Therapy for people who are grieving pets, and a litmus test for self-professed nature lovers.
The moral conundrums of the human-animal bond.
Few readers will be able to resist the moving episodes from an Australian childhood Gaita (Philosophy/Kings College London; A Common Humanity, not reviewed, etc.) initially relates, based largely on his father’s natural affection and affinity for animals in general and, specifically, house pets Jack the cockatoo and Orloff the dog. Tender and affecting, they are economically rendered with obvious sincerity. But—and there are hints this is coming—this is not about letting us off easy with misty, sentimental recollections about the animals in our lives. Readers must join a forced march into intellectual battle with the major paradoxes and contradictions of those so-called bonds and how society tends to buffer them. It’s not just confronting the idea of “mass murder” of animals for food, clothing, and convenience, for example, but why fish, cows, and chickens have to die to feed your pet cat. Really, why? While many of these philosophical forays are spun out of the author’s close ties with animals, some digress considerably, as does a longish chapter on how the challenges and dangers of mountaineering as a hobby shaped his contemplations on life and reality—somewhat redeemed by a stunning anecdote from the writings of famed Alpinist Walter Bonatti on finding a butterfly dying in the snow at high altitude. A consistent undercurrent plumbs the nature of animals as “sensate” creatures, as when Gaita states: “It is obvious why our understanding of animals should be informed by rigorous, controlled observation which is cautious in coming to conclusions.” But even this, he insists, must be mediated by philosophical inquiry. Science can’t decide whether chimps use language, for example, unless we fully establish and agree on what constitutes language.
Therapy for people who are grieving pets, and a litmus test for self-professed nature lovers.Pub Date: July 27, 2004
ISBN: 1-4000-6110-5
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2004
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
This a book of earlier, philosophical essays concerned with the essential "absurdity" of life and the concept that- to overcome the strong tendency to suicide in every thoughtful man-one must accept life on its own terms with its values of revolt, liberty and passion. A dreary thesis- derived from and distorting the beliefs of the founders of existentialism, Jaspers, Heldegger and Kierkegaard, etc., the point of view seems peculiarly outmoded. It is based on the experience of war and the resistance, liberally laced with Andre Gide's excessive intellectualism. The younger existentialists such as Sartre and Camus, with their gift for the terse novel or intense drama, seem to have omitted from their philosophy all the deep religiosity which permeates the work of the great existentialist thinkers. This contributes to a basic lack of vitality in themselves, in these essays, and ten years after the war Camus seems unaware that the life force has healed old wounds... Largely for avant garde aesthetes and his special coterie.
Pub Date: Sept. 26, 1955
ISBN: 0679733736
Page Count: 228
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Sept. 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1955
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