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The Antichrist

Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 13 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

one of the greatest works of western philosohpy? I think not 1 out of 5 stars.
5 of 27 people found this review helpful.

OK, firstly, my rating refers to the ideas presented in this book, not the book itself, which is by all means an interesting read. However, this does not change the fact that this is simply a rant about christianity from a selfish, arrogant, petty man, who reckoned himself to be one of the greatest thinkers, when in fact he is not. Not only does he say that compassion towards our fellow humans is immoral, but he says that all humans are unequal (he sees himself as one of the more superior humans, unsurprisingly) and he also claims that the pursuit of power is the moral action. Right from the start he claims that feeling for another's misfortune is weak and weakness is immoral. Then he goes on to rip apart christianity, granted, he makes a couple of valid points, but most of what he says is complete trash, bases on lies. I'm not exactly the biggest fan of christianity, but some of the arguments presented here are absurd to say the least. Nietzsche is not a genious, he is an idiot. This book contains a few contradictions and not just little ones, there is certianly a very big one. I wonder if anyone else noticed it? Anyway, I suggest you get this book yourself and you can be the judge, who knows, you may agree with him, but if you have an IQ which is over 5, then you wont.

Editorial Review:

A work of Nietzsche's later years, "The Antichrist" was written after "Thus Spoke Zarathustra" and shortly before the mental collapse that incapacitated him for the rest of his life. The work is both an unrestrained attack on Christianity and a further exposition of Nietzsche's will-to-power philosophy so dramatically presented in "Zarathustra".

The Moral Life: An Introductory Reader in Ethics and Literature

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Total reviews: 7 Average rating: 3.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Literature often deals with moral issues. It focuses on human dilemmas and awakens our imagination to new possibilities. It compels us to rethink and revise our everyday assumptions, enabling us to consider ethical questions in creative ways.
The Moral Life: An Introductory Reader in Ethics and Literature brings together an extensive and varied collection of 87 classical and contemporary readings on ethical theory and practice. The book is divided into four sections covering the nature of morality, moral theories, moral issues, and applied ethics. Integrating literature with philosophy in an innovative way, editor Louis Pojman uses literary works to enliven and make concrete the ethical theory or applied issues addressed in each chapter. Literary works by Hugo, Hawthorne, Melville, Tolstoy, Ibsen, Huxley, Orwell, Camus, LeGuin, Styron, and many others lead students into philosophical concepts and issues such as relativism, utilitarianism, virtue ethics, the meaning of life, freedom, sex, love and marriage, and environmental ethics. Once introduced, these topics are developed further through readings by philosophers including Aristotle, Sartre, Bernard Williams, Jane English, and Thomas E. Hill, Jr. This unique anthology emphasizes the personal dimension of ethics, which is often ignored or minimized in ethics texts.
Featuring insightful part and chapter introductions as well as biographical sketches, abstracts, and study questions for each reading selection, The Moral Life is ideal for introductory ethics courses. It also provides an engaging gateway into personal and social ethics for the general reader.

Ethics: Discovering Right and Wrong

Louis P. Pojman

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Total reviews: 10 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Good overview, but not impartial 4 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

Pojman does an excellent job of covering a lot of ground in this relatively short book. The writing is clear and easy to understand. However, I would not say that this book invites readers to discover their own ethical theories, as the back cover claims, because Pojman clearly discounts certain ethical theories and embraces others. Rather than discovering right and wrong on one's own, the reader instead is led down a path that discounts relativism and embraces objectivism and virtue ethics. Those aren't bad conclusions to reach, but the author should let the reader reach those conclusions instead of reaching them for him. It can be frustrating to read as Pojman declares a moral theory incorrect when, as the reader, one still sees merit in it.

Editorial Review:

How do you know right from wrong? ETHICS: DISCOVERING RIGHT AND WRONG shows you how history's greatest thinkers have understood ethics and gives you the tools to decide for yourself what's moral and immoral. And, of course, along the way you’ll master the basics of ethical philosophy.

The Holy War

John Bunyan

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Total reviews: 10 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Solid Allegorical Fiction 5 out of 5 stars.
9 of 9 people found this review helpful.

This is a masterpiece. Believe it or not, in some ways I found it more invigorating than Pilgrim's Progress. Mainly because the conclusion and progression of the tale were slightly less obvious.

Bunyan masterfully illustrates personalities and the conflict/struggle that is going on.

This is great imaginative fiction with good spiritual application. This would be a great book to go through as a group and study/discuss.

Editorial Review:

Once upon a time in the town of Mansoul, a fierce battle raged to take control away from the rightful Prince. Who will be the conquering Prince? Diabolus or Emmanuel? And what can the inhabitants do to resist the attacks of the evil one? Your soul is under attack from the forces of evil.

Through this powerful allegory, you will learn how to:
Build up your defenses, flood your moat, and prepare for war!
Bunyan will illuminate your understanding and show you:
When your will is in line with Christ, you can accomplish anything
Spiritual attack is constant and can be deadly
The enemy will stop at nothing to possess your soul
Christ the Conqueror is on your side and with His help, you have nothing to fear!

German Idealism: The Struggle against Subjectivism, 1781-1801

Frederick C. Beiser

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Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

tous philosophous sozein (saving the philosophers) 5 out of 5 stars.
27 of 29 people found this review helpful.

Among the silliest of the many silly ways of criticizing something is to complain that it is not what it has no pretense of being. The title of Beiser's book, as well as its length and its rather hefty price, make it sufficiently clear that it is not intended as a general popular introduction to all German Idealism. Rather, it is scholarly inquiry into a phase of German Idealism that, while not altogether neglected, is too often regarded as merely a preparation for Hegel's triumphant system. That Beiser's study cuts off at 1801 relieves him of the need to deal with Hegel apart from his relation to Fichte and Schelling, and it no doubt reveals the bias of the reviewer from Cambridge that, seemingly having missed this point, he does not also accuse Beiser of neglecting to speak about Schelling's essay on the Human Freedom, his philosophy of Mythology and Revelation, Fichte's later systems, or perhaps even Solger's aesthetics, all of which also fall within the fold of German Idealism.
Granting the self-imposed temporal constraints of his inquiry, Beiser's aim is not to exclude or marginalize Hegel and deny his significance for German idealism, but rather to rescue the singular originality and grandeur of moments within the history of German Idealism that have fallen into the shadow of the leviathan to which they gave birth. While this very effort is somewhat compromised by Beiser's epistemological orientation, and I do not entirely agree with his ultimate reading of German Idealism as a neo-Platonism anticipating the Neo-Kantianism of Hermann Cohen and Ernst Cassirer, I nevertheless admire the rigor and clarity of this work, and would strongly recommend to all those who have a more than dilettantish interest in German philosophy.

Editorial Review:

One of the very few accounts in English of German idealism, this ambitious work advances and revises our understanding of both the history and the thought of the classical period of German philosophy. As he traces the structure and evolution of idealism as a doctrine, Frederick Beiser exposes a strong objective, or realist, strain running from Kant to Hegel and identifies the crucial role of the early romantics—Hölderlin, Schlegel, and Novalis—as the founders of absolute idealism.

(20030124)

Philosophical Investigations into the Essence of Human Freedom (Suny Series in Contemporary Continental Philosophy)

Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Von Schelling

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Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

The Newest Translation 4 out of 5 stars.
7 of 9 people found this review helpful.

This book is a valuable contribution to the newest literature and supposed renaissance in Schelling research. Although there are three existing translations, all suffer from the defects familiar to the difficult exercise of translation. Among those, the Love/Schmid version suffers from these same problems, unfortunately.

I mention only one serious error (the others largely being unavoidable) in that Selbstständigkeit is translated as 'independence.' While this word does grasp one of the meanings of Selbstständigkeit, it fails to grasp the richness of the word, especially in its assymetrical opposition to Abhängigkeit (translated as dependence). My only complaint is that the translators did not note this particular locution. However, at almost all other places where there is doubt, they are careful to provide the German text.

The advantage of this edition, which over all existing is significant, is the historical apparatus attached to this edition, including translations of several other timely works that influenced Schelling's thinking (Boehme, Lessing, Baader, Jacobi). Although there is a lot of fascinating contemporary commentary done on the text (and Schelling's work at large) in different venues, little of it actually addresses the context in which the Freiheitsschrift was written. The apparatus attached to this edition fills this lacuna.

Editorial Review:

Schelling's masterpiece investigating evil and freedom.

The Many Faces of Evil: Theological Systems and the Problems of Evil

John S. Feinberg

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Total reviews: 7 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

In this examination of the questions posed by the problem of evil, John Feinberg addresses the intellectual and theological framework of theodicy. Beginning with a discussion of the logical problem of evil, he interacts with leading thinkers who have previously written on these themes.

Feinberg’s classic treatment of the problem of evil has been a standard treatment of this philosophical issue for some time. Coming from the Augustinian/Reformed tradition, it is a vigorous defense of both God’s sovereignty and human responsibility. This new edition makes an already great book even better, as Feinberg has been able to incorporate new material in his debates and conversation with people like Rowe and Plantinga. This is surely one of the most important books ever written on the problem of evil. Those who ignore it will find their own understanding of the issue impoverished, especially in light of the current discussion.
—Chad Brand, Associate Professor of Christian Theology, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

The Many Faces of Evil presents an excellent overview and response to the logical, evidential, and existential aspects of the problem. Those who expect insightful, decisive analyses from John Feinberg will not be disappointed. Crossway Books is also to be commended for its ongoing tradition of strong scholarly publications. This is a “must read” text.
—Gary Habermas, Distinguished Professor and Department Chairman, Philosophy and Theology, Liberty University

In this updated edition, Feinberg continues to press home the message that there are many versions of the problem of evil and that, in fact, there are many successful solutions to these versions as well. Feinberg gives a thorough presentation of the alternatives as well as of his own position. A valuable resource!
—Winfried Corduan, Professor of Philosophy and Religion, Taylor University

This latest edition of The Many Faces of Evil is a gem. It provides extensive analyses of various statements of the problem of evil as well as responses that can be offered from a variety of Christian perspectives. Feinberg shows that both the problem and the response to the problem will vary, depending on one’s understanding of God and of evil. His own position is offered in dialogue with major classic and contemporary discussions of the problem of evil.
—Ronald J. Feenstra, Director of Doctoral Studies, Calvin Theological Seminary

The Many Faces of Evil is a thorough, clear, and highly competent treatment of a perennial problem. At times, it is painful and moving to read. All of us can learn much from it.
—Keith E. Yandell, Professor of Philosophy, University of Wisconsin

Tremendous Trifles

G. K. Chesterton

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Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

A Tremendous Achievement 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Those familiar with G. K. Chesterton probably know him for his novels (The Man Who Was Thursday), his stories (The Complete Father Brown Stories (Wordsworth Classics) (Wordsworth Collection)), and his non-fiction ORTHODOXY). Even the fans may not be aware that his chief profession in life was as a journalist. Indeed, Chesterton wrote a stunning 3,000 columns during his lifetime. Many collections were published at the time, and others have been added since then. It is said, by the true fanatics, that all 3,000+ are quite good. I wouldn't know, since I've only read a hundred or so. But I can say this. Among all essay collections by any author that I've ever read, "Tremendous Trifles" is the best.

"Tremendous Trifles" is, to put it simply, a series of reflections on everyday life. In "The Twelve Men", Chesterton recounts the story of his call to jury duty. Being chosen merely because his name starts with 'C', he ends up hearing the case of an accused bicycle thief. "We did indeed, well, and truly try the case of the Crown versus the defendant in the issue of stealing bicycles, and we concluded, after much debate, that the Crown was in no ways implicated." Several cases later, Chesterton has an epiphany and realizes why we need juries rather than judges. To professional judges, judging seems ordinary. Only a jury of normal citizens can remember that putting men on trial is an extraordinary thing to do.

In "On Lying in Bed", Chesterton reflects on the ceiling, and the joys of observing it from a bed. In "The Extraordinary Cabman", he tackles the philosophical question of whether anything is actually real, and answers with a definite yes. It's hard to pick the best essay in a collection like this, but I can definitely pick the best title: "The Advantages of Having a Broken Leg". But regardless, every essay is well worth reading, and the whole book is a worthy addition to any library.

Editorial Review:

The author writes, "None of us think enough of these [small, everyday] things on which the eye rests. But don't let us let the eye rest. Let us exercise the eye until it learns to see startling facts that run across the landscape as plain as a painted fence. Let us be ocular athletes. Let us learn to write essays on a stray cat or a coloured cloud. I have attempted some such thing in what follows." Includes such small masterpieces as "On Lying in Bed," "What I Found in My Pocket," and the justifiably famous "A Piece of Chalk." Newly designed and typeset for easy reading by Boomer Books.

Out of Eden: Adam and Eve and the Problem of Evil

Paul W. Kahn

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Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

In Out of Eden, Paul W. Kahn offers a philosophical meditation on the problem of evil. He uses the Genesis story of the Fall as the starting point for a profound articulation of the human condition. Kahn shows us that evil expresses the rage of a subject who knows both that he is an image of an infinite God and that he must die. Kahn's interpretation of Genesis leads him to inquiries into a variety of modern forms of evil, including slavery, torture, and genocide.

Kahn takes issue with Hannah Arendt's theory of the banality of evil, arguing that her view is an instance of the modern world's lost capacity to speak of evil. Psychological, social, and political accounts do not explain evil as much as explain it away. Focusing on the existential roots of evil rather than on the occasions for its appearance, Kahn argues that evil originates in man's flight from death. He urges us to see that the opposite of evil is not good, but love: while evil would master death, love would transcend it.

Offering a unique perspective that combines political and cultural theory, law, and philosophy, Kahn here continues his project of advancing a political theology of modernity.

Martin Heidegger: Between Good and Evil

Rüdiger Safranski

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Total reviews: 13 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

One of the century's greatest philosophers, without whom there would be no Sartre, no Foucault, no Frankfurt School, Martin Heidegger was also a man of great failures and flaws, a Faustus who made a pact with the devil of his time, Adolf Hitler. The story of Heidegger's life and philosophy, a quintessentially German story in which good and evil, brilliance and blindness are inextricably entwined and the passions and disasters of a whole century come into play, is told in this brilliant biography.

Heidegger grew up in Catholic Germany where, for a chance at pursuing a life of learning, he pledged himself to the priesthood. Soon he turned apostate and sought a university position, which set him on the path to becoming the star of German philosophy in the 1920s. Rüdiger Safranski chronicles Heidegger's rise along with the thought he honed on the way, with its debt to Heraclitus, Plato, and Kant, and its tragic susceptibility to the conservatism that emerged out of the nightmare of Germany's loss in World War I. A chronicle of ideas and of personal commitments and betrayals, Safranski's biography combines clear accounts of the philosophy that won Heidegger eternal renown with the fascinating details of the loves and lapses that tripped up this powerful intellectual.

The best intellectual biography of Heidegger ever written and a best-seller in Germany, Martin Heidegger: Between Good and Evil does not shy away from full coverage of Heidegger's shameful transformation into a propagandist for the National Socialist regime; nor does it allow this aspect of his career to obscure his accomplishments. Written by a master of Heidegger's philosophy, the book is one of the best introductions to the thought and to the life and times of the greatest German philosopher of the century.