An exemplary entry in the history of ideas.
Nadler (Philosophy/Univ. of Wisconsin; Rembrandt’s Jews, 2003, etc.) recounts a major episode in the history of early modern philosophy.
For centuries, philosophers have worried about the so-called problem of evil. Why did God create a world in which evil acts, the cause of so much suffering, are commonplace? If God is “constantly and intimately causally involved in the world,” as Nadler puts it, then why does he allow sin? Though such questions seldom exercise us moderns—who have come to the conclusion that “the world God created does not seem to be a very just place”—they were of signal concern to thinkers of past generations, particularly those of a theological bent. Enter Leipzig-born Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, polymath mathematician and philosopher, who, Nadler reveals, was also a secret agent working behind the scenes at the court of King Louis XIV on behalf of the city-state of Mainz, Germany, to settle an ever more tendentious rivalry between France and Holland. Leibniz acquitted himself well enough in that job, but he found himself more wrapped up in conversations with newfound friends Antoine Arnauld and Nicolas Malebranche, who were absorbed in that timely problem of evil. The Lutheran but ecumenically minded Leibniz found lively interlocutors in the Catholic Malebranche and the Cartesian Arnauld, and they argued for years—all living to a very old age, perhaps kept going by the discussion. Nadler gives a lucid, graceful account of their back-and-forth, adding an elegant gloss of his own with unsettling touches, as when he observes, “Even God cannot bring it about that the world is governed by the most simple laws and that everyone is happy.”
An exemplary entry in the history of ideas.Pub Date: Nov. 6, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-374-22998-6
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2008
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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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