Table of Contents

Preface Introduction 1. “A Worm! A God!” 2. “That Which Shows God in Me, Fortifies Me” 3. Freedom and Full Reality 4. Full Reality Is God 5. Plato’s Progress 6. Plato, Freedom, and Us 7. Plato on Reason, Love, and Inspiration 8. Plato on “Becoming Like God” 9. Ordinary and Extraordinary Experiences of God Appendix: Comparisons Between the Plato/Hegel Argument for a God Within Us, and Several Well-Known Arguments for God Bibliography Notes Index

Promotional Information

A substantial and provocative reading of the mystical in Plato, Hegel, and others serves to establish in outline a vision for an ethics and ontology of the 21st century.

About the Author

Robert M. Wallace is a philosopher and translator who as translated Hans Blumenberg, Hans-Georg Gadamer and Odo Marquard. He is author of Hegel’s Philosophy of Reality, Freedom and God (2005).

Reviews

[It] will be most beneficial for scholars and graduate students in theology and the philosophy of religion.
*Reading Religion*

Robert Wallace has written a wonderful book and explained some extremely difficult philosophical and theological concepts in straightforward language.
*Journal of Consciousness Studies*

This is a major contribution to philosophical discussions of mysticism. Wallace offers a compelling and accessible defence of Plato’s idea that we know a higher reality, explains how science can be part of this reality, and draws some important implications for an understanding of the fact/value distinction. He draws upon an impressive range of thinkers, writes with confidence and flair, and offers a decisive challenge to the reductive naturalist paradigm that drives so much contemporary philosophy.
*Fiona Ellis, Professor of Philosophy and Religion, University of Roehampton, UK*

At a time when big picture Philosophy is “out”, Wallace boldly attempts to restore the perceived unity of scientific philosophical and religious endeavor. Primarily based on Plato’s and Hegel’s notions of “the God within” as also the Transcendent, he cuts “the Gordian knot” of Platonism through learned discussions of ancient & modern thought, including neglected mystical thinkers; e.g., J.N. Findlay. Wallace is indeed a contemporary American Transcendentalist!
*Jay Bregman, Board of directors, International Society for Neoplatonic Studies, USA*