Overcoming Cynicism, William James and the Metaphysics of Engagement [Hardcover]

Combating the notion of a 'healthy' cynicism,Overcoming Cynicismdemonstrates that the cynic engages not in genuine critique, but rather in a denial of the possibility of fruitful change. Mustain first uses two historical versions of cynicism-ancient Greek and Victorian-to describe competing currents within the cynical attitude. She brings this historical discussion to bear upon two contemporary sources of cynicism, Christian fundamentalism and scientism, and offers an alternative path which seeks to confront the real problems we encounter in our experiences of relations relations without either explaining those problems away or making them fundamental.Megan R. Mustainis Assistant Professor of Philosophy at St. Mary's University in San Antonio, Texas, USA.

AcknowledgmentsIntroductionChapter 1 - Historical Cynicism: Diogenes and the VictoriansChapter 2 - Contemporary Sources of Cynicism: Fundamentalism and ScientismChapter 3 - A Diagnosis of Disconnection at the Heart of CynicismChapter 4 - In Search of Alternatives: Coping with Relatedness Chapter 5 - Engaging and Reconstructing Relations: Concluding Remarks and a Path ForwardBibliographyIndex