Reviews (1)

R. H. France and the Doctrine of Life.
This book recounts the very interesting biography (life and work) of the Viennese biologist Raoul H. Francé (1874-1943) and of his wife, Annie Francé-Harrar. Francé was virtually the first biologist to recog-nize the importance of ecology for the well-being of mankind. In his "Doctrine of Life" he worked out a blueprint for the way by which human civilization could be allowed to grow without destroying the planet. His "Objective (Biocentric) Philo-sophy" provided the means for every human being to achieve a happy life in harmony with nature. His teachings are at present even more applicable than in his own time because the danger to the en-vironment is many times greater today.He was a Renaissance-type personality who had a multifaceted character: a scien-tist specializing in microbiology and plant sciences; a literary author possessing a beautiful writing style; an editor and pub-lisher of a number of important journals; an educator who influenced two genera-tions of students; an administrator who founded, organized and directed an insti-tute and a number of societies; a visual artist in his own right, and last, but not least, a philosopher who created a new philosophical system. Francé became known to the public at largefor his dis-covery of Bionics, and for thefounding of the new science of Soil Ecology. The book is an easy reading with 58 illustrations, containing a wealth of information not only about the lives of the Francés but also about the environment and societyin which they lived around the turn of the century. It is recommended reading for anyone interested in Biology and Philo-sophy, as well as the life story of two exceptional personalities. ... Read more

Book Description

First published in 1953, and now newly introduced by Patricia Little, this unique portrait depicts Weil through the eyes of her friends, not as a strange and unaccountable genius but as an ardent and very human young person in search of truth and knowledge. ... Read more

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An amazing book from an amazing lady!
I found this book to be inspiring. A book not to be missed!

Now it can be told!
A concise, elegant autobiography by Beate Sirota Gordon, an Austrian who grew up in pre-war Japan as a child and later returned to what she very much considered her home to find her parents (music teachers who refused to abandon their Japanese students as pre war tensions mounted and were held prisoner). It chronicles not only her battle with the entrenched Japanese male authority but battles with the entrenched American male authority, who weren't necessarily any less sexist than the Japanese. She took a job with the American army as a translator and ended up helping draft Japan's post war constitution. And she did all this at the age of 22!

Gordon escaped the war by going to an all girls school in California. There she encountered the feminist movement and learned a lot about women's rights issues. Upon returning to Japan, she was asked by the American government to help with the constitution. The Americans wanted the constitution written and adopted quickly, fearing the Soviets last minute entry into the war would give them influence. She went to town, drafting about a dozen articles for the Japanese constitution guaranteeing women rights in the work place, politics, health care, child custody, etc. Many were stripped out but two key articles she drafted remained. What's more amazing is Gordon takes so little credit for her accomplishments and instead agonizes more about what was left on the cutting room floor.

For several decades after, the creation of the Japanese constitution was not well publicized. The Americans feared the haste with which it was written and the fact that the job was basically given to a group of found amateurs would cause the Japanese people to reject it. It's only now that her story has been able to come out.

All in all a fascinating account and hard to put down. If there's a downside it's that Gordon doesn't pump up her autobiography with more fascinating and telling anecdotes. ... Read more

Book Description

This brief text assists students in understanding Ayn Rand's philosophy and thinking so that they can more fully engage in useful, intelligent class dialogue and improve their understanding of course content. Part of the "Wadsworth Philosophers Series," (which will eventually consist of approximately 100 titles, each focusing on a single "thinker" from ancient times to the present), ON AYN RAND is written by a philosopher deeply versed in the philosophy of this key thinker. Like other books in the series, this concise book offers sufficient insight into the thinking of a notable philosopher better enabling students to engage the reading and to discuss the material in class and on paper. ... Read more

Reviews (19)

BEST SHORT BOOK ON AYN RAND EVER WRITTEN
A plus. It doesn't get any better than this. In 100 pages, Dr. Gotthelf draws on everything known about Ayn Rand, from her novels, books, articles, journals, even spoken lectures and interviews, and gives the correct essentials. The emphasis is on her underlying philosophy, Objectivism, 'the philosophy for living on earth.' The politics of capitalism are only briefly sketched in. He clearly explains Ayn Rand's most complex innovation, her theory of concepts. Under ethics, he covers the 6 most important virtues. He opens and closes with Ayn Rand's benevolent universe premise and heroic view of mankind. He concludes with a passage from John Galt's speech in Atlas Shrugged.'Fight for the value of your person. Fight for the virtue of your pride.... Fight with the radiant certainty and absolute of knowing that yours is the Morality of Life and that yours is the battle for any achievement, any value, any grandeur, any goodness, any joy that has ever existed on this earth.'

A clearly written introduction to Objectivism and Ayn Rand
Allan Gotthelf succeeds at condensing Ayn Rand's entire integrated philosophy of Objectivism into a short (97 pp.), easy to read introductory book. Most of the book is devoted to presenting the core of the philosophical system -- metaphysics, epistemology, and ethics -- but there is a glance at politics and esthetics, and two chapters are devoted to a biography of Ayn Rand.

Gotthelf argues that philosophy is not an esoteric game, but a practical tool none of us can do without. He shows how one's ability to make decisions and one's ethical and political views stem from the metaphysical and epistemological premises one accepts. Ultimately philosophy moves the world. *On Ayn Rand* argues that Objectivism is practical: a guide to living one's life, which, when correctly understood and acted upon, will enable its practitioner to achieve happiness.

*On Ayn Rand* introduces all the main ideas of Objectivism in a clear manner, easy for the beginner to grasp. For example, Gotthelf explains that three metaphysical axioms, which are perceptually self-evident, underlie all our thinking and are properly the starting point of philosophy: that something exists, that the act of grasping this implies that one is conscious, and that everything that exists has an identity. Using simple examples he shows how even if one tries to deny these axioms one affirms them.

*On Ayn Rand* is not written in a detached manner, so common to textbooks. Its author had been a student of Ayn Rand and knows his subject. His presentation is both factual and passionate. Convinced of the practicality of ideas and of their power to change the world, Allan Gotthelf has written a clear and enjoyable introduction to a revolutionary philosophy.

A good gloss-over of Rand
This book is good for someone who wants to understand Rand but does not yet want to dive into the endless books by and on Rand. It is a good overview of her philosophy and life, but certainly not complete.

Those liking this book will also like "Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand" by Leonard Piekoff

A good short summary of Rand's errors
Allan Gotthelf has written a decent little book here. Aside from a couple of annoying verbal habits (e.g. always writing out Ayn Rand's full name every time he refers to her) and a couple of unpleasantnesses (e.g. some nasty remarks about the Brandens and the existing secondary literature on Objectivism), this is actually a pretty well-written and well-organized brief overview of Rand's thought. (Of course -- heh heh! -- you shouldn't expect to understand it all _right away_. It takes _many, many years of serious study_ to learn that Rand was absolutely correct in every single particular.)

The presentation is orderly, if occasionally skimpy. Gotthelf devotes a couple of short, fawning chapters (well, all the chapters are short -- and fawning, too, come to think of it) to Rand's sinless life and then proceeds to take the reader on a guided tour through the main features of her thought in metaphysics, epistemology, and ethics. Political theory gets short shrift, but that's okay; while it was undoubtedly the strongest (or at any rate the least vulnerable) portion of Rand's philosophy, it was also by far the least original (which, actually, is _why_ it was the least vulnerable). Aesthetics doesn't get much attention either, which is sort of too bad, but maybe Gotthelf doesn't want to give away too many of Rand's propaganda techniques.

I especially enjoyed the tour; it's always a pleasure to encounter a book that one has completely refuted before it was even published. The reviewer from Austin is right: Rand _wasn't_ really a very good philosopher. And Gotthelf's accurate-but-uncritical summary of Rand has been a tremendous help to me in rewriting, for publication, my critique of Rand's epistemology (still available in an earlier draft form on my website); he confirms and recommits every error I pick on her for, and may even introduce one or two new ones of his own. (For example, at one point he seems to imply that the "primacy of existence" premise commits him to materialism.)

You may well imagine that critics of Objectivism (of whom I am obviously one) receive lots of silly e-mails telling them they've gotten this or that point entirely wrong (usually from people who don't seem to be able to read all that well themselves). So I'm happy to say that at numerous points I have been able to use Gotthelf's handy little text to confirm (yet again) that I was reading Rand correctly after all, and that she was just as wrong as I said she was. Now that I've taken account of his work in rewriting my own, the result is a much clearer critique. (Which just goes to show, I suppose, that Objectivists and libertarians _can_ cooperate in a good cause.)

And I'm not kidding about the quality of Gotthelf's work; this _is_ a fairly well-executed introduction, although it will probably be a bit hard to read for anyone completely unfamiliar with Rand's work. For the most part (but not entirely!) this little book reads like a precis of Leonard Peikoff's _Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand_ (which is, by the way, one of the few items of "secondary Objectivist literature" about which Gotthelf has anything good to say). As such it will make a helpful companion to that volume, whether Peikoff likes it or not. (And as I hinted, if you read carefully you'll find a few points at which Gotthelf disagrees with Peikoff and the ARI mainstream. For example, did Rand think her ethic was founded on an "axiom"? Compare Gotthelf's remarks with David Harriman's in the _Journals of Ayn Rand_.)

It will also be helpful to anyone -- Randie or otherwise -- who wants a quick and dirty summary of what Objectivism is all about. Love it or hate it, here it is.

All of Rand's Sins, None of Her Virtues
Gotthelf's book is probably the worst introduction to Rand yet written.

The book is clear to a reader only if that reader is already highly familiar with the idiosyncratic semi-technical vocabulary of Objectivism. Indeed, not only does Gotthelf express Rand's thoughts in Rand's rather obscure way of speaking, he typically lets her speak for herself - literally. Most of the main ideas are introduced by way of quoting Rand, at length. This might be okay were Gotthelf to then elucidate Rand's strange formulations, but he takes it for granted that the quotations are clear.But, when cut from context, the quotations lose most of their original flavor. This means that Gotthelf has managed to replicate all of the problems with Rand's unclear and inconsistent language without replicating any of her energy and lively style.

Gotthelf has a skewed approach to the question of how much of the book to use on a given subject. He devotes quite a bit of it to deeply a adoring account of Rand's biography, without citing the unauthorized memoir and biography by Rand's closest companions or even the authorized biography written by Barbara Branden in the early 1960's. He does cite Leonard Peikoff's biographical essay on Rand. It is appropriate that Gotthelf, who fails to display much concern with the truth about Rand's life, should cite Peikoff: Peikoff concludes that essay by explaining that our wishes determine what kind of a person Rand was.

One could tolerate hagiography if it at least included some relevant information about the development of Rand's philosophy. But this one does not. The well-articulated and strongly defended theory that Rand's philosophical development was much influenced by her immersion, in the Russia of her youth and education, in the dialectical methodology characteristic to the approach of virtually all academics in virtually all subjects on virtually all sides of virtually all questions. That is, Gotthelf manages to spend about a third of the book celebrating Rand, without mentioning the one and only fact about her personal history that is at all interesting from a philosophical point of view: that she may have taken elements of her philosophical methodology from the educational system in which she studied.

Gotthelf's skewed sense for what is worth including is displayed elsewhere, in his decision to spend about 40% of the book on Rand's metaphysics; primarily her theory of concepts. This leads him to shortchange Rand's politics, dealing with Rand's most well-known theory on a single page.

But, since Gotthelf spends so much of the book on Rand's metaphysics, and uses quotations from Rand to do most of his explaining, we must ask whether this book is a more efficient introduction to Rand's metaphysics than just reading Rand. Rand's work on metaphysics is about 100 pages long; more if you count the appendices, which help to elucidate but add little that's really essential. So now we're wading through 35 pages of hagiography and 40 pages of metaphysics to get not just the same old explanations but quotations that one could have found in Rand in a book that's only about 25 pages longer.

The discussion of ethics is similarly problematic. Rand's meta-ethical argument is deeply obscure. One cannot, by reading her essay on the subject, discover what are its premises, what are its conclusions, and how one infers the conclusions from the premises. All of the various interpretations of this argument that have been offered have been subjected to serious criticism. Gotthelf neither explains the argument (more quotations) nor even tries to show how it can deal with the criticisms that have been offered.

Rand was not a really very good philosopher; her programmatic, mostly methodological, insights require a total reworking from the bottom up. One wonders whether she'll ever acquire a scholarly following capable of doing this, or if the poor woman will be forever cursed with unconstructive, admiring sycophants on the scale of Gotthelf. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

A costly faith
This volume on the works of Dietrich Bonhoeffer is part of a series by Fortress Press entitled 'the Making of Modern Theology: Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Texts'. Each of the volumes in the series focuses upon one particular theologian of note. These volumes are of use to students, seminarians, ministers and other readers interested in the development of theological ideas in the modern and postmodern world. Each volume is a reader of key texts from the theologian highlighted - the text entries are annotated a bit by the editors, and the editor of each volume provides an introduction setting the general stage for context and understanding.

Editor John de Gruchy describes Bonhoeffer in simple terms -- as a witness to Jesus Christ. Bonhoeffer is no arm-chair theologian, but rather someone who put his theology into action, and became a modern-day martyr for his beliefs in what the gospel of Jesus Christ requires. Bonhoeffer was executed in 1945 for his part in the attempted assassination of Adolf Hitler, believing that what was finally required of Christian witness in Germany at the time was direct action against the evil that he embodied and perpetuated.

Bonhoeffer was never a bone fide academic systematic theologian, but his writings, including those pieces he wrote in prison, have become classics of Christian literature. 'Letters and Papers from Prison' and 'The Cost of Discipleship' are known the world over, but are only part of a larger body of essays, lectures, sermons and books. Bonhoeffer's early upbringing, the son of a psychiatrist/professor, part of a Lutheran/Reformed family that was generally non-religious in outlook, was not one that would predict a theological career for young Dietrich -- in fact, his earliest interest in things theological may have had more to do with his desire to be different from his brothers and the rest of his family than any direct faith in the church. Bonhoeffer was a good student, but remained unswayed by any particular influence -- he was influenced by Kierkegaard, but not to the extent that Barth was; he used I-Thou language, but not taken directly from Martin Buber.

Bonhoeffer was a parish minister, but continued to write during his pastorate. His work, 'Act and Being' was an exploration of the theology of action, including God's action in the world, and the theology of ontology, of being. After this work, Bonhoeffer spent time in America, at Union seminary in New York City, and developed there the beginnings of a theology of scripture and the Word. Back in Germany prior to the advent of the Nazi era (a period of relative political freedom in Germany), he worked on Christological issues. Bonhoeffer became the first Evangelical theologian to attack the Nazi's repressive policies. Was Bonhoeffer thinking that the freedom of expression that had come to be taken for granted in Germany would still exist under the Nazi regime?

In what is arguably Bonhoeffer's most important work, 'The Cost of Discipleship', he argues against ideas such as cheap grace and doctrines of justification by faith that permit passive acceptance of evil policies and conditions in the world. Using the Sermon on the Mount as one example, he argues that the actions of discipleship are part of the grace bestowed, not in a works-righteousness manner, but nonetheless a requirement against what today we might term 'warm fuzzy feeling' theology.

de Gruchy looks at several key areas of Bonhoeffer's work in the selected texts. The first section draws extensively from his doctoral dissertation, 'Sanctorum Communio', and his book 'Act and Being'. The other sections draw liberally on his other works as they relate to the topics at hand: Christology, the Confessing Church, Life of Free Responsibility, and finally, some of his last works from prison. de Gruchy speculates a bit on what a 'mature' Bonhoeffer who had lived might have looked like. He also includes a brief annotated listing of some key works that have been significantly influenced by Bonhoeffer's work.

Each volume in this series also has a selected bibliography section -- this one for Bonhoeffer is divided into works by Bonhoeffer (primary sources in English), works about Bonhoeffer (secondary sources in English), and includes a text of larger bibliographic references. The book also has several indexes -- a place and subject index, and a names index. This is a very good book for scholarship. The translations of the works from the original German is new, preserving some of the language uses (masculine pronouns for God) while modifying others (gender neutral translations for terms such as Mensch, Menschen).

A superb overview of the work of this seminal thinker
This book is a great place to start if you are new to Bonhoeffer's work. It is equally useful for those who have read a lot of Bonhoeffer since it includes selections from key but less well known or less accessible works like his talk at the Fano "Life and Work" conference on the importance of addressing international issues, or his 1939 letter to the Finkenwald brethren. Moreover, de Gruchy's selection of pages or even paragraphs of more difficult texts are a model for such anthologies. The very useful 40-page introduction and editor's notes before each selection say just enough to be helpful while they reveal de Gruchy's mastery of his subject. They also reflect the fact that like Bonhoeffer, de Gruchy was active for years in political struggle within a repressive regime -- in his case, South Africa. Aside from brief biographies by Bethge or Robertson that quote widely from Bonhoeffer, I don't know of a better overview to one of the most useful thinkers of the last century for our own, precarious, ... ... Read more

Reviews (2)

VICO UPDATE
Thanks to those who have emailed me about Vico.

To date there have been five responses to my previously posted request. (above)

1) A reader from Mexico read about Vico in a history of Philosophy.

2) A reader from Israel read about Vico in a book by Moshe Barasch, Modern Theories of Art, 1. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0814710611/

3) A reader from England read about Vico in the works the philosopher Isaiah Berlin.

4) A Beckett scholar from Texas found Vico through Beckett, a protégé of Joyce.

5) A reader from NYC found Vico through McLuhan.

Note the email address for those interested in responding about how they ... riverrun, past Eve and Adam's, from swerve of shore to bend of bay, brings us by a commodious vicus of recirculation back to Vico.

And as note of Interest, I liked the book better the second time through. It's worth the time to read it. Hurry up and order it before they run out of copies.

bp

THE LIFE OF AN AUTODIDACT
"The Vico road goes round and round to meet where terms begin..." writes James Joyce in Finnegans Wake, whereas well, Vico appears as Mr. John Baptister Vickar. The opening page of FW has the hundred-lettered clap of Vico's all initiating thunder, which recurs at intervals. Vico's ideas have permeated the consciousness of everyday thought, having been placed there by Karl Marx, James Joyce, Marshall McLuhan, and Joseph Campbell to name a notable few.

It is an honest account of a life lived ex-centric. His insights into the history of civilization were (and still are) a far cry from Orthodox historical exegesis, and he paid a great personal price to develop and hold them. However, there is an enthusiasm and vitality that exudes from his stated ideas, and this book serves as a firm stepping stone into the thought expressed in his New Science.

The introduction by the translators helps establish a context for Vico and his New Science, and establishes Vico as one of the first to write an autobiography, an art from that didn't have a formal name at that time.

If you are interested in this book, you likely came here from Joyce or McLuhan to drink from their source. If not, I would like to know what other paths lead to Vico, and an email to me would be appreciated as to the commodius vicas of recirculation back to Vico.

Budd Poston ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Interesting reading
If you want to gain insight into Nietzsche's thinking outside of his usual philosophical writings, or follow his chain of thought throughtout his life, this collection of letters is somewhat helpful, but he does not seem to engage in the manner in which he does in his formal philosophical works. One of the features I found surprising in his letters is the courtesy he showed to his recipients. It is evident that Nietzsche treasured the friendships he had, and this is very apparent in his letters. And interestingly, I did not find any hostility in any of the letters addressed to Richard Wagner, considering the history of their relationship.

The book is well-edited, and there is an index of recipients near the end of the book. The editor also includes a general index with subentries that allow the reader to scan an entire topic. This is a helpful aid for amateur readers of Nietzsche, such as myself, but could also be helpful I think to dedicated scholors of Nietzsche.

I was only disappointed that more letters did not address more of Nietzsche's thinking on Dionysus and Apollo. It would have been interesting to read what he had to say about them via the "freestyle" of letter writing. Nietzsche's philosophical writings are actually the most frank and unrestrained of all in nineteenth-century philosophy. He is very honest with himself, and because of this he might be viewed as somewhat narcisstic by some readers. This may be true to some degree, but Nietzsche is refreshing in his style of writing, and actually it is quite entertaining to randomly move through his books and read his maxims and opinions.

The most interesting letter is the one addressed to Carl von Gersdorff on April 6, 1867. He is writing about what he has called "the scholarly forms of disease", and tells of a story about a talented young man who enters the university to obtain a doctorate. He puts together a thesis he has been working on for years, submits it to the philosophical faculty. One rejects the work on the grounds that it advances views that are not taught there. The other states that the work is contrary to common sense and is paradoxical. His thesis is therefore rejected, and he does not therefore earn his doctorate. Nietzsche describes the "not humble enough to hear the voice of wisdom" in their negative judgment of his results. Further, the young man is "reckless enough", in Nietzsche's view, to believe that the faculty "lacks the faculty for philosophy. Nietzsche uses this story to emphasize the virtue of independence: "one cannot go one's own way independently enough. Truth seldom dwells where people have built temples for it and have ordained priests. We ourselves have to suffer for good or foolish things we do, nor those who give us the good or the foolish advice. Let us at least be allowed the pleasure of committing follies on our own initiative. There is no general recipe for how one man is to be helped. One must be one's own physician but at the same gather the medical experience at one's own cost. We really think too little about our own well-being; our egoism is not clever enough, our intellect not egoistic enough."

He's right.

What a strange but brilliant fellow...
This book is real fun to have, and shows a side of Nietzsche that is hard to come across in his formal works and the countless biographies. You can read first-hand the conflicts with his sister's anti-semitic husband, read his own giddyness about finishing a new book, and follow his decline into a state of insanity (during which he wrote the strangest letters of all). His wierd sense of humor is much more visible in his letters, which helps one to recognize when he is humoring himself at the expense of the suprised reader in his other works.

"Dear Professor: Actually I would much rather be a basel professor than God; but I have not yet ventured to cary my private egoism so far as to omit creating the world on his account. You see, one must make sacrifices, however and wherever one may be living..." (Jan. 6 1889, To Jacob Burkhart, from Turin).

Also, the index in the back of this book is very thorough, making it easy to find any person or concept that he deals with.

Note: If you are looking for other writers that write as intangible and beautiful as Nietzsche's works but less harsh on the world, try reading some Emmanuel Levinas, a briliant French Jewish Philospher who died in 1995, (Good book: Dificult Freedom) ... Read more

Book Description

Reissued in the year of the 150th anniversary of "The Communist Manifesto," this classic biography of Karl Marx is unlike any other account of its subject. Focusing as much on Marx's private life as on his public persona and work, it looks in detail at his relationships with his mother and father, wife and friends, and includes generous quotations from a wide range of correspondence. Blumenberg examines Marx's early writing as a schoolboy and his romantic poetry whilst a student, as well as his exchanges with close friend and collaborator Frederick Engels. In these pages are moving accounts of the privations of Marx's poverty-stricken life in London and the tragedies which struck his family, as well as discussions of his intellectual development and political activity. The book includes virtually every photograph in existence of Marx and his closest associates. A friend wrote of Marx when he was just twenty-four years old: 'Imagine Rousseau, Voltaire, Holbach, Lessing, Heine and Hegel all united in one person, and I say united, not just thrown together--then you've got Dr Marx.' Werner Blumenberg's biography provides an intimate portrait of the making of a complex intellectual whose work was to shape history for the century and a half that followed. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Karl Marx: An Illustrated History
Werner Blumenberg's "Karl Marx: An Illustrated History" tells the story of the man behind some of the most radical social and political theories in contemporary history. Typically negatively associated only with Communism, this book offers insight into the reasons for Marx's beliefs through various letters, memoirs and photographs. We meet his family and contemporaries and many of the influencing aspects of his life. Though fairly dry at some points, Blumenberg presents Karl Marx as a scholar, a writer, a husband, a son, a polititian, a philosopher, and most importantly, a man, in "Karl Marx: An Illustrated History".

Focus on the man, not the philosophy
From the opening lines, to the powerful conclusion, Blumenburg paints Marx in a light realistic and human light. He stresses that one gains a greater respect for a man's ideas through understanding the man himself. If you are looking for an explanation of Marxism or even some clarification, look elsewhere. But if you seek a portrait of one of the greatest political and socioeconomic thinkers in the last few hundred years, I would highly recommend this book.

I've rarely read a historian that can be both poignant and convincing as a writer, but I must say that Blumenburg writes quite well, and the accompanying photos inserted in the text break up the monotony typically associated with a biography (the book is said to contain "nearly every photo of Marx"). As a reader, one experiences the conflicts Marx had with his father and contemporaries, the excitement of his education and the formation of his ideals, and the utter hopelessness of his economic situation.

The book has been praised for its wide collection of sources and pictures, and on these two points, I would whole-heartedly agree. Actual photocopies of letters from his father, pages of his notebooks, and covers to his works accent the text surrounding these events and a wide range of personal pictures graphically illustrate convincing passages. The most powerful, perhaps, was the final photo of his massive grave site and the tombstone that reads: "Workers of all land, Unite!"

Reading the book fueled my interest in his philosophies, and I'll admit, the book is written for an audience fairly familiar with Marxism itself. Having little working knowledge of Marxism, I'm sure that I was able to fully grasp the workings of Marx's life as well as someone who is learned in this area, but I fully intend to further my reading on this subject. My advice: learn about the philosophy and the man. You will be astounded even more at the individual behind the idea!

The book closes with a detailed chronology, opinions of Marx's work from several prominent figures (i.e. Max Weber, Sigmund Freud, etc.) and a thorough bibliography. Whether it be used as a resource, entertainment, or an in-depth study, "Karl Marx: An Illustrated History" works well. An enjoyable read on all fronts.

Understanding a genius
Doesn't matter what ideology you like, follow or accept. Marx is a genius on sociology that made some of the most important works in this matter. This book is a good one but is not the great biography that I was expecting. I didn't see any need for the illustrations too... but is very nice written ... Read more

Book Description

The writings of Carl Schmitt form what is arguably the most disconcerting, original, and yet still unfamiliar body of twentieth-century political thought. In the English-speaking world, he is terra incognita, a name associated with Nazism, the author of a largely un-translated oeuvre forming no recognizable system, coming to us from a disturbing place and time in the form of fragments. The Enemy is a comprehensive reconstruction and analysis of all of Schmitt's major works, presented in an arresting narrative form, which reveals the complex ways in which his ideas took shape in the intertwining timelines of civil and world wars. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Carl Schmitt: The Political As Friend-Foe Distinction.
_The Enemy_ provides an excellent and thorough introducion to the life and thinking of the German political philosopher and jurist Carl Schmitt. The book traces the developments in his thoughts from his earliest days as a Catholic schoolchild in the Rhineland to his eventual professorship in constitutional law and his involvement with the Third Reich regime and the subsequent developments in his thought after the Third Reich had fallen. Schmitt is normally considered to belong with the "conservative revolutionaries" such as Ernst Junger, Oswald Spengler, Martin Heidegger, and several other important figures in the Weimar republic prior to the advent of the Third Reich. These thinkers were important for their political and philosophical thought which was firmly opposed to liberalism, bolshevism, and modernism. An important aspect behind Schmitt's thought was his Catholicism (however tenuous that link may have become for him at various moments in his life). Certain interpreters of Schmitt have made the claim that Schmitt's writings can be understood on the basis of a "fundamentalist" Catholicism , in which the crisis in the modern world is perceived in apocalyptic terms involving an encounter between Christ and Antichrist. Schmitt became a jurist and a professor of constitutional law and a great deal of his writing is concerned with the application of his political principles to the legal status of the constitution. Schmitt's thinking is heavily influenced by the German Romantics such as Schlegel and Hegelianism, but also has a Latin character influenced by such Catholic counter-revolutionaries as Joseph de Maistre and Donoso Cortes, as well as the writings of Thomas Hobbes in his _Leviathan_, and the writings of Machiavelli. Perhaps Schmitt is most famous for his understanding of the political in terms of the "friend-enemy" distinction. He outlined this distinction in his famous work _The Concept of the Political_. Schmitt came to occupy a central place in the Third Reich regime and was often regarded as the "Crown Jurist" of that regime. The particular problematic of Schmitt's involvement with the Third Reich and his adherence to certain anti-Semitic beliefs is firmly covered in this book. After the defeat of the Third Reich, Schmitt would come to partially renounce some of his earlier alignment with it; however, he would also come to regard the process of denazification which involved him spending several years in captivity as equally abominable. Much of Schmitt's work focused on a particular interpretation of Thomas Hobbes in hiw book _Leviathan_. Schmitt may have believed in an apocalyptic myth involving an obscure quasi-Messianic figure, the Katechon (see the discussion in the book; but also see Paul's epistle to the Thessalonians where it is explained that the Katechon refers to a "restrainer" who is to come). The book also discusses Schmitt's relationship with the new international order subsequent to the Nazi regime. The importance of Schmitt's thought here in regards to our modern era which is closely coming to approximate a New World Order and a system of international law based in the United Nations (i.e. the League of Nations in Schmitt's time) cannot be overestimated. Schmitt's later works include a book entitled _Land and Sea_ which outlines the differences between land and sea powers and a work entitled _The Law of the Earth_. The relationship between a landlocked continental German power and a seafaring English power rooted in the Calvinistic religion plays an important role in Schmitt's writings. Schmitt's later days were spent in relative obscurity as a figure who was considered anathema by the new intellectuals; however, he continued to write and work and gather a group of students around him. Carl Schmitt is a fascinating figure who encountered the dark side and whose thinking still poses interesting questions for the modern world. His distinction between friend and enemy continues to occupy an important place in the role of political theory and although some on the Left have attempted to usurp his ideas, his ideas remain firmly grounded in the tradition of right wing intellectuals of the conservative revolution. This book provides an excellent introduction and outline of his life and thought and is to be highly recommended to all those interested in this figure. ... Read more

Book Description

A seminal biography, essential reading for anyone studying the philosophy of history's most enigmatic and fascinating thinker.

No other modern philosopher has proved as influential as Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) and none is as poorly understood. In the first new biography in decades, Rüdiger Safranski, one of the foremost living Nietzsche scholars, re-creates the anguished life of Nietzsche while simultaneously assessing the philosophical implications of his morality, religion, and art. Struggling to break away from the oppressive burdens of the past, Nietzsche invented a unique philosophy based on compulsive self-consciousness and constant self-revision. As groundbreaking as it will be long-lasting, this biography offers a brilliant, multifaceted portrait of a towering figure. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Understanding the misunderstood.
To truly understand a philosopher/philosophy, one must understand the context within which that philosopher developed.
Rudiger Safranski does an excellent job of both describing Nietzsche's environments as well as distilling the esentials of his philosophy. Way too many people have mis-stated the Nietzsche message - this is an excellent source to determine what the 'valuable' message is for you.

Best biography/philosophical overview out there.
Since it is impossible to separate Nietzsche's life from his philosophy, Safranski doesn't even try.
This is the best book on Nietzsche and his philosophy I've ever read.
Why? Because instead of trying to explain N's complicated philosophical ideas all by themselves (which invariably leads to many footnotes about N's life to try and clarify them), Safranski explains the evolution of N's philosophy along with his life. You cannot help but understand it in this way.

A Meal Served In Flames
'What meaning would our whole being have if it were not that in us that will to truth has become conscious of itself _as a problem_ within us?' --*On the Genealogy of Morals*

Nietzsche lived the life of an ascetic priest who tried to pull Dionysus *inward*, internalizing the Graeco-Gnostic night journey of transformative self-enhancement, lifelong psychic combat at the frontiers of metaphor and expression. There is so much rebellious kicking and thrashing in N.'s collected works, a witch's wind of wild conjecture emanating from a chthonic whirlpool, that a long, embattled tradition of miscomprehension, accusation, and resentment was bound to ferment in its wake.... In the final year before his breakdown, N.'s landlady heard strange noises coming from his room, and sneaked upstairs to peek through the keyhole. The sight of N. dancing naked like the Hindu god Shiva, teetering on a ground-swell of hysteria, is a popular image (second only to that of a stonefaced, embittered loner pouring scorn on 'the herd' from the separatist darkness of his cold rented room) that Rudiger Safranski aims to dignify, flesh out, qualify, and redact. In this regard, *Nietzsche: A Philosophical Biography* is a boon and a delight, a sure-handed trump to all who doubt the centrality of N.'s thought (most American philosophy departments, monopolized by logicians of the 'analytical' school, do not offer a course on Nietzsche).

Safranski's biography hits hermeneutic pay-dirt, delivers all the important playlets and dramas of N.'s strange and embittered life, the byzantine reversals, the ascetic hardships, the wild years of thought-experiment and self-overcoming as this great thinker pioneered the course of non-analytic philosophy in the 20th century. N.'s passion for conjecture inspired him to structure his life so as to yield Dramatis Personae for thought, a vast cosmological theater of monstrous forces and sibylline potency blazing trails through psychology, aesthetics, philosophy of science, moral theory, and (most disastrously) politics. All philosophical thinking that measures its worth against the great Tolstoyan question 'How should one live?' will ultimately circle back to Nietzsche.

Tactfully, Safranski skimps on the details, focusing on N.'s intellectual development, bringing anecdotal data to bear at strategic moments to help qualify the radical contradictions (and/or developmental reversals) of N.'s ever-flowing deluge of path-breaking insights. When the biographer gets his blood up, his pages glimmer with concise, penetrating analogies, quicksilver correspondences, and (most importantly) stark, evenhanded censure whenever N.'s blazing hubris gets ahead of itself, as in the notorious dogmatic triptych of Ubermensch, Eternal Recurrence, and Will to Power -- a thunderous, fulminating triad of doom-eager pomposity, the fulcrum of N.'s last-ditch hysterics and tragic mental collapse.

What moves this reader most (apart from Safranski's sparkling analytic concordance) is the story of N.'s transformative self-dramatizing putting him further and further outside the loop of human relatedness (even as he penetrated deeper into the chthonic underside of morality, desire, and the historical formation of contingent knowledge-structures). The Nietzsche Syndrome has become an occupational hazard for all lonely, dejected, ego-intensive scholars -- a millstone of toxic self-importance contaminating interpersonal nuance and making the most routine human contact an act of heavy lifting. 'I feel as though I am condemned to silence or tactful hypocrisy in my dealings with everybody.' The chapter focusing on N.'s anguished courtship of Lou Andreas-Salome' is powerfully instructive. Here we see the proud egomaniac so befuddled by his philosophic fantasies (and their ruthless misapplication) that the lonely human being fulminating at their center can no longer break bread with the rest of the species. 'My soul was missing its skin, so to speak, and all natural protections.' N.'s failure to heed Zarathustra's doctrine that disciples should abandon their teachers as soon as they have 'found' their teachings brought N. 'to the brink of insanity'(253) in his yearning for Salome', who, once she understood him, left N.'s side for new intellectual horizons. (In an unsent letter, anguished love-trauma turns to squalid, adolescent rancor: 'This scrawny dirty smelly monkey with her fake breasts -- a disaster!') N. had put so much of himself into speculative thought that the intricate eroto-politicking of courtship and love had become flat-out culture-shock, a strange netherworld of alien ritual and occult formality (exacerbated by a string of spontaneous marriage-proposals to various women during periods of depression and self-doubt).

N.'s corpus of thought became, in many respects, a resentful war-machine geared to take imaginary revenge on the European culture that ignored his writings (while he lived), rebuffed his passion for radical redirection and reform, and refused to validate his Ubermenschian self-image as apocalyptic cultural messiah. We all know the story of N.'s betrayal of his earlier anti-essentialism for 'the will to power,' his grasping for the brass ring of Metaphysics, for the Type A theoretical entity that would circumnavigate and contain the Universe in its pan-relational sightlines. As Safranski notes, Heidegger would condemn the Nietzschean will-to-power as the last metaphysical gasp of a resentful philosophic priest (an allegation that would close the karmic circle via Derrida's critique of Heidegger's *own* late theorizing). N. was a new Prometheus who sought to reclaim the religious creativity of the Graeco-Christian world and restructure the soul of humanity with a renewed spiritual vigor (played against a neo-Darwinist backdrop of cold-water atheism to keep thinking 'grounded' in a steely empirical pragmatism). Safranski's text conflates every major biographical and critical analysis into a compact, razorbacked, 400-page monster head-trip written to challenge, delight, amuse, and inspire all comers. His suspenseful and compelling portrait reminds us all of why we got into philosophy in the first place.

This is a restorative text, a ritual reminder of philosophy's manifold glories and fallibilities, and a meal served in flames.

The best book on Nietzsche in decades!
"I mistrust all systematizers and I avoid them. The will to a system is a lack of integrity."--Nietzsche, Aphorism #26 of "Maxims and Arrows," in TWILIGHT OF THE IDOLS (translated by Walter Kaufmann).

Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (1844-1900) thought of his philosophical adventures as the explorations of a "Columbus of the spirit," a thinker who was an "attempter" or "experimenter" in the realms of wisdom and knowledge. He circled around and around a problem, seeking to gain perspectives on the "truth," boldly venturing into uncharted regions of a wild and restless sea "where there be dragons."

Although one finds certain key ideas in Nietzsche's philosophy--the death of God, the Ubermensch (overman), the eternal recurrence of the same, master morality vs. slave morality, and the will to power--one should not expect to find in his works a dogmatic system.

The "will to a system," he said, "is a lack of integrity." One cannot, nor should one try, to wrap the "world" (the universe or cosmos) in a neat rational package tied with the bow of certainty. Whoever claims to have done so is pathetically self-deceived.

In NIETZSCHE: A PHILOSOPHICAL BIOGRAPHY, Ruediger Safranski has written the most engaging exposition of the development of Nietzsche's thought since the late Walter Kaufmann's NIETZSCHE: PHILOSOPHER, PSYCHOLOGIST, ANTICHRIST (1950; Fourth Edition, 1974).

Born in Germany in 1945, Safranski is one of the most renowned scholars of German philosophy in the world. His previous books include SCHOPENHAUER AND THE WILD YEARS OF PHILOSOPHY (1991) and MARTIN HEIDEGGER: BETWEEN GOOD AND EVIL (1998).

"We will never understand Nietzsche," writes Safranski, "if we do not realize that for him ideas possessed actual spiritual and physical reality on a par with passions. . . .Nietzsche's works as a whole are an extended chronicle of the complex events in an experiment to attain power over oneself."

As Walter Kaufmann, and now Ruediger Safranksi, clearly understand, Nietzsche was both a philosopher and a psychologist, a thinker who explored the genealogy of various philosophical, religious, and moral "prejudices" and did so as an "adventurer and circumnavigator of the inner world known as 'human.'"

Just as Immanuel Kant was awakened from his dogmatic slumbers by reading the skepticism of David Hume, and Nietzsche himself was jolted by his discovery of the pessimism of Arthur Schopenhauer, so today we who read Nietzsche are challenged to reexamine and jettison our dogmatic certainties--to distrust, as he did, all systematizers and peddlers of "absolute truth."

Safranski's assessment of Nietzsche and his philosophy gives evidence not only of the biographer's keen intelligence but also of his mastery of the Nietzschean corpus. It is the best volume on the subject to appear in decades.

more a philosophy than a biography
This book contains quotes from Nietzsche's autobiographical sketches from his teen years. It moves from his conception of music to his horrible plans for The Birth of Tragedy (conceding the need to exploit working classes for art; not included in the final version)... A reappraissal, quite different from Kaufmann's and other American and English interpretations of Nietzsche. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

A Remarkable Story of Remarkable Man
The life of Ernest Holmes is not just a very impressive and encouraging one, but also a real story of man whose lifework was destined to change lives of possibly millions of people. We have yet to see what this man's remarkable contribution will accomplish in the future to come.

I don't usually like biographies, but this book is a great exception to this rule. It is written in a very beautiful way about man who discovered that there is divine power/force within everyone of us... he turned this knowledge into a religious science movement which is currently perhaps the most known division of New Thought movement.

The author of this book has a way of nailing your eyes to the book, and you cannot lay it down until you have finished. The author will walk you through the good and bad, joys and sorrows...and will show you how Ernest stood erect for the truth and did not waiver or give up even when met with resistance. So the book tells you a story of man who knew what needed to be done and then did it.

Ernest's sincere desire was to help his fellow human beings to lead a balanced life spiritually, socially, occupationally and financially. He wrote many great books which have changed lives of millions.

In my opinion, the best thing that this book accomplishes is that it will enlighten your understanding of what Religious Science is truly all about. If you have any uncertainities or feel like Religious Science is a shady movement, then reading this book will show you how much love and good things there are about the father of this organization.

The best biography I have ever read...written by a person who is Ernest's associate and a long-time friend.

Fascinating account of a man and a religious movement
Did you ever wonder how a religious thinker got from Point A (the youthful years) to Point B (adult years where he was now a religous pioneer and the soul that ignited the Religious Science movement)?
If you have, this book is for you. If you're not into Religious Science's change your mind/change your life philosophy this book will still offer some revelations. If you are into it or involved with it, it is a must-read/must-own.
Author Reginald Armor, who died in 1977, was a mere 12 years old when he met the older Ernest Holmes, who even as a young man in his 20s had embraced the philosophy for which he was to become famous. This book traces their lifelong friendship, Holmes' evolution, and the church's growth, from their first meeting (Holme's treatment helped cure Armor's warts) to Holmes' final years.
Don't expect a long, ponderous detailed book. This book is not that at all. It's a simple account of a friendship that lasted until Holmes' 1960 passing. In sections tracing the steps of how Holmes' institute evolved into a church it resembles at times more of a history book than a memoir. These sections are the least interesting.
But Armor also traces how Holmes' carefully considered and precisely articulated spiritual and metaphysical philsophy sparked a movement that would later have profound influences throughout the 20th century. Indeed, many classic and contemporary self-help books and motivational speakers are heavily influenced by his philosophy (the power of visualization; affirmative prayer; and "releasing" an affirmation and having complete faith in it after you make it).
Armor also reveals several fascinating facts: even as a small child Holmes would never stop constantly asking questions (an answer meant he would ask another question), which is how he developed his thought; Holmes started as a public speaker because he truly loved speaking and sharing his philosphy about how applying what he called Universal Law could manifest a person's best good; and Holmes resisted until the very last his associates' attempts to create an church. He prefered a person's one-ness to and with God and felt organized religions' middleman institutions were unncessary. Plus he felt there were "too many religions" already. He made it clear he had no intention of founding a new religion.
In the end, though, Holmes went along with the idea of a church (which today has some members who still maintain their previous religions even as they practice the all-inclusive Religious Science) to help spread his ideas...which he felt were really not HIS ideas, but ideas from a Higher Source.
The bottom line: this is a simply written book which answers some key questions about who Holmes was, what motivated him, and how the then-innovative thoughts that he voiced led to the creation of an actual church.
A MUST if you're interested in the lives of spiritual thinkers. ... Read more

Book Description

This brief text assists students in understanding Dewey's philosophy and thinking so that they can more fully engage in useful, intelligent class dialogue and improve their understanding of course content. Part of the "Wadsworth Philosophers Series," (which will eventually consist of approximately 100 titles, each focusing on a single "thinker" from ancient times to the present), ON DEWEY is written by a philosopher deeply versed in the philosophy of this key thinker. Like other books in the series, this concise book offers sufficient insight into the thinking of a notable philosopher better enabling students to engage in the reading and to discuss the material in class and on paper. ... Read more

Reviews (7)

Dewey without context
This book indeed is short and simple. The problem is that it is too simple--i.e., simplifying--and that it treats Dewey out of context and pretends that Dewey was somehow engaged in the kinds of things that now occupy professional philosophers who study so-called deliberative democracy, worry about neutrality and communitarianism, and believe they are constructing logically compelling arguments. This book does not really grasp Dewey's central understanding of the nature of experience, his commitment to experimentalism, and the interrelations between that experimentalism and democratic societies. In effect, this book is 'Dewey for Dummies.' Fine, but if you are not a dummy, you would do well either to read more Dewey or to read any number of the fine studies and analyses of Dewey's work by contemporary writers such as Alexander, Boisvert, Campbell, Dldridge, Hickman, Rockefeller, Sleeper, Stuhr, Sullivan, or Westbrook.

A Smart, Short, and Accurate Companion to Dewey
On Dewey is a compact and clear introduction to John Dewey's thought. It represents Dewey fairly (it is *not* polemical) and has been written with the student's interests at heart.

While Talisse's intelligent style makes this interpretation interesting--it is not a book report on Dewey--he leaves readers room to see where they might differ with him.

The end product is that enthusiasm in Dewey is furthered; what better result for any book?

Talisse or Dewey?
I spent years trying to work through Dewey's sloppy writing, thinking that there must be something of deep importance underlying all the murky run-ons. Robert B. Talisse's book helped me see why people find value in Dewey. If, as a reviewer below says, this book is actually an introduction to Talisse parading as a book on Dewey, then so much the better for Talisse and so much the worse for Dewey.

Discussing the philosophical Dewey
A recent on-line review of this book made reference to the "historical" Dewey, a privleging that is unwarranted. Dewey was first and foremost a philsopher, and understanding Dewey can best be accomplished by engaging him philosophically. No book on Dewey does this better than Talisse's ON DEWEY(though many do it well, and from different perspectives). Thus, I mean this as no intended slight to works by Bernstein, Campbell, Boisvert, Stuhr, etc., but in under 100 pages, Talisse tackles the heart of Deweyan philosophy, illuminating it for the novice and engaging with it for the more sophisticated. While it cannot be denied that some of the concerns are addressed from what we might now called an "analytic" perspective, that Dewey would not himself engage the issues in this way is foolish to speculate about. This work addresses the concerns of Dewey and the concerns of contemporary philosophical debate in a way that is accessible to a wide audience (the purpose, I take it of the ON PHILOSOPHERS series by Wadsworth). If you want to get to know the "philosophical Dewey," this book will help.

"be cool
read this book"

On a not very Deweyan Dewey
This book shows it readers what John Dewey would be like if he were an analytic philosopher rather than a pragmatist. Talisse's Dewey is not the real, historical Dewey, but instead a prop set up to engage certain more recent issues in terms of categories and concerns foreign to Dewey's own work. Some of what the author says is interesting enough, but it serves as an introduction to Talisse, not Dewey. Persons wanting illuminating introductions and overviews of Dewey's philosophy should turn instead to those by, for example, Bernstein, Boisvert, Campbell, Stuhr (available in audiotape also), and Westbrook. ... Read more

Book Description

This brief text assists students in understanding Singer's philosophy and thinking so they can more fully engage in useful, intelligent class dialogue and improve their understanding of course content. Part of the Wadsworth Notes Series, (which will eventually consist of approximately 100 titles, each focusing on a single "thinker" from ancient times to the present), ON SINGER is written by a philosopher deeply versed in the philosophy of this key thinker. Like other books in the series, this concise book offers sufficient insight into the thinking of a notable philosopher, better enabling students to engage in reading and to discuss the material in class and on paper. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

On Peter Singer byHyun Höchsmann
Hyun Höchsmann's study of the philosophy of Peter Singer is a significant contribution to our understanding of some of the major developments in contemporary philosophy, as well as of the ideas and arguments of one of the most articulate and influential philosophical essayists of recent decades. Peter Singer has been a pioneer in applying the powerful tools of philosophical analysis to the major social and ethical issues of our time (and perhaps of all time).

Höchsmann's book offers a very concise and lucid overview of Singer's writings, and a balanced evaluation of their strengths and possible vulnerabilities. It is written with great clarity and elegance.

Raziel Abelson

Professor Emeritus of Philosophy
New York University ... Read more

Book Description

Born in Finland in 1932, Dr. Jaakko Hintikka — originator of game-theory semantics — is a leading figure on the international philosophical scene. He is currently professor of philosophy at Boston University. This book includes an intellectual biography of Hintikka, 29 previously unpublished critical and descriptive essays by famous scholars, a reply to each essay by Hintikka himself, and a complete bibliography of Hintikka’s published works. ... Read more

Book Description

When Bill Wilson, with his friend Dr. Bob Smith, founded Alcoholics Anonymous in 1935, his hope was that AA would become a safe haven for those who suffered from this disease. Thirty years after his death, AA continues to help millions of alcoholics recover from what had been commonly regarded as a hopeless addiction. Still, while Wilson was a visionary for millions, he was no saint. After cofounding Alcoholics Anonymous, he stayed sober for over thirty-five years, helping countless thousands rebuild their lives. But at the same time, Wilson suffered form debilitating bouts of clinical depression, was a womanizer, and experimented with LSD.

Francis Hartigan, the former secretary and confidant to Wilson's wife, Lois, has exhaustively researched his subject, writing with a complete insider's knowledge. Drawing on extensive interviews with Lois Wilson and scores of early members of AA, he fully explores Wilson's organizational genius, his devotion to the cause, and almost martyr-like selflessness. That Wilson, like all of us, had to struggle with his own personal demons makes this biography all the more moving and inspirational. Hartigan reveals the story of Wilson's life to be as humorous, horrific, and powerful as any of the AA vignettes told daily around the world.
... Read more

Reviews (14)

I Didn't Want To Put It Down
This is a wonderful biography of one of the century's greatest individuals. I have never before seen such a full treatment of his contributions to Alcoholics Anonymous, or such a well-rounded portrayal of Bill Wilson as a person. His personal problems make the sacrifices he made to start AA and all the years he stayed with it to see it become internationally recognized all the more remarkable. Francis Hartigan's well-rounded, highly readable book truly brought Wilson alive for me.

Well Done !
I just finished Mr. Hartigans biography of Bill Wilson. I thought it was well researched and well written. I found it amazing that someone could be so dysfunctional in the first half of his life and yet display great organizational skills in his later years. I have never had the misfortune to need AA but this book helped me to understand those who do. I would highly recommend this fine biography.

"We are not saints"
"Bill W." I feel is a very good book about Bill Wilson and even though I did not like reading it the first time, I read it again with an open mind. It helped me understand the man and why he was able to become co-founder of AA and write the Big Book "Alcoholics Anonymous." If he did not have problems, he would not have been able to do this, and in reading "Bill W.", it has helped me understand what we all go through in life. Be as honest as possible today, do the next right thing and remember "We are not saints."

All the lowdown on Bill
Fascinating book, though I felt just a bit naughty reading all the "hot gossip" that Hartigan dispenses. He obviously knows all the insiders, though, and I suppose it's important to have all this stuff written down while the old-timers are still around who remembers AA's earliest days.

There are some peculiar errors: on p 61, Hartigan describes Bill's entering Towns Hospital on his sobriety date, Nov. 11, 1934. But on p. 55, he describes the ill-fated golf trip to Staten Island (which happened several weeks or months before Bill got sober) as also taking place on Nov. 11, 1934: clearly not just a typo, since the point of this story is that it took place on Armistice Day. Something is wrong here, and I'm still trying to figure it out!

It's unfortunate that this book has the same title as Robert Thomsen's much more comprehensive (and better, in my view) bio of Bill W., and might be confused with it.

Bill W.
A well written and enlightening biography. It was helpful to learn of Bill W.'s struggle and real character. It gives validation and hope to those of us who are struggling with many of the same issues. ... Read more

Book Description

This volume provides a brief and accessible introduction to the 9th-century philosopher and theologian John Scottus Eriugena--perhaps the most important philosophical thinker to appear in Latin Christendom in the period between Augustine and Anselm. Eriugena was known as the interpreter of Greek thought to the Latin West, and this book emphasizes the relation of Eriugena's thought to his Greek and Latin sources. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

An Excellent Introduction to an Unjustly Forgotten Thinker
Deirdre Carabine has written a concise, well thought out and extremely well written account of the life and philosophy of John Scottus Eruigena.

Although time has not been kind to Eriugena, his contibution to both philosophy and Christian theology cannot be denied. He stands out as an intellectual bridge between the age of Augustine and Pseudo-Dionysus and Anselm during an age when Europe was only beginning to get back on its intellectual feet. His most original and important work, the "Periphyson", remains as possibly the most important philosophical text of its time.

Carabine examines not only Eriugena the teacher and translator of Greek thought, but also Eriugena, upon whom that Greek thought, especially in its Neoplatonic form, lay at the heart of his metaphysics and his attempt to reintroduce the notion of Being back into philosophy.

An introduction, especially to such an original and compelling thinker as Eriugena can either scare us away from further studies or prod us on to learn more. Carabine has successfully accomplished the latter, and more power to her.

rediscovering a great mind
John Scottus Eriugena - WHO? This man was one of the great thinkers of the "Dark Ages" and this book goes a long way in bringing his work the respect it deserves. The book is an overview of his works with an emphasis on the "Periphyson", but it also includes other works as well. The author seems to have a good working knowledge of John Scottus and does a good job of not only uncovering his work, which may be new for many readers of philosophy, but also at uncovering the man and his passions as well. This is a book I can recommend for anyone with an interest in philosophy and/or theology. For students of theology who are interested in the topic of predestination it can be a thought provoking resource. Well written and entertaining as well. ... Read more