Philosophy Books

Using this book for a grad. course on collaboration and consultation. So far, the information it's provided seems to be quite valuable.

I do not know how I got two books ordered unless it was when I was trying to do the free book offer you had. I was denied credit however. Maybe this is how it happened. I was unhappy that I had to pay shipping on the book I had to send back. I do not need two of the same book. The book is very helpful for the class I am taking I will want to keep it for reference in the future.

Arlene

Much of the same information repeated throughout the chapters. Also would like to see chapters shifted around. didn't think the order was appropriate or logical.

I bought this book as a requirement for a class, but am finding it easy to read and full of useful information.

This book does make some important points about teaming, but is generally a waste of time and money. It is filled with common sense information, and each chapter can be easily summarized in a few short sentences.

Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) wrote "Leviathan" in 1651, it was his most important philosophical work. I think you should know something of Hobbes to understand how his thinking was influenced by his experiences. He was born 2 months prematurely on the day the Spanish Armada approaches the English coast. His mother's fear of invasion caused the premature birth. Hobbes remarked late in life, "his mother brought forth twins-myself and fear." Fear seems to be Hobbes life long companion and the key passion in his political system, which uses human passions as its foundation. He was a child prodigy reading Latin and Greek at the age of six years old. At fifteen, he entered Oxford University and hated his educational experience there. He thought the curriculum was too immersed in the ancient Greek philosophers like Aristotle. He called them "erroneous doctrines," and throughout his life he railed against English universities for there stodgy curriculum.

At the age of 22, he graduates and takes a job to tutor the son of the Earl of Devonshire. It gives him the opportunity to travel throughout Europe where he meets with Galileo in Florence and Descartes in Paris. Descartes calls Hobbes the greatest political philosopher of his day. During the British civil war, Hobbes flees to Paris because he is a well-known monarchist sympathizer. In 1651, he publishes his monumental work "Leviathan." He returns to England, submits to Cromwell's government, and withdraws from politics. He is on friendly terms with Charles II when the Stuart's are restored to the throne.

Hobbes philosophy is "materialistic"; he is greatly influenced by Galileo's mechanistic approach to science, and Euclidian geometry. His ambition was to explain all phenomena, man, and government with mathematical precision. In "Leviathan," he explains human conduct is a product of human passions. The most dominant passions are fear of violent death and desire for power, both are manifestations of man's most basic impulse, "self preservation." Hobbes asserts that the basic impulse is the right of the individual; he calls it a "natural right." All men process this natural right equally. This theory leads Hobbes to believe man's natural state to be one of constant conflict with each other. This leads him to write the following quote he is most known for: "men's lives are solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short." So as not to have to live in constant state of fear or conflict, men make a contract for protection with the state. Hobbes believes that the best state is one led by a single sovereign whose power must be unrestricted with all three branches of government devolving to him. A single sovereign who has absolute power and cannot be replaced by the people.

His political writing had immediate influence in the world and influences other philosophers like Spinoza, Hutcheson, Locke, and Hume. Hobbes is the first man to write about political philosophy in such methodical terms. He is an excellent writer and his theories are easy to understand by the laymen. As a graduate student of political philosophy, I recommend if you have an interest in politics, philosophy, or government then you must start with reading Hobbes "Leviathan."

There are lots of editions of Leviathan around, so why buy this one? The things the editor, Ed Curely, has done to make this edition accessible yet scholarly, like:

1. Updated spelling and punctuation. Although I personally miss Hobbes' original spelling (see the Penguin edition for that), as a teacher I appreciate Ed's making it easier for beginners to read Hobbes' words.

2. Index. Most editions do not have one.

3. Glossary. Hobbes used many terms that are now archaic, and Ed's brief but clear glossary helps clarify the text.

4. Ed's Introduction. Curley is one of the most careful and knowledgeable commentators out there, and he briefly but expertly introduces some of the major themes of the book.

5. Latin variants. Hobbes wrote Leviathan in English and in Latin, and there are some interesting differences between the two versions. Ed presents many of these in the footnotes, plus he includes English translations of the Appendices of the Latin version.

This is one of the few books in western thought that cannot recieve enough praise. It is all at the same time a compilation of classical and medieval thought, a biting commentary and critique of 17th century Europe (England in particular), an exploration of philosophy as science, and to top it all off the first truly modern work of political philosophy. This is one of those works that anyone who truly wants to call themselves educated must read, whether their focus of studies is philosophy, politics, literature, science or even mathematics.

The fundamental nature of this work is to construct a reasoned materialistic account of human behavior starting from basic definitions and postulates (very similar to geometry). From these basic principles Hobbes constructs an account of human physchology based on human desires which then culminates in man's need to leave the natural state of the world into the constructed society, which Hobbes calls the leviathan. I cannot even attempt to give a summation of the steps of Hobbes's argument here that would do him justice, but suffice it to say that Hobbes's conclusion is that in order to be happy and safe man must give up his rights to a strong soveriegn. This is a conclusion that may not look modern or attractive at all to most readers, but Hobbes's reasonong is so clear and detailed that it forces the reader to, if not agree with all of his principles, at least take them very seriously. This is one of those books that forces one to reaxamine all of their assumptions about the world. Hobbes is also one of those misunderstood authors who are portrayed as being cold and ruthless, but are simply trying to provide their readers with an accurate and analytic account of humanities problems and hopefully providing solutions.

If all of this hasn't scared you away yet I do have to say that Leviathan is not an easy book to read. Its thought is difficult and its language is archaic, but for those who are willing to accept the work this book can be very interesting and rewarding. Hobbes might be a dense writer, but unlike many philosophical writers, he is a very clear and concise and often surprisingly witty and wry.

There are two editons that I recommend. The first is the Hackett edition. Not only does it take the liberty of changing the veried spellings of Hobbes's 17th century english, but it also includes textual variances from the earlier Latin edition of the work. Some of these variants are significant and should be takin into consideration by the serious student. The other is the Cambridge Student Edition, which is the edition I used because I'm one of those students that enjoy reading the early english texts with their strange spellings. The disadvantage of this edition is that it does not include the latin variations. The introductions and suplementary material in both of these editions are fine, but my personal favorite is the introduction written by Michael Oakeshott which can be fond in a collection of his essays entitled, "Hobbes on Civil Association". Another work which greatly elucidates some of Hobbes's strong almost vehement reactions to anything democratic is Hobbes's "Behemoth" in which he provides his account of the English Civil War. If you are really interested in Hobbes I also highly recommend his work "De Cive". Hobbes is hard, but he is unavoidable for anyone interested in understanding our modern world and our world in general. You may even find that, like myself, you just can't get enough of Hobbes.

Hobbes is a misunderstood philosopher. He envisaged that executive power would be based on the will of the people who allow it to be exercised. In this way Hobbes saw the development of a social contract between members of society and those who govern, based on individual rights not to subsciptive service as vassals. He also warned that agreements (or covenants) without either armed or moral right to be enforced would remain simply that - words. Hobbes does indeed speak to all peoples who live in our society - white, black and any shade in between.

Why Absolute Sovereignty Can Not Offer Perpetual Peace
-On the Desires of Men

In the Leviathan, Hobbes brings forward the theory that Commonwealths arise because without governments, people live in a state of nature with the constant danger of death. Furthermore, he believes that the best form of Commonwealth is one ruled by a monarch with absolute power; just like a person with two brains will not function, if the power of the monarch is not absolute, the commonwealth will fall back into the warring state of nature. When the sovereign power becomes truly absolute, Hobbes believes the Commonwealth could "live as long as mankind" unless attacked by foreign powers (p210).

Indeed, Hobbes is right in that life under any government is better than life with no government, and also that multiple powers inside one commonwealth will cause an end to the commonwealth. Nevertheless, he is wrong in asserting that absolute monarchy is the panacea for perpetual internal peace. There are two intrinsic flaws in the his system which are bound to push the commonwealth into the state of nature: one flaw is the unchecked greed of the monarch, another is caused by the unfulfilled desire for power of the subjects. Although this paper can not offer a better formula for governments, it will show that absolute monarchy does not provide the perpetual security that Hobbes promises.

First of all, extraordinary greed of the absolute ruler can break the Commonwealth. A ruler's greed can impoverish his subjects so abjectly that they no longer have enough food to survive on. Since the purpose of the commonwealth is to guarantee the security of life, and without food there is no life, the greed of the ruler will force the absolute Commonwealth to fall back into the state of nature.

Hobbes believes that the interest of the ruler and the interest of his subjects are so interdependent that the actions of the ruler will always be in the interest of his people. He writes,

"Now in monarchy the private interest is the same with the public...the riches, power, and honor of a monarch arise only from the riches, strength and reputation of his subjects." (P120)

Hobbes is right; the sovereign is the incorporation of its subjects, and so any injuries to the people are collectively an injury to the sovereign. Nevertheless, arising out of the great complications of the businesses of state and the wide expanse of a Commonwealth, there will always be a lag between when acts of the sovereign takes effect with people and when the sovereign feels the reactions of his people himself. A ruler with perfect prudence might be able to see through the gap and act in ways that are only ultimately good for the people and himself, but as Hobbes rightly observes, no one has perfect prudence (P14). This imperfect prudence becomes especially short-sighted when the ruler's reason is clouded by his present desires. Hobbes acknowledges these desires, for he says:

"And hence it is that kings, whose power is greatest, turn their endeavors to the assuring it at home by laws or abroad by wars; and when that is done, there succeeded a new desire, in some of fame from new conquest, in others of ease and sensual pleasures, in others of admiration or being flattered for excellence in some art or other ability of the mind." (p58)

So clouded by the lack of prudence and by excessive desires, the monarch might take actions that seem good at the moment for himself, but which turn out harmful for himself later. To illustrate this, let us observe the following scenario:

The new ruler of a poor but secured country builds a modest palace, for he has learnt from history books that he should not splurge. A couple years later, however, a desire for great things tempts him, and he wants to build a winter palace. He seeks advices from ten advisors, who had all the qualities that Hobbes praises (Chapter XXV); nine out of ten advisors privately dissuade the king from this luxury for a flood is raging and their nation is poor. Saddened, the king turns to the last advisor, who, seeing an opportunity to gain favor with the ruler, loudly exclaims that the other counselors do not love their king who needs a winter palace to escape the cold. The king happily agrees with him as his reason becomes clouded by desires; and soon, the construction begins.

Having gained favor, the 10th advisor convinces the ruler to imprison the other advisors for their "bad mouthing" of the king, making him the sole voice by the ruler's ear. As time goes on, the king exerts ever greater taxes on his people to pay for ever grander palaces, and every time, the advisor not only finds more elaborate excuses for the king but praises him for his greatness and also funnels some of the money for construction into his own coffer. The affairs of the nation are in utter neglect.

One night, the king remembers his father's warnings against indulgence, and he shakes with fear; but when he sees his gardens filled with singing girls half naked, lacking the prudence to see the future awaiting him, he says to himself, "I have been endowed differently by God, the fate of others can not be my own."

The poor people of this nation become more desperate by the day, yet the ruler who lives deep inside his palaces can not know their suffering. Some years later, the harvest is so bad that people have barely enough to feed themselves, yet the king sends his money collectors for even higher tax quotas. Realizing that they could either die of starvation or die fighting against the dictator with at least a chance to live, the farmers revolt. Hobbes would support them, for he writes, "the obligation of subjects to the sovereign is understood to last as long, and no longer, than the power lasteth by which he is able to protect hem." (P144)

When the farmers' army charges into his bed chamber, the king finally feels the injuries that he has done to the people and to himself, yet reason and prudence are too late.

Absolute sovereignty means absolute power, and as the old saying goes, "power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." In fact, Hobbes acknowledges the greedy corruption of the monarchs, and even gives his justification. He writes,

"A man may here object that the condition of subjects is very miserable, as being obnoxious to the lusts and other irregular passions of him or them that have so unlimited a power in their hands...not considering that the estate of man can never be without some incommodity or other, and that the greatest that in any form of government can possibly happen to the people in general is scarce sensible, in respect of the miseries and horrible calamities that accompany a civil war." (P117)

Hobbes makes no mistakes here. Any government is better than no government, but as mentioned before, he makes the claim later that Commonwealths, "by the nature of their constitution they are designed to live as long as mankind" unless attacked by foreign powers (210). In the same chapter (XXIX), Hobbes attributes all the internal infirmities of the Commonwealth that shorten its "natural" life to variations of the lack of absolute power, but describes no infirmities when the Commonwealth is ruled by an absolute monarch. He thus makes it clear that if there is absolute power, then the commonwealth will "live as long as mankind" even if the monarch is corrupted. However, as shown in the illustration above, Hobbes' absolute monarchy does have tremendous infirmities.

Hobbes can, however, still argue that the previous illustration is an extreme example that barely happens in reality. Hobbes might say that if only the absolute sovereigns all studied the Leviathan carefully, they will always initiate policies for the interest of the people. Granted, Hobbes' excellent book can convert many, yet, even when the absolute sovereign is good and strong, the Commonwealth can still fall back into the state of chaos.

To Hobbes, the foremost law of nature is to find security ("a man is forbidden to do that which is destructive to his life" [P79]), but is survival the only thing that men search for? No. As Hobbes points out himself, survival is the means and not the ends of life. And while people all want to survive, they live for different ends of life as influenced by their education and upbringings. Hobbs indirectly talks about the fulfillment of some ends life when he writes,

"In such condition (of war) there is no place for industry, because the fruit thereof is uncertain, and consequently, no culture of the earth, no navigation, nor use of the commodities that may be imported by sea, no commodious building" (p76)

For certain people, the end of their life lies in gaining political power-to be the ruler instead of the ruled. Hobbes indirectly recognizes people's "unnecessary" desire for power, when he writes (OL) "there are those who, from pride and a desire for glory, would conquer the whole world, which they pursue farther than their security requires." (P75)

This kind of desire, nevertheless, can not be fully satisfied in a state of absolute sovereignty. For one, the greatest prize of all, the prize of becoming your own sovereign is off-limits. Additionally, although those borne with the heart of Napoleon might be few, lower offices and positions in a state of absolute power come merely at the mercy of the sovereign-for one eager for any honor and position, his dream may never fly high because the sovereign can give the honor he deserves to someone else. As Hobbes says himself, "a man may be worthy of riches, office, and employment, that nevertheless can plead no right to have it before another, and therefore cannot be said to merit or deserve it." (p57)

For some, the limitation on of the fulfillment of their political dreams results in nothing other than the acceptance of their fates, yet history never fails to produce some who have the eagerness and bravery to challenge the ultimate authority and break the bondage of power.

Hobbes would call the act of such eager men anti-nature, since dissenters will almost certainly face unnatural deaths by the sword of the king, or face the danger of death by returning to the state of nature. However, again, survival is the means, not ends of life. The following example illustrates why people might endanger their means for their ends.

Colonized people have throughout history fought for independence against their colonial sovereigns. To Hobbes, these wars for independence must be irrational: for one, the colonized people could be enjoying many benefits either from direct aid or commercial links with their colonizer; additionally, hundreds of thousands of colonized people might die in the immediate war or during the consequent internal power struggles caused by the revolt. Yet, despite the "practical benefits" and the peace that the colonial sovereigns bestows upon the colonized, this smooth highway of subjugation is not the one that the people want; they desire for a road, smaller and rougher maybe, but one that is built by themselves to a destination that they determined for themselves. Thus, in their search for the power that is forbidden to them, they set out for the "unreasonable".

To be sure, Hobbes' Law of Nature still holds: on the battle fields, those who fight against the sovereign will always do all they could to triumph over their enemy and avoid death, but again, the need for survival is only a part of the story.

Regarding this fight for independence, Hobbes might say, as he writes, "those men that are so remissly governed that they dare take up arms to defend or introduce an opinion are still in war." (P113) This means that since the any revolutionaries must never have been a part of the commonwealth, and hence the commonwealth was only attacked from the outside and did not fall internally. Nevertheless, Hobbes also says that a monarch's "subjects" are delivered from their former obligation, and become obliged" to the victor in a war against their original sovereign. (P145) The new subjects of the monarch might have a high tendency toward revolting against ruler for the same reasons mentioned before, and in this case, Hobbes must certainly recognize that the revolutionaries are a part of the Commonwealth.

In the Leviathan, Thomas Hobbes dedicates himself to finding the best form of government, that perfect house which can last forever and provide eternal peace for all. The book is quiet admirable with its precise arguments and high ideals. Nevertheless, Hobbes ignores the fact that people will always willingly take actions that might hurt their security because they are either short-sighted or desire for something other than mere survival. Still, the Leviathan is a work of Epic proportion, and this essay does not find a form of government better than absolute sovereignty.

This is the famous little book that Minor White advised his pupils to read. It's an account by German professor Eugen Herrigel of several years of archery lessons with a Japanese archer in the 1950s. My review is written with photography in mind, though the principles discussed in the book can be applied to many arts.

If you have an interest in photography, should you read it?

Here are a few quotes from this little book in which I have taken the liberty of replacing archery lingo with photography lingo:

1. "...fundamentally the [photographer] aims at himself and may even succeed in hitting himself."

2. "Do you know why you cannot wait for the shot and why you get out of breath before it has come? The right shot at the right moment does not come because you do not let go of yourself. You do no wait for fulfilment, but brace yourself for failure."

3. "If [the photographer] is to fit himself self-effacingly into the creative process, the practice of the art must have the way smoothed for it. For if, in his self-immersion, he saw himself faced with a situation into which he could not leap instinctively, he would first have to bring it into consciousness."

If these ideas interest you, then this book is for you. It is a pleasing and thought-provoking little book, written in a conversational manner lacking the overcomplicated lingo and "isms" of most philosophical and spiritual texts.

This book had a real influence on my early spiritual development. I read it when I was a teenager; the impression I was left with was one of discipline, self-mastery, and the difficulty of the art of archery. I loved the author's earnestness and sincerity. For some time, I shot my own bow with what I took to be the spirit of the Zen approach. I wished I could travel to Japan and learn from a master.

From where I sit now, I'd have to acknowledge that this book is more a description or a memoir, rather than an actual guide. That is, for one determined to walk the spiritual path, this book will be more an inspiration than a manual. For some, that may lead to frustration.

For me this book is first and foremost about Zen. Students of Japanese archery can come to it to take their craft to another level but for me the archery is just a mantle for the teachings to sit on. I've been studying Zen for ten years or so, and have read many great works on the subject. This book was a gentle reminder, ushering me back onto the path. It's wisdom can be applied to almost anything. For a more in depth look at some of the discussions in this book, see Suzuki's Zen and Japanese Culture.

One reviewer, with whom I disagree, says that this book is not a valid source of Zen because the master archer in the book had never "studied" Zen. I think he came in touch with the Zen Mind through his art. The Sixth Patriarch Hui Neng had never "studied" Zen either and came by his enlightenment through living life and carrying fire wood. "Studying" Zen, in terms of following the rituals of an institution, can be formative but is not necessary. Zenmind existed long before the Zen religion.

So whether you're studying Japanese Archery or looking to deepen your awareness of your own art (I study painting, music and Tai Chi), this book can help if you're ready for it.

there's an old adage in the acting world..'don't give a performance, let the performance give you'..so what does that have to do with this book? well, I read this wonderful book a few years back when I was studying acting in NYC and I really worked hard at incorporating some Zen technique into my acting process..it wasn't easy..but I stuck with it and I feel as if I reached a different level consciousness and ability with my craft. This book is a wonderful teacher for the ways of Zen and incorporating those lessons into real life events not just archery.

This is not a book on kyudo. As Earl Hartman says in another review, Herrigel did have little contact with kyudo in Japan (3-4 years). This book could be about many interesting things (zen, misticism, ...), but I don't know of them. But it's not a book on Kyudo. It seems more a book on Herrigel himself.
I don't says this is the worst book someone can read if is interested on kyudo. Last years saw apearing one or two terrible book's with kyudo in title.
Should be read with precaution and specially doesn't substitute pratice and guidance from a teacher or a master. Many persons come to kyudo allready knowing this book but after a few sessions they give up. and many of them continue to claim that they know about kyudo only by reading this book.

This book has serious points to make, although the reader may wander through a few pages before becoming confident that it is not attempting a self-parody. Stay with it and glean at least two key concepts.

First, BS is not lying. A liar knows the truth and carefully crafts an alternative to it to further some agenda. The BSer operates without regard for--perhaps even knowledge of--the truth. The BS is created to achieve an effect, to please the ego or ear, or perhaps just to fill some conversational space the speaker feels unable to neglect with silence. To the BSer, the offered BS even has some non-zero chance of being true--if it were only worth the bother to check.

The second insight is that certain organizational roles create pressure to engage in BS more than others. The author points to leaders who have frequent opportunities or demands to speak about their organizations' accomplishments without being very involved in the planning, production or evaluation of said accomplishments. Much of what these leaders say will be BS, to the sorrow and pain of those who must live with the consequences.

I'll close with a recommendation and a plea. I recommend that you buy a copy of this book for your own intellectual and moral development. It is brief, readable and encourages us to think seriously about both the truth and consequences of what we claim to know. Satisfied readers will also value an encounter with the author's related book, On Truth.

I then plead with you to purchase a second copy and mail it anonymously to the Federal Executive Institute in Charlottesville, Virginia where Senior Executives for the Federal government are trained. Only good can come from some of them reading it. Members of the Senior Executive Service are selected based on general leadership ability and assigned jobs under the theory that specific technical program knowledge is far less important than this general ability. These conditions make them particularly likely to become chronic BSers. Let's try to help them--and ourselves.

This essay is educational but not engaging. I hesitate to level this criticism at such a "renowned moral philosopher," but I feel slighted for paying ten dollars for what I (incorrectly) assumed would at least be somewhat witty. Frankfurt does parse meanings with great care, but his academic style of writing is nothing if not cumbersome. He ultimately leads the reader to a better understanding of b***s***, distinguishing it from lying and a genuine concern for the truth. For that insight, though, I should have just borrowed the book from the library.

It is a quick and interesting read. The book isn't only insightful, but I also like the writing style. Yes, we are surrounded with BS, and I agree with the author that BS is probably bigger enemy of the truth than outright lies. At the same time, BS is so prevalent in our society nowadays that it is almost impossible to escape it, no matter where you go.
I think that the price is a little high to pay for 80 pages. But, on the other hand, it is comparable to the cost of coffee and a snack in an average cafeteria, so it is worth the fun.

I also recommend Why Do Men Have Nipples? Hundreds of Questions You'd Only Ask a Doctor After Your Third Martini

I shall be eternally grateful that the incomprehensible cosmic forces that influence us all happened to guide me to read this essay by Professor Harry G. Frankfurt. They could have made me sit through one of his lectures, or even worse, had him corner me at some cocktail party!.

I've never written a book review in my life, but I couldn't resist with this one. It was given to me by a friend who was intrigued by the title. It's a quick read, but by the middle it became like slogging through mud. If it had been longer, I would have stopped reading and written it off. I also fully expected the last paragraph to say something along the lines of, "Congratulations! You have now spent money on, read, and thought seriously about a professional work of BS".

This little essay had some good points and thoughts that made me laugh in reference to the political scene, and a story about a father telling his son that it was never necessary to lie if you could BS your way through something. Still,in the end I was left wondering whether the author had written a serious essay or whether the entire point was to expect his audience to just "get" the fact that they'd just been BS'd by a pro! Read it in this light and see what you think.

I don't get why this is the bible of architects. Its boring as hell. Sure people are affected by the spaces they inhabit for various conditioning reasons. OK thats obvious but do I need to read a whole book written in pompous philospeak to learn that.

Honestly I put it down half way. Too boring and too many other things to read. Life is short.

Book itself was in great condition, and was waiting at home for me sooner than expected.

This book is hardly new, but Bachelard's analysis of the psychology of space remains as fascinating and lyrical as when it was first published. I've recommended this book to artists and sculptors and students over the years, and they in turn recomend it to others. Bachelard went on to write a book on the poetics of reverie and the "psychoanalysis of fire" but his book on space remains the most readable and the most genuinely poetic.

........ this book is about house and its space and remembrance and meaning. House as protector, memory store, place in the world, construct. This is a philosophy book about house written by a poet, reflecting his views, and other's, on the importance and vital organism that is shelter. If you love word that conjures thought...and love home (whatever that means for you) I believe you will savor this book.

I don't know if the problem is in the content of the book, or in the translation, but the book was almost incomprehensible. Unfortunately, I don't speak French, so I can't read the original and compare them, but I suspect it is the translation, which appeared a bit stilted and unnatural (similar to translations of Frederick Bastiat's The Law, or Pierre Boulle's Planet of the Apes, both of which were oddly worded, although easily readable, and Bastiat wrote more than 150 years ago).

Maybe the translator didn't quite understand the topic, or have a conversational grasp of the English language, either of which would make translating difficult. I almost picked up my Strunk & White's Elements of Style to review their readability formula just to quantify how dense this book was, but restrained myself.

To the reviewers I read before buying this book, now I understand why a number of them wrote things like, "you have to be able to sit back and ponder the book, savoring the words before digesting them." I took this as a sign that there were deep meanings that mesmerized the reader, and looked forward to it. No. To translate that phrase into common English, it means, "the translator has an Oxford English Dictionary and he's going to use it."

This well-written, easy book is a good way to start learning about network theory. It discusses the history, some basics, and the broad application (or presence?) of networks in the world around us.
However, it skims only the surface of what the research is all about, and leaves one thirsty for more, making it a good introduction to further studying (in my case, neural networks).

The writing style is close to story-telling at times, and this got a bit on my nerves. Apart from that I really cannot say anything bad about this book, I am glad I purchased it.

Reminds of "The World is Flat". It covers lots of ground really quickly. It was an interesting subject, something I've speculated a lot on my own and it was reinforcing to have a professional discuss lots of patterns (biology, physics, society, information networks) in a short-form context. It inspired me to write some graphics code based on the diagrams in the book and for that it was worth reading.

This is the first book I've ever read tackling this subject. I've had some science, but physics wasn't my strong suit. This was a great intro, and it made me want to dig deeper.

Before reading this book, I didn't know that Networks theories are with us since serveral decades. I'm almost finishing it, but I couldn't wait to write something about the book; specially to recommend you to buy it!
Barabasi work is really great. His redaction skills are as good that people without mathematics or science knowledge can understand and deeply learn Networks theory.

Excellent read. I'm a systems engineer by trade and although the book is by no means technical, it really drove the "connectedness" topic home for me as the author showed how objects naturally connect and grow in both real and abstract terms. If this sounds interesting- you will enjoy it too.

This is an excellent treatment of all the major tenets of systematic theology, though Milgliore does not call them such or use the traditional names (soteriology, pneumatology, eschatology, etc.). This is to his credit as it keeps the book on an accessible level semantically without sacrificing quality of content. Migliore's style is very readable and the depth of his scholarship is profound. While the serious theology student will springboard from this book into more specialized works, this is an outstanding place to begin for anyone interested in theology. Highly recommended.

Author is excessively and needlessly wordy. Obviously, does not know how to get to the point in a clear concise manner. Some paragraphs don't even make sense....I find myself having to re-read parts just to try to understand what he is TRYING to say.

This is an extraordinaire theology book very actual. The author explains complexes and profounds points of view in a very practical way. For lay people, seminary students and pastors.

An excellent one volume introduction to the major theological themes of Christian thinking from a Bartian point of view. Dr. Migliore's writing is clear, fresh and historically exhaustive. I have recommended this book to all of my friends as a keeper.

While my title is certainly purported to be pejorative towards Daniel Migliore's 'Faith Seeking Understanding', I should note that the term 'neo-orthodoxy' is not used in a completely belittling manner. Much of Migliore's writing claims to be inspired by the work of Swiss Reformed theologian Karl Barth, although how recognisable Barth would find his work as represented here is another debate.

The main problem presented in Migliore's textbook is that he simply refuses to express a solid position on any doctrinal issue, apart from that no Scripture or Creed can truly reflect the Triune God of Christianity. Rather than concede that this merely leads to emotive, subjective religion ala John Spong, much of his book is spent promoting a vague, 'reforming' religion with no real indication of its foundation or future.

That is not to say that Migliore has no real principles. He eschews any suggestion that traditional or `conservative' Christianity has a future in the world. He dismisses debate on abortion, homosexuality and the ordination of women to the priesthood as divisive and irrelevant, preferring to highlight the utter importance of `green' issues and the creation of a `welcoming', `vibrant' community. Even in his endorsements he is, however, complimentary evasive and his terse dismissal of straw opposition reveals his inability to consider the substantial existence of any position opposed to his bland spirituality.

There are one or two snippets of useful theological information in this book but they are spread too thinly amongst ill-thought ideas and clichéd Modernist sentiments.

The Dreamkeepers: Successful Teachers of African American Children was a very informative book for educators that address the aspect of culturally relevant teaching. The author, Gloria Ladsen-Billings, talks about the relationship of pedagogy and how to fulfill the needs of African American children. Ladson-Billings also addresses seven critical points that many educators have brought up, which include: a case for separate schools, the growing educational and anthropological literature in ways schools can be made to be more compatible with all of the students' cultural backgrounds, the way that a classroom's social interactions are structured in a critical aspect of culturally relevant teaching, the teachers' conceptions of themselves and others, the teachers' conception of knowledge, the teaching of elementary literacy and mathematics, and ways for improving the academic performance and the school experience of African American students.I am only going to discuss three points that I agree with most which include the case for separate schools, how education literature is allowing the schools to be more compatible with a student's cultural background and how teachers teach elementary literacy and mathematics.
The first critical point that the author brings up asks if there is a case for separate schools. It does tell us that there is a growing isolation of those that are African American with the type of education that the children receive today in public schools. I am inclined to disagree with the case for separate schools because many teachers do have a growing disaffection towards African American students, as well as students of other minority status which is not discussed in this book. I am also sure that teachers do have a stereotype towards African American children as well because if they are not experienced on how to handle teaching their students of another race, they will be less likely to focus on them in class.
The author also discusses how educational literature is growing in ways that schools are able to be much more compatible with their students background. When I did an internship at an elementary school, I could tell that many of the teachers and principals showed interest in making sure their school was diverse. I do disagree in the fact that I have heard from others and also can see where they are coming from in that there definitely is a lack of literature of the African American experiences taught in class. It is rare to see a classroom in which the African American culture is taught, and it is something that should be considered.
Another critical area was how the teachers taught elementary literacy and mathematics. The teachers focused equally on those who were illiterate and literate as well as those who did or did not excel in math. I can definitely see why the teachers handled this because I have seen first hand at how some teachers do not cure and just continue teaching. Taking the time to make sure a child understands what they are learning in school; especially an important area such as reading is very valuable in their education. Making sure that children can read and add is very important and something that should not be ignored. However, I do disagree on how teachers taught elementary literacy and mathematics, I believe how they went about it was completely wrong. For instance, I think a child who is struggling in a certain subject should not be pulled out of class during the time that subject is taught. In addition to the class time, the student should have extra tutoring. Pulling them from class is not the best solution.
The quality of the book's argument convinces those who are likely to see things differently. She expalins in detail what is culturally relevant teaching. She also describes her observations and the components and results that had occurred throughout. Finally, she was successful in questinoning the teacher's views of how African Americans are schooled. The reasons that the author gives support the main argument in great detail. I believe that teachers are fully capable of allowing these students to succeed if they are willing to do so and give it their best effort.

Author Ladson-Billings (1994) book "The Dreamkeepers", gave me valuable inside on examples of various challenging and rigorous classrooms, and the emphasis the author put in presenting the cultural and social aspects of schooling when framing education as a whole, was evident. However the author makes the problems of African American children the main issue at stake in her book. Therefore I was presented with a fact and a different point of view based on statistics while conducting my research: One cannot lobby to change the system for one type of minority, to be successful at change. One has to see the "spreading tumor' per se, as a culturally diverse illness, affecting all of us. We, as a diverse society cannot try to make only one minority the beneficiary of our input, improvement, and educational reform. According the U.S. Department of Education (2004) NCLB (No child left behind) report, it showed that among the reading and math proficiency levels of performance for 4th graders in 2003, African American children were slightly lower, by one to five percent, under performing the Hispanics, meaning Hispanics proficiencies in reading and math are slightly better, just slightly, but this does not justify viewing the problem of minority children as being only an African American one. To be successful at change, one has to be more objective and start change for all minorities, why is it so vital to start with only one? I know poverty and lack of social skills are a major factor, but imagine how difficult it is to learn with a new language too.

Changes need to apply to all minorities, if one starts with only one minority, one is not addressing one method of change but only one perceived suitable application for one race. It just seems logical to improve all problems minorities face with the same vigor and dedication in order to truly make changes. I just do not see why is it that African Americans or any race should be the starting point. We are all culturally diverse, aren't we? Unless we are seeing this from the historical point of view again, and we are only to consider the many challenges one race has always faced historically in the U.S. school system, but that still does not justify starting -subjectively speaking- with a minorty that could have, or perceivably so, has been least served.

My two cents...SUSAN WILDBURGER

Though Ladon-Billings leans towards idealism constructing a perfect model of societal bliss, this book does show the underlying lack of knowledge many people have regarding educational issues. Those who say that the African-Americans' educational problems are their own fault show incredible short-sightedness to the truth of history. Have we forgotten that the Africa diaspora of colonialism was a forced migration to this country that treated blacks as inferior, and thus that it was a waste of time to educate them? In order for racism to stop, people have to recognize that there is no one race better than any other. All races have value and thus all races should be celebrated. God created them all. An understanding of this will lead to advances in the educational system which often has curricula that have no connection to many of its students. Ladson-Billings book, though primarily focused on African-Americans, is still an important blueprint toward removing some of the blinders people wear when it comes to historical truth. This book is for those who have ears to hear.

The author of Dreamkeepers makes the argument that African American children can be successful in school if changes are made by the education community. Gloria Ladson-Billings advocates for "culturally relevant teaching" which she believes will allow children to achieve academic success while maintaining a positive African American identity. By examining historical inequalities and the poor state of current education and achievement of African American children, the future may appear bleak or even destined for failure. Ladson-Billings offers examples of teachers, teaching methods, and ideas to keep the dream of education and success alive for African American children today. The focus of the book is the roles teachers have in helping children find success and examples of how teachers of African American children have been successful in this role. The way children should be taught is also discussed because she claims that the way children are taught is often more important than what they are taught. Ladson-Billings believes that these ideas could be used to get teachers, parents, and community members to redesign schools to better meet the needs of African American children, and after considering her reasons and evidence provided I am inclined to agree with these ideas.
The study was done in a predominantly low income African American community. To find successful teachers of African American children, Ladson-Billings asked parents and community members and then principals. When she had gathered a list of possible names, she chose only the names that had appeared from both groups. Ladson-Billings notes a distinction between excellent teaching and teachers because she does not want the examples to be dismissed as a cult of personality. Current problems in education will not be corrected if findings of success are viewed as exceptions, so she offers the examples in hopes that they can become the typical educational experience of African American children.
Through teacher interviews, classroom observations, and personal reflections the author develops the idea of culturally relevant teaching. To demonstrate how culturally relevant teaching might improve education, she describes three programs that are used in educating African American children. The first is to ignore differences that exist. It is designed to remediate or accelerate progress without attending or acknowledging to students' social or cultural needs. The second is the idea that problems are rooted in pathology and children need to be removed from it, so African American children are socialized into mainstream behaviors and values while teaching them basic skills. The third is culturally relevant teaching, where differences are seen as strengths. The concept of culturally relevant teaching is the cornerstone in Ladson-Billings' argument to improve the educational experience for African Americans. Student learning is facilitated by capitalizing on students' own social and cultural background. The broad nature of this concept is a strength to its usefulness because teachers can accomplish this using many ways. Culturally relevant teaching is valid teaching style because it does not expect teachers to follow certain steps. Pedagogy that tells teachers to follow specific steps like teaching is a recipe is unrealistic and useless. Culturally relevant teaching practices can be used in countless teaching styles and curriculum because the underlying theme of appreciation of culture and differences will create a better learning environment and better results for African American children.

The Dreamkeepers: Successful Teachers of African American Children
By, Gloria Ladson-Billings

Gloria Ladson-Billings starts this book by posing this question, "Do African American students need separate schools?" She concludes her studies by saying, "What African American students need are better schools." Her main argument throughout this book is that culturally relevant teaching practices would be a huge part of creating these "better schools." Ladson-Billings suggests that there are many key characteristics of culturally relevant teachers. Some of these consist of the teachers seeing themselves as an artist and teaching as an art, they believe that all students have the ability to succeed, they demonstrate a connectedness with all of their students, and they help students develop necessary skills for their lives. These are just a few of the many characteristics that have to do with culturally relevant teachers.
In order to find out more about culturally relevant teaching, Gloria Ladson-Billings conducted a study to find and examine culturally relevant teachers. She started out this study by asking parents and community members for the names of some teachers who were very successful at teaching African American students. Next she asked the principals of area schools to provide a list of successful teacher's names. Once eight of the same teacher's names appeared on both lists, and those teacher's agreed to participate, she stared her investigations. She combined classroom observations, interviews, and personal experience to come up with her argument for culturally relevant teaching.
Ladson-Billings' argument for culturally relevant teaching came about because she saw negative effects on students whose culture and history did not appear in their textbooks or in their lessons. She believes that African American students need to achieve academic success while still maintaining a positive African American identity. She believes that it is the teacher's responsibility to help the students want to choose academic success. In her study she had multiple teachers who were just like this. They did not care where these students were or what other people had said about these students, they knew that they could succeed and that they would succeed with their help. They, many times, would work with them on an individual level to help them in whatever way that they could. In the end, all of the students who were thought of as being difficult or not intelligent enough to learn certain skills, ended up learning what they needed to know and sometimes more. That is what made these teachers such great teachers.
Personally, I agree with these reasons to support culturally relevant teaching. I think that if students do not see their cultural history correctly displayed in textbooks or in lessons in the classroom this could cause the children to see themselves as insignificant or inferior to those of a different cultural or racial background. I also agree that African American students should and can achieve academic excellence while still maintaining a positive African American culture and identity. I think that it is a wonderful teacher who can do both of these things, help them achieve academic excellence and maintain a positive image of themselves and their background. I hope that I can be one of these wonderful teachers who can do that.
I also believe that Ladson-Billings' evidence for culturally relevant teaching is both convincing and relevant. Most of her evidence is given through her classroom observations and her interviews with the teachers. She shows that when a teacher is culturally relevant, the students end up learning more and in many cases the students like that class more. In situations where the teacher is not culturally relevant the children do not learn as much or as easily and do not enjoy the class to the same extent as the other students with culturally relevant teachers. In the final chapter of this book she talks about one of her student teachers who is too impatient and does not bring in any cultural relevance when trying to teach three sixth graders math. That teacher ended up sending those students back to their seats with homework that they had no idea how to complete. This would be an example of a teacher who is not culturally relevant. The result was that the students did not find it interesting and did not learn anything from the lesson.
The one problem that I do see with her study is that she only examined eight teachers. I think that is hardly enough to base a whole argument off of. I do think that is definitely a great start but it may be more helpful so study many more teachers. She also only studies African American students. She does not even begin to look at any other races. I believe that culturally relevant teaching would be a wonderful idea for both African American students and students of any other race.
Altogether, I think that Gloria Ladson-Billings makes a wonderful argument for culturally relevant teaching. Her main point is that students will learn better and will enjoy learning more if the lessons are culturally relevant and if the teacher is also. The only weakness that I saw with this argument is the amount of people that she studied. Overall, I think that this is a good argument and was a great book for a future teacher to read.

The subtitle to this book is "An Anthology of Changing Ideas", which is remarkably accurate. The excerpts in this book run the ideological spectrum from Winston Churchill to Adolf Hitler, and everyone in-between. The assembly of so many artists, politicians, philosophers, and theorists in one place has had a profound impact on my understanding of particular artworks, and my relationship to art in general. It's an intimidating book, but somehow this diverse group of thinkers is organized in a way that could be read straight through. Personally, I find it to be an invaluable tool for research and artistic growth.

my college library had the "feminist art theory" volume from this same series, and i LOVED that book to death.
since i liked that book so much, i thought it would be a good investment to cash in a recent gift certificate on this hefty volume.
i wish that i had gone for the feminist art volume-- it's much more relevant for anyone who is interested in art as political expression... that topic is really not addressed in this anthology.
it's probably still good as a reference if you're going to be writing a lot of papers for standard survey courses covering this time period, though.

It seems that students of art and art history eventually end up with a copy of this book in their possession, at least for a while. This is a book of excerpts. It's fantastic because it presents the written thoughts of artists, critics, and intellectuals in their own words. It's maddening because all the entries are trimmed, edited, boiled down into excerpts. The book is a good starting point and offers a meaty cross-section of thought in the twentieth century art world. But if one wants to read the whole article, one must seek the original sources to find what has been cut away. Also, editing the work this way allows the editors to insert their own slant on the material. Consequently, though I like the book, I can't give it five stars.

Had I read the reviews about this book, I wouldn't have bought it.
I had to though, for my "Art: Language and Theory" class, in my second year of Graphic Design major. I was shocked with it at first, it's almost 1300 pages, with not a single image in it! It looked extremely dull. But the thing is, I found it extremely useful, and enjoyable to read at times too. It covers art theories in the 20th century, and has texts written by artists, philosophers, polticians and much more.
I now refer to it with every paper I write, every presentation I make and so on. There are also letters and notes in the book by artists such as Cezanne and Matisse, which are delightful to read. I use a dictionary sometimes, but not always, though I agree, the language is hard to comprehend at first glance.
I don't think any art student or teacher could do without this book, I used it as a beginners guide while studying art, and I won't stop using it. Don't be put off when you first get this book, you'll learn to value and appreciate it with little time.

I used this book for a graduate theory class and ended up reading pretty much all of it. The book provides an excellent overview of the major movements during the past 100 years but also misses out on a lot of the most current trends. I believe there were less than 3 articles dated after 1999. The writings seem to be obscure at times, with the editors trying to draw distant similarites between varying fields. Most of the passages used overly pretentious language, so keep a dictionary nearby. This book is not a beginner guide and it helps to have some knowledge of art history as well as a little world history. A better or easier read would have to be "Theories and Documents of Contemporary Art"...

While this is a great piece if you want to step inside a virtue theorist's mind, as an actual philosophical text it is rather poor.
While it is obviously religiously biased, it is Lewis' own circular paradoxes that lead to a flawed system of logic that can not support itself.

I was struck with amazement as I read this most beneficial and interesting book! There are so many books to choose from these days for inquiry or answers to the brokenness in our modern day populace, but this one proved to be top-notch in this writer's opinion. The writer's skill conveys keen insights into the mind to understand mankind's condition, including interpersonal relationships from the intellect. Dead hypothesis that would try to excoriate the common sense displayed here in this wonderful little treatise would no doubt fall by the wayside. Can we see the signs of the times from the author's wisdom? Where is the world headed anyway? Read this little book for some answers. I've got a much better perspective on life now due to the dulcet manner of the author; the way he draws on the treasures intrinsic in all of us to begin with. Doubtless you will not find anything insipid within the two covers. A very powerful book indeed! Lewis displays a virtuoso's flair for observing absolutes unequivocally. I will keep one of the copies of two I purchased for my book shelf and the other one for a gift. The Den of IniquityC.S. Lewis: The Signature Classics Audio Collection: The Problem of Pain, The Screwtape Letters, The Great Divorce, Mere Christianity

This is a marvelous book for showing the rank and file American college freshman just how he or she may have been unwittingly propagandized in the lower grades. The reigning studenty "philosophy" these days is indistinguishable from classical sophistry's arguments that "everything is relative" and -since everyone has a right to his opinion - that all opinions are necessarily of equal value. I suspect this "philosophy" began its march toward triumph in the first grade when a color blind student, Johnny, misidentified a color, the other students, being naturally cruel, laughed, and the "caring" teacher correctly instructed them not to, but for a cockeyed reason, that "Johnny has a right to his opinion!"

Taking off from such a spot, sophistic relativism invariably before long comes to be embraced by the young with complete uncritical dogmatism, the opposite idea that some judgments are more apposite than others being wholly ignored by "caring" teachers, if not dismissed as patently invidious "judgmentalism." Like Socrates before him, C.S. Lewis here does battle with such lapses in critical thinking, assuming, as did his Greek predecessor, the objective existence of the Good, the True, and the Beautiful, and offering instances of the recurrent Natural Law drawn from many cultures. Defending the position that values are indeed objective, Lewis aims is to call much needed attention to this bracing alternative to the regnant view that all values are necessarily subjective, and therefore, in fact, trivial. Through his usual combination of shrewd wit, clear thinking and epigrammatic style, Lewis succeeds admirably.

This book is a series of three talks where Lewis illustrates the breakdown of education , from a system which embraces natural law, truth, and virtue, to one which embraces much of nothing and feeds back nothing. It is perhaps a bit dated now as teaching methods have moved on (though not necessarily in positive directions), but yet it still has much to say as we contemplate the inadequacy of our present systems and what we need to reclaim to restore them.

In this brief book, C.S. Lewis discusses the failing of relativism and affirms the existence of objective moral values. This system of objective values, which Lewis calls the Tao, must be granted if there are to be any values whatsoever. In a long appendix at the end of the book, Lewis shows that all (or almost all) cultures, both past and present, have affirmed some basic moral principles that are part of the Tao. Against the relativist claim that all socieities have their own moral codes, Lewis demonstrates that all humans are guided by an underlying system of objective values which they may or may not recognize.

In the third and final chapter, Lewis foresees a day when men have complete control over the destinies of the next generation. Should men achieve an take advantage of such power, it would not mean that man had finally dominated nature. Rather, it would mean the abolition of man. Unguided by the Tao, man's decisions about what future generations should be like would by guided only by natural impulses. Thus, by destroying the Tao and attempting to dominate nature, man can only succeed in destroying himself.

Like always, Lewis writes with great clarity and intelligence. "The Abolition of Man" is an enjoyable read and certainly worth checking out.