In this Book
- Eternal Consciousness
- Book
- 2012
- Published by: University of Notre Dame Press
In his new book, John S. Dunne asks: “So what is eternal consciousness? It is, I take it, consciousness of the eternal in us. If time is ‘a changing image of eternity,’ as Plato says, the changing image of the human being is like The Voyage of Life, four paintings by Thomas Cole, showing childhood, youth, adulthood, and age. The eternal in us is the person going through these phases. It is the vertical dimension of the life, as in the title scene of War and Peace where Prince Andre lay on the battlefield looking up into the peaceful sky, perceiving peace in the midst of war. If the horizontal dimension is time and the vertical dimension is eternity, then eternal consciousness is awareness of the vertical dimension. What is more, the vertical dimension carries through the horizontal, as the person walks through life upright instead of being dragged through in ‘quiet desperation.’ Willingness and hope, accordingly, is willingness to walk through upright with hope in the face of death and darkness.” —from the book
Table of Contents
- Is Matter a Dimension?
- pp. 19-35
- Real Presences
- pp. 37-60
- Words and Music
- pp. 61-77
- Story and Song
- pp. 79-95
- Eternal Consciousness
- pp. 97-108
- Song Cycle
- pp. 109-112
- A Note on Mind and Matter
- pp. 113-114
- Index of Names
- pp. 133-136