Jeremiah L. Alberg is Professor of Philosophy and Religion at International Chris­tian University in Tokyo. He is Associate Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Executive Secretary of the Colloquium on Violence and Religion (COV&R).

Looking beneath the surface of violence to its hidden motives in our disavowed desires is as difficult as it is necessary and neglected, and even forbidden as scandalous, especially in our age of culture as spectacle. Jeremiah Alberg musters some of the subtlest intellectual resources from Plato and Dante to Nietzsche, Rousseau, and Girard in order to courageously undertake this indispensable task. He adroitly leads us to read the revelation beneath the veil of these and other (notably Flannery O’Connor’s) “secular scriptures.”—William Franke, Professor of Comparative Literature, Vanderbilt University

• Contents Acknowledgments Introduction 1. The Language of Scandal and the Scandal of Language 2. The Fascination of Friedrich Nietzsche 3. The Scandal of Jean-Jacques Rousseau 4. The Interpretation of Dante Alighieri 5. The Lesson of the Gospels 6. The Challenge of Flannery O’Connor Conclusion Notes Bibliography Subject Index Index of Scripture Passages

Jeremiah L. Alberg is Professor of Philosophy and Religion at International Chris­tian University in Tokyo. He is Associate Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Executive Secretary of the Colloquium on Violence and Religion (COV&R).

Looking beneath the surface of violence to its hidden motives in our disavowed desires is as difficult as it is necessary and neglected, and even forbidden as scandalous, especially in our age of culture as spectacle. Jeremiah Alberg musters some of the subtlest intellectual resources from Plato and Dante to Nietzsche, Rousseau, and Girard in order to courageously undertake this indispensable task. He adroitly leads us to read the revelation beneath the veil of these and other (notably Flannery O’Connor’s) “secular scriptures.”—William Franke, Professor of Comparative Literature, Vanderbilt University

• Contents Acknowledgments Introduction 1. The Language of Scandal and the Scandal of Language 2. The Fascination of Friedrich Nietzsche 3. The Scandal of Jean-Jacques Rousseau 4. The Interpretation of Dante Alighieri 5. The Lesson of the Gospels 6. The Challenge of Flannery O’Connor Conclusion Notes Bibliography Subject Index Index of Scripture Passages

Jeremiah L. Alberg is Professor of Philosophy and Religion at International Chris­tian University in Tokyo. He is Associate Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Executive Secretary of the Colloquium on Violence and Religion (COV&R).

Looking beneath the surface of violence to its hidden motives in our disavowed desires is as difficult as it is necessary and neglected, and even forbidden as scandalous, especially in our age of culture as spectacle. Jeremiah Alberg musters some of the subtlest intellectual resources from Plato and Dante to Nietzsche, Rousseau, and Girard in order to courageously undertake this indispensable task. He adroitly leads us to read the revelation beneath the veil of these and other (notably Flannery O’Connor’s) “secular scriptures.”—William Franke, Professor of Comparative Literature, Vanderbilt University

• Contents Acknowledgments Introduction 1. The Language of Scandal and the Scandal of Language 2. The Fascination of Friedrich Nietzsche 3. The Scandal of Jean-Jacques Rousseau 4. The Interpretation of Dante Alighieri 5. The Lesson of the Gospels 6. The Challenge of Flannery O’Connor Conclusion Notes Bibliography Subject Index Index of Scripture Passages