Vernon White 
Meaning, Mattering, Transcendence [PDF ebook] 
Essays on Meaning, Morality, and God

This book examines the meaning of some of the most basic terms we use in both confessional and secular discussion about morality and religion. Is there any credible and distinctive meaning in what we refer to as ‘right and wrong’ and ‘God’? What do we even mean by meaning itself? Outside specialist academic discourse these terms are rarely examined in depth. Here they are probed with as much rigor as possible, but also accessibly. Literary, philosophical, and theological sources are all widely drawn on in the discussion. Experiences of ordinary life help illustrate the issue and arguments at stake. As a collection of essays each section is freestanding. But there is also a clear overall connecting argument. It demonstrates a common trajectory towards ‘ultimacy’ or ‘transcendence’ in the meaning of these terms. It argues that the meaning of morality, of God, and of meaning itself, is not just an individual or social construction. It is grounded in what lies beyond us. In this way it offers an alternative to reductionist views, and advances a thesis about transcendence which connects across a wide range of both religious and non-religious experience. 

About the author

Vernon White is visiting professor in the department of Theology & Religious Studies at King’s College, London, and Senior Fellow of the Westminster Abbey Institute. He is the author of a number of books of moral and philosophical theology, most recently Purpose and Providence (2015/2018).