The Other Calling

Theology, Intellectual Vocation and Truth

Andrew Shanks author

Format:Hardback

Publisher:John Wiley and Sons Ltd

Published:18th Dec '06

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

The Other Calling cover

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.


  • Asserts that intellectuals are critical to bringing together the common aspirations of a community

  • Offers a strikingly original approach to the moral and political aspects of theology’s relationship with philosophy, exploring the perspectives of both disciplines
  • Draws on the work and thought of Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Agnostics, and Atheists
  • Argues for a new, religiously multicultural “priesthood of all thinkers”, considering how once, all intellectuals were as a matter of course also priests
  • Published in the new and prestigious Illuminations series

“This book is a brave counter to both anti-intellectualism and intellectual élitism, and would be worth buying simply for the opening and closing chapters, where the essentials of the argument are clearly articulated. Nevertheless, those who wish to overhear the author coming to his conclusions in conversation with the likes of Plato, Hegel, Leo Strauss, Alexandre Kojève, Coleridge, and Girard will find the intervening chapters intellectually demanding, but also consistently enlightening.” Church Times

ISBN: 9781405157667

Dimensions: 236mm x 155mm x 18mm

Weight: 445g

248 pages