Freedom is a concept of deep importance in philosophical and theological discourse—but is our contemporary conception of freedom adequate?
D. C. Schindler seeks to answer this question by recovering the classical Christian idea of freedom. Through a long durée analysis of five major historical periods, Schindler shows how the Christian tradition developed a novel notion of human freedom by synthesizing Hebrew and Greek thought. Genuine freedom, he argues, is a matter of one’s being, not simply a quality of one’s actions.
Retrieving Freedom: The Christian Appropriation of Classical Tradition seeks to return to the sources of the Western tradition to recover a more adequate understanding of human freedom. As the Catholic Social Science Review comments, “has provided a tremendous scholarly labor in uncovering and explaining the Christian roots to the concept of Western freedom. His work deserves a wide reading among philosophers, political theorists, and historians of freedom.”
The new paperback edition is available for purchase on the Notre Dame Press website.
D. C. Schindler is professor of metaphysics and anthropology at the John Paul II Institute, Washington, DC. He is the author of more than a dozen books, including Freedom from Reality: The Diabolical Character of Modern Liberty.
Learn More on our blog:
• An Interview with D.C. Schindler, Author of RETRIEVING FREEDOM
• Eight Notre Dame Press Books Receive Catholic Media Association Book Awards