9780000661371 (1 results)

Trade. Condition: New. In the midst of finishing a book on the Christian sacraments, theology professor Fr. William Van Roo recognized that his treatment of the sacrament as symbol left him feeling as though he held 'a handful of scholastic dust.' The definitions and illustrations he had been using seemed not only inadequate but void of any real personal or communal application. Man the Symbolizer is Van Roo's investigation into what a symbol is and 'the network of relationships in which it is somehow intelligible.' He defines symbol as 'a human work in which the sensuous is somehow meaningful,' including the mediums of bodily expression, language, art, science, philosophy, and mathematical concepts. While Van Roo writes from the starting point of theology, he considers his scope to be primarily philosophical. First reflecting upon the structures of human experience (perception, memory, imagination, insight, conception, judgment, emotion, volition and motor action), he transitions into a discussion of symbols and symbolizing as a way to come to deeper understanding of human being. And lest he come down too strongly on the side of mere human symbolizing, Van Roo's considerations end with the mystery of human transcendence through interpersonal relationship with God, acknowledging that 'all symbolizing is like the cry of jubilation: a thrust, a half-joyful half-frustrating clutching, a forever inadequate human response to a reality which is overwhelming.' Rare copy of an important study.