- Summary
- "What lies at the heart of humanity's capacity for evil? Any tenable answer to this age-old question must include an explanation of our penchant for objectifying and dehumanizing our fellow human beings. The Objectification Spectrum: Understanding and Transcending Our Diminishment and Dehumanization of Others draws upon timeless wisdom to propose a new model of objectification. Rather than offering a narrow definition of the term, the author explores objectification as a spectrum of misapprehension running from its mildest form, casual indifference, to its most extreme manifestation, dehumanization. Using vivid examples to clearly demarcate three primary levels of objectification, the author engages in a thoughtful exploration of various dispositional and situational factors contributing to this uniquely human phenomenon. These include narcissism, the ego, death denial, toxic situations, and our perceived boundaries of self, among others. Rector then gives us reason to hope by orienting his model of objectification into a broader continuum of human capability--one that includes a countervailing enlightenment spectrum. Gleaning insights from classic philosophy, the world's five most prominent religious traditions, and current social science research, he examines the best antidotes humankind has devised thus far to move us from casual concern for our fellow human beings toward interconnectedness and, ultimately, unity consciousness. Broad in scope and deeply penetrating, The Objectification Spectrum advances the conversation about the nature of human evil into personally relevant, potentially transformative territory"-- Provided by publisher.
"Rector introduces readers to his model by invoking a familiar story from antiquity - Plato's Allegory of the Cave - though in this case the emphasis is on how the people in the cave view the shadows as one-dimensional images (objects) without any humanity until the prisoners are lead from the cave and shown the fullness of their fellow human beings. Rector then identifies a series of dispositional and situational factors in our lives that contribute to our tendencies to objectify one another before offering some practical suggestions for transformation - beginning with ourselves and extending outward to group and community dynamics and eventually to a grander scale"-- Provided by publisher.
- Format
- Book
- Author/Creator
- Rector, John (John M.)
- Published
- New York : Oxford University Press, USA, [2014]
- Contents
-
INTRODUCTION: LEAVING PLATO'S CAVE-OUR ONLY HOPE
SECTION I-SHADOWS ON THE CAVE WALL: THE MANY FACES OF OBJECTIFICATION
· Chapter One: Preliminaries
Chapter Two: Objectification: A Slippery, Multiple Concept
Chapter Three: Objectification Revisited: A Spectrum of Misapprehension
SECTION II-THE HUMAN SITUATION: LIMITATIONS AND POSSIBILITIES
Chapter Four: Three Observations from Antiquity: "Philosophia Perennis "
Chapter Five: Unity Consciousness: Reality at its Deepest Level
SECTION III-WHAT WE ARE: DISPOSITIONAL FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO OBJECTIFICATION
Chapter Six: The Paradoxical Nature of language and other Boundaries
Chapter Seven: Boundaries of Self
Chapter Eight: Narcissism
Chapter Nine: The Ego (Part One): Its Nature and Manifestations
Chapter Ten: The Ego (Part Two): Having Versus Being
Chapter Eleven: Problems Stemming from Death Denial
SECTION IV-WHO WE ARE: SITUATIONAL FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO OBJECTIFICATION
Chapter Twelve: Rising Awareness of Situational Power
Chapter Thirteen: Situationally-Induced Objectification: Three Relevant Classic Examples
· Chapter Fourteen: What is the Heroic Individual? Momentary Transcendence of Objectification
SECTION V-PATHWAYS TOWARD TRANSFORMATION: TRAILS LEADING OUT OF PLATO'S CAVE
Chapter Fifteen: The Problem of Enlightenment
Chapter Sixteen: Theistic and Nontheistic Approaches to Transcending Objectification
Chapter Seventeen: Objectification's Antidote: The Enlightenment Spectrum.
- Notes
-
Includes bibliographical references (pages 249-266) and index.
INTRODUCTION: LEAVING PLATO'S CAVE-OUR ONLY HOPE -- SECTION I-SHADOWS ON THE CAVE WALL: THE MANY FACES OF OBJECTIFICATION -- · Chapter One: Preliminaries -- Chapter Two: Objectification: A Slippery, Multiple Concept -- Chapter Three: Objectification Revisited: A Spectrum of Misapprehension -- SECTION II-THE HUMAN SITUATION: LIMITATIONS AND POSSIBILITIES -- Chapter Four: Three Observations from Antiquity: "Philosophia Perennis " -- Chapter Five: Unity Consciousness: Reality at its Deepest Level -- SECTION III-WHAT WE ARE: DISPOSITIONAL FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO OBJECTIFICATION -- Chapter Six: The Paradoxical Nature of language and other Boundaries -- Chapter Seven: Boundaries of Self -- Chapter Eight: Narcissism -- Chapter Nine: The Ego (Part One): Its Nature and Manifestations -- Chapter Ten: The Ego (Part Two): Having Versus Being -- Chapter Eleven: Problems Stemming from Death Denial -- SECTION IV-WHO WE ARE: SITUATIONAL FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO OBJECTIFICATION -- Chapter Twelve: Rising Awareness of Situational Power -- Chapter Thirteen: Situationally-Induced Objectification: Three Relevant Classic Examples -- · Chapter Fourteen: What is the Heroic Individual? Momentary Transcendence of Objectification -- SECTION V-PATHWAYS TOWARD TRANSFORMATION: TRAILS LEADING OUT OF PLATO'S CAVE -- Chapter Fifteen: The Problem of Enlightenment -- Chapter Sixteen: Theistic and Nontheistic Approaches to Transcending Objectification -- Chapter Seventeen: Objectification's Antidote: The Enlightenment Spectrum.
