Westerns Books

There are lots of references where to go for additional information and even a nice glossary of Chinese characters.

As a novice in Chinese and Eastern Philosophy, I began reading various books,
intent on culling the beauty of Eastern Thought. When a good friend loaned me this book, the essence of eastern thought blossomed in my mind like a flower. Wing-Tsit Chan is a true sage himself, and to be so scholarly as to translate Confucius and Lao Tzu himself is just added understanding. A rare insightful and scholarly work that I would highly recommend.

We owe a great debt to the late Professor Chan for having translated this anthology of selections from over 2,500 years of Chinese philosophy. To my knowledge, this is the only anthology that gives so many selections from so many different periods in Chinese history. Perhaps there never will be a book like this again, at least by one scholar, because I doubt anyone else is competent to translate so many texts from so many different periods.

That being said, this book also has serious limitations. Arbuckle's review (which is nearby) expertly identifies many of them. Here are some more. Chan's English is much better than my modern Chinese, but he still sometimes lapses into incoherence. With a few exceptions, his comments on the translations are both confusing and confused. Chan likes to use Western philosophical terminology, but he is not in command of it. It is neither accurate nor helpful to describe the Ch'eng-Chu wing of Neo-Confucianism as "rationalistic," and the Lu-Wang wing as "dynamic idealism."

For many of the philosophers that Chan covers, this is still the best source for translations. This is especially so of later Chinese philosophy. I know of no better translation of selections from Ch'eng Yi and Ch'eng Hao, for example. But for many other philosophers, you would be better off with translations with a more narrow focus. Daniel Gardner's _Learning to Be a Sage_ is a great source on Chu Hsi. And I would (not surprisingly) recommend the anthology I co-edited for translations from ancient Chinese philosophers. (D.C. Lau, Victor Mair, and Burton Watson have also produced more extensive translations of major early Chinese philosophers. Look up their names here on amazon.com.)

I have to admit to one thing; this book is not for the timid. It took me a long time to read and the myriad of names and dates did confuse me. This massive work of over 800 pages (it is a bit of a misnomer as the book is about 780 pages of text and notes - the rest is appendix, bibliography and index) is really an almost exegetical read of Chinese philosophy.

Wing-Tsit Chan obviously took great care to plan out this book. The main advantage of this book is that it makes a whole range of primary sources accessible to the English speaking reader. As best as these books can get, it tries to cover the whole gamut of Chinese philosophy from pre-Confucian all the way through to Maoist China. If there is one thing that stands out is that Chinese philosophy is just as (and I hate to juxtapose - but I will this one time) convoluted and affected by forces as (or even more than our very own "western" tradition) acting on it. If you take the analysis from Confucian to Neo-Confucian (and even beyond), this development takes a tour de force through a variety of schools inclusive of (but not excluding others) of Taoism, Buddhism, modern neo-Rationalist and neo-Idealist movements.

The book is full of valuable "digressions" (if you can call it that) of details concerning the various players that are involved in the process of change. As if almost being the de facto standard, he starts with Confucianism and presents important extracts. Certainly, we have to be a little critical of what he opts out by what he opts in - but that is the work of specialists. Chan writes from and about the Analects and follows is metamorphosis through Mencius, Hsun Tzu, and Tung Chung-Shu. Later, he deftly shows how different (significantly different) Confucianism is from Neo-Confucianism. Also important is Chan's treatment of the Tao-Te Ching and its impact on the modern epistemological and metaphysical traditions.

For those who have studied humanistic Chinese traditions will form an opinion of the Chinese as hard-core pragmatists with no sense of aesthetics or metaphysics. This book will, as it did me, pleasantly change all that. Despite the strict adherence to age old traditions, influences most Buddhist - clearly show a bent toward the metaphysical. I have to admit that I would on the occasion get caught up in the almost obsessive references to things like the turbidity of water and how it is correct or not to use it as a metaphor for some essential things like man's nature.

Last but not least, are how interestingly Chan talks about the traditions in the west - especially Kant, Bergson and Nietzsche. Oddly enough, for those of you who were paying attention, the digression at the end about the signs and symbols sounded suspiciously like Claude Levi-Strauss. For the novices out there, I highly recommend this book as a starter but certainly one cannot neglect the complete The Analects, Doctrine of the Mean, The Great Learning, The Classic of Filial Piety and the works of Mencius to get some sense of modern day sino-based traditions. Despite having been written in 1969, the book is as timeless as ever and one of my personal favorites.

Miguel Llora

I agree with the other reviewers that this book is somewhat dated. However, it still ranks as one of the most accessable books in print about Chinese philosophy. Chan is an expert at culling the essential material from the various sources and distilling them into coherent chunks. However, Chan is notorious for leaning too heavily on the Confucian side of Chinese tradition.

My professor, Wm. Theodore de Bary, arguably Chan's successor, occasionally raises points in class regarding problems with Chan's work. In Wm. de Bary's point of view, the problems are not serious but they are worth addressing in a revision. For example, Chan uses the phrase "Doctrine of the Mean" following an earlier translation while a more accurate translation would be simply "The Mean". Chan has similar problems with English-language usage, but these only occur in exceptional instances. More often he gets bogged down in terminology that was commonly in use during his period but now seems dated.

Another matter to bring up, although not necessarily a problem, is Chan's personal faith in Christianity, which may have influenced his choice of word usage and selection of materials.

Objections aside, this is a wonderful book that anyone with more than a passing interest in Chinese philosophy will find useful. After reading this book, one might want to move on to Prof. de Bary's newly-revised "Sources of Chinese Tradition", and then on to more specialized works.

This book basically covers it all from basic concepts to how to market a retail chain. It serves as a great into book to marketing and is pretty easy to read along with many graphics and charts. It's sectioned off well enough to grasp particular concepts without having to read the entire book also.

An Overview of Marketing , The Marketing Environment and Marketing Ethics,Consumer Decision Marking

It seems like marketing books are getting longer and longer, trying to make marketing more and more complicated. It isn't rocket science. Essentials of Marketing goes in the oppositer direction, giving you the basics of things that will work. Covers all phases of the marketing mix and does it with a style that isn't the usual stuffiness. The fact the book is in the 4th edition says it has staying power.

Of course, Plato's work is nothing short of timeless. However, I recently found a hard-paperback version of this book that I would have liked to have more than this flimsy paperback format.

Grube is the most accurate and faithful translator of Plato. Unlike most other translators, in particular the horrendous Allan Bloom, Grube was both a first rate Greek scholar and had no ax to grind. You are always in good hands with one of his translations.

This is my absolute favorite non religious text.

"The Republic" should be required reading for all students in western society before high school graduation. To understand western society and all things or anything political past the days of barbarians and cave persons this book is the foundation. This book teaches the structure of western civilization, organization of government and definitively answers the question as to why borders must be respected, governments must be organized, the rule of law must be respected and why we must have a strong military force if we wish to live above the standards of barbarians. Without these standards and rules a civilized existence would be impossible because there would be no protection from those w/o a moral code.

Most people know this book by title, not by content. I must admit reading this book is not for the faint at heart. Rhetorics will be thrown in your face as if it is common language and some sense of historical background on the Greeks may help as well.

But this shouldn't hold you back from reading this classic piece, all 450 pages of it. It is not so much the result of all thinking, but the process of thinking itself which makes this a great book. Known as one of the greatest Greek philosiphers of all-time you can get a taste of his way of thinking and the time he was living in.

If you have any interest in history and philosophy you'll love this book.

This review is of ISBN-10: 0-87220-136-8, Plato * Republic, translated by G.M.A. Grube and revised by C.D.C. Reeve.

I somehow made it through high school and college learning about Plato and Socrates without reading any full-length works. That's changing this spring as I'm taking a discussion-based class on Plato's Republic. This text was recommended by our instructor, and I can see why. The translation is not cumbersome by striving for sheer literalness, but instead seeks to capture the flavor of the discussions Socrates had with others that Plato as a youth observed.

Footnotes are provided to explain the occasional word that has a different classical than contemporary meaning -- and yet you can read each of the 10 books (chapters) that comprise this volume first without attending to the footnotes, then re-reading the books along with their footnotes.

After having seen what gifted vs. pedestrian translations can do to the vigor and beauty of classic works (Beowulf, the Epic of Gilgamesh and The Odyssey come to mind), I can understand why Grube's translation is highly regarded. According to the scholar who performed the revision, no such work was called for until 20 years after publication (I am guessing to introduce more current English idiom and turn of phrase). The person who conducted the revision was encouraged to do so by the translator's family, which speaks to continuity.

Given its impact on Western philosophy and thought, the book may at first seem slender to you. Keep in mind that much of it is in the form of dialog -- presented for the most part without space-consuming "I said"s and "he said"s (clarity is kept by paragraph indents. The brief italicized introductions help ensure ready comprehension without spoonfeeding any philosophy.

The index and bibliography also are clear, well-presented and helpful. Note that the latter is toward the front of the book.

I applaud the price point; however, I think purchasers would have been better served by paying a buck more for better-quality paper stock. This is a book that cries out to be kept on one's bookshelf well past the completion of a particular class or a once-over reading. Unfortunately, the paper stock already suffers from read-through, even before being subjected to the pencil/pen jottings that many readers will be compelled to make. Those of you who use a highlighter, I'd advise to try with caution because the paper seems pretty absorbent.

This is a truly excellent selection of Thomistic writing, both by the Angelic Doctor and his critics and modern-day followers. It is not only comprehensive on the subject of Aquinas's politics and ethics but it is a good introduction to Thomism and natural law theory in general. Mortimer Adler's spanking of Bill Moyers on the subject of objective ethics is worth the price of the book just by itself.

This book is "The Thinner Aquinas," a targeted text specifically focusing on Aquinas's political and ethical writings.

Incluced are obvious selections from Summa Contra Gentiles and Summa Theologica (Five Ways of God's Existence and Essay on Law), but also included are excerpts from "De Regimine Principum."

There are hidden treasures in the back, excerpts from backgound sources and essays that influenced and were influenced by Thomisitic thought.

This book is geared towards a poltical scientist and poltical philosopher. For the theologian or the philosopher, however, I would reccomed Penguin Classics "Selected Writings."

PS--Nice picture on the cover!

we are in the logistics business and I reviewed this book as a potential teaching tool for management. The book is unfortunatley of little to no value. Most concerning is that the mathematics for inventory management, a critical factor in understanding logistics, are simply wrong. Even a quick look by anyone familiar with inventory management would find this concerning.

The book was in great condition for being used amd I received it in half the time!

This book is used at my college and it is really soft on hard information.It is full of generalizations and impressive industry jargon but offers little practical information to take into industry. The cost does not justify what you get in my opinion. More case examples would be helpful and more analytical methods described with realistic scenarios could really improve it. I would not recommend it unless absolutely necessary.

The book takes the reader progressively from the most simple concepts to the complexities of logistics. It is true that this is not a quantitive book, but it is a very conceptual and didactic logistics book with many cases and graphs. An internet site provided by the publisher with transparencies, internet site references, and other supports to this book makes it an excellent tool. There is a lot of value in the package offered.

I have used this book as a reference whilst as a student and recommended it as a lecturer. The material it contains is explained in detail and most if not all major areas of Logistics and Supply Chain Management have been covered to some extent.

Topics like ECR that are today considered "new" or "cutting edge" were mentioned in this book.

It does not gloss over theories and calculations but actually walks you through these step-by-step.

I have read and used a number of Logistics or SCM books over the years. If you take all factors into account, including price, which is relevant to most students, you get absolute value for money.

_If it was up to me to preserve just one of the dialogues of Plato for posterity it would be the Phaedo. That is because this is the metaphysical core of the teachings of Socrates (the main character) as told by Plato. As is emphasized in the text, death is the main topic of concern for the true philosopher- and that is what is covered here. However, there is nothing morbid about it. This is a message of hope, for Socrates establishes the divinity and immortality of the soul. The good man, he who has purified himself through the love of wisdom (Philosophy) goes to a higher, purer realm to be with like-minded souls and the gods themselves. The bad man also goes to his just reward with those of like character.

_If I was to abstract the core truth here it would be that the true philosopher is always trying to free his soul from the body- for only then is the soul free of the distractions and distortions that can corrupt it and keep it from direct perception of the Ideals (Absolute Truth, Good, Beauty, and Justice.)

_You easily see where the Church borrowed so much of its basic theological underpinnings. In fact, reading this work abolishes forever in your mind the idea that the pre-Christian pagans were in anyway necessarily savage or barbaric in their deepest spiritual beliefs. This is spirituality more pure than anything preached by the Church- and it is supported by reasoned argument and not appeal to empty faith and authority.

_The closing of the dialog is probably the finest depiction in Western literature of the death of a great and good man. You truly concur that Socrates was indeed "the wisest and justest and best of all men."

The Phaedo is a third-person account of the philosophical discussion between Socrates and his friends on the day of his death. Socrates accepts his fate most amicably, arguing that death is the means by which to achieve the aims of true philosophy, for only by escaping the evil of the body can the soul truly acquire wisdom. Socrates renews his argument that learning is in fact recollection, supposedly proving that the soul exists before birth. He also argues that everything comes from its opposite; if death comes from life, then life must come from death. The proofs he offers for his belief that the soul is eternal do not strike me as very convincing.

As the account of Socrates' final hours, the Phaedo is a corollary of sorts to the Apology and Crito, but it addresses certain themes those earlier dialogues did not. In many ways, the Phaedo is a precursor to much of the philosophy of The Republic, in which the concepts of the eternal soul and the invisible Forms addressed here are threshed out much more satisfactorily. Given the importance of these concepts later in The Republic and the formative yet lengthy discussion of them here in the Phaedo, this is a crucial dialogue in terms of understanding the overall philosophical arguments of Plato.

Socrates is unique among philosophers, not just for his place among the early Greek philosophers, but also for the fact that he is the most famous philosopher to never write his own books. What we know of Socrates comes from contemporary accounts and students, most particularly Plato.

Set in 399 BCE, the Phaedo is a reconstruction of Socrates final conversations with friends on the day he died. We do not know when this dialogue was written, but it was probably before the Republic (Plato's most famous work, also featuring the figure of Socrates). Like the Republic, this dialogue features a well developed theory of Forms -- these are introduced gradually here, slowly filling out the details of each step.

However, the idea of the soul is rather less developed here than in the Republic. The soul is simply mind, or intellect - all emotions are here placed as bodily aspects. This is rather Pythagorean in a fashion, that only the soul grasps the perfect Forms, and so should consist of nothing but reasoning ability, for emotions distort and cloud the perceptions and judgments.

In the end of the Phaedo, we witness Socrates drink the hemlock, without fear or trembling, as a philosopher should know the value of life and welcome death with a firm hope. The story is almost religious in nature here.

Grube's translation is lively and accessible, not a dry academic rendering, and certainly no contrived high-formal style that so often distances the classics from modern life. This is serious stuff, but in a mere 60 pages manages to capture much, and Grube's work makes it all the more relevant.

Irwin's and Fine's translations merit a five-star rating. They are expert scholars who have for decades been at the forefront of Aristotle research. Besides 100% technical accuracy they helpfully subscript (i) Aristotle's keyterms which can't be uniformly translated and (ii) those keyterms which have only one English equivalent ('form', 'being', 'knowledge', etc).

However, I warn customers NOT to get this book (I made the mistake) but instead get Fine and Irwin's "Aristotle: Selections" (Hackett 1995) from which the "Introductory Readings" are excerpted. You'll need their full glossary and the more extensive notes if you want to understand Aritotle AT ALL. In that regard Introductory Readings is useless and that's why it merits a one-star.

Two coments in closing.
1) Every translation of Aristotle is an interpretation, and Irwin's and Fine's even more so than others due to its high frequency of interpolations. It's therefore indispensable to have another reader - say, Ackrill's (Princeton 1987) - beside you to compare what's going on.
2) "Selections" contains Irwin's phenomenal translation of the Nichomachean Ethics. However, if you are predominantly interested in that work be sure to get Irwin's full translation (Hackett 1999) first. His extensive commentary, targeted at beginners, scores a ten-star!

I've enjoyed reading The Tao of Willie very much. It's full of wisdom and humor and gives you the feeling that you know Willie personal.

Easy read, Simple words from a simple man, Willie Nelson. Lots of good advice for taking life easy. Makes a good gift.

This book is wonderful. It's entertaining, but so much more than that. Willie's wisdom is priceless. I learned some valuable things from reading this book, such as taking the time to appreciate the present moment and accepting things the way they are.
I originally borrowed this book from the library, but I had to buy it because it's the kind of book that you want to read again and again.

Not being a country and western fan, I really don't remember when I discovered Willie...Saw him at the Austin Opry House back in the 70's and and been to several more concerts...He always comes across as an authenic being, who does not pretend to be more than he is...When I stumbled across this book, I immedicately knew I had to read it...The Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu perfectly compliments the "way" of Willie's life and he expresses it simply and humorously in this gem of a book. I had to stop reading frequently to either comtemplate the truth of what he's written or, just as frequently, to laugh at his jokes...This book will warm your heart and soul...We're all the better for having Willie in our lives...

I deployed to Afghanistan in May 2006. The morning of my departure, I received a phone call from both of the authors of this book. Willie and Turk wished me luck and a safe return on my journey. It was a memory that has been with me ever since. Just this past week, I had the fortune of getting to see Willie Nelson in concert (The Last of Breed Tour) for the first time in my 33 years. It was an amazing show and I also had the pleasure of meeting him backstage as he proceeded to the stage to perform with Merle Haggard and Ray Price. What an experience!
While on deployment I was able to read this book. There is little happiness in Afghanistan these days. But every night prior to lights out, I could always count on a smile and a reflection of my life through the words in this book. It was a pleasure to read.
To Willie and Turk...Thank you!

The best first and/or last step into Friedrich Nietzsche's thought. It reads quickly and gives a fair cross-section of his writings chronologically: just before TSZ, right after his "free spirit" epoch, and Bk. V from around the time of Beyond Good & Evil. Only a shame that a Hollingdale translation is not available in English.
And now some buffoonery from yours trulery.

Down Going Limerick

Zarathustra is now down going
And so he speaks in rhyme:
The madman said, "God is dead.
Where is he? Is it we who killed a lie?"

Now I Exhort You to Love What is Most Distant, to
Dionysus Against the Crucified.

Burn Your Ships and move to Inland Deserts
Onward--To the Great Noontide,
For The Twilight of the Idols Approaches,
And The Overman's Time is Well Nigh.

At Last Behold the Higher Man--
Whom With Hammer Doth Philosophize:
"You yourself are this Will to Power,
and nothing else besides!"

Now Completely Drunk With Laugher,
And Unafraid to Die
The Higher Man Declares: Amor Fati!
Finally Dionysus Will Fly!

Thus Spoke Zarathustra in His Down Going
Of the Innocence of Becoming from on High.
"Together, Apollo and Dionysus unite
Against the Crucified."

Thus Spoke Zarathustra

The Sorcerer unpursed his lips
laying his flute beside him, and sighed.

Nietzsche's Die Froliche Wissenschaft may be a great and brilliant book precisely because it is impossible to say exactly what it is about. On the one hand, we are given the Nietzsche who repudiates the assumptions of Christian morality and German Nationalism, as well as the familiar Nietzsche who rejects dogmatism and rationalism, but we are also given an unusual Nietzsche who discusses the tremendous potential of the theoretical and physical sciences. There are also profound discussions on women in the Gay Science which break with his otherwise overt misogyny. Additionally, Nietzsche provides very lucid repudiations of all forms of nihilism (aphorisms which are often overlooked by contemporary commentators who wish to write Nietzsche off as a nihilistic thinker). Nietzsche also introduces a number of his most important philosophical ideas in the Gay Science, namely the notion of ressentiment, slave and master morality, 'God is Dead,' and the eternal recurrence of the same. This is a hugely important opus in the history of modernity, and it is an immensely pleasurable and satisfying read.

For the admirers of Nietzsche and those who love to read him, "The Gay Science" is somehow their FAVOURITE BOOK. In this work the hughe, great German philosopher and psychologist (honour to whom it deserves!) confronts us with a rather fleet-footed, almost "dancing" way of writing about his eternal themes that never ever have left his thoughts, his way of thinking and his brilliant pen.
HERE is a work that is EXTREMELY RICH, OF GREAT VALUE:
* For the FIRST TIME he announces the death of God;
* For the FIRST TIME his thoughts about eternal rebirth are formulated;
* He introduces the reader into his theory of "THE DANGEROUS LIFE": the author even recommends this to his readers (see too: "Thus spake Zarathustra", "Beyond Good And Evil" and his splendid "Antichrist").
At the same time I have to say that this however fabulous work, is a VERY CONTROVERSIAL writing of Nietzsche. At many places in the book he is dealing with - what I will call here "DELICATE THEMES" as there are for example "THE JEW" and "THE WOMAN". Passages where every reader of these days (early 21st century) cannot read those paragraphs without frowning the eyebrows, not to say will be "feeling uncomfortable with".

Now, quite REMARKABLE is that "THIS FAVOURITE" was written in the years 1881-1882, so about the same period the author "created" his "Zarathustra"! Knowing this AND knowing the subjects of Nietzsche, I cannot say elsehow - about the writer as a man as well as about his eternal themes - that right here "we" meet/deal with the greatest of all contrasts in his entire, well-filled life and work. In fact "THE CONTRAST" which cannot be found elsewhere in his oeuvre, is the "HEAVY PROPHETISM" of his "Zarathustra" versus "The Gay Science" of which the character is to be defined "RATHER AIRY, LIGHT-HEARTED AND PLAYFUL".
BUT: do NEVER let this contrast be the (false) reason not to read this beautiful "product", ON THE CONTRARY!!! No more, no less it is showing THE REAL GENIUS of the author (there exist/are/were far more less than one would like to think or thinks!). Without any doubt this PHENOMENON OF CONTRAST must be seen, interpreted as the REAL, IMMENSELY GREAT TALENT of Nietzsche: as well concerning the literary point of view as to his INEXHAUSTIVE, UNLIMITED CAPABILITY to play with words and thoughts. JUST AS IF it were the most common thing on earth to do so, while in fact this GENIUS (noblesse oblige!) is playing, juggling with the most difficult items of philosophy, psychology, even theology, in a way ... it can be read by all.

ESPECIALLY HERE, ABOUT "THE GAY SCIENCE", this has to be said all over again - whether one is PRO or CONTRA Nietzsche: the phenomenon of his GENIUS will and can never be denied. It is INTELLECTUAL HONESTY that makes, requires one to consider him that like. The book is AGAIN one of his "creatings" that is very well readable AND that will be re-read. RECOMMENDED FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART AND REASON, MY WHOLE BEING!

It has to be said that from all of Nietzsche's works, the "Gaya Scienza" has to be the most under-rated of Nietzsche's works.

(It is in the "Gay Science" in which the prelude of the now famous proclaimation "God is dead" first appears)

With his usual "aphoristic" style, Nietzsche creates delightfull read, his message is both profane and profound.

It's a book I recomend to all...

If you have heard this phrase and never done a critical reading of Nietzsche you may understandably be confused! He is saying the authority (moral, scientific, etc.)previuosly accorded "god" (also religious institution)belongs properly to man.

"Man is the measure" and, thanks to historical movements like Romanticism and the Enlightenment, we are free, rational (lower case 'r') beings not dependent on "god" for our grounding. Hence, "God is dead."

Disclaimer, there are numerous readings of Nz, I think this reading is accurate, especially when contextualized, but...I did learn Nz from a positivist.