How to Live a Hidden Life

What gives life meaning in a post-religious age? Philosopher, biographer and ascendent public intellectual Clare Carlisle suggests in her Gifford lectures—published as Transcendence for Beginners—that Spinozian panentheism and eastern spirituality hold the answer. The Giffords are an endowed series of lectures dedicated to promoting ‘natural theology.’ Past lecturers include a roster of luminaries including William James, Reinhold Niebuhr, Charles Taylor, and Jean-Luc Marion. Carlisle situates herself not only within but also against this tradition. Natural theology, she gripes, is often ‘annoying.’ Many of its prominent practitioners are not so much incorrect as ‘uninspiring.’ She proceeds on a self-consciously unconventional tack, uniquely attentive to personal biography.