The Horizon: A History of Our Infinite Longing

The Horizon: A History of Our Infinite Longing
ISBN-10
0520267435
ISBN-13
9780520267435
Category
History
Pages
363
Language
English
Published
2011-02-15
Publisher
Univ of California Press
Author
Didier Maleuvre

Description

What is a horizon? A line where land meets sky? The end of the world or the beginning of perception? In this brilliant, engaging, and stimulating history, Didier Maleuvre journeys to the outer reaches of human experience and probes philosophy, religion, and art to understand our struggle and fascination with limits--of life, knowledge, existence, and death. Horizons delineate the physical world and give our lives shape, purpose, and meaning; yet history provides a record of humanity's instinctual urge to transcend boundaries and seek what lies beyond. Maleuvre sweeps us through a vast cultural landscape, enabling us to experience each stopping place as the cusp of a limitless journey, whether he is discussing the works of Picasso, Gothic architecture, Beethoven, or General Relativity. If, as Aristotle said, philosophy begins in wonder, then this remarkable book shows us how wonder--the urge to know beyond the conceivable--is itself the engine of culture.

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