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The Search for Ideal is a 2023 book by the Sudduth criticizing prominent philosophical beliefs of it's time and suggesting that the contemporary man has lost an understanding of The Ideal and has replaced it with their own wants and desires. The book explains how truth, meaning, and love are contorted by the postmodern mind to no longer represent ideal philosophy.

Three Sections of Criticism
Sudduth Claimed that the contemporary philosophy had problems in it's pursuit of a misunderstood ideal, and that there was no transcendental-ideal. Because of a lack of transcendental-ideal, truth, meaning, and love would be misunderstood and malnourished.

Truth
"Truth is the sting of a fire. It is the pain of a heartbreak." - Sudduth, The Search for Ideal The first section of the book is on truth. Throughout this section, Sudduth uses biblical imagery of the Garden of Eden and the serpent deceiving Eve causing the fall of humanity. The chapters on truth are a combination of epistolary writing and poetic writing. The chapter "The Serpent's Venom" explains how science has replaced God and truth. In the chapter "The Death of Truth", Sudduth counters Friedrich Nietzsche's claim that God is dead by using similar language but claiming that truth is dead and we have replaced her with a fake.

Meaning
"We now face a problem. The abundance of opportunity. The crushing aspect of absolute freedom leads us to find something" - Sudduth, The Search for Ideal The second section of the book is on meaning. Sudduth identifies three different sources of meaning that man takes a philosophical stance on. The first is what he calls self-significance meaning. This is compared to Prometheus, the Titan in Greek Mythology who forms man from clay, because man fashions himself and his purpose. He claims that ultimately, man will stumble and fail and be bound just as Prometheus was. The second is what he calls discovered-significance meaning. This is compared to the Greek Myth of Orpheus who sang as nature glorified him. Just so, those who follow this form of meaning find their purpose in anything around them. Sudduth claims that just as Orpheus' head sang his sorrows after he failed, so too will these followers. The third and final is what he calls ideal-significance. This is compared to the biblical patriarch Abraham, who did what the biblical God asked despite it being seemingly harmful to Abraham himself. The implication being that just as the patriarch was blessed, so will the people who pursue ideal-significance.