The Nature of the Soul

This book offers a contemporary Christian explication of the word 'soul' that uses Wittgenstein and his interpreters to suggest that human intelligence and desire cannot be 'mapped into the world' that is described by science and metaphysics. It examines the Aristotelian notion of the soul as one who acts in the world, and suggests that we construct ourselves, our narratives, by our actions in history. Drawing upon the resurrection accounts of the gospels, where Jesus is presented as having been 'translated into the liturgy' it speculates that the core of the human person, his or her intelligence, can be translated into other material mediums, all the while maintaining personal identity. Reading Aquinas according to the insights of contemporary figures in Anglo-American philosophy of language, Klein argues that, ultimately, to be a soul is to be a narrative destined for Christic incorporation into the Book of Life spoken of in Revelation.

Terrance Klein holds a doctorate in fundamental theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome, writing under Archbishop Rino Fisichella, auxiliary bishop of Rome and President of the newly formed Pontifical Council for the New Evangelization. Klein was an associate professor of theology at Fordham University, 2006-2010, and is now a visiting professor of religious studies at Fairfield University. He is the former chair of the Karl Rahner Society of America and is the author of two scholarly monographs: How Things Are in the World: Metaphysics and Theology in Wittgenstein and Rahner (Marquette University Press, 2003) and Wittgenstein and the Metaphysics of Grace (Oxford, 2007) as well as a popular work in spirituality Vanity Faith: Searching for Spirituality with the Stars (Liturgical Press, 2009).

Chapter 1 What a Piece of Work is Man; Chapter 2 Mapping the World; Chapter 3 Too Too Sullied Flesh; Chapter 4 A Narrative of Desire: Hebraic Usage; Chapter 5 Plato Summons the Soul; Chapter 6 Aristotle's Actor; Chapter 7 Aquinas; Chapter 8 A New Name and a New Future; Chapter 9 Shuffled Off This Mortal Coil;