Rapture - (No Limits) by Christopher Hamilton (Paperback)

About the Book

In this inviting book, philosopher Christopher Hamilton reflects on the nature of rapture and its crucial yet unacknowledged place in our lives.

Book Synopsis

What is it like to experience rapture? For philosopher Christopher Hamilton, it is a loss of self that is also a return to self--an overflowing and emptying out of the self that also nourishes and fills the self. In this inviting book, he reflects on the nature of rapture and its crucial yet unacknowledged place in our lives.

Hamilton explores moments of rapture in everyday existence and aesthetic experience, tracing its disruptive power and illuminating its philosophical significance. Rapture is found in sexual love and other forms of intense physical experience, such as Philippe Petit's nerve-defying wire walk between the Twin Towers. Hamilton also locates it in quieter but equally joyous moments, such as contemplating a work of art or the natural world. He considers a range of examples in philosophy and culture--Nietzsche and Weil, Woolf and Chekhov, the extremes of experience in Werner Herzog's films--as well as aspects of ordinary life, from illness to gardening. Conversational and evocative, this book calls on us to ask how we might make ourselves more open to experiences of rapturous joy and freedom.

Review Quotes

[Christopher Hamilton's] expressed purpose is to open the reader to the possibility of rapture, not as an escape from the world, but to live more fully while here.-- "Inside Higher Ed"

Rapture is a very pleasant, well-written, intelligent, and inspiring essay on the many meanings of human lives.-- "Daily Philosophy"

lyrical and moving...-- "Publishers Weekly"

Compiling resources and experiences that bring the phenomenon of rapture into focus, Hamilton makes intriguing connections and models the thoughtfulness characteristic of philosophy at its best. There are numerous nuggets of insight that will open up new ways of thinking for readers. I finished the book wanting more.--Vincent Lloyd, author of In Defense of Charisma

This book deserves to be widely read because it is so openly and concretely engaged in how we live our lives. It offers a rare combination of a brilliant mind devoted to the interests of people with a capacity to avoid pomposity and self-importance. Hamilton's writing is crisp and clear, with exquisite taste and exemplary concision.--Charles F. Altieri, author of Literature, Education, and Society: Bridging the Gap

About the Author

Christopher Hamilton is professor of philosophy at King's College London. His most recent book is Philosophy and Autobiography: Reflections on Truth, Self-Knowledge, and Knowledge of Others (2021).