“The world needs more philosophical enthusiasts,” Weiner writes. This book is sure to generate its share.
Passing through middle age and wondering “what matters and what doesn’t,” a journalist undertakes figurative and literal journeys around the world to learn how philosophy might help answer his question.
Not all philosophy is concerned with helping us figure out how to live, but that’s the aspect that interests Weiner, the former New York Times reporter and author of The Geography of Bliss and other works. In joining the long line of writers who have heralded philosophy’s practical possibilities, he takes a place among the more catholic in taste. Sei Shōnagon, a 10th-century Japanese author and courtesan to the empress, has to be among the more surprising (and welcome) additions to the company of the better-known philosophers of ancient Greece, China, and modernity. Unencumbered by ideology, Weiner is free to find his way to philosophers—a designation, as with Shōnagon, he’s happy to apply loosely—who were interested not in the meaning of life but in “leading meaningful lives.” Thoreau teaches him how to see; Nietzsche, how to have no regrets; Shōnagon, how to appreciate the small things; and so on. Weiner’s challenge in these chapters is to give a sufficient overview of his subject while maintaining a brisk pace and distilling useful instruction. Such a globe-trotting tour of philosophy can only be as good as its guide, and Weiner proves to be a curious, sincere, and generous companion. His good cheer alone serves as a model for how to live, and many readers will appreciate his method of taking what’s useful for him and leaving what’s not (Plato, Kant, Sartre, to name a few). Each reader will cotton to certain of Weiner’s philosophers more than others; the author’s example teaches us that this is as it should be. We must all find our own teachers.
“The world needs more philosophical enthusiasts,” Weiner writes. This book is sure to generate its share.Pub Date: Aug. 25, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5011-2901-8
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Avid Reader Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 18, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2020
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.
A compendium of charts, time lines, lists and illustrations to accompany study of the Bible.
This visually appealing resource provides a wide array of illustrative and textually concise references, beginning with three sets of charts covering the Bible as a whole, the Old Testament and the New Testament. These charts cover such topics as biblical weights and measures, feasts and holidays and the 12 disciples. Most of the charts use a variety of illustrative techniques to convey lessons and provide visual interest. A worthwhile example is “How We Got the Bible,” which provides a time line of translation history, comparisons of canons among faiths and portraits of important figures in biblical translation, such as Jerome and John Wycliffe. The book then presents a section of maps, followed by diagrams to conceptualize such structures as Noah’s Ark and Solomon’s Temple. Finally, a section on Christianity, cults and other religions describes key aspects of history and doctrine for certain Christian sects and other faith traditions. Overall, the authors take a traditionalist, conservative approach. For instance, they list Moses as the author of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) without making mention of claims to the contrary. When comparing various Christian sects and world religions, the emphasis is on doctrine and orthodox theology. Some chapters, however, may not completely align with the needs of Catholic and Orthodox churches. But the authors’ leanings are muted enough and do not detract from the work’s usefulness. As a resource, it’s well organized, inviting and visually stimulating. Even the most seasoned reader will learn something while browsing.
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2005
ISBN: 978-1-5963-6022-8
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A very welcome instance of philosophy that can help readers live a good life.
A teacher and scholar of Buddhism offers a formally varied account of the available rewards of solitude.
“As Mother Ayahuasca takes me in her arms, I realize that last night I vomited up my attachment to Buddhism. In passing out, I died. In coming to, I was, so to speak, reborn. I no longer have to fight these battles, I repeat to myself. I am no longer a combatant in the dharma wars. It feels as if the course of my life has shifted onto another vector, like a train shunted off its familiar track onto a new trajectory.” Readers of Batchelor’s previous books (Secular Buddhism: Imagining the Dharma in an Uncertain World, 2017, etc.) will recognize in this passage the culmination of his decadeslong shift away from the religious commitments of Buddhism toward an ecumenical and homegrown philosophy of life. Writing in a variety of modes—memoir, history, collage, essay, biography, and meditation instruction—the author doesn’t argue for his approach to solitude as much as offer it for contemplation. Essentially, Batchelor implies that if you read what Buddha said here and what Montaigne said there, and if you consider something the author has noticed, and if you reflect on your own experience, you have the possibility to improve the quality of your life. For introspective readers, it’s easy to hear in this approach a direct response to Pascal’s claim that “all of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone.” Batchelor wants to relieve us of this inability by offering his example of how to do just that. “Solitude is an art. Mental training is needed to refine and stabilize it,” he writes. “When you practice solitude, you dedicate yourself to the care of the soul.” Whatever a soul is, the author goes a long way toward soothing it.
A very welcome instance of philosophy that can help readers live a good life.Pub Date: Feb. 18, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-300-25093-0
Page Count: 200
Publisher: Yale Univ.
Review Posted Online: Nov. 24, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2019
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