A Heart that Skips a Beat: A Response to Arthur Bochner

Abstract

Contrary to the impression I get when reading Professor Bochner's generous review of my book Perfection: Coming to Terms with Being Human, the discourse of metaphysics and the divine is not where I ground the workings of perfection. Rather, the discourse I favor is that of phenomenology, with its interpretive interest in disclosing the ontological structures of human existence. With my discussion of this matter I also deal with two additional and related concerns that Bochner has regarding Perfection: my need to be more of an ironist than a metaphysician, and my lack of attention to the emotion of love. My ultimate goal in all of this is to enhance the possibility that Professor Bochner's “heart” might still “skip a beat.”

Keywords:

• Perfection
• Phenomenology
• Call of Conscience
• Acknowledgment
• Otherness

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Michael J. Hyde

Michael J. Hyde (Ph.D., Purdue University, 1977) is University Distinguished Professor of Communication Ethics at Wake Forest University