"The concept of the universal has challenged philosophy throughout its history. In The Intimate Universal, William Desmond cuts through its myriad definitions to arrive at a plurivocal alternative that better captures what it means to be human. He identifies religion, art, philosophy, and politics as essential and distinctive modes of human practice, manifestation of what he calls and 'intimate universality' that illuminates individual and social being. These categories are also surprisingly permeable, and by observing their interrelationships he captures signs of a clandestine conversation that he believes will transform our understanding of existence."-adapted from dust jacket.