours of confirmed payment

Visit Seller's Storefront

Seller's business information

Ami Ventures Inc
14932 Kuykendahl Road, Houston, TX, 77090, U.S.A.

Terms of Sale:

100 % Customer Satisfaction is our Goal. Please contact me if you are not
satisfied with your order in any manner. I always list book by ISBN # only and
buyer is assured of correct edition, correct author and correct format of book.
I
will do my best to address your concerns including 100% refund of your money.

Name of your business and form of legal entity: Ami Ventures Inc.S-Corp. USA
your business address: 19830 FM 1093 Suite 1301 Richmond, Texas 77407 USA
email address and phone or fax numbe...

More Information

Shipping Terms:

Orders usually ship within 1 business days. If your book order is heavy or oversized, we may contact you to let you know extra shipping is required.

Payment Methods
accepted by seller

Visa Mastercard American Express Apple Pay Google Pay

PayPal

Add to Wants