Ancient Books - Page 11

Against the Academicians: The Teacher

Saint, Bishop of Hippo Augustine, Peter King

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Good for intro to philosophy 4 out of 5 stars.
6 of 10 people found this review helpful.

I am a novice philosopher. I found (like any Augustine work) to be instrumental in my development as a student of the scriptures, and philosophy. Things discussed mostly in this book are relevant to philosophy today and thought provoking.

Mostly the first section of the book has very little discussion by Augustine himself, rather, between two students of his who talk about if the wise man can know wisdom, what is wisdom and such (won't spoil the ending for you) and topics about the Academician views of philosophy where they state the wise man cannot know wisdom (or assent to anything at all for that matter).

The second section, The Teacher, is Augustine's dialogue between him and a student over what things such as names are. What the purpose of talking is and signs.

Although not the most exciting work out there, this book is a must for anybody who wishes to understand some basic philosophical concepts. Also, this book is not like The Confessions, The City of God, or The Trinity. This book is meant to be a philosophical, not theological book, although there is some theology contained in it.

Editorial Review:

These new translations of two treatises dealing with the possibility and nature of knowledge in the face of skeptical challenges are the first to be rendered from the Latin critical edition, the first to be made specifically with a philosophical audience in mind, and the first to be translated by a scholar with expertise in both modern epistemology and philosophy of language.

Laws

Plato

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Plato As Law Giver 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 5 people found this review helpful.

I read this book as part of my research into Plato himself.

It's hard for me to see how relevant a book like this is today. Plato's world was very different than today. People owned slaves, there was no internet or mass communications, Christianity didn't even exist yet, etc..

However it did provide some of the insights I was looking for about Plato himself.

Plato's writings have a smooth quality. St. Augustine called Plato's philosophy very 'clear'. Reading his works can almost be like a sort of religious experience since he often talks about the various mythological gods and God Himself. A book carries the spirit of the author I guess.

Plato believed in reincarnation and the law of karma. For example he felt that the death penalty is a blessing in disguise for incorrigible criminals since it prevents them from contaminating their souls with even more evil.

I feel this book shows the influence of two things that were very important for Plato; his belief in Atlantis and the books in the old testament of the bible that talk about the details of those laws that were given from on high. These two things were always there deep in his thoughts.

Atlantis was a utopian society at first and it seems that for all of his life Plato was trying to recreate this ideal society. But I doubt that he could have imagined the information that came out in the 1900s from the great Edgar Cayce (Osiris). Sometimes when people see flying saucers those are our ancestors from Atlantis travelling through time.

It is not a coincidence that fate chose Plato to preserve the legend of Atlantis for future generations. He was there on Atlantis himself at the very beginning.

Interestingly the author of this translation doesn't agree that The Laws shows how Plato became more realistic when he realized that the idealistic society described in The Republic could never become a reality. That is a common theory that many people believe.

Rather he feels Plato would have known that The Republic could never beome a reality.

I think the next thing I'll read about Plato is a biography as part of my ongoing research.

Jeff Marzano

The Atlantis Dialogue: Plato's Original Story of the Lost City, Continent, Empire, Civilization

Ufo...Contact from Planet Iarga

The Giza Power Plant : Technologies of Ancient Egypt

Edgar Cayce's Egypt: Psychic Revelations on the Most Fascinating Civilization Ever Known

Initiation

Initiation in the Great Pyramid (Astara's Library of Mystical Classics)

Edgar Cayce's Story of the Old Testament From the Birth of Souls to the Death of Moses

Editorial Review:

In The Laws, Plato describes in fascinating detail a comprehensive system of legislation in a small agricultural utopia he named Magnesia. His laws not only govern crime and punishment but also form a code of conduct for all aspects of life in his ideal state—from education, sports, and religion to sexual behavior, marriage, and drinking parties. Plato sets out a plan for the day-to-day rule of Magnesia, administered by citizens and elected officials, with supreme power held by a Council. Although Plato’s views that citizens should act in complete obedience to the law have been read as totalitarian, The Laws nonetheless constitutes a highly impressive program for the reform of society and provides a crucial insight into the mind of one of classical Greece’s foremost thinkers.

Small Talk: More Jazz Chants

Carolyn Graham

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Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Exellent teaching pronunciation book for ESL/EFL learners 5 out of 5 stars.
17 of 17 people found this review helpful.

I am a Korean MATESOL student studing in the US. I have heard that Grahamn's Jazz chant is very good ESL source,and I have used her chants in my classes in Korea. The Jazz chant is very helpful in teaching rhythm and flow that English cotains. However the Jazz chants I have used before was just chants. They didn't have any guide lines. However,what drove me to attempt to write review of this book is that while I was looking for a book for pronunciation micro teaching, I happened to find this book in the library(Actually I didn't know this book was what my professor recommanded in class until I went over my notebook couple of minutes ago!) This book is very well organized and presents clear lesson points. It is definately wonderful to teach oral skills to English learners with fun. Not only does this book present chants but also has written exercises. I strongly recommand this book to ESL/EFL teachers.

Editorial Review:

This is a collection of jazz chants, recorded with live music by world-famous jazz musicians, designed to practice useful language functions.

Cicero: De re Publica (On the Republic) , De Legibus (On the Laws) (Loeb Classical Library No. 213)

Cicero

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Editorial Review:

Cicero (Marcus Tullius, 106–43 BCE), Roman lawyer, orator, politician and philosopher, of whom we know more than of any other Roman, lived through the stirring era which saw the rise, dictatorship, and death of Julius Caesar in a tottering republic. In his political speeches especially and in his correspondence we see the excitement, tension and intrigue of politics and the part he played in the turmoil of the time. Of about 106 speeches, delivered before the Roman people or the Senate if they were political, before jurors if judicial, 58 survive (a few of them incompletely). In the fourteenth century Petrarch and other Italian humanists discovered manuscripts containing more than 900 letters of which more than 800 were written by Cicero and nearly 100 by others to him. These afford a revelation of the man all the more striking because most were not written for publication. Six rhetorical works survive and another in fragments. Philosophical works include seven extant major compositions and a number of others; and some lost. There is also poetry, some original, some as translations from the Greek.

The Loeb Classical Library edition of Cicero is in twenty-nine volumes.

The Manual of Harmonics of Nicomachus the Pythagorean

Nicomachus

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A major contribution to the world of classics. 5 out of 5 stars.
36 of 44 people found this review helpful.

Flora R.Levin has one of the keenest and most perceptive minds around. What sets her writing apart from other classicists is her clear and unpretentious style infused with human qualities. She has the ability to take the reader by the hand, so to speak, and infuse him with her own passion for her subject. "The Manual of Harmonics of Nicomachus the Pythagorean" is the creation of a profound scholar and a cultivated, sensitive musician.

Editorial Review:

This book is the first complete translation of the Pythagorean philosopher Nicomachus of Gerasa. It is a concise and well organized introduction to the study of harmonics and contains an extensive commentary in which Flora Levin explains the principles of Pythagorean harmony. This important work constitutes a valuable resource for all students of ancient philosophy, Western cosmology, and the history of music.

Theaetetus

Plato

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Editorial Review:

Set immediately prior to the trial and execution of Socrates in 399 BC, Theaetetus shows the great philosopher considering the nature of knowledge itself, in a debate with the geometrician Theodorus and his young follower Theaetetus. Their dialogue covers many questions, such as: is knowledge purely subjective, composed of the ever-changing flow of impressions we receive from the outside world? Is it better thought of as true belief'? Or is it, as many modern philosophers argue, justified true belief', in which the belief is supported by argument or evidence? With skill and eloquence, Socrates guides the debate, drawing out the implications of these theories and subjecting them to merciless and mesmerising criticism. One of the founding works of epistemology, this profound discussion of the problem of knowledge continues to intrigue and inspire.

Fragments (Penguin Classics) (Greek Edition)

Heraclitus

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Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 3.0 of 5

Not a translation, but renderings into 20th century New Age talk 1 out of 5 stars.
43 of 43 people found this review helpful.

Heraclitus' FRAGMENTS come here in the original with a facing-page translation by Brooks Haxton that tries to do to the pre-Socratic philosopher what no earlier translator has done, make him a New-Ageish wisdom poet in tune with our modern needs. It is a disastrous experiment, and I cannot recommend it either to students of Greek or readers interested in the pre-Socratics.

The problems here are legion. For one, Haxton doesn't use Diels' numbering scheme, favouring Bywater's dinosaur-era numbers, which means this work is out of touch with most collections of Heraclitus. The Greek typeface used is very idiosyncratic and not conformant to classical norms. But the translation itself is horrid.

A lot of what the reader is getting here simply isn't Heraclitus. Instead of providing a footnote with his opinion on what the fragment may mean in context, as reputable scholars would do, Haxton simply adds content to the translation. Unless he were to look at the translation notes in the back, the average reader would be unaware that much of what he was reading wasn't actual said by the philsopher, but is just one modern translator's opinion. Take, for example, Haxton's rendition of the fragment "Nyktipoloi, magoi, bakchoi, lenai, mustai", which is literally translated "Night-walkers, mages, bacchants, lenai, and the initiated", but which Haxton inexplicably expands to "Nightwalker [sic], magus, and their entourage, bacchants and mystics of the wine press, with stained faces, and damp wits". One that really takes the cake is 89: "Ex homine in tricennio potest avus haberi," which simply means "A man could be a grandfather in thirty years." Haxton somehow comes up with "Look: the baby born under the new moon under the old moon holds her grandchild in her arms".

This translation is a crime. If you are interested in Heraclitus' thought, try getting a reputable scholarly translation. Dennis Sweet's HERACLITUS: Translation and Analysis (University Press of America, 1995) is quite easily readable and entertaining. Stay far away from Haxton's kookish work.

Editorial Review:

In the sixth century b.c.-twenty-five hundred years before Einstein-Heraclitus of Ephesus declared that energy is the essence of matter, that everything becomes energy in flux, in relativity. His great book, On Nature, the world's first coherent philosophical treatise and touchstone for Plato, Aristotle, and Marcus Aurelius, has long been lost to history-but its surviving fragments have for thousands of years tantalized our greatest thinkers, from Montaigne to Nietzsche, Heidegger to Jung. Now, acclaimed poet Brooks Haxton presents a powerful free-verse translation of all 130 surviving fragments of the teachings of Heraclitus, with the ancient Greek originals beautifully reproduced en face.

Epictetus: A Stoic and Socratic Guide to Life

A. A. Long

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Total reviews: 7 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

One of the best contemporary books on Stoicism and ancient philosophy in general 4 out of 5 stars.
20 of 20 people found this review helpful.

The great strength of A. A. Long's book on Epictetus is that Long views Epictetus, and Stoicism in general, as being firmly rooted in the broader tradition of ancient philosophy. This is reflected in his reference to Socrates in the book's title.

Throughout the book Long engagingly draws the reader into the world of philosophy as it was lived. Especially in the first half of the book Long emphasizes Epictetus' humanity - as well as that of his students. The result is that anyone who reads this book will, if they haven't already, be compelled to read Epictetus.

The two things that I wasn't crazy about are (1) Long's dismissal of the Epictetus' "Handbook" as unimportant (Long prefers to only look at the "Discourses"), and (2) the second half of the book is more technical and less fun to read than the first half. Long is, after all, a contemporary philsopher, and the second half of the book seems to be more aimed at his colleagues and students of academic philosophy rather than the general public.

Editorial Review:

The philosophy of Epictetus, a freed slave in the Roman Empire, has been profoundly influential on Western thought: it offers not only stimulating ideas but practical guidance in living one's life. A. A. Long, a leading scholar of later ancient philosophy, gives the definitive presentation of the thought of Epictetus for a broad readership. Long's fresh and vivid translations of a selection of the best of Epictetus' discourses show that his ideas are as valuable and striking today as they were amost two thousand years ago. This is a book for anyone interested in what we can learn from ancient philosophy about how to live our lives.

Aristotle: Selections

Aristotle

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All the major works of Aristotle in one convenient book 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I read this book for a graduate seminar on Aristotle. Irwin and Fine's "Aristotle: Selections," is the best translation of Aristotle's philosophy. We only have lecture notes of Aristotle's works, so no finished texts survive.

Aristotle wrote treatises, he wrote to find results and doesn't leave questions unanswered. Aristotle is the first biologist. His way of thinking is scientific. He doesn't use story telling or myth like Plato. Aristotle is a realist, a naturalist, an empiricist. Plato was more of a rational intuitionist. Aristotle believed we were born into a fully real world. We are natural beings. There is no "higher" realm for him, unlike Socrates and Plato. This is also counter to the major religions. Thus, natural life is not a "fallen" condition he is more Greek than Plato is in this regard. The Egyptians influenced Plato and Socrates. Everything Aristotle does begins with what we normally encounter in the world. Thus, our body, and human passions are natural.

Aristotle finds that the desire to understand is intrinsic in human beings it is in our nature. Philosophy is the ultimate consequence of desire. Our desires have many aspects; such as, food, sex, etc. Curiosity is natural in humans, we see it especially in small kids, and curiosity comes from within us. Aristotle argues that philosophy caps off curiosity and wonder. Aristotle points out that wonder is an actual disposition. Aporia = "blocking," something is blocking our wondering as a disturbance and then we struggle to break through with wonder to find the answer. Breaking through aporia can't just be forced but must come from things known. Aristotle always begins his inquiries with observing the familiar. The difference between Plato and Aristotle is that Plato's dialogues use aporia but leave unanswered questions; Aristotle argues that if you try hard you can break thru aporia and get at an answer.

If you want to study Aristotle, start with this book! Use Jonathan Lear's "Aristotle: The Desire To Understand," which is the best companion work to illuminate Aristotle's philosophy.

I recommend that this work is a must for anyone interested in philosophy, ethics, politics, or anyone who wants to have a basis of a "classical" education. For me, Aristotle is the smartest human that walked the planet!

Editorial Review:

A tour de force of scholarship and the art of translation, this volume includes a fully integrated set of translations by a single team, a feature enabling Greekless readers to read widely and deeply in Aristotle with continuity, appreciation for his use of technical terminology and for the structure of his philosophy as a whole. Building on this advantage is the most detailed glossary in any student edition, one which offers unparalleled definition and explication of Aristotle's terminology and makes clear the correspondence between Greek terms and their renderings. The editors' extensive notes, also co-ordinated with the glossary, suggest alternative translations of problematic passages, discuss Aristotles argument, and elucidate difficult passages.

The First Philosophers: The Presocratics and Sophists (Oxford World's Classics)

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Editorial Review:

Aristotle said that philosophy begins with wonder, and the first Western philosophers developed theories of the world which express simultaneously their sense of wonder and their intuition that the world should be comprehensible. But their enterprise was by no means limited to this proto-scientific task. Through, for instance, Heraclitus' enigmatic sayings, the poetry of Parmenides and Empedocles, and Zeno's paradoxes, the Western world was introduced to metaphysics, rationalist theology, ethics, and logic, by thinkers who often seem to be mystics or shamans as much as philosophers or scientists in the modern mould. And out of the Sophists' reflections on human beings and their place in the world arose and interest in language, and in political, moral, and social philosophy.

This volume contains a translation of all the most important fragments of the Presocratics and Sophists, and of the most informative testimonia from ancient sources, supplemented by lucid commentary.