Thesis of "With Head and Heart"

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As I read this book again (which I own) I was troubled at his constant association with elite society. That cannot be overlooked. I deny that his obstacles were greater than anyone else in America, and quite possibly his life was far easier.

Remember, these are my opinions and only mine. Make sure to add your own thoughts. Keep what you like, discard the rest.

What is the thesis of the book, With Head and Heart?
How did the obstacles he endured in life transform from liabilities to assets.
What events in his life act as a mirror of the thesis and what events in his life validate the thesis?

The main thesis of the book, speaking broadly, is the constant struggle between an inner mysticism and the requirements of social activism. The nature of this struggle is the fact that solitude is essential to inner life. Further, that social activism can be "fragmenting," that is, it brings the person from one city to another, one project after another. Integrity, the life of the whole man without divisions, is almost impossible with such an agenda. Both have an equal claim, but, Thurman had a tendency to go to the social side. It is quite possible that he did this out of guilt based on the idea that there is no social utility in contemplation in the broad sense. Yet, the state of contemplation (in Aristotle's sense) is what Thurman was all about. On the other hand, contemplation seems to be a beginning, not an end to itself.

Since Thurman saw Christ as very accessible, He became an integral part of life. Another way to state the thesis is that integration, or wholeness, is required for a rational and spiritual life. This is to say that life needs to be the unfolding of a single whole. It ight have many parts, but the parts mean nothing unless they can be brought under a single form, a single idea pursued to the utmost of one's ability.

For Thurman, this meant "the disclosure of the will of God" (266). The sacred and secular are not essentially different. Christ did not come merely to save individuals or souls, but institutions, nations, peoples, economies and universities. The broader point is that there is no distinction between matter and spirit, culture and religion, the world and Christ. Christ serves a two-fold purpose: he is in the world, condemning its evil; he is out of the world, in that the world is not worthy of Him, and even more, that the world has rejected him because the Jewish leaders of the day could not see anything but power and material force.

Two events in general stand out that illumine the thesis of the book. His friendship with Gandhi and his trip ...