Strangers, Gods and Monsters is a fascinating look at how human identity is shaped by three powerful but enigmatic forces. Often overlooked in accounts of how we think about ourselves and others, Richard Kearney skilfully shows, with the help of vivid examples and illustrations, how the human outlook on the world is formed by the mysterious triumvirate of strangers, gods and monsters.
Throughout, Richard Kearney shows how Strangers, Gods and Monsters do not merely reside in myths or fantasies but constitute a central part of our cultural unconscious. Above all, he argues that until we understand better that the Other resides deep within ourselves, we can have little hope of understanding how our most basic fears and desires manifest themselves in the external world and how we can learn to live with them.

Richard Kearney is Professor of Philosophy at Boston College and University College Dublin. His publications include On Stories,Wake of Imagination and Postnationalist Ireland (all published by Routledge), and Sam's Fall (novel).

List of illustrations, Acknowledgements, Introduction: strangers, gods and monsters, PART I, 1. Strangers and scapegoats, 2. Rights of sacrifice, 3. Aliens and others, 4. Evil, monstrosity and the sublime, 5. On terror, PART II, 6. Hamlet's ghosts: from Shakespeare to Joyce, 7. Melancholy: between gods and monsters, 8. The immemorial: a task of narrative, 9. God or Khora?, 10. Last gods and final things: faith and philosophy, Conclusion, Notes, Index