Confronting Disaster - by Raphael Sassower (Hardcover)

About the Book

Contemporary society is rife with instability. Contemporary genetic research has raised and given life to the one-time science fiction specter: the clone. The scarcity of natural energy sources has led to greater manipulation of atomic or nuclear energy and as a result greater...

Book Synopsis

Contemporary society is rife with instability. Contemporary genetic research has raised and given life to the one-time science fiction specter: the clone. The scarcity of natural energy sources has led to greater manipulation of atomic or nuclear energy and as a result greater danger. And the promises of globalization have, in some cases, delivered their intended results, but in many other ways they have created even greater social and economic gaps. An urgent commentary in the tradition of Herbert Marcuse's One Dimensional Man or even Sigmund Freud's Civilization and Its Discontents, Raphael Sassower's powerful new book is a culmination of many years of research and thought carefully arranged into an extended essay on our contemporary social, cultural, and existential orientation in the modern world.

Review Quotes

In Confronting Disaster, Raphael Sassower masterfully presents a perennial philosophy for the postmodern condition. His intriguing mix of existentialism and stoicism steers the reader to 'peace of mind' in a time when most pundits veer between Scylla of complacency and the Charybdis of despair. To those who believe that professional philosophers can no longer address 'the meaning of life' in lay terms, I would direct them to this book as a shining example of how it can be done.

Raphael Sassower has written a veritable guide to the perplexed individuals who suffer the uncertainties of our contemporary world without tools such as political power or social organization to address the many disasters which confront them. What is unique about this book is its unapologetic existentialism and its refusal to blame the victims for their fate. This book will be useful for the despairing because it gives a measure of hope.

Sassower's insights and suggestions offer a lively and illuminating if not always convincing perspective on issues with which the reader in philosophy and ethics of technology will be familiar.

About the Author

Raphael Sassower is Professor of Philosophy, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs.