On the Darkness of the Will (Philosophy)

"For the will desires not to be dark, and this very desire causes the darkness” (Jacob Boehme). Moving through the fundamental question of this paradox, this book offers a constellation of theoretical and critical essays that shed light on the darkness of the will: its obscurity to itself. Through in-depth analysis of medieval and modern sources—Augustine, Pseudo-Dionysius, Eriugena, Dante, Meister Eckhart, Chaucer, Nietzsche, Cioran, Meher Baba—this volume interrogates the nature and meaning of the will, along seven modes: spontaneity, potentiality, sorrow, matter, vision, eros, and sacrifice. These multiple lines of inquiry are finally presented to coalesce around one fundamental point of agreement: the will says yes, yet only a will that knows how to say no to itself, entering the silence of its own darkness, will ever be free.

Table of Contents

Introduction
I. The Whim of Reality: On the Question of Will
II. Of a Leaden Hue: Chaucerian Non-Mysticism
III. Sorrow of Being: In Calignem
IV. The Tears of Matter: On the Crucifixion Darkness
V. Because It's Not There: A Vision of Climbing and Life
VI. The Inverted Rainbow: On the Color of Love
VII. Inner Life | Inner Death: On the Threshold of the Sacred