The Other Calling: Theology, Intellectual Vocation and Truth

What is the true calling of the intellectual? In this provocative new book, Andrew Shanks presents a distinctive fresh answer. The Other Calling is a systematic riposte both to the elitism of philosophy in the heritage of Plato, and to the typical individualism of Plato’s philosophic opponents. Here, instead, intellectual integrity is identified with a form of priesthood. This book asserts that intellectuals are critical to bringing together the common aspirations of a community. It offers a strikingly original approach to the moral and political aspects of theology’s relationship with philosophy, exploring the perspectives of both disciplines. It draws on the work and thought of Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Agnostics, and Atheists. It argues for a new, religiously multicultural ‘priesthood of all thinkers’, considering how once, all intellectuals were as a matter of course also priests. It is published in the new and prestigious Illuminations series.