The Quest of the Absolute

2013-09-30
The Quest of the Absolute
Author: Louis Dupré
Publisher: University of Notre Dame Pess
Total Pages: 400
Release: 2013-09-30
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0268077819
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This eagerly awaited study brings to completion Louis Dupré's planned trilogy on European culture during the modern epoch. Demonstrating remarkable erudition and sweeping breadth, The Quest of the Absolute analyzes Romanticism as a unique cultural phenomenon and a spiritual revolution. Dupré philosophically reflects on its attempts to recapture the past and transform the present in a movement that is partly a return to premodern culture and partly a violent protest against it. Following an introduction on the historical origins of the Romantic Movement, Dupré examines the principal Romantic poets of England (Wordsworth, Coleridge, Shelley, Keats), Germany (Goethe, Schiller, Novalis, Hölderlin), and France (Lamartine, de Vigny, Hugo), all of whom, from different perspectives, pursued an absolute ideal. In the chapters of the second part, he concentrates on the critical principles of Romantic aesthetics, the Romantic image of the person as reflected in the novel, and Romantic ethical and political theories. In the chapters of the third, more speculative, part, he investigates the comprehensive syntheses of romantic thought in history, philosophy, and theology. The Quest of the Absolute is an important work both as the culmination of Dupré's ongoing project and as a classic in its own right. The book will meet the expectations of the specialist as well as appeal to more general readers with philosophical, cultural, and religious interests.

World in the Balance: The Historic Quest for an Absolute System of Measurement

2011-10-24
World in the Balance: The Historic Quest for an Absolute System of Measurement
Author: Robert P. Crease
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Total Pages: 344
Release: 2011-10-24
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0393082040
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“Shows that the story of metrology . . . can in the right hands make for a riveting read.”—The Economist Millions of transactions each day depend on a reliable network of weights and measures. But achieving such a network was anything but easy, as Robert P. Crease, physicist and philosopher, demonstrates in this endlessly fascinating, always entertaining look at just how this international system evolved. From the link between musical pitch and distance in the dynasties of ancient China and the use of figurines to measure gold in West Africa to the creation of the French metric and British imperial systems, Crease takes readers along on one of history’s greatest philosophical and scientific adventures.

The Inquisition

2016-12-15
The Inquisition
Author: Kenneth L. Bartolotta
Publisher: Greenhaven Publishing LLC
Total Pages: 106
Release: 2016-12-15
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 1534560505
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Religion can be a force for good, but when those in command seek to increase their control, it can become a dangerous tool. This volume explores the political power the Catholic Church possessed in medieval Europe and the lengths it went to in order to keep and expand that influence. Full-color photos, quotes from primary sources, and a timeline of important events supplement the main text to give readers a better understanding of the perils that can occur when an institution abuses its power.

The Absolute

2022-05-17
The Absolute
Author: Daniel Guebel
Publisher: Seven Stories Press
Total Pages: 353
Release: 2022-05-17
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1644211610
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Winner.... Premio Municipal de la Novela 2021 Premio Nacional de Literatura Argentina 2018 Premio Literario de la Academia Argentina de Letras 2017 Best Novel Award by La Nación 2016 A provocative multigenerational exploration of creative genius, madness, and family relationships. With the ambition and density of style of Vladimir Nabokov or Olga Tokarczuk, this is a story both profound and handled with a light touch. The Absolute is a sprawling historical novel about the Deliuskin-Scriabin family, made up of six generations of geniuses and madmen. Beginning in the mid-18th century in Russia, across Europe and ending in late 20th-century Argentina, the characters’ lives play out in different branches of art, politics and science in such radical ways that they transform the world and its reality. The narrator’s ancestor, Frantisek Deliuskin, invents a new form of music in the 18th century; his son, Andrei Deliuskin, makes some marginal annotations to the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius of Loyola that are later interpreted by Lenin as an instruction manual to carry out the Russian Revolution of 1917; Esau Deliuskin, following the course of his father, creates a socialist utopian society; and down through the generations to the narrator, whose creation takes him back in time and space to the moment of the Big Bang. The Absolute is a monumental work about the creation of art and about family, about spiritual traditions and about throwing oneself into the world not to capture life but to create it, in and through words. “This is a masterpiece at a time when masterpieces seem impossible and at the same time challenges the very idea of a masterpiece. … It’s the novel one should read if they want to know what an artist is.” —La Nación

Tantric Quest

1997-04-01
Tantric Quest
Author: Daniel Odier
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 128
Release: 1997-04-01
Genre: Self-Help
ISBN: 1620554402
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The author reveals his passionate experiences with a female Tantric master who taught him the suppressed practices of her ancient order. In 1968 Daniel Odier left Europe for the Himalayas, searching for a master who could help him go where texts and intellectual searching could no longer take him. He wanted everything: the wisdom and spirituality gained from the life of an ascetic and the beauty, love, and sensuality of a life of passion. He found both in Shivaic Tantrism, the secret spiritual path that seeks to transcend ego and rediscover the divine by embracing the passions. In an isolated Himalayan forest Odier met Devi, a great yogini who would take him on a mystical journey like none he had ever imagined. At times taking him beyond the limits of sexual experience, at times threatening him with destruction, she taught him what it is to truly be alive and to know the divine nature of absolute love. This is the personal memoir of one of France's most honored writers. Tantrism is the only ancient philosophy to survive all historical upheavals, invasions, and influences to reach us intact by uninterrupted transmission from master to disciple, and the only one to retain the image of the Great Goddess as the ultimate source of power.

The Absolute Book

2021-03-18
The Absolute Book
Author: Elizabeth Knox
Publisher: Penguin UK
Total Pages: 351
Release: 2021-03-18
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 140594725X
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DISCOVER THE ENCHANTING EPIC THAT WILL TRANSPORT YOU TO OTHER WORLDS . . . 'AN INSTANT CLASSIC' GUARDIAN 'BEWITCHING' THE TIMES 'MIND-BLOWING' LAINI TAYLOR 'ASTOUNDING' FRANCIS SPUFFORD 'GORGEOUSLY WRITTEN' DEBORAH HARKNESS _______ Taryn Cornick barely remembers the family library. Since her sister was murdered, she's forgotten so much. Now it's all coming back. The fire. The thief. The scroll box. People are asking questions about the library. Questions that might relate to her sister's murder. And something called The Absolute Book. A book in which secrets are written - and which everyone believes only she can find. They insist Taryn be the hunter. But she knows the truth. She is the hunted . . . _______ The Absolute Book is a tale of sisters, ancient blood, a forgotten library, murder, revenge and a book that might just have the answer to everything. 'An instant classic . . . A work to rank alongside other modern masterpieces of fantasy such as Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials series or Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell. Everything fantasy should be: original, magical, well read, compelling' GUARDIAN 'Astonishing. Gripping. Hugely ambitious. An extraordinary conclusion. Admire the sheer scope and grandeur' DAILY MAIL 'A marvellous argument for stories. There are Norse gods, references to Merlin, a tour through purgatory and a strange parallel world where magic is real and humans are bit players in the clash of supernatural realms. Bewitching' THE TIMES 'Contains multitudes, spanning the geographies of Canada, Britain and New Zealand; the cosmologies of fairies, demons and angels; and the genres of thriller, domestic realism and epic fantasy . . . I'm in awe of it' NEW YORK TIMES Review of Books 'Intricately plotted and gorgeously written, THE ABSOLUTE BOOK has something for everyone . . . Here is a cinematic tale that is by turns dark and dreamlike, yet ultimately hopeful' DEBORAH HARKNESS, author of A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES 'Fantastical' THE TIMES 'Savour and absorb the world Knox conjures' SUNDAY TIMES 'Gorgeous. The payoffs and reveals are mind-blowing' LAINI TAYLOR, author of DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE 'An angelic book, an apocalyptic book, an astounding book' FRANCIS SPUFFORD

Alpine

2018-03-06
Alpine
Author: Gilles Uzan
Publisher: Rizzoli Publications
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2018-03-06
Genre: Transportation
ISBN: 208020338X
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In a graphic and artistic extension of the new model A110, this handsome volume celebrates the revival of the epic Alpine sports car. A veritable dialogue between the Alpine A110 sports car and the artists and writers who pay homage to it through photographs, art, and text, this book captures the model’s sensual mechanics, masterful agility, and esprit de corps. The volume’s exquisite binding features an exposed spine with blue stitching and a diagonal laser-cut window on the front cover. The guiding force behind Jean Rédélé’s creation of the Alpine in 1955 was a love of the road and a passion for driving. Alpine’s story is punctuated by competitions and the thrilling driving experience of this renowned car that was named after the sinuous roads of the Alps. After two decades of slumber, Alpine—fortified by its legendary backstory—was revived as the model A110 in the fall of 2017. Rooted in history but decidedly turned toward the future, the new Alpine embodies higher performance, is more compact and agile than ever, and deftly combines ultra-contemporary design with classic French elegance.

The Quest for God and the Good

2011
The Quest for God and the Good
Author: Diana Lobel
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Total Pages: 309
Release: 2011
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0231153147
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Lobel crosses Eastern and Western philosophical and religious traditions to discover a beauty and purpose at the heart of reality that makes life worth living. This title does not treat philosophy as an abstract, theoretical discipline but as living experience.