The concept of the soul has been a recurring area of exploration since ancient times. What do we mean when we talk about finding our soul, how do we know we have one, and does it hold any relevance in today's scientifically and technologically dominated society? From Socrates and Augustine to Darwin and Freud, In Search of the Soul takes readers on a concise, accessible journey into the origins of the soul in Western philosophy and culture, and examines how the idea has developed throughout history to the present. Touching on literature, music, art, and theology, John Cottingham illustrates how, far from being redundant in contemporary times, the soul attunes us to the importance of meaning and value, and experience and growth. A better understanding of the soul might help all of us better understand what it is to be human. Cottingham delves into the evolution of our thoughts about the soul through landmark works-including those of Aristotle, Plato, and Descartes. He considers the nature of consciousness and subjective experience, and discusses the psychoanalytic view that large parts of the human psyche are hidden from direct conscious awareness. He also reflects on the mysterious and universal longing for transcendence that is an indelible part of our human makeup. Looking at the soul's many dimensions-historical, moral, psychological, and spiritual-Cottingham makes a case for how it exerts a powerful pull on all of us. In Search of the Soul is a testimony to how the soul remains a profoundly significant aspect of human flourishing.

• Cover
• Contents
• Foreword and Acknowledgements
• 1. Humanity in Quest of the Soul
  • The Risk of Loss
  • Dimensions of Soul
  • The Soul and Human Nature
  • The Soul and Moral Integration
  • But Why the Soul?
• 2. The Evolution of the Soul
  • What Is the Soul?
  • Out of This World?
  • From Souls to Ghosts
  • Descartes and the Shrinking Soul
  • Cartesian Automata and the Creativity of Thought
  • The Soul-Body Unit and Descartes’s Trialism
  • The Ethical Implications of Human Embodiment
• 3. Soul, Science, and Subjectivity
  • Objective Science and Subjective Experience
  • Consciousness: Illusion or Irreducible Reality?
  • The Panpsychist Turn
  • Finding a Place for Consciousness
  • The Domain of the Soul
• 4. The Partly Hidden Soul
  • From Soul-Searching to Self-Fashioning
  • The Opacity of the Soul and Psychic Integration
  • The Depths of the Psyche
  • The Soul’s Hidden Yearning for God
• 5. The Soul and the Transcendent
  • Reaching Forward to the Transcendent
  • Natural versus Supernatural:The Unhelpful Contrast
  • Immortal Longings and the Care of the Soul: From Metaphysics to Praxis
  • Transcendence and Our Human Destiny
• Bibliography
• Index