Four cultures of the West
John W. O'Malley (Author)
"The cultures considered here originated in the ancient world, took on Christian forms, and manifest themselves today in more secular ways. These are, as John W. O'Malley identifies them: the prophetic culture that proclaims the need for radical change in the structures of society (represented by, for example, Jeremiah, Martin Luther, and Martin Luther King, Jr.); the academic culture that seeks to understand those structures (Aristotle, Aquinas, the modern university); the humanistic culture that addresses fundamental human issues and works for the common good of society (Cicero, Erasmus, and Eleanor Roosevelt); and the culture of art and performance that celebrates the mystery of the human condition (Phidias, Michelangelo, Balanchine)."
Print Book, English, 2004
Annotated View all formats and editions
Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass., Cambridge, Massachusetts, 2004
History
261 pages ; 22 cm
9780674014985, 9780674021037, 0674014987, 0674021037
1058005757
Introduction : Athens and Jerusalem
Culture 1. Prophecy and reform
Culture 2. The academy and the professions
Culture 3. Poetry, rhetoric, and the common good
Culture 4. Art and performance
Epilogue : the book of our experience
A version of this book was presented at the First Biennial Blessed Pope John XXII lecture series in Theology and Culture at the University of Notre Dame in 2002