Providence lost

"To the ancient Greeks, providence was the inherent purpose and rational structure of the world. In Christian thought, it became a benign will "providing" for human well-being. And in our own ever more secular times - is providence lost? Perhaps. but as Genevieve Lloyd makes clear in this illuminating work, providence still exerts a powerful influence on our thought and in our lives; and understanding how can help us clarify the functioning - or, increasingly, the malfunctioning - of concepts of freedom and autonomy that define our modernity. Such an understanding is precisely the goal of…