Philosophy Books - Page 11

Maniac Magee

Jerry Spinelli

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 718 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Maniac Magee 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Jeffery Magee is a twelve-year-old kid who's parents died in the famous P&W trolley crash. His aunt and Uncle can't agree on anything, not even Jeffery. When they come to the school choir concert they sit on opposite sides of the bleachers, at the end of the song Jeffery is screaming for them to talk. Then he starts running, away from school, away from his aunt and uncle, away from Holidaysburg. Into Two Mills.
Upon arriving in Two Mills Jeffery gets himself into the furious fight between blacks and whites. When he starts living with a family of blacks, the Beales, he finds himself in for alot of trouble, especially from Mars Bars Thompson. Eventually Jeffery, now Maniac Magee, ralizes the trouble he has caused and runs to East end, the white side of town. There he starts living with the Mcnabs, but soon sees that he's only causing trouble there too. In the end Maniac is living in a buffalo pen at the zoo when Amanda Beale and Mars Bars Thompson convince Maniac to live with them in West end, because they don't care if he's white, he is their friend.
Pg 182:
"Let's go."
"Where?"
"Home."
"Who's?"
"Mine. Yours. Ours. Come on, I'm sleepy"...
He knew that finally, truly, at long last, someone was calling him home.
I think this best examplifies the authors purpose in writing this book by saying that if you keep trying and don't give up you will be acceptted no matter what. Also that no matter how the world looks there is always someone who cares about you.
I think that this book is a great contribution to society. It teaches us that growing up can be hard, but there is always something good waiting for you on the other side. Also, it helps us understand that if we preservere we will always make it.
We will make it through life, good or bad, depending on our choices and I think that this book is a great example of that. overall this is a book that anyone who has questions about growing up should read.

Editorial Review:

After his parents die, Jeffrey Lionel Magee's life becomes legendary as he accomplishes athletic feats and other extraordinary exploits that awe his contemporaries. Reprint. 1991 Newbery Medal. 1990 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Fiction. H. SLJ. AB.

The Places That Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times

Pema Chodron

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Total reviews: 45 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

impossible 1 out of 5 stars.
2 of 8 people found this review helpful.

There is something repellant, even repulsive, about the religious mind. We cannot escape the world, however much we dislike it: it is a violent, often ugly place, dominated by the stupid; and however far we flee from it, these unpleasantries inevitably find us out, we cannot run far enough or fast enough. Show me your attachment to the beautiful and the good, indeed, show me your love of peace, and I will show you beauty adulterated and good compromised; and I will expose your peace as a forgery that hides your hatred of life. The religious mind, when it perceives this contradictory and chaotic quality of existence, sees in it an opportunity to perform a trick of ethical magic. If one is good, if one is clarified, if one is just in every action, if one will only turn the other cheek, behold, nothing will ever die, pain will cease, and the horrible will be rectified. Alas, good friends, the truth is quite otherwise: he who turns his cheek is beaten and crucified. And he who cries for justice, will weep in earnest by way of reckoning.

It is the weak who fear the strong; it is the good who inspire in others evil. In this world one either eats or is eaten, and no amount of sympathy, pity, or compassion will adulterate the predatory core of being itself. And books like this are authored by charlatains, who try to take away your fear by denying the necessity for it.

I give you two instances of this religious magic: Ms. Chodron informs us of an elderly couple living in a gated community in Florida. They fear the violence resulting from poverty of circumstances surrounding them. Ms. Chodron implies that it is the elders who are at fault for the fear they experience, that they must open their arms to the terror around them, that they must become as nothing and embrace the thing they fear. What do they fear? Besides murder? The loss of their culture. The compromise of the quality of their life. Ms. Chodron does not seem to comprehend that pistol shots are exchanged on the freeways in southern Florida; that interracial violence and cross-cultural warfare has come to visit us in our homeland, and that southern Florida is one of its battlegrounds--and even if she does, she has no answer for it, except to say, we should submit to it. Peace is submission. I say that piety like this is suicide: piety does not, can not, will not, nor ever shall bring us peace, except the peace of the grave.

She likewise quotes with great approval Einstein, who faults us all for our consciousness--which, he describes as cut off, selfish, lacking understanding, and unwilling to embrace "the whole of nature". Einstein, good folk, was paid handsomely for his consultations on the development of Atomic Weapons. So much for embracing the "whole of nature" and its fundamental goodness. Saint Einstein, and his good work, the annihilation of millions, and the development of weapons with which his employers can further dominate our lives. So much for Ms. Chodron. She is either stupid or malicious, neither of which is very good for you.

tlt

Editorial Review:

We always have a choice, Pema Chödrön teaches: We can let the circumstances of our lives harden us and make us increasingly resentful and afraid, or we can let them soften us and make us kinder. Here Pema provides the tools to deal with the problems and difficulties that life throws our way. This wisdom is always available to us, she teaches, but we usually block it with habitual patterns rooted in fear. Beyond that fear lies a state of openheartedness and tenderness. This book teaches us how to awaken our basic goodness and connect with others, to accept ourselves and others complete with faults and imperfections, and to stay in the present moment by seeing through the strategies of ego that cause us to resist life as it is.

The Way of the World: A Story of Truth and Hope in an Age of Extremism

Ron Suskind

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Total reviews: 56 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

From Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and bestselling author Ron Suskind comes a startling look at how America lost its way and at the nation s struggle, day by day, to reclaim the moral authority upon which its survival depends. From the White House to Downing Street, from the fault-line countries of South Asia to the sands of Guantánamo, Suskind offers an astonishing story that connects world leaders to the forces waging today s shadow wars and to the next generation of global citizens. Tracking down truth and hope within the Beltway and far beyond it, Suskind delivers historic disclosures with this emotionally stirring and strikingly original portrait of the post-9/11 world.

In a sweeping, propulsive, and multilayered narrative, The Way of the World investigates how America relinquished the moral leadership it now desperately needs to fight the real threat of our era: a nuclear weapon in the hands of terrorists. Truth, justice, and accountability become more than mere words in this story. Suskind shows where the most neglected dangers lie in the story of The Armageddon Test a desperate gamble to send undercover teams into the world s nuclear black market to frustrate the efforts of terrorists trying to procure weapons-grade uranium. In the end, he finally reveals for the first time the explosive falsehood underlying the Iraq War and the entire Bush presidency.

While the public and political realms struggle, The Way of the World simultaneously follows an ensemble of characters in America and abroad who are turning fear and frustration into a desperate and often daring brand of human salvation. They include a striving, twenty-four-year-old Pakistani émigré, a fearless UN refugee commissioner, an Afghan teenager, a Holocaust survivor s son, and Benazir Bhutto, who discovers, days before her death, how she s been abandoned by the United States at her moment of greatest need. They are all testing American values at a time of peril, and discovering solutions human solutions to so much that has gone wrong.

For anyone hoping to exercise truly informed consent and begin the process of restoring the values and hope along with the moral clarity and earned optimism at the heart of the American tradition, The Way of the World is a must-read.

The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology

Ray Kurzweil

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Total reviews: 127 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

upon reading it a second time... 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

In my opinion, this is an exceptional book. I was astonished to read some of the criticisms it has received on amazon.com. I truly could not put this book down. The depth of the subjects covered is great. For anyone who is interested in futurism, this should be on your bookshelf.

First of all, the author is an extremely accomplished man. Chances are you use one of his inventions everyday. Kurzweil was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame, received thirteen--yes, thirteen--honorary doctorates, the National Medal of Technology, the Lemelson MIT Prize (the world's largest award for innovation), and awards from three US Presidents. This makes me more than comfortable when reading this book.

I very much enjoy books of this nature, but have never encountered a book such as this; with every claim and prediction, Kurzweil provides more than ample evidence to support himself. Reading this book was an intellectual revolution.

Some of the criticisms I read about this book on amazon.com stated that the book lacked emotion and was quite dry. I couldn't disagree more. I find it impossible to be without emotion when discussing the things Kurzweil touches on and noticed no apathy in his writing. At times, his writing was quite humorous; the dialogue of a fictional character named Molly with various other characters at the end of every chapter was very entertaining.

I would recommend this book to anyone. It will truly change your outlook on the human civilization and its future. I plan to read it again and again.

Editorial Review:

For over three decades, Ray Kurzweil has been one of the most respected and provocative advocates of the role of technology in our future. In his classic The Age of Spiritual Machines, he argued that computers would soon rival the full range of human intelligence at its best. Now he examines the next step in this inexorable evolutionary process: the union of human and machine, in which the knowledge and skills embedded in our brains will be combined with the vastly greater capacity, speed, and knowledge-sharing ability of our creations.

The Case for a Creator: A Journalist Investigates Scientific Evidence That Points Toward God

Lee Strobel

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Total reviews: 215 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

A Great Case for a Creator and against Evolution and Naturalism 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

This book makes a great case for three important ideas. First, science can not tell us, and is unlikely to be able to tell us, how the universe began. A Creator who transcends time, space, and matter is the most reasonable cause of the "Big Bang." Similarly, science can not tell us, and it unlikely to be able to tell us, how life began. A Creator who made DNA, the coding for all life, is the most reasonable cause of the origin of life. To believe that the universe and life had naturalist or materialist causes takes much more faith than to believe in a Creator. The weakness of the materialist case is proven by the rhetoric and logic that proponents typically use. The Case for a Creator actually addresses the more rational, scientific arguments for the case against a creator, but regrettably, the rhetoric of materialists, including atheists, often gets very emotional, something I find ironic coming from people who supposedly are defending Reason from Faith.

I have just read Case for a Creator and participated in an eight-week discussion group, led by a Ph.D in Molecular Genetics. "Bill" is in total agreement with Stobel's position, in fact, his doubts about evolution started him on a twenty-year journey that turned him from atheism to theism and eventually to Christianity.

This book is well-written and, I think, has just the right amount of detail for the average reader. Some science would be helpful but not necessary. I found the Kalam argument particularly convincing, as well as the concept of irreducible complexity. As for evolution, I don't know how believers in materialism get around the problem of the origin of life without DNA (Since DNA is incredibly detailed information that determines all life, where did it come from?).

The section on the Icons of Evolution was very intriguing as well. I wondered if the author that Strobel interviewed, Jonathan Wells, was overstating his case, so I took a look at two recent college Biology textbooks that I had at home, and sure enough, I found 3 of the 4 "icons" in both texts. If the case for evolution is so strong, why do these textbooks include material that is so obviously incorrect (the Miller experiment and misleading drawings of embryo's) or "proof" that could also be used to support a Creator (homology in Vertebrate limbs). And if you review these texts you will not find any transitional forms. If they exist, as evolutionists insist, why don't they picture them in their texts? All they can give us are cartoons drawings that represent their dreams of how they think they might have appeared. There are simply no transitional forms in the fossil record. 5 Billion years of history and we can't find any transitional forms?

This book, reinforced by the discussions that I had with others in the group, has strengthened my faith in a Creator and weakened my faith in the explanatory power of mainstream science when it deals with topics that touch on faith. There is definitely bias among the evolutionary scientists and they should be embarrassed by the lack of evidence to support their theory.

Thank you, Lee Strobel.

Editorial Review:

Lee Strobel investigates the latest scientific discoveries to see whether they form a solid basis for believing in God.

Siddhartha

Hermann Hesse

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Total reviews: 463 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

A must read for any spiritual seeker 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

A journey through the life of a man with a single purpose: to find his own truth.

Knowing that the only way to discover life's greatest mysteries is to go through the heart of them alone, he finds himself living one extreme after another until he finally rests in the balance.

The ending will either leave you glowing or pondering, but either way you will not regret taking the time to read this remarkable tale.

A rambling spiritual adventure... 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

On a whim I picked this one up, knowing of it and recognizing the book title. I knew nothing of what the book was about, except what I could surmise from the cover.

I was a little put off initially with the way Hesse wrote, kind of flighty with nothing too concrete or definite. Is it a spiritual quest, a personal quest and so on. Then as Siddhartha grows older within the book we begin to see the natural progression from one mental/spiritual situation to the next. We see him go from spiritual, to rich, gambling, to being poor to a heightened spiritual state and so on.

All in all, after I worked my way into the flesh of Hesse's writing, I began to enjoy Siddhartha. You feel as though you are on the spiritual voyage with him and can understand where he is coming from. I am glad that there were only 150 pages and it was a fast read, because I most certainly would not want to read this style of writing for very long. I would recommend.

4 stars.

Editorial Review:

A young Indian mystic, a contemporary of Buddha, sacrifices everything to search for the true meaning of life.

A Conflict of Visions: Idealogical Origins of Political Struggles

Thomas Sowell

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Total reviews: 54 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

A Vision of Visions 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This is a fascinating book that will change the way you see the world. Like all visions, there is much that is left out or oversimplified by Sowell's analysis. Nevertheless, it is an extremely worthwhile read. Sowell is clearly widely read in economics, political philosophy, and social thought, and the book is remarkable for its ability to convey the essence of complex thinkers like Friedrich Hayek in an easily digestible form. Even if you're read your Smith, Mill, and others, you'll still learn a lot from this book.

Editorial Review:

In this classic work, Thomas Sowell analyzes the two competing visions that shape our debates about the nature of reason, justice, equality, and power: the “constrained” vision, which sees human nature as unchanging and selfish, and the “unconstrained” vision, in which human nature is malleable and perfectible. He describes how these two radically opposed views have manifested themselves in the political controversies of the past two centuries, including such contemporary issues as welfare reform, social justice, and crime. Updated to include sweeping political changes since its first publication in 1987, this revised edition of A Conflict of Visions offers a convincing case that ethical and policy disputes circle around the disparity between both outlooks.

The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying: The Spiritual Classic & International Bestseller; Revised and Updated Edition

Sogyal Rinpoche, Patrick D. Gaffney, Andrew Harvey

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Total reviews: 98 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Breaking down the barriers of mind 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

When I first read this book I found it "very" hard going. As I recognised fairly early on the path, the more difficult something is, the more you have to gain by facing it head on. This book was really the first book that taught me true compassion. Persevere with this book, read it again and again, and you may just find that your whole view of the universe and reality has shifted to something far, far better.

"In the ground of primordial perfection, attain nirvana" 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

This earns nearly a hundred positive reviews already on Amazon; it's been out fifteen years, and remains highly acclaimed. I read it when it came out, and remember being moved. Re-reading it (and this eloquent, accessible volume rewards such repetition) after tackling the rarified expansion of its message in the psychologically and religiously advanced study "Luminous Emptiness" by Francesca Fremantle, the richly contextual edition by Robert Thurman of the so-called "Tibetan Book of the Dead," and the pithy primer by Stephen Hodge & Martin Boord, "The Illustrated TBoD," I felt ready to return to Sogyal's earlier study. (These three texts have been recently reviewed by me.) TBLD predates the rest of these books, and it pioneered the presentation of the after-life instructions of the bardo teachings in light-- literally-- of how we can integrate its teachings into this life as well as preparing us to assist those who are dying through its advice.

Sogyal writes with winning clarity. Edited by Patrick Gaffney and Andrew Harvey, this book shows what intelligent inspiration can accomplish. So much of what crowds the shelves of a religion section in a bookstore fritters away wisdom with platitudes. Sogyal, by welcome contrast, strives to encourage us with what can be a rather discouraging central lesson from the bardo. We have failed many times before in previous existences to break free of illusion. Each time we die, we must have whirred past the Grand Luminosity, without recognizing Rigpa, the primordial "nature of mind." This gets complicated, as you can imagine, but Sogyal has set up a cogent presentation of the fundamentals of meditation, Buddhist conceptions of true reality, and the danger of "active laziness."

Pages 18-20 sum up powerfully this last tendency we have to be consumed by our petty lives, and the need to wrench ourselves free of "false hopes, dreams, and ambitions." These lure us on like salty water in a desert towards a mirage, he warns. Instead, taking on the power of the bardo instructions, for those who have died and for our own preparation for death, becomes the ultimate imperative.

I confess after a second time reading this I remain rather uncertain about how, practically, we can find masters to assist us in spiritual practice. This is the missing link in many Buddhist works for newcomers, but this may impel those so changed by their encounter with the learning here interpreted to seek such spiritual direction themselves. After all, Buddhism demands that we take action to begin to liberate ourselves now, rather than wait for revelations or intermediaries. We are cautioned not to do certain practices without guidance; others, however, as with mantras or simpler visualizations, can be attained more easily. Also, the ecumenical applicability of these Buddhist lessons to those of other faiths-- or perhaps none that they can readily adhere to?-- widens the impact and usefulness of this guide.

Many of the methods that Tibetans follow will elude Westerners outside of a few contacts in a few places with gurus or lamas, of course. Therefore, one can become discouraged: how can an everyday person attain the discipline that will enable him or her after death to resist the illusion to be drawn back into existence? The TBoD constantly insists that recognition of Rigpa will bring about freedom, yet it also shows how easy it will be to remain trapped in fear, attachment, confusion, or oblivion as we pass through an unimaginable array of sights and sounds after our death.

Therefore, Sogyal and the TBoD, naturally, are absolutely correct. The utter necessity of struggling to come at least closer to these daunting visions and yearning prayers colors poignantly the stories, legends, and parallels he finds from Tibetan wise people he has known, near-death experiences, quantum physics, and meditation techniques. You sense Sogyal's grounded in profound respect for those from whom he has learned his teachings, and there's a genuine humility and open-hearted compassion that infuses the wisdom in these pages. The revised and expanded edition, by the way, does change the pages internally but I could not find, on spot-checking with the original printing, much change except for addresses of Rigpa hospices at the end and a brief introduction that places the enthusiastic reception of the 1993-4 printing in perspective.

Editorial Review:

This acclaimed spiritual masterpiece is widely regarded as one of the most complete and authoritative presentations of the Tibetan Buddhist teachings ever written. A manual for life and death and a magnificent source of sacred inspiration from the heart of the Tibetan tradition, The Tibetan Book Of Living and Dying provides a lucid and inspiring introduction to the practice of meditation, to the nature of mind, to karma and rebirth, to compassionate love and care for the dying, and to the trials and rewards of the spiritual path.

Just Who Will You Be?: Big Question. Little Book. Answer Within. (ROUGHCUT)

Maria Shriver

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Total reviews: 74 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

"Maria Shriver is wise, funny and caring--and it all comes through in her winning guide to life, JUST WHO WILL YOU BE? We're lucky to have her show us the way."
-- Tom Brokaw

"Maria teaches all of us in the graduate program of life to seek meaning through the joy of following your heart. Just the kind of advice a heart surgeon cherishes."
--Mehmet Oz, M.D.

"Everything Maria Shriver does is a testament to how deeply she respects and cares about people; all people, all over the world. She really does. She is as charming and funny as she is brilliant and profoundly humane."
--Anne Lamott

"Maria Shriver is real, vulnerable, humble, honest (just like her book) and not afraid to say so. A lovely book by a lovely person."
--Danielle Steel

"This honest, straight-talking, profound little book is worth a lifetime of reflection. It calls readers of all ages to think again-and differently-about who they've been in the past and who they want to be now. This book is a life-stopper, a truly universal piece. It's a must for everyone-of any age."
--Sister Joan Chittister

"Every graduate (of anything) ought to be given a copy of this book along with their diploma. There's wisdom, compassion and truth between these covers. For anyone -- at any age."
--Linda Ellerbee, Executive Producer, "Nick News"

"I've learned that asking ourselves not just what we want to be, but who we want to be is important at every stage of our lives, not just when we're starting out in the world. That's because in a way, we're starting out fresh in the world every single day."

Just Who Will You Be? is a candid, heartfelt, and inspirational book for seekers of all ages. Inspired by a speech she gave, Maria Shriver's message is that what you do in your life isn't what matters. It's who you are. It's an important lesson that will appeal to anyone of any age looking for a life of meaning.

In her own life, Shriver always walked straight down her own distinctive path, achieving her childhood goal of becoming "award-winning network newswoman Maria Shriver". But when her husband was elected California's Governor and she suddenly had to leave her job at NBC News, Maria was thrown for a loop. Right about then, her nephew asked her to speak at his high school graduation. She resisted, wondering how she could possibly give advice to kids, when she was feeling so lost herself. But in the end she relented and decided to dig down and dig deep, and the result is this little jewel.

Just Who Will You Be? reminds us that the answer to many of life's question lie within -- and that we're all works in progress. That means it's never too late to become the person you want to be.

Now the question for you is this: Just who will you be?

The Return of History and the End of Dreams

Robert Kagan

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Total reviews: 33 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Hopes for a new peaceful international order after the end of the Cold War have been dashed by sobering realities: Great powers are once again competing for honor and influence. Nation-states remain as strong as ever, as do the old, explosive forces of ambitious nationalism. The world remains “unipolar,” but international competition among the United States, Russia, China, Europe, Japan, India, and Iran raise new threats of regional conflict. Communism is dead, but a new contest between western liberalism and the great eastern autocracies of Russia and China has reinjected ideology into geopolitics. Finally, radical Islamists are waging a violent struggle against the modern secular cultures and powers that, in their view, have dominated, penetrated, and polluted their Islamic world. The grand expectation that after the Cold War the world would enter an era of international geopolitical convergence has proven wrong.

For the past few years, the liberal world has been internally divided and distracted by issues both profound and petty. Now, in The Return of History and the End of Dreams, Robert Kagan masterfully poses the most important questions facing the liberal democratic countries, challenging them to choose whether they want to shape history or let others shape it for them.