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From primordial nothingness to this very moment, A Short History of Nearly Everything reports what happened and how humans figured it out. To accomplish this daunting literary task, Bill Bryson uses hundreds of sources, from popular science books to interviews with luminaries in various fields. His aim is to help people like him, who rejected stale school textbooks and dry explanations, to appreciate how we have used science to understand the smallest particles and the unimaginably vast expanses of space. With his distinctive prose style and wit, Bryson succeeds admirably. Though A Short History clocks in at a daunting 500-plus pages and covers the same material as every science book before it, it reads something like a particularly detailed novel (albeit without a plot). Each longish chapter is devoted to a topic like the age of our planet or how cells work, and these chapters are grouped into larger sections such as "The Size of the Earth" and "Life Itself." Bryson chats with experts like Richard Fortey (author of Life and Trilobite) and these interviews are charming. But it's when Bryson dives into some of science's best and most embarrassing fights--Cope vs. Marsh, Conway Morris vs. Gould--that he finds literary gold. --Therese Littleton
Book Description
One of the world’s most beloved and bestselling writers takes his ultimate journey -- into the most intriguing and intractable questions that science seeks to answer.
In
A Walk in the Woods, Bill Bryson trekked the Appalachian Trail -- well, most of it. In
In A Sunburned Country, he confronted some of the most lethal wildlife Australia has to offer. Now, in his biggest book, he confronts his greatest challenge: to understand -- and, if possible, answer -- the oldest, biggest questions we have posed about the universe and ourselves. Taking as territory everything from the Big Bang to the rise of civilization, Bryson seeks to understand how we got from there being nothing at all to there being us. To that end, he has attached himself to a host of the world’s most advanced (and often obsessed) archaeologists, anthropologists, and mathematicians, travelling to their offices, laboratories, and field camps. He has read (or tried to read) their books, pestered them with questions, apprenticed himself to their powerful minds.
A Short History of Nearly Everything is the record of this quest, and it is a sometimes profound, sometimes funny, and always supremely clear and entertaining adventure in the realms of human knowledge, as only Bill Bryson can render it. Science has never been more involving or entertaining.
From the Hardcover edition.
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Bill Bryson is one of the world's most beloved and bestselling writers. In A Short History of Nearly Everything, he takes his ultimate journey—into the most intriguing and consequential questions that science seeks to answer. It's a dazzling quest, the intellectual odyssey of a lifetime, as this insatiably curious writer attempts to understand everything that has transpired from the Big Bang to the rise of civilization. Or, as the author puts it, "...how we went from there being nothing at all to there being something, and then how a little of that something turned into us, and also what happened in between and since." This is, in short, a tall order.
To that end, Bill Bryson apprenticed himself to a host of the world's most profound scientific minds, living and dead. His challenge is to take subjects like geology, chemistry, paleontology, astronomy, and particle physics and see if there isn't some way to render them comprehensible to people, like himself, made bored (or scared) stiff of science by school. His interest is not simply to discover what we know but to find out how we know it. How do we know what is in the center of the earth, thousands of miles beneath the surface? How can we know the extent and the composition of the universe, or what a black hole is? How can we know where the continents were 600 million years ago? How did anyone ever figure these things out?
On his travels through space and time, Bill Bryson encounters a splendid gallery of the most fascinating, eccentric, competitive, and foolish personalities ever to ask a hard question. In their company, he undertakes a sometimes profound, sometimes funny, and always supremely clear and entertaining adventure in the realms of human knowledge, as only this superb writer can render it. Science has never been more involving, and the world we inhabit has never been fuller of wonder and delight.
“Stylish [and] stunningly accurate prose. We learn what the material world is like from the smallest quark to the largest galaxy and at all the levels in between... brims with strange and amazing facts... destined to become a modern classic of science writing.”
THE NEW YORK TIMES
“Bryson has made a career writing hilarious travelogues, and in many ways his latest is more of the same, except that this time Bryson hikes through the world of science.”
PEOPLE
“Bryson is surprisingly precise, brilliantly eccentric and nicely eloquent... a gifted storyteller has dared to retell the world’s biggest story.”
SEATTLE TIMES
“Hefty, highly researched and eminently readable.”
SIMON WINCHESTER, THE GLOBE AND MAIL
“All non-scientists (and probably many specialized scientists, too) can learn a great deal from his lucid and amiable explanations.”
NATIONAL POST
"Bryson is a terrific stylist. You can’t help but enjoy his writing, for its cheer and buoyancy, and for the frequent demonstration of his peculiar, engaging turn of mind.”
OTTAWA CITIZEN
“Wonderfully readable. It is, in the best sense, learned.”
WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
Customer Reviews:
Great stories, but not for those with a scientific background.......2007-10-18
I am about half way through the book, and thought about putting it aside a few times and moving on to another book because the scientific information presented stops short of being truly valuable, or precise. However, the stories around the scientists who brought these discoveries into being are very entertaining, which is the main reason I am still reading the book.
I am an electronics engineer, and have studied quantum mechanics and various other subjects of physics at a graduate level. Bill's book touches ever so lightly on the real science of the topics, turning the subject matter into the almost sensational by rattling off names of sub atomic particles as if we should all be in awe of the names alone.
I recommend this book to those who enjoy anecdotes from of our history of scientific discovery, or those who want to know some facts such as the age of the earth. But I do not recommend this book to those who wish to expand their understanding of science beyond 1st year college science.
Everything about everything and nothing.......2007-10-15
Bill Bryson takes us on a layman's journey through the great adventures, arguments, and in-fighting of the last 400 years of scientific discovery, learning, and development. He explains in a superficial way what is important in chemistry, physics, geology, biology, mathematics, and anthropology, but his real strength is telling us about the brilliant but bizarre characters who did the heavy lifting.
You wont learn anything here that they dont teach college freshmen about technology but you will meet completely wacky characters like Sir Isaac Newton. This 17th century genius was unimpressed with the state of mathematics, so he invented his own (the calculus) and then neglected to mention it to anyone else for 27 years. Then came Crick and Watson who discovered the helical pattern of DNA despite having not been biologists, in fact, Crick was an American prodigy best known for appearing on radio game shows as a youth. Bryson abounds with additional tales of the strange workings of Fahrenheit, Kelvin, Einstein, Planck, etc.
This book is great fun. I have read all of Bryson's other books on travel and language, many were best-selling, and this thing is near the top. I listened to the author's reading in the abridged audiocassette. One could almost see Bryson lighting up when he gets to the parts where we poor mortals have no clue. According to Bryson, no one knows why the earth's magnetic fields change every 600 million years (we are overdue for a reversal), or what really happened to the Neanderthals, or if global warming will cause the next ice age (we are also overdue here).
too many errors, no online corrections.......2007-10-14
I think the reason this book won the Aventis and Descartes prizes is because the prize committees may have hoped the book could engage people who might otherwise read only travelogues, and interest them enough to read about cosmology and evolution. That is a worthy goal, but unfortunately the book's errors are too many and too distracting. If the book's website included a page for corrections, I could recommend it, but currently the closest is Wikipedia which only reports corrections that have already been published elsewhere.
An Amazon reviewer (Michael J. Edelman) noted the issue of inaccuracies, but was criticized for not providing specific examples, so I will provide two. I should note that, unlike some of the book's defenders, the author is completely unpretentious and acknowledges that his original manuscript included "many hundreds" (page xi) of errors that were corrected with the help of more learned reviewers. He adds, "Goodness knows how many other inky embarrassments may lurk in these pages yet...." Quite a few actually, but rather than call them "embarrassments" I suggest he should list corrections on his website. I will confine my examples to obvious errors of math and internal inconsistencies, and will leave the deeper scientific misunderstandings to experts.
On page 15, "seven one-thousandths.... Lower that value very slightly - from 0.007 per cent...." Bryson is off by two orders of magnitude: seven one-thousandths is 0.7%, and 0.007% is seven hundred-thousandths (7/100,000). The context is the narrow range of livable physics, so the specific order of magnitude might not matter to the light reader looking to be entertained by something "science-y," but it is jarring to the more literal reader hoping to learn about science.
On pages 20 and 21, "As for Pluto itself, nobody is quite sure how big it is.... If you set it down on top of the United States, it would cover not quite half the lower forty-eight states." Then, on page 22, "On a diagram of the solar system to scale, with the Earth reduced to about the diameter of a pea...Pluto would be...about the size of a bacterium, so you wouldn't be able to see it anyway." If you look at a picture of earth taken from space, with North America showing, you can see that North America would remain clearly visible even if you scaled the whole earth down to the size of a pea. Even the area of the American states east of the Mississippi River would remain visible to the naked eye. In contrast, a sphere of soil the size of a pea would typically hold millions of bacteria, each invisible. The sizes of peas and bacteria can vary, so I cannot calculate exactly how many orders of magnitude this error entails, but it is as jarring as the one on page 15.
The text starts on page 9, so that's at least two glaring inconsistencies in the first 13 pages. There might be more that I overlooked. If the first 13 pages are a representative sample, the 422-page text likely contains more than 60 errors of that type alone, not counting deeper scientific errors that others have reported but I might be unable to detect.
Everyone makes mistakes, but some authors and publishers are better than others at acknowledging them and making accurate information readily available. A print book cannot be recalled and updated readily, but it should go through better fact-checking before publication, and afterwards it is easy to publish a companion website with corrections. Unfortunately the website for this book lists only praise, and links to buy more copies of the book.
Bryson is a story-teller, most famous for travelogues that can be more about entertaining experiences than specific facts, and this book seems to be his travelogue through the world of science. That might explain the inattention to detail. His memoir of growing up in Des Moines, "The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid," is much better because the candid hyperbole becomes part of the fun; he doesn't expect you actually to believe that anyone in his family really came from another planet.
I received this book as a gift, and have tried to read it, but I don't expect to finish because if my knowledge of science were good enough to catch all the errors I wouldn't need to read it, and as it is I don't want to spend that many hours becoming possibly more misinformed than I am. More recently, Richard Dawkins' "The God Delusion" covers much of the same ground better, is very readable and often entertaining, and is backed by his website with feedback from all quarters; Dawkins is an experienced science author, and his polemic includes more reliable science and has already earned more Amazon sales despite being published only last year. "A Short History of Nearly Everything" might make a less challenging gift, but the errors and lack of corrections unfortunately undermine its value.
A Short History of Nearly Everything.......2007-10-13
This is the best book I have ever read. Everyone should read it to get an idea of up to date information in the science world. Many of my older friends are still thinking about this subject in the 50 years ago thinking. As you can see from my orders I have bought several of these books to give away as presents.
Essential.......2007-10-09
Easily one of the most important books I have ever read.Bryson's wonderful writing and style allow you to enjoy learning fascinating and complex information. Beautifully written and crammed full of priceless information.
Book Description
In this cogent and accessible introduction to philosophy, the distinguished author of Mortal Questions and The View From Nowhere sets forth the central problems of philosophical inquiry for the beginning student. Arguing that the best way to learn about philosophy is to think about its questions directly, Thomas Nagel considers possible solutions to nine problems--knowledge of the world beyond our minds, knowledge of other minds, the mind-body problem, free will, the basis of morality, right and wrong, the nature of death, the meaning of life, and the meaning of words. Although he states his own opinions clearly, Nagel leaves these fundamental questions open, allowing students to entertain other solutions and encouraging them to think for themselves.
Customer Reviews:
An Hour of Deep Thought.......2007-02-27
WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN? was forwarded to me by my daughter while she was attending college. She read it as part of her philosophy course syllabus. At first I thought it too slim of a volume to have substantial philosophical merit. How can the meaning of existence be even broached in one hundred pages? But Thomas Nagel has done just that. Be it read as introductory or review, one can satisfactorily cover the basics of philosophy in about an hour. That in itself is quite an accomplishment.
This book examines and acquaints the reader with the major questions of philosophy. As many other reviewers have pointed out, Nagel is remiss where it comes to giving answers, but I don't believe that was ever his intention with this short work. This is not a tract on "how to live," rather a primer for "what to think about?"
A Small Taste of Success to Begin the Scholarly Life.......2007-01-25
During that first week of the first semester of the freshman year, before the social fraternities might have planned and executed their first parties, before the sports tryouts, play auditions, talent shows, and football games can begin in earnest, for those very few days, the meaning of college and a scholarly endeavor can still be shaped by a teacher. In those two or three class meetings, while others are still defining the field, deriving the Greek origin of the course title, explaining his/her own teaching approach, reading the syllabus, updating roll books, and breaking the ice, in those few days I try to capture students' attention. I will need it for the rest of the semester and I see it as an important part of my job to win it. But I have only a few days to hook them. Those who I can not ensnare are usually lost to the hard stuff, hookah, and hormones. So it's vital that I catch them, and fast. Luckily, I teach Philosophy and History.
Understanding this challenge, the first assignment should both engage and prepare the student for the next readings. Getting through the initial chapters should be an encouraging experience. If an advanced high school student could complete the readings for the second class meeting, spending about three hours to do so, and then successfully use the material in the next class discussion, then that reading is a perfect first selection.
And a broad description of philosophical thinking, in language that provides a freshman with better than even chances to succeed, can still be found in Thomas Nagel's _What Does It All Mean? A Very Short Introduction to Philosophy_. Nine chapters of about ten pages each make this readable little book ideal for the first week of an introductory course in Philosophy. Here, the ideas and major questions are presented in clear language, and in a rational, topical order. Supplemented by a week of rambunctious yet demanding classroom discussions, this small introduction will help open eyes and prepare your students for a more conventional reader, chronologically arranged by Philosopher. This next reader will be attacked, beginning in the second week, by students with some recent experience with the various topics, and in a mood to be critical. Handled correctly, the first week of Philosophy 100 will alert students that reading will count, that doing the reading before class will make you (the student) seem smarter to your classmates, that the text can be understood, and that the subject can be interesting, because it can be applied to life.
I can highly recommend Nagel's small book for that first week, while you still have their attention.
Where are the references?.......2006-08-15
As a supplementary text for an introductory survey course in philosophy, this is potentially a very nice volume. Students could read it the first week of class, before moving on to primary sources. In the introduction to the text, however, Nagel states that he hopes the book would also be useful as an invitation to philosophy for inquisitive readers outside a classroom context. Unfortunately, the absence of "suggestions for further reading" at the end of chapters, or even of the names of philosophers who have examined the questions being addressed in the text, is fatal for this hope. After reading this book an inquisitive reader might have some superficial familiarity with some important questions with which philosophers have grappled, but no idea who those philosophers were, and no idea where to turn to pursue the issues in greater depth. For this information, he or she would need to turn to a longer survey of the literature (like Roger Scruton's "Modern Philosophy"). But in that case, why not save some money and go straight to the longer survey, bypassing Nagel's book altogether? That's what I would do.
No Better Brief Intro to Philosophy.......2006-07-26
I wish I had time to write more at this time...this is an excellent small intro. It does what it claims to do. It is not comprehensive, but it neither claims to be nor attemtps to be so. Even so, I have read lots and lots of philosophy books and Nagel says more and does so more effectively than many many (too many) philosophy books that are four, five, six times the size of this little intro of his. I have probably bought a half a dozen or more copies of it when I see it at used bookstores and have handed them out to friends and even acquaintances who could benefit from knowing something about philosophy but aren't going to dedicate their lives to it. If you only have time for a hundred pages of philosophy but want to get a taste for the discipline, this is the one you want. I've said more than my time allows...but would write much more praise if I could.
Good, but incomplete, introduction.......2006-07-04
This book delivers exactly what its subtitle suggests: "A Very Short Introduction to Philosophy." In 101 pages, Nagel manages to touch on many, if not most, of the major issues in the field. The ten chapters deal with epistemology, philosophy of the mind, linguistics, free will, ethics and justice, and death and the meaning of life. The writing, for the most part, is extremely clear and readable for a philosophy book, and yet Nagel still manages to introduce many of the terms and "-isms" that philosophers will wrestle with later.
Nagel's treatment of the topics is understandably brief, given the scope of the book. Almost anyone might point out the omission of a key point or two, but on the whole Nagel does an excellent job of reducing a theme vast enough to fill up libraries into a managable, pleasant, introduction. No absolute beginner should feel lost with this book, and even experienced philosophers are likely to find some interesting points, if only because they're stated so simply.
The big drawback, an important one for an introductory book, is that it mentions almost no major philosophers or works, and provides no bibliography or suggestions for further reading. When Nagel presents an idea he does nothing to tell the reader where to turn to find out more. Nagel, or his editors, could have done a far better service by letting the book extend to 110 pages and including a few more details. As it is, the book makes a good, but not stand-alone, introduction to philosophy. I recommend it as a companion to other philosophy primers, but if taken by itself, the book comes up short.
Average customer rating:
- The great defender of individual liberty
- Liberty for all
- Triumph of the individual
- On "On Liberty..."
- Liberal, Utilitarian and First Feminist. Essential reading.
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On Liberty and Other Essays (Oxford World's Classics)
John Stuart Mill
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0192833847 |
Book Description
Collected here in a single volume for the first time, On Liberty, Utilitarianism, Considerations on Representative Government, and The Subjection of Women show John Stuart Mill applying his liberal utilitarian philosophy to a range of issues that remain vital today--the nature of ethics, the
scope and limits of individual liberty, the merits of and costs of democratic government, and the place of women in society. In his Introduction John Gray describes these essays as applications of Mill's doctrine of the Art of Life, as set out in A System of Logic. Using the resources of recent
scholarship, he shows Mill's work to be far richer and subtler than traditional interpretations allow.
Customer Reviews:
The great defender of individual liberty.......2006-12-24
John Stuart Mill, 1806-73, worked for the East India Co. helped run Colonial India from England. Minister of Parliament 1865-68 he served one term. Maiden speech was a disaster his second was great success. He was first MP to propose that women should be given the vote on equal footing with the men who could vote. He got 1/3 support, England gives franchise to women after U.S. He was a great Feminist, his essay "Subjection of Women" is written with great passion and prose. It was a brave position for him to take he was ridiculed for it. He favored democracy, and letting more men from lower classes the right to vote, but believed that people that are more educated should have more votes then less educated because they would make better decisions about what government should do. He would have wanted to extend education to the masses, so that all may have gotten 2-3 votes and so on. He didn't think it should be extended to where a small elite could carry the day on votes. The idea was that if the working class, and middle class, where divided on an issue, the people with more intelligence would have the power to tip the balance. Mill thought that people with more education would probably not only be better able to make political decisions, especially in terms of intellectually being able to see what would be best for the government to do, but that they would also be more concerned about the common good publicly then people in general. He was intensely educated by his father James. John could read Greek, and Latin at 6 yrs.; his Dad tutored him at home. Dad thought environment was everything. He was treated like an adult, never played games with kids; he had a very cerebral upbringing. He had a period of depression in his twenties, it changed his philosophy, and he recognized the importance of developing feelings along with the intellect, this is something that he stressed in his work. He read poetry to get out of depression; he became devoted to poetry and became a romantic. He fell in love with a married woman Harriet Taylor, was a platonic relationship, after her husband's death they married 3 years later and probably never consummated the marriage maybe due to his having syphilis. His dedication to "On Liberty" is to her, very devoted to each other. Both buried together in Avignon France where they used to vacation.
Mill as a moral theorist subscribed to a theory we call Utilitarianism. It means---In some way morality is about the maximization of happiness. Whether actions are right or wrong depends on how happiness can be most effectively maximized. I say in some way, because there are allot of different kinds of Utilitarians. Allot of different ways of saying exactly how it is the maximization of happiness comes into morality. Therefore, happiness is clearly an important idea for Utilitarians. Mill has a hedonistic view of happiness, he thinks that happiness can be defined in terms of "pleasure in the absence of pain." What is distinctive about Mill in this area is that he believes that some kinds of pleasure are better than others are, and add more to a person's happiness than other kinds of pleasures. He believes in what he calls, "higher quality pleasures." These are pleasures, he says, that we get from the exercise of faculties that only human beings happen to have. So the intellect, imagination, the moral feelings, these are the sources of higher quality pleasures people use. His view seems to be that a certain quantity of intellectual pleasure just adds more to your happiness, and a given quantity of some lower pleasure like a kind we would share with the animals such as sensation, taste, sexual pleasure, etc. His "higher quality pleasures" in a way echo Aristotle's ethics. The idea of those things that make us distinctly human that are the real key to our happiness, that is in Mill also. It is not as limited to reason and intellect as Aristotle thinks. Mill recognizes the importance of the appreciation of beauty, aesthetic pleasure, and moral pleasure. He frankly owes a debt to Aristotle that he never properly acknowledges, never gives him proper credit.
"On Liberty" is Mill's is his most widely read and enduring work. It is an indispensable essay on political thought, which strenuously argues for individual liberty. He is defending what he calls the "liberty principle." It is a principle that guarantees individuals quite a bit of personal freedom. "That the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others. His own good, either physical or moral, is not a sufficient warrant." These quoted sentences in John Stuart Mill's book, "On Liberty," embody the crux of his argument; that the power of the state must intrude as little as possible on the liberty of its citizenry. In essence, Mill was against using the power of the state through its lawmaking apparatus to compel citizens to conduct themselves in ways that society deems moral or appropriate. Mill thought that people had not only a right, but also a duty to develop their intellectual faculties, which is indispensable to maximize their happiness. He believed that society improved for all its citizens when they where left unfettered to the maximum extent possible, allowing them to use their imagination and intellect to improve themselves. Mill postulates a theory that societies usually institute laws based primarily on "personal preference" of its citizenry instead of established principles. This lack of clarity of opinion often leads to the government frequently interfering in the lives of its citizens unnecessarily. For Mill, there are very few times when the state can infringe on the personal liberty of others. Firstly, the state has the right to promulgate laws that prevent a person's actions from harming others. Secondly, the state must protect those citizens who are not mature enough to protect themselves, such as children. Thirdly, he exempts, "... backward states of society in which the race itself may be considered as in its nonage." In Mill's view, immature societies need a benevolent leader to rule them until they have developed to a point where they, "... have attained the capacity of being guided to their own improvement by conviction or persuasion ..." Mill said this third exemption did not apply to any of the countries in Europe. Mill believed that forced morality by the state on its citizen's liberties was destructive to their inward development, and could even lead to a violent reaction by them against the government.
There are different parts of his defense of this, different arguments that he gives. He has a long chapter on freedom of speech and press. He has some very specific reasons why he thinks those freedoms are important. Always in the background for Mill is the idea of development, and making it possible for more people to enjoy these higher quality pleasures. How do we help people develop their distinctly human faculties, in ways that will help them enjoy their higher quality pleasures? Because for him that is the way, we maximize the total amount of happiness that is enjoyed in the world, and that is the object of morality as far as he is concerned. Utilitarianists believe that maximizing happiness is ultimately, what morality is all about. That does not mean maximizing your own happiness that means maximizing the total amount of happiness that is enjoyed, not only by yourself but also by everybody else as well.
Roger Kimball, in his book "Experiments Against Reality" wrote, "On Liberty" was published in 1859, coincidentally the same year as "On the Origin of Species." Darwin's book has been credited--and blamed--for all manner of moral and religious mischief. But in the long run "On Liberty" may have effected an even greater revolution in sentiment.
I read this book for a graduate class in Philosophy. Recommended reading for anyone interested in philosophy, political science, and history.
Liberty for all.......2005-09-12
It is surprising to me how many people assume that 'On Liberty' was written before or during the American Revolution - Mill was certainly influenced by the spirit of American liberty, which was variously romanticised and adapted in Britain and Europe during the nineteenth century. Published in 1859, 'On Liberty' is one of the primary political texts of the nineteenth century; perhaps only the writings of Marx had a similar impact, and of the two, in today's world, Mill's philosophy seems (please note that I only said 'seems') the one that is triumphant.
One of the interesting ideas behind 'On Liberty' is that this may in fact be more the inspiration of Harriet Taylor (later Mrs. J.S. Mill) than of Mill himself; Taylor wrote an essay on Toleration, most likely in 1832, but it remained unpublished until after her death. F.A. Hayek (free-market economist and philosopher) noticed this connection. Whether this was the direct inspiration or not, the principles are similar, and the Mills were rather united in their views about liberty.
'On Liberty' is more of an extended essay than a book - it isn't very long. It relates as a political piece to his general Utilitarianism and political reform ideology. A laissez faire capitalist in political economy, his writing has been described as 'improved Adam Smith' and 'popularised Ricardo'. Perhaps it is in part the brevity of 'On Liberty' that gives it an enduring quality.
There are five primary sections to the text. The introduction sets the stage philosophically and historically. He equates the histories of classical civilisations (Greece and Rome) with his contemporary England, stating that the struggle between liberty and authority is ever present and a primary feature of society. He does not hold with unbridled or unfettered democracy, either (contrary to some popular readings of his text) - he warns that the tyranny of the majority can be just as dangerous and damaging toward a society as any individual or oligarchic despotism. Mill looks for a liberty that permits individualism; thus, while democracy is an important feature for Mill, there must be a system of checks and balances that ensures individual liberties over and against this kind of system. All of these elements receive further development in subsequent sections.
The second section of the text is 'Of the Liberty of Thought and Discussion'. Freedom of speech and expression is an important aspect here. Mill presents a somewhat radical proposition that even should the government and the people be in complete agreement with regard to coercive action, it would still be an illegitimate power. This is an important consideration in today's world, as governments and people contemplate the curtailment of civil liberties in favour of increased security needs. The possibility of fallibility, according to Mill, makes the power illegitimate, and (again according to Mill) it doesn't matter if it affects many or only a few, people today or posterity. It is still wrong. Mill develops this argument largely by using the history of religious ideas and religious institutions, in addition to the political (since the two were so often inter-related).
The third section is perhaps the best known and most quoted, 'Of Individuality, as One of the Elements of Well-Being'. It is perhaps a natural consequence of Enlightenment thinking that individuality over communal and corporate identity would dominate. Our world today goes back and forth between individual and communal identities (nationality, regionality, employment, church affiliation, school affiliation, sports teams, etc.). Mill's ideas of individual are very modern, quite at home with the ideas of modern political and civil individuality, with all of the responsibilities.
Mill states, 'No one pretends that actions should be as free as opinions.' He recognises the increased limitations on individual liberty given that we do live in communal settings, but this does not hinder the idea of individuality and individual liberty, particularly as it pertains to thoughts and speech. Mill explores various ideas of personal identity and action (medieval, Calvinist, etc.) to come up with an idea of individuality that is rather modern; of course, this is political personhood that pre-dates the advent of psychology/psychoanalytic theory that will give rise to a lot more confusion for the role of identity and personhood in society.
The fourth primary section looks theoretically at the individual in community, 'Of the Limits to the Authority of Society Over the Individual'; the final section looks at specific applications. Mill discounts the idea of social contract while maintain that there is a mutual responsibility between individuals and community. Mill looks at the Temperance movements and laws as an example of bad laws (not only from the aspect of curtailment of liberty, but also for impractical aspects of enforcement); in similar examples, Mill looks at the role of society in regulating the life of the individual, calling on good government to always err on the side of the individual.
Mill puts it very directly -- Individuals are accountable only to themselves, unless their actions concern the interests of society at large. Few in the Western world would argue with this today; however, we still live in a world where 'thought police' are feared, and 'political correctness' is debated as appropriate or not with regard to individual liberties.
Mill wrote extensively beyond this text, in areas of philosophy (logic, religion, ethics). The particular text here includes other essays of interest: 'Utilitarianism', 'Considerations on Representative Government', and 'The Subjection of Women', and also has a useful bibliography and index. The essay on Utilitarianism is one of the more contentious works of Mill; the later two contain ideas well ahead of their time, and many parts can be seen at work in modern democracies.
This should probably be required reading in civics classes, if not in the pre-university years for students, then certainly in the early university years.
Triumph of the individual.......2005-01-12
This Oxford collection of four definitive essays by John Stuart Mill, arguably the most famous Victorian writer who could be called a philosopher, gives an excellent profile of a rigorous social reformer and political thinker. The subjects of these essays--liberty, utilitarianism, government, and women's rights--are interrelated to the extent that they reveal a man with a sharp sense of history and its impact on the methods and mores of contemporary society. Mill, after all, was of Charles Dickens's generation and therefore witnessed an era in which the British crown was inclined to manifest its power through tyranny in its efforts to maintain a costly worldwide empire.
Mill's basic concern is liberty, both social and civil. He identifies a difference between freedom and liberty--freedom is the state of being free, while liberty is the freedom that a government or governing body grants its people. Briefly a member of Parliament (the workings of which are described in great detail in "Representative Government") and heavily informed and influenced by Alexis de Tocqueville's "Democracy in America," Mill recognized that the most important (and perhaps the only proper) function of a government is to protect the liberties of its citizens. However, people generally get the form of government they deserve; if laws they allow to go unchecked become the tools of despotic powers, they have only their own ignorance or indolence to blame.
An enumeration of Mill's finer points may suffice as a summary of his ideas:
1. Freedom of the press and freedom of expression are essential rights of man. You don't have to accept as true what other people say, but let them say it because there's always the chance that they're right and you're wrong. Mill points out that even the Roman Catholic Church, most intolerant of religions (his words, not mine), allows a "devil's advocate" to offer repudiative evidence before it canonizes a new saint. He notes instances in which religious intolerance still rears its ugly head in the British Empire of his day.
2. Christianity does not have a monopoly on moral authority; literary history gives evidence of this.
3. Individuality should be fostered so that new ideas may flourish, but society, specifically the middle class, establishes the normative values that unfortunately tend to stifle individuality. You have an unlimited right to your opinion, but you are free to act only so far as you do not harm or molest others. Long before Orwell, Mill had the insight that institutional deprivation of liberty is effectively suppression of thought, for how can someone train himself to think independently when doing so could lead to persecution for heresy or treason?
4. State-sponsored education should restrict itself to teaching scientifically provable or reliably documented facts rather than push religious or political agenda. When or if polemical issues are raised, arguments for and against are to be presented as opinions so that students may draw their own conclusions.
5. The utilitarian principle states that actions that promote happiness (in its most obvious form, pleasure) are "right" and those that reduce happiness are "wrong"--in other words, utilitarianism is the opposite of puritanism. Consider how much better it is to be a dissatisfied human being than a satisfied pig, because the human has the potential for so much more happiness than the pig, whose breadth of experience is contained entirely between the trough and the slaughterhouse, could ever know.
6. Women deserve the same rights as men because the social and mental limitations attributed to women are for the most part a male-conceived artifice. Chivalry is a fallacy.
And so on. I'm not sure if it's correct to call Mill a libertarian in modern terms, but he was certainly concerned with the issues with which modern libertarians are concerned. Much of his discourse is relevant to today's world, even though he often draws upon the past for contrast in order to make his conclusions, the implication being that improvement comes with increased knowledge and experience. Anyone who is interested in nineteenth-century thought on democracy and individualism will find much to ponder in Mill's eloquence.
On "On Liberty...".......2004-05-15
Don't get me wrong. This book is quaint and it certainly has its merits. However, I was disappointed that the character on the cover isn't featured anywhere within. Who is the man with outsretched arms? Is he pleading for alms? Is he offering to pull someone out of a river? In fact, if you look closely he appears to be standing in a body of water which could support the latter theory. Who is he pulling from the river? Or is this a metaphor... do these essays figuratively pull one out of the river - the river of intellectual darkness? Perhaps not, which brings me back to my original point. Who is this man? Like all great philosophical questions... we may never know.
Liberal, Utilitarian and First Feminist. Essential reading........2004-03-31
JS Mill is rightfully so one of the most studied political theorists and philosophers. His radical ideas on women started a womens revolution during the Victorian era. His ideas about good government and freedom are applicable today, and obviously not being listened to in this neofascist age. His 'harm principle' for freedom remains one of the most enlightened theories out there, and it is with an open heart that I recommend his readings to anyone with an open mind, who is not afraid of change.
Average customer rating:
- Thoroughly POMO
- Excellent
- wonderfully concise explanation
- It is what it says it is
- Quite Good
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Postmodernism: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)
Christopher Butler
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
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Kant: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)
ASIN: 0192802399 |
Book Description
Postmodernism has been a buzzword in contemporary society for the last decade. But how can it be defined? In this Very Short Introduction Christopher Butler challenges and explores the key ideas of postmodernists, and their engagement with theory, literature, the visual arts, film, architecture, and music. He treats artists, intellectuals, critics, and social scientists 'as if they were all members of a loosely constituted and quarrelsome political party' - a party which includes such members as Cindy Sherman, Salman Rushdie, Jacques Derrida, Walter Abish, and Richard Rorty - creating a vastly entertaining framework in which to unravel the mysteries of the 'postmodern condition', from the politicizing of museum culture to the cult of the politically correct.
Customer Reviews:
Thoroughly POMO.......2007-08-28
Despite some of the reviews that indicated Christopher Butler's tone was negative toward Postmodernism in this VERY SHORT INTRODUCTION, I found the book very helpful with my growing understanding of meta-narrative terminology and classifications. Also, as pointed out by other reviewers, is the fact that defining a meta-discourse that supposes universal definitions are not possible, poses special problems that I feel Butler handled very nicely.
Butler, simply and rightly, maintained his neutrality on the subject, which it seems, should be the first of Post-modern goals. In other words, Postmodernism is neither good nor bad.
Excellent.......2007-03-11
Butler touches on all aspects of PM thought/aesthetics in; literature, architecture, art theory etc. and nails it right on the head.
It is fair to say, as some reviewers pointed out below, that he is certainly not a cheerleader for PM theory. He shows no mercy and points out all of the glaring contradictions of PM dogma as he sees them. (And so much the better, considering that much writing on the subject frustratingly skims over the absurd aspects of PM in favor of joining in on the lovefest).
Nevertheless, this is a very clearly written and fair-minded little document.
wonderfully concise explanation.......2007-01-09
This book is a great read, even for a total novice, if it is read quickly without fussing over names or knowedge of artists. You can still get the big picture about the concepts underlying Postmodernist thinking and work. It is filled with references to work done in the style which will require some research for the average reader to get a more precise understanding of the artistic developments made under the influence of these ideas.
It is what it says it is.......2007-01-09
This book serves as a fairly straightforward introduction to postmodern thinking. Unfortunately, it is overly critical of postmodernism, which may discourage the curious beginner from pursuing the subject further. It might have been more appropriately titled, "Postmodernism: A Very Short Critique". While there is nothing inherently wrong with casting a critical eye on postmodernism, an introduction should be more balanced than this book is. I would recommend "Teach Yourself Postmodernism by Glenn Ward as a better introduction.
Quite Good.......2006-01-17
Along with Culler's Literary Theory Butler's Postmodernism represents a commendable "Very Short Introduction" to controversial ideas in the humanities. Both volumes are even-handed and well-explained. This is in sharp contrast to Catherine Belsey's Poststructualism: A Very Short Introduction. In the latter volume, the reader doesn't get anything like an even-handed overview. Instead, the reader gets one-sided advocacy of poststructuralist thinking, complete with the movement's characteristically strained logic and unconcern for clear expression.
Book Description
Kant is arguably the most influential modern philosopher, but also one of the most difficult. Roger Scruton tackles his exceptionally complex subject with a strong hand, exploring the background to Kant's work and showing why the Critique of Pure Reason has proved so enduring.
Customer Reviews:
Only 4 stars because any short introduction doesn't give Kant his due.......2007-05-13
It's a pretty good introduction, I'd recommend reading several introductions to Kant before diving in (he's pretty dense). I think Goethe said that reading Kant was like walking into a well-lit room, I hardly think he was talking about Kant's dry, scholastic writing style. The clarity of his thought, however, is pretty intense. I do recommend this book, merely because jumping straight into Kant probably isn't going to fare well. When, and if, you do choose to read Kant, take a look at Jonathan Bennett's website (a philosopher and Kant scholar), I think he translates Kant into more readable English. Early Modern Texts or something. I agree with some of the other commentators, that this introduction is kinda hard for a first time look into Kant. A history of philosophy book might be your best bet to read first. It is pretty good for such a short introduction though. Take your time and don't do it in a day. Digest it. Good luck all.
Making Sense of Genius.......2007-03-08
Kant is clearly one of the 4 or 5 most influential thinkers of the last half-century, however, the complexity of his ideas combined with an often difficult writing style (for modern readers) makes for a difficult study. In order to get the most out of Kant (or to get through him at all, for that matter), it is essential to read and study modern introductions and commentaries first. This "very short introduction" is an excellent example. It is concise, highly readable, and a good beginning for more detailed study. However, it is still not enough to allow one to tackle Kant immediately and I suggest further introductory study.
Great intro to Kant.......2006-12-16
Immanuel Kant's life work focused on solving the mistakes of the rationalist philosophy that he had learned from men, like Gottfried Leibnitz, and the mistakes of the empiricist philosophy that he was so intrigued with through the writings of David Hume. Kant wants to move beyond the mistakes both schools of philosophy made and synthesize their truths into a new philosophical understanding of knowledge. Rationalist philosophers held the view that all knowledge came from the exercise of reason alone, unpolluted by the view of any experience held by the observer. "Reality itself is accessible to reason alone, since only reason can rise above the individual point of view and participate in the vision of ultimate necessities, which is also God's." Thus, Leibnitz argues that human understanding contained certain innate principles known to be true, which when used with our ability to reason, could explain all questions in and of the world. Rationalists were convinced that experience was not a reliable tool to gain knowledge of the world. The rationalist method was very convincing and was the dominant school of philosophy in Kant's day. The criticism of rationalist philosophy was that you had to "trust" in reason to be able to deduce answers.
On the other hand, empiricist philosophers believed that knowledge of the world was only possible through learning by experience. Hume "denies the possibility of knowledge through reason, since reason cannot operate without ideas, and ideas are acquired only through the senses." Hume and other empiricist philosophers argued that without observing proof of something, the observer could not have knowledge of it. Knowledge of the world, for Hume, is knowledge of the world through the eyes of the observer. Hume argues that reason can only provide relationships between ideas; reason cannot produce ideas on its own or provide facts. Hume was even distrustful of the writings and teachings of others being capable of providing answers. "The only experience that can confirm anything for me is my experience." Hume's skepticism even rises to the level of doubting the existence of self. Thus, Hume earns the moniker of "the Great Skeptic." Hume's skepticism is in direct contradiction to the rationalist philosopher, Rene Descartes, whose rationalist investigations led him to utter the famous words, "Cogito, ergo sum, I think, therefore I am." The criticism of empiricist philosophy is that we can be sure of so little, since one can actually prove through direct observation so little in the world. For Kant, Hume puts so much of scientific thought into question since Hume doubts the concept of causality occurring in nature. Thus, Kant says it was Hume who "awoke him from his dogmatic slumbers." Kant so desperately wants to solve the philosophical dichotomy between these two schools.
Kant believes that both schools make the same fundamental mistake in their approach to the question of epistemology. He argued that philosophers were essentially asking the wrong question, which was, how we can bring ourselves to understand the world. Kant said the real question to ask was how the world comes to be understood by us. Kant will solve this dichotomy between the two schools in his first book Critique of Pure Reason.
This was required reading for a graduate course in the Humanities. Recommended reading for anyone interested in history, psychology, philosophy, and literature.
Heroic Attempt by Scruton.......2006-04-15
This is an heroic attempt by Scruton to summarize the entire philosophy of one the most important thinkers of all time. Unfortunately, Kant was also one of the worst writers of all time and needlessly made his own great insights almost incomprehensible to the casual reader. Scruton does a wonderful job of making Kant clear.
Excellent introduction to Kant.......2006-03-15
This book offers a clear and concise introduction to one of the most difficult philosophers. This book, and others in the series, are excellent preparation for an undergraduate class. Scruton is a little conservative in his analysis of Kant's work. The reader should be aware that he is definitely of the analytic strain.
Book Description
Poststructuralism changes the way we understand the relations between human beings, their culture, and the world. Following a brief account of the historical relationship between structuralism and poststructuralism, this Very Short Introduction traces the key arguments that have led poststructuralists to challenge traditional theories of language and culture. Whilst the author discusses such well-known figures as Barthes, Foucault, Derrida, and Lacan, she also draws pertinent examples from literature, art, film, and popular culture, unfolding the postructuralist account of what it means to be a human being.
Customer Reviews:
Good Intro to a Poverty Stricken way of Thinking.......2007-06-21
I have been involved in the patient personal scholarship of post structuralism for about 6 months in an attempt to see if contemporary social sciences which base many of their arguments on power relationships can add anything useful to the debate other than airy ideas which seem to be little linked in fact. If one is used to considering the world through a scientific method the post-structuralism is profoundly weak in terms of both explanation and predictability.
The ground in the Humanities is still split between hard core empirical studies, mostly in economics and history describing conditions and general trends verifiable but weak, or purposefully weak on theory, but high on practically and pointing people in productive areas of research. On the other I have found some social sciences, post-structuralism in particular is erected on theory (some almost wholly erected)with little, or no empirical research. This book describes a large chunk of the latter way of thinking in preconcieved notions or power that are neither empirical nor subject to disproof.
Post-structuralism offers unbridgeable propositions between the world of measurement and inquiry and that of pure theory. Post-structuralism moves so far away from any idea of a rational predictable and probability-base world that it completely erodes almost all of the substrates of traditional knowledge (classical rational inquiry and the scientific method) Post-structuralism is an attempt to cut loose from any intellectual tradition beyond very abstruse and subjective inquiries. It risks rendering traditional disciplines within the social sciences and newer "studies" of irrelevant disciplines. Post-structuralism can also make anyone feel intelligent because it function as an independent centre of knowledge generation - but not knowledge as traditionally understood (a point to be considered elsewhere).
Witness the fact of post-structuralism and it ability to erect an edifice completely outside any intellectual tradition that existed before WWII (except Marx and Freud). Moreover if you focus upon a certain point of theoretical knowledge and pursue it rigorously one finds that it either degenerates into a meaningless tautology - eg. such as the Foucault notion of power, or it trails off and merges in other ethereal theories that really have neither utility, nor, most importantly, meaning.
In addition, this strain of strained "intellectualism" stands, in many respects, outside the tradition of western thought. As such it remains aloof and immune to any ballast or stabilization afforded by empirical and scientific thought.
All of this seems to bode well for such post-structuralism as a literary theory, which is a wonderful and intoxicating endevour full of invention and wonderful manufactured meaning - it has little to do with reality and therefore should not, and in fact is not, a social science. In this sense Belsey does a wonderful job of describing the intellectual sham that is Post-structuralism.
The really pitiful state some of the social sciences have become is manifested in the deplorable thinkers and academics who are so enamoured with their theories and purported truth statements that describe unknown worlds -- worlds that bear no relationship to reality, worlds that are pure think products -- that they actually think that some higher or useful purpose of social understanding or worthy endevours (such as the striving for social justice) can be furthered with their line of explanation.
People are not theory and the worst experiences of mankind have been based upon people trying to pound facts, and often people, into theory. So far these bumpy thoughts have been relegated to the nether reaches of self-referential departments outside classical academia. And there they should stay.
Postunderstanding.......2006-07-04
Poststructuralism is accepted as a fairly challenging set of concepts. I had hoped and expected that this intro would surmount the subject difficulties and offer an admittedly brief yet understandable and foundational presentation of the subject. While the book was at least adequate in satisfying my wishes, the subject presentation seemed a bit scattered and broken (is that poststructuralism?) with rather abrupt changes in direction that left me feeling that the previous train of thought had not yet been completed. I would recommend the book but with some reservations.
Quite good, considering its length.......2006-06-21
French linguist Ferdinand de Saussure's assertion that the relationship between a signifier (i.e., a word, symbol) and the signified (the phenomenon it describes) is arbitrary is the starting point for all forms of Poststructuralism. It reveals that language (and all signifying systems) actually create, rather describe, the world we live in. Consequently, all our understandings of the world, be they through culture, knowledge, or ideology, are artificial constructs. While Poststructuralists do not necessarily deny the existence of reality, they argue that ALL understandings of reality are shaped by the signifying systems through which we must experience and understand it. Their objective, therefore, is not to dissect language/symbols in order to discover an ultimate Truth, but rather to reveal how language and symbols create meaning/reality. Here, Catherine Belsey shows how these ideas inform the work of diverse thinkers such as Roland Barthes, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Jacques Lacan, Jacques Derrida, Julia Kristeva, Slavoj Zizek, and Jean-François Lyotard.
Although Poststructuralism is not necessarily political, it can been seen as "subversive" since by revealing how signifying systems create our understandings of the world, the individual learns to recognize and deconstruct the "realities" that control us. While Poststructuralism is empowering in this sense, it also has obvious shortcomings: we can no longer assert any absolutes. This leads the author to conclude that "Poststructuralism is more useful in prompting the uncertainty of questions than in delivering the finality of answers" (107).
I think this work is a very good "general" introduction to the topic. For only 107 pages, I don't think anyone could expect anything more. But, for anyone already familiar with Poststructuralism, it may seem a bit superficial.
Useful, but not as cohesive as it could be.......2006-01-25
Poststructuralism is a difficult area of study, as there are many different (sometimes conflicting) points of view and thinkers which are labelled 'poststructuralist'.
Poststructuralist thought deals with (among other things) 'signifiers' (words, symbols, actions, etc. which signify meaning), and the way in which people are controlled and defined by the kinds of signifiers their particular culture is made of. But that's just one consideration of a much more vast and varied area of study.
Catherine Belsey's introduction is useful as a departure point for further study into this intriguing discipline, although at times certain important points aren't made clearly enough, and certain poststructuralist vocabulary is not rendered as clear as it could be. Also, she gives only passing attention to arguments against poststructuralism.
However, I'd recommend this to anyone interested in the subject, with the caveat that, despite this being part of the normally lucid Very Short Introduction series, it would probably pay to read it more than once.
Unfortunately, this is not balanced.......2006-01-17
If you are hoping for an even-handed assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of poststructuralism you will not find it here. Belsley's introduction is mainly a work of advocacy and, as such, undesirable for those looking for a reasonably non-partisan overview. Disappointing.
Average customer rating:
- Publisher Notes:
- not bad, but not good
- An easy to follow introduction
- A Little TOO Short
- An almost ideal introduction to the subject.
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Marx: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions X)
Peter Singer
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
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Capitalism: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)
ASIN: 0192854054 |
Book Description
Peter Singer identifies the central vision that unifies Marx's thought, enabling us to grasp Marx's views as a whole. He sees him as a philosopher primarily concerned with human freedom, rather than as an economist or a social scientist. He explains alienation, historical materialism, the economic theory of Capital, and Marx's ideas of communism, in plain English, and concludes with an assessment of Marx's legacy.
Customer Reviews:
Publisher Notes:.......2006-10-10
The Past Masters Series is a concise, lucid , aythoritative introduction to the thought of leading intellectual figures of the past whose ideas still influence the way we think today. ... sees Marx as a philosopher, rather than as an economist or social scientis. ' an admirably balanced portrait of the man and his achievement' says Philip Toynbee, Observer.
not bad, but not good.......2006-02-10
Very little of the text is devoted to analyzing Marx's most important work. For example, a total of one chapter (~30 pages) is devoted to Das Kapital, Marx's seminal work.
On the other hand, excessive attention is paid to unimportant aspects of Marx. For example, most of the book is spent analyzing Marx's philosophical background, his obscure earlier works, his philosophical predecessors (Hegel & Feuerbach), and the effects of his doctrines. The chapter devoted to Singer's mediocre economic analysis is as long as the chapter devoted to Das Kapital!
Although the book has some good material, that good material constitutes only ~30 pages.
An easy to follow introduction.......2005-04-13
I am doing an MA in political science and my professor screwed his nose up a bit when I showed him this, because Singer is not a name that one associates with Marxism. I bought it because I liked his anthology on Ethics so much. I must say that I don't agree with some of the conclusions that Singer draws in his assessment of Marxism at the end of the book, but his strength is his ability to write at a level that is easy to understand. He avoids jargon where possible and that in itself takes a lot of the mystery out of this stuff. I recommend this book as a good place to start when looking at Marx.
A Little TOO Short.......2005-02-28
I felt the later chapters of this book were well developed, but the first few chapters on how Marx developed his philosophy from Hegel's left me with more questions than answers. Overall, the book provides are decent foundation on which to critique Marx as a philosopher, social scientist, economist, etc. Singer brings up many common objections to Marxist thought, but he also presents Marx's ideas in a non-bias way and gives credit where he sees credit is due. I found the biography of Marx to be interesting along with the subtleties of his relationship with Engels. But in the end, I wish this book had been a little more detailed, especially with regards to Marx's early works and philosophy.
An almost ideal introduction to the subject........2003-08-22
Peter Singer's "Marx: A Very Short Introduction" is a superbly lucid and concise introduction to the subject of Marx and Marxism. Assuming the reader has no background in Marx's thought, Singer covers most of the important issues of Marxism and then assesses Marx's achievements and shortcomings in a refreshingly balanced manner.
What makes this book such a valuable introduction is Singer's clear understanding of what lies at the heart of Marxism: the issue of human freedom. Too many works on Marxism reduce it to a merely economic philosophy, which has the destruction of capitalism (and subsequent liberation of the world's workers) as its end. This is a gross misrepresentation of Marx's thought. Marx saw the destruction of capitalism and the establishment of a classless society as means toward the true end which he sought: the liberation of humanity from oppression and exploitation and a return to our true nature as creative, self-actualizing beings rather than mere laboring appendages to an economic machine. Marx envisioned a world in which humanity toiled with its individual and universal fulfillment as the goal, rather than a world in which a few grow rich while the many dig ditches or work in Asian sweatshops for Nike. Freedom, true freedom, was the purpose behind Marx's work and also his life.
I highly recommend this book as a serious, thorough, and fair introduction to this complex subject. Apart from Terry Eagleton's "Marx," there is no better guide than this.
Book Description
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951) was an extraordinarily original philospher, whose influence on twentieth-century thinking goes well beyond philosophy itself. In this book, which aims to make Wittgenstein's thought accessible to the general non-specialist reader, A. C. Grayling explains the nature and impact of Wittgenstein's views. He describes both his early and later philosophy, the differences and connections between them, and gives a fresh assessment of Wittgenstein's continuing influence on contemporary thought.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent introduction to Wittgenstein.......2007-06-05
This is an ideal overview of Wittgenstein for those looking to get an initial grasp on his work. Grayling's style is admirably clear and accessible, which is especially valuable because the writing of Wittgenstein himself can be notoriously difficult and cryptic. The book provides a well-organized, concise summary of the Wittgenstein's two philosophic periods (earlier and later). While you might feel a little lost or confused when Grayling is explaining Wittgenstein's writings, don't worry -- at the end of tbe summaries of both periods Grayling offers critical analyses where he reveals that he is also confused by some things, and in his analyses he will probably address many of the questions you have. While this book isn't easy, and a little philosophic background would probably be helpful, given the diffculty of the subject matter you can't really expect it to be much easier. Highly recommended -- would that there was an intro of this quality for every philosopher.
Love the Wittgy, hate the Grayling........2007-01-03
I love the VSI series, but this volume was a bit of a disappointment. Mr. Grayling is very repetitive, and I do not agree with his critique of Wittgentein's later philosophy. Furthermore, he claims that it has had little influence on today's philosophy, which just seems completely false to me. The naturalization of epistemology is completely in accord with Wittgenstein's ideas, Kuhn's 'paradigms' are a version of Wittgenstein's 'forms of life', not to mention the current emphasis on practices. If Wittgenstein is not an influential figure in today's philosophy, Mr. Grayling, then who do you think is??
A gem!.......2006-07-23
This book is astounding! I have never before encountered a short introduction that so clearly, concisely, accurately or effectively communicates a complex and largely obscure subject. As a result, this book is a remarkable achievement in its own right, not only illuminating the mysteries of Wittgenstein's very difficult work, but doing so in a way that will serve as a timeless model of successful communication. That is not to say that this book is `easy' or that Wittgenstein's complex ideas have been made simple. I only say that the author has presented those ideas in ways that put them within the reach of intelligent readers who are prepared to work in exchange for a very gratifying intellectual return. With Grayling as a guide, Wittgenstein is accessible! Incredible!
Clearly written and critically sound.......2006-05-28
Grayling's introduction to Wittgenstein's early and later works is by far the most critical, when comparing the piece to other recent introductory attempts by other qualified writers. Generally, the author does an exceptional job, as was his stated intention, at writing this "introduction" for an uninformed audience, one with little or no knowledge of Wittgenstein or philosophy in general.
The overall tone of the writing is one of scepticism, a serious doubt as to Wittgenstein's importance in terms of his contribution to 20th century philosophy. Considering the space provided, Grayling's argument(s) are thorough and persuasive in parts, however his attempt at objectivity, to then give the reader incentive to continue investigation into the subject, can be questioned, (if objectivity was actually his aim) as the reader comes away believing Wittgenstein to be more of a poet, a creative designer of witty aphorisms than a serious philosopher, as his concluding remarks make quite clear:
"But I find that when one advances beyond the manner and reflects on the content, the irresistible feeling is this: that the journey through Wittgenstein's circuitous, metaphorical, sometimes opaque negations and suggestions is long; but the distance it takes is a short." (P. 134)
In other words, when the reader wades through Wittgenstein's unnecessary symbolism, witty metaphors and dense, unpacked arguments, the actual content is not as profound as we were first led believe. All in all, though, Grayling believes the Austrian to be one of the great "personalities" of philosophy, but as a philosopher, will be soon forgotten: however, as he states, time will tell.
Having said that, Grayling is an excellent writer having to distil a body of complex work that has been analysed and debated for over half a century.
Wittgenstein's first major work, the `Tractatus', a notorious complex thesis, was summarized and explained clearly, even including a short lesson on basic logic, making the work much easier to grasp. The later philosophy, `Philosophical Investigations' and others, which include the philosopher's notions of private language, language-games, use and rules, shed light on these concepts.
Graylings arguments on cultural and cognitive relativism were exceptionally clear and interesting, arguing against Wittgenstein's "form of life" concepts. Unfortunately these arguments needed elaboration, but the author was under severe space constraints.
An excellent introduction to Wittgenstein's philosophy and overall, critically sound.
Overbite.......2005-11-02
Unfortunately, Grayling's Very Short Introduction succumbs to a pitfall typical of a very short introduction. Put simply: despite all the well-known risks of the genre, the author can't resist biting off more than the small chewing space of 132 pages can accomodate. The first 100 or so pages are informative enough, providing appropriate highlights of Wittgenstein's life and work. Of course, a lot gets unavoidably left out. Still, the contours come through with sufficient clarity to provide a good rudimentary understanding, though I wish he had pointed out more emphatically the critical nature of both phases -- how each in its own way draws bounds on what can and cannot be meaningfully stated. For it's here, I believe, that the general reader would find the Austrian thinker's conclusions most relevant to her own concerns.
The problem arises, not surprisingly, when the text turns from exposition to evaluation. To present the private language argument, as Grayling does, as inherently inconsistent or the form-of-life argument as a variety of cognitive relativism simply requires more than several pages of potted reasoning, to say the least. In fact, these are complex and controversial topics about which entire volumes have been written. To be sure, I don't object to pointing out avenues of criticism even in a very short account; I do however object to the assurance with which these objections are presented here. For such confidence goes quite beyond what the book's brief compass can support and therewith does a disservice to the unwary reader. Moreover, in assessing the Austrian phiosopher's influence, one key facet of his later thought should be kept in mind. The point of doing philosophy is to let the fly out of the bottle, not to entrap further generations in ever-more futile buzzing around the so-called perenial problems that have beguiled thinkers for centuries. In that sense, Wittgenstein's method presents an anti-institutional thrust: it seeks to dissolve problems, not perpetuate them. Thus his way conflicts at a pretty basic level with the institutional interests of academic philosophy which depend to a great extent on perpetuating those perennial problems. Is it therefore surprising that his therapeutic approach has found little favor among philosophy departments, whatever the ultimate merits. I don't claim this sociological point as exhaustive, but I do think it's an undernoted factor in the general blunting of his legacy.
Anyway, this slim volume comes as a disappoitment given Grayling's previous works, while there are a number of general intoductions that deal more sensitively with Wittgenstein's later work than this one.
Book Description
How ought we to live? What really exists? How do we know? This book introduces important themes in ethics, knowledge, and the self, via readings from Plato, Hume, Descartes, Hegel, Darwin, and Buddhist writers. It emphasizes throughout the point of doing philosophy, explains how different areas of philosophy are related, and explores the contexts in which philosophy was and is done.
Customer Reviews:
A bit selective but clear, brief, and interesting.......2007-07-21
I agree with much of the positive reviews below, so I won't repeat their points. Edward Craig does an excellent job to familiarize the reader with the discipline of philosophy by way of looking at snapshots of philosophers that represent key aspects of philosophy. What Craig does present, he presents clearly and succinctly, and he certainly stimulates interest in the subject. So the book happily succeeds as an introduction.
While "biased" may be too strong a term to describe the book, it may suffer a bit from being a bit selective in topic coverage, although this is forgivable given the intorductory nature of the book. Particularly, the absence of any discussion about the existence of God is striking, as it is a perennial topic in Western philosophy and a very lively one. Someone like Thomas Acquinas would have been a perfect philosopher to reference on this topic, especially given the lack of medeival philosophers represented by Craig. Incidentally, he does quote Acquinas, but it is a statement about animals, which is surely more obscure than his well known arguments for the existence of God. Furthermore, if Craig's goal was to present primarily philosophy that argues from reason rather than sacred texts, Acquinas' and others' aruments for God's existence (as well as detractors' rebuttals) would surely have been a better fit than a Scriptural reference.
All in all, though, Craig's book is only meant to be a sampling of philosophy, and such gaps do not take away much from the overall value of the book because Craig is so good a digesting and summarizing philsophers' thoughts for newbies.
Craig's Introductory Tour... de-force........2007-02-13
This little book is a gem. A couple of reviews here are too hard on this a 125 page tour. I came to this book as somewhat of a philosophy novice unlike, it seems, a couple of the disappointed reviewers here, so my perspective may be naïve, but the book did it's job for me and then some. Early on Craig correctly recommends reading slowly, because he packs a lot into the short tour. Apologies to a previous reviewer who found it shallow, keep in mind it's a large task for a small book.
If you know nothing of philosophy, I'd recommend first, as Craig does also, Thomas Nagel's "What Does It All Mean". My first read was Bertrand Russell's "History of Western Philosophy" which was too much for a beginner, although it did give me a sense of the history of western thought as it was intended. Russell's "The Problems of Philosophy" would have been a better start, but Russell can be a bit technical for the beginner.
Craig's book is not so much an intro to the problems of philosophy as a whirlwind tour of the major ideas that encompass western (and some eastern) thought, beginning with Plato, jumping to Hume and touching on some of the authors favorites: Descartes, Hegel, Nietzsche, and the impact of Darwin. He discusses some themes and introduces some "isms". He recommends readings along the way, and the end provides a list of other recommended intro and intermediate texts. He wraps it up with a chapter titled, "What's in it for whom": The individual; The priesthood; The working class; Women; Animals.
Craig did an excellent job piquing my interest in further readings. His enthusiasm for the subject matter is obvious.
Good introduction.......2007-02-13
I bought this book to introduce this topic to one of my 10th grade English students. We will then get into the next book (Logic: A Very Short Introduction, same publisher). So far, the student is enjoying the books, and he is not intimidated by these friendly, paperback books as he is with the larger, hardbound college-type textbooks.
A walk in the shallows - and unaware of its own bias.......2006-05-08
I suppose one cannot expect too much of a book which aims only to be a "very short introduction", but I did expect a little more than this book gave. I read through it at the request of a friend who wanted to know whether this would give him an adequate starting point for some philosophical reading, as he's entirely new to the field. I found myself shaking my head over most of the book, although certainly there are some portions of the writing which are impartial and informative.
However, as a GENERAL overview, I can't recommend this book. It often bears a rather patronising tone, and in the very first chapter declares its own bias without realising it does so. The examination of the Platonic work is superficial; the discussion of Humes' work is given an extraordinary weighting without reference to other philosophical works pertinent to that discussion; the Indian dialogue is treated in a lopsided fashion; and so on. If discussion of these selections (which are in themselves odd choices in an introductory work) can only be maintained at so superficial a level, better they had been dropped altogether. I am strongly of the opinion that the questions and topics raised in the selections (some of which were not even mentioned) deserve either more elaborate treatment or should be given many more possible interpretations so as to avoid laying a personal interpretation upon the ideas of the writers thus represented.
At no point is the reader to be permitted to make up his mind when it comes to Humes, for instance.
The writing style is simple and clear. This will appeal to some readers. The examples are shallow - again, this will appeal to some readers. The reader is guided into following the writer's own viewpoint - this is what one would expect of a philosopher's own work, not of what purports to be an overview or introduction, which ought of necessity to be more disinterested.
This will appeal to those who have little or no experience with reading Plato themselves, or who have never sat down to embark upon a course of reading including Kant, Freud, Thomas Aquinas, Nietzsche, Schopenhauer, C.S. Lewis, Stephen Meyer, Descartes, Rousseau, etc. I can't even say this is a good introductory book. It is a good book in terms of presenting some of the philosophical ideas or works that have influenced its writer.
But even as an introduction, it walks too narrow a path along the shoreline, where only certain waves are permitted to splash and which certainly does not delve into any depths.
Fun but unstructured.......2006-02-02
This is one of the more entertaining and reader-friendly books on philosophy I've read, and in terms of style it goes down more smoothly than even most other Very Short Introductions.
However, it's difficult to see the precise value or usefulness of this book. Obviously, you can't give a comprehensive overview of a subject as vast as Philosophy in a 130 page book. Still, the organization of this volume seems somewhat haphazard and meandering.
Edward Craig is certainly an expert on the subject, and the chapters do explore various facets of philosophy, such as predominant philosophical questions and key philosophers and philosophical texts. But the choice of topics seems a bit too subjective, and the manner in which things are explored lends itself more to entertainment than actual acquisition of knowledge.
I recommend this to anybody who has an interest in philosophy but knows literally next to nothing about it; for anyone else, the content is a bit too shallow to be really useful, though it's still an entertaining read.
Average customer rating:
- A memorable essay in the history of ideas
- Tolstoy's views on history elucidated
- A brilliant book....
- A creative interpretation of Tolstoy
- A view of existance, history that many never think.
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The Hedgehog and the Fox: An Essay on Tolstoy's View of History
Isaiah Berlin
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ASIN: 1566630193 |
Book Description
The masterly essay on Tolstoy's view of history, in which Sir Isaiah underlines a fundamental distinction between those people (foxes) who are fascinated by the infinite variety of things and those (hedgehogs) who relate everything to a central, all-embracing system. This little book is so entertaining, as well as acute, that the reader hardly notices that it is learned too. --Arnold Toynbee
Customer Reviews:
A memorable essay in the history of ideas .......2004-10-18
This is perhaps the most famous essay ever written in the history of ideas. Berlin analyzes the mind of Tolstoy as revealed in 'War and Peace'. He uses a quotation from Aristochulus , "The hedgehog knows one big thing, but the fox knows many little things "He then categorizes various intellectual figures as hedgehogs or foxes. He says that Tolstoy was a fox who wanted to be a hedgehog. In other words Tolstoy longed to put all reality into one great explanatory system but his faithfulness to his own remarkable sense of perception led him to see everywhere the fine distinctions and individual differences which constitute his own richly varied world.
What is interesting is that Berlin himself was fundamentally a fox in the world of ideas. He believed that there could be no one fundamental system explaining all. He not simply reveled in the variety of ideas, but he thought in terms of values that ' ideal ends' even within the individual's own thought are incompatible. That is that it is not simply a question of the ' variety of the world' which confounds the system - builder but the ' inherent contradictions ' within it , which cannot be resolved into any great single Platonic or Hegelian system.
A celebrator of the variety of life and existence Berlin saw that Tolstoy could represent and create such variety in the highest possible way while still somehow wishing he were able to unite it all into one.
Apparently there is 'no unified field theory' in the world of history or the history of ideas , either.
Tolstoy's views on history elucidated.......2003-05-28
Sir Isaiah Berlin has written a critical acclaim of the historic views of famous Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy as expressed in one of his masterpieces "War and Piece". In 'The Hedgehog and The Fox' (1953), Dr. Berlin compares and contracts the monist and pluralist historical philosophies. According to Archilochus "The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing." This can be interpreted that there is a philosophy of a single undiminished holistic truth or principle governing all history, or there is a myriad little ideas, truths and inclinations which together govern mens historical experience.
Tolstoy, according to Berlin, is a fox (whose talent is by the way in precisely being a fox), who is however convinced in the ways of the hedgehog. Tolstoy is at his greatest when he describes the subtle undertones of human existence, these barely perceptible little differences which makes living so full and colorful, range of emotions and feelings. He does not believe, however, that this is all that is, and insists on some ill-defined fundamental truth. This makes his writing wooden, unhistorical, and simplistic at times.
Berlin makes a perceptive observations on the interest of Tolstoy's in some of the figures of Counter-Enlightenment (such as Maestre and Vico). These proponents of the view of the world which denies all-pervasive powers of reductionist science and allocates the central place to a simple idea (e.g. Christian moral idea) are closer to Tolstoy; and from this point of view and interest Tolstoy's last "religious" period owes its inspiration. Berlin shows Tolstoy as a tragic genius riddled with contradictions and frustrations of misapprehension of his enormous talents in inability to say what he wanted to say the most - paint a true picture of human historical experience.
Style of Berlin's polemic is as always colorful, insightful, supremely observant and scholarly. Essay is no longer then 75 pages and would make for a delightful Sunday afternoon reading. Highly recommended!
A brilliant book...........2000-10-19
I really want to disagree with the reviewer below who said that this book is "overly academic" and "not interesting to someone without a serous research interest in Tolstoy". C'mon.
This is a HIGHLY readable book though probably only one that should be read after having read 'War and Peace'. In combination, the boring sections of 'War and Peace' and this book provide a pretty interesting dialogue and line of thought that can be comprehended by most anyone.....
This is a beautiful book and one that can be appreciated by tons the teeming multitudes and not just self-righteous undergraduates at small colleges in Massachusetts. Berlin is a very readable philosopher, which explains much of the reason WHY he is held in such esteem in the Anglo-American philosophical community....
Finally, who could ever say that this little tiny red book was worth neither the effort nor the expense. A must-buy.
A creative interpretation of Tolstoy.......2000-07-19
In this essay, Isaiah Berlin discusses and interprets Tolstoy's view of history. In the process, he uses Tolstoy's enormous novel, WAR AND PEACE, as his major source. Those of you who have read WAR AND PEACE will remember the frequent theoretical passages that discuss the practice and philosophy of history. These passages provide Berlin with fodder for his examination.
Berlin claims that there are two broad categories of thinkers: hedgehogs and foxes. Hedgehogs single-mindedly pursue one ideological goal and organize their thoughts in relation to it. Foxes are knowledgeable in a number of areas but do not specialize in any one.
The basic claim of Berlin's essay is that Tolstoy is a fox masquerading as a hedgehog. Tolstoy desperately wants to believe in a single thing, but is thwarted by his own personality. This dynamic profoundly affects Tolstoy's view of history. As a fox, he exposes past philosophies of history as the oversimplifications they are. They do not sufficiently take into account the complexity of every event and of every individual. However, Tolstoy is unable to produce the positive theory of history which he demands of himself (i.e. he is unable to make himself a hedgehog).
Berlin's essay is a very innovative and interesting interpretation of an aspect of Tolstoy's thought that is frequently dismissed. It is also a work of literary and philosophical criticism. Its tone is academic, and if Tolstoy's own digressions in WAR AND PEACE bore you, you may not want to pick this book up. Given the interest, though, this book is a thought-provoking complement to the work of this sometimes enigmatic Russian author.
A view of existance, history that many never think........1998-05-04
An easy read--written in extremely beautiful language--that makes one re-think of the world and society around.
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