Jacob's Ladder and the Tree of Life: Concepts of Hierarchy and the Great Chain of Being (American University Studies)

The Great Chain of Being has been recognized for fifty years as the masterpiece of the History of Ideas movement in America. Lovejoy's work stimulated deeper research into our heritage, which has demonstrated that the idea of the chain of being has not lost its vitality. However, Lovejoy would probably be surprised that hierarchy is now defended in philosophy of science, in ontology and metaphysics, in ethics and aesthetics, and in philosophical anthropology. This volume presents concepts of hierarchy and the great chain of being from Plato, Aristotle, Plotinus, medieval and Renaissance thinkers, Hindu philosophy, and authors of the twentieth century. This volume represents the ideas of twenty scholars, among whom are Dominic O'Meara, Ronald Hathaway, Ewert Cousins, John Sommerfeldt, Lewis Ford, David Blumenthal, and Marion and Paul Kuntz.
The editors have compiled a bibliography of four hundred and fifty items and an index of names, places, and concepts which allow the reader immediate access to the variety as well as the unity of ideas.

«Jacob's Ladder and the Tree of Life is a major scholarly achievement. Generously conceived and impressively executed, it is often profoundly thoughtful and always comprehensive in its range.» (C.A. Patrides, G.B. Harrison Professor of English Literature, University of Michigan)
«These essays make clear and central what is often mistakenly thought to be arcane and peripheral. Those of us who work in the intellectual history of the Middle Ages and Renaissance owe a great debt to the two distinguished scholars who have put this volume together.» (S.K. Heninger, Jr. University Distinguished Professor of English, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill)
«Les éditeurs ont eu l'excellente idée de dresser en fin d'ouvrage une longue bibliographie, répertoriant plus de 450 titres concernant ce vaste domaine, ainsi qu'un index de tous les noms propres et des principaux mots clefs.» (Jean Borel, Revue de Theologie et de Philosophie)
«Toutes ces communications nous donnent les moyens de réflechir sur une notion tellement universelle et liée au fonctionnement de l'intelligence humaine qu'elle paraît être une sorte de 'point aveugle' de l'esprit, étant moins un object de pensée que ce avec quoi l'on pense.» (Hélène Merle, Les Etudes Philosophiques)