In Search Of Truth And Freedom

From the forests of Arctic Sweden to the streets of Rome and Paris. From the mountains of Alberta to the cantinas of Juarez, Mexico. From policing the streets of Toxteth to working security for a Hollywood celebrity. This is the story of a Scouser who, after growing up in Liverpool, set out on a quest to see if it was possible to live a life free of conventionality and daily routine and to try and find some answers along the way. Strap yourself in for a fast-paced adventure.

This book offers a bold forecast of the year 2050 and what life will look like in the emerging global village. Is this profound new work, Thomas McFaul examines the interwoven concepts of truth and freedom in the context of the Modernist movement that has fundamentally reshaped our world. McFaul's thesis? Societies that make truth and freedom their signature values stand the best chance of prospering in the emerging global village. In The Future of Truth and Freedom in the Global Village: Modernism and the Challenges of the Twenty-first Century, McFaul relates the two cornerstone ideas of truth and freedom to the development of Modernism and its impact on science, religion, ethics, economics, and politics. This sets the stage for thought-provoking speculation as McFaul forecasts what life might be like in the year 2050, with scenarios that range from moving forward as a unified world embracing new possibilities to sliding back to the "good old days." McFaul's well-reasoned conclusion is that any society's long-term viability rests on having the freedom to adapt to changes in the modern world in new and creative ways.

In the postwar years Jean-Paul Sartre set himself the task of writing a book on ethics. His concern was to take up issues raised by his existentialist ontology and to resolve problems in his bleak account of the human situation in Being and Nothingness. “I am searching,” he said, “for an ethics for the present time.” For several years he prepared background notes, but then put the material aside as too abstract and idealistic, leaving it for publication after his death. Years later he returned to ethics, this time in the hope of developing an account related to the Critique of Dialectical Reason. But once again he left the inquiry incomplete. There was yet a third attempt towards the end of his life when Sartre was blind and weak, a poignant witness to his abiding interest in ethics. This took the form of interviews with Benny Lévy, which appeared in a controversial publication just before his death. Sartre in Search of an Ethics is a study of each of these stages in his ethical quest, with a focus on the major themes of his existentialist and dialectical ethics in the context of some of his main philosophical and literary writings.

Striving only for material wealth is incompatible with our latent personal longing for love and recognition. Simons discourse identifies a remedy available to all of us, that of adopting an attitude of love, and then putting that love into action in whatever way is open to each of us. We admire and appreciate those among us who overcome the natural impulse toward individual comfort. Currently, the organization of Doctors Without Borders, people who have eschewed financial gain and devoted themselves to bringing medical care to others in disease-ridden and war-torn areas, accepting danger and poor living conditions as they do so, is an example. Two individuals, also, come to mind. The late Mother Theresa practiced love as few in history have done, and remained an outspoken advocate for the poor and oppressed throughout her life. Canadian Stephen Lewis, who works tirelessly for the people of Africa who suffer the consequences of the AIDS epidemic is another such person. But, few of us are able to enact such extreme values. We have our familial commitments, our societal demands, our need to ensure that we ourselves will not become a drain to others, and these hold us in a sense of impotent guilt and envy. The answer? Start small, with ourselves. Live in and through an attitude of love. Become channels through which Universal Love can flow toward our families, our neighbors, our friends, and our fellow people. Marnie Atkinson, M.A. Ed.

This volume in honour of Prof. Dr. Johannes van Oort offers a rich variety of in-depth studies on Augustine, Manichaeism, and other Gnostic currents, thus reflecting the rich variety of the honorand’s research interests.

Through the pages of this book, my purpose is to illuminate a path towards a richer understanding of what it means to be human and to explore the purpose behind our existence. Reality, I've come to realize, surpasses the boundaries defined by our limited sensory perceptions. It transcends our common logic and beckons us to explore the profound truths that lie beneath the surface.