Abstract

This book aims at establishing a view of understanding that will be free of ties to the "cultural imperialism" and "scientific-technological reductionism" which the author sees as threatening the prospects for human freedom and dignity. In the course of this attempt he surveys a wide variety of anthropological, literary, and philosophical material, always focusing on those aspects of the subject matter that suggest the limitations of a scientistic world-view. It comes as something of a surprise when the attack on scientism and the praise of the rich diversity of many cultural traditions turns out to be the prelude to the introduction of a modified analogical theory based on the Thomistic tradition. The perspective which is eventually outlined seems very close to that of Paul Ricoeur's defense of analogy, from a phenomenological point of view, in The Rule of Metaphor. Unlike Ricoeur, however, Madison does not engage thinkers like Heidegger and Derrida at a deep level; he prefers a broad survey of many subject matters to the more concentrated studies of Ricoeur on specific subjects such as metaphor.