Falling Inward: Humanities in the Age of Technology

What is the good of studying the humanities? This frequently asked question is usually answered with some variation on the theme of self-improvement. Study the humanities, the formulation goes, and become a more creative individual, with a more well-rounded résumé and a more empathetic outlook. At root, however, such an answer—factual as it may be—is as useless as it is utilitarian. In Falling Inward: Humanities in the Age of Technology, Jason Baxter addresses the pressing question of why we should study of humanities with an answer that is philosophically robust and rich with examples of literature and science. Bringing the films of Christopher Nolan and Terrence Malick into conversation with the writings of Wendell Berry and Gerald Manley Hopkins, Eliot and Plato, Tolkien and Boethius (to name but a few), Baxter weaves an intricate and innovative argument for why we should not only study the humanities, but love the truths that such study brings.