Edward S. Casey

Bruce W. Wilshire

Music, Science, Ecstasy, the Body

Much-At-Once

Metaphysics: an Introduction to Philosophy

In this capstone work, the late Bruce Wilshire seeks to rediscover the fullness of life in the world by way of a more complete activation of the body’s potentials. Appealing to our powers of hearing and feeling, with a special emphasis on music, he engages a rich array of composers, writers, and thinkers ranging from Beethoven and Mahler to Emerson and William James. Wilshire builds on James’s concept of the much-at-once to name the superabundance of the world that surrounds, nourishes, holds, and stimulates us; that pummels and provokes us; that responds to our deepest need—to feel ecstatically real.

The Much-at-Once

Wilshire (philosophy, Rutgers) looks behind the shift of focus from teaching to research in universities, and sees a tight-knit fraternity bound by archaic initiation, purification, and exclusionary practices. He recommends some changes. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Bruce W. Wilshire

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