Showing posts with label philosophy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label philosophy. Show all posts

An Introduction to the Ancient World Review

An Introduction to the Ancient World
Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)
This book is a great introduction to the History of the Fertile Crescent, Greece, and Rome. Needless to say, the Romans get the most attention, but the coverage is good all around (Rome lasted longer anyway, right?). The translation into English is clear and, interestingly, flows well; you wouldn't know the book was originally in Dutch unless you read it in the copyright section. This is the text for the Greco-Roman civilization class I took at FSU, and most of the students in there paid like a hundred and twenty dollars for the hardcover edition. Can't say it's that great but buy this paperback if you would like a primer in Ancient History.

Click Here to see more reviews about: An Introduction to the Ancient World

Integrating the results of scholarly work from the past decade, the authors of An Introduction to the Ancient World, Lukas de Blois and R.J. van der Spek, have fully-updated and revised all sixteen chapters of this best-selling introductory textbook. Covering the history and culture of the ancient Near East, Greece and Rome within the framework of a short narrative history of events, this bookoffers an easily readable, integrated overview for students of history, classics, archaeology and philosophy, whether at college, at undergraduate level or among the wider reading public. This revised second edition offers a new section on early Christianity and more specific information on the religions, economies, and societies of the ancient Near East. There is extended coverage of Greek, Macedonian and Near Eastern history of the fourth to second centuries BC and the history of the Late Roman Republic. The consequences of Julius Caesar's violent death are covered in more detail, as are the history and society of Imperial Rome.Thisnew edition is:comprehensive: covers 3,000 years of ancient history and provides the basis for a typical one-semester course lavishly illustrated: contains maps, line drawings and plates to support and supplement the text, with updated captions clearly and concisely written: two established and respected university teachers with thirty years' experience in the subject areas well-organized: traces the broad outline of political history but also concentrates on particular topics user-friendly: includes chapter menus, an extensive and expanded bibliography organized by subject area and three appendices, an improved introduction and the addition of an epilogue.

Buy NowGet 23% OFF

Click here for more information about An Introduction to the Ancient World

Read More...

Birth of the Symbol: Ancient Readers at the Limits of Their Texts Review

Birth of the Symbol: Ancient Readers at the Limits of Their Texts
Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)
This book must be read by philosophers, students of the classics, literary theorists, and philologists. It was one of my favorite books that I read in 2007. The scholarship in this book is thorough and exhaustive, you can tell that Struck spent hours each day pouring over the source materials for this treatise. The book is an indepth treatment of the importance of allegorists and their use of metaphor and symbolism in their writings on myth, philosophy, and mystery religions.
Struck's book shows the difference between the writing approach of Aristotle and his followers and that of writers from the presocratics to the neoplatonists, who were more concerned with the use of symbolism in their own writings and exegesis in interpreting the writers who came before them.
Struck explains the radical change in interpretation of ancient writers by the analytical exegesis started by Aristotle. Struck goes to great lengths to show that the philosophers and poets before Aristotle were into and heavily used the allegorical and the metaphorical in their writings. When Aristotle categorized the types of writing before him by bifurcating the poetical from the analytical, he split the exegesis of philosophers, specifically the presocratics, into two camps: those who followed Aristotle's analytical style of writing and understanding of texts and those who Struck refers to as the allegorists.
Struck rallies and impressive amount of study into the surprising extent of how many allegorical writers there actually were; including philosopher poets, who existed during the Archaic period of Greece, the Classical period, and well into the Roman empire. He dispels the belief, which he thinks to be too pervasive in contemporary scholarship, that the use of the symbol, metaphor, and allegory in the understanding and writing of texts in the scholarly milieu of Greece was marginal and representative of a minority at best. He cites evidence upon evidence in favor of his thesis by delving into such writers as the commentator of the Derveni Papyrus, the presocratics, and the neoplatonists and others, including Iamblichus, Proclus, Plotinus, Chrysippus and too many more to mention. Struck solidifies his case, as to the early and extensive use of the symbol, by giving a chronological study of the philological birth and growth of the actual word "symbol", how it was first used, who used it, in what context was it used and in what way did writers understand a symbol to be.
This book is intense, in the amount of scholarship it includes and in the way Struck writes about his evidence. Despite his indepth look into the writings and philosophy of the allegorists, Struck's prose is never heavy handed like you would expect a work like this to be. The details, rigorous analysis of different allegorists, and presentation of evidence in his favor are not a hindrance to reading the book, that is, you never get bogged down in the reading. It will take you a week to read it, but only because the material is so laden with insight that you find yourself putting down the book in order to think about what you just read. Struck's prose is extremely lucid and enjoyable for being a work of scholarship (never boring). In fact, the book reads as almost a mystery novel and what a mystery he spins for the reader!

Click Here to see more reviews about: Birth of the Symbol: Ancient Readers at the Limits of Their Texts


Nearly all of us have studied poetry and been taught to look for the symbolic as well as literal meaning of the text. Is this the way the ancients saw poetry? In Birth of the Symbol, Peter Struck explores the ancient Greek literary critics and theorists who invented the idea of the poetic "symbol."

The book notes that Aristotle and his followers did not discuss the use of poetic symbolism. Rather, a different group of Greek thinkers--the allegorists--were the first to develop the notion. Struck extensively revisits the work of the great allegorists, which has been underappreciated. He links their interest in symbolism to the importance of divination and magic in ancient times, and he demonstrates how important symbolism became when they thought about religion and philosophy. "They see the whole of great poetic language as deeply figurative," he writes, "with the potential always, even in the most mundane details, to be freighted with hidden messages."

Birth of the Symbol offers a new understanding of the role of poetry in the life of ideas in ancient Greece. Moreover, it demonstrates a connection between the way we understand poetry and the way it was understood by important thinkers in ancient times.


Buy NowGet 19% OFF

Click here for more information about Birth of the Symbol: Ancient Readers at the Limits of Their Texts

Read More...

The Second Coming of the Star Gods Review

The Second Coming of the Star Gods
Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)
Through almost 500 pages, the author skillfully interweaves the stories of 5 groups of characters from 4th-Dynasty Egypt: Pharaoh and his family, his advisors to the throne, several powerful magician-priests and priestesses, Pharaoh's half-brother - himself a powerful magician-priest, and 2 young apprentice priestesses. The lives of these characters become enmeshed as ancient prophecies begin to play out during a pivotal period just prior to the return of the star gods to ancient Egypt.
Second Coming of the Star Gods will hold the attention of many different kinds of readers. For some, it will be a rousing, Egyptian-themed sci/fi adventure book in the traditions of Zelazny or Leiber, where the "gods" commune with humans, imparting advanced knowledge. Others will look at it as historical fiction - a magical version of Mary Stewart or Taylor Caldwell or even Joan Grant, where daily life in Ancient Egypt really comes alive. Those who enjoy political intrigue will find the sibling rivalry that turns Pharaoh's half-brother into a usurper to the throne reminiscent of the power struggles of Cain and Able or Joseph and his brothers. For readers who are more metaphysically inclined, this book is full of the ethical dilemmas of black vs. white magic, and serious information about how to work shamanically with various types of star energies.
I understand that this is Page Bryant's first work of fiction. If this is any indication of her storytelling abilities, I hope it's not her last!

Click Here to see more reviews about: The Second Coming of the Star Gods



Buy Now

Click here for more information about The Second Coming of the Star Gods

Read More...

How Plato and Pythagoras Can Save Your Life: The Ancient Greek Prescription for Health and Happiness Review

How Plato and Pythagoras Can Save Your Life: The Ancient Greek Prescription for Health and Happiness
Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)
This was an extremely well written and inspiring book. I was moved by Dr. Kardaras's story and how someone with his nightclub background could make such a turnaround. I loved how my perspective on the world has changed and how much I have learned about not only philosophy but the new science, our deep connection to the world and how we can elevate ourselves in this self absorbed world! A must read for anyone interested in transformation, history, psychology and, of course, philosophy!

Click Here to see more reviews about: How Plato and Pythagoras Can Save Your Life: The Ancient Greek Prescription for Health and Happiness



Buy NowGet 27% OFF

Click here for more information about How Plato and Pythagoras Can Save Your Life: The Ancient Greek Prescription for Health and Happiness

Read More...

A World History of Ancient Political Thought Review

A World History of Ancient Political Thought
Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)
The synopsis of the book provided by the "Product Description" is fairly accurate. Therefore, I will only point out that (a) books on comparative history of ideas seem to be rather scarce; (b) many books entitled "History of ...whatever" only provide information about the West, the rest of the world being almost ignored, but Black's book is different, is truly global.
So when I found this book I decide it to give it a chance, in despite of not finding previous comments on it. I was surprised that no one else had made a comment before to this masterful work, which, in my opinion, is impartial and enlightening. Perhaps, because of the author's style, the book is no very engaging, but it is not dry either. In any event I think that the professional historian and the educated layperson alike can savour it. So I add my review, my rate being between 5 (content) and 3 (pleasure, sometimes falling to 2, sometimes raising to 4). I highly recommend it.
The book is short, less than 240 pages (plus bibliography), and is divided in the following way: Introduction / 1. Early Communities and States / 2. Egypt / 3. Mesopotamia, Assyria, Babilón / 4. Iran / 5. Israel / 6. India / 7. China / 8. The Greeks / 9. Rome / 10. Greco-Roman Humanism / 11. The Kingdom of heaven and the church of Christ / 12. Themes: similarities and differences between cultures / 13. Conclusion.

Other interesting books dealing with the history of ideas that I would recommend would be the following: 1) "The West and Islam: Religion and Political Thought in World History", another excellent book by the same author; 2) "America's Constitution: A Biography" by Akhil Reed Amar; 3) "Citizens to Lords: A Social History of Western Political Thought from Antiquity to the Middle Ages" by Ellen Meiksins Wood; 4) "God Owes Us Nothing: A Brief Remark on Pascal's Religion and on the Spirit of Jansenism" by Leszek Kolakowski; 5) "The Passions and the Interests: Political Arguments for Capitalism before its Triumph", by Albert O. Hirschman; and 6) "The Proper Study of Mankind: An Anthology of Essays" by Isaiah Berlin.
Additionally, for those looking for a broad framework to understand the past, I would also suggest reading the following works, whose scope is as amazingly global as Black's: 1. Agrarian cultures: "Pre-industrial societies" by Patricia Crone; 2. Economy: "The world economy. A millennial perspective" (2001) plus "The world economy: Historical Statistics" (2003) by Angus Maddison (a combined edition of these two volumes appeared on December 2007); 3. Government: "The History of Government" by S.E. Finer; 4. Ideas: "Ideas, a History from Fire to Freud", by Peter Watson; 5. Religion: "The Phenomenon of Religion: A Thematic Approach" by Moojan Momen; and 6. War: "War in Human Civilization" by Azar Gat.


Click Here to see more reviews about: A World History of Ancient Political Thought



Buy NowGet 14% OFF

Click here for more information about A World History of Ancient Political Thought

Read More...

The Shape of Ancient Thought: Comparative Studies in Greek and Indian Philosophies Review

The Shape of Ancient Thought: Comparative Studies in Greek and Indian Philosophies
Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)
This book displays an impressive mastery of both the primary sources and secondary literature in both classical Greek philosophy and Asian religio-philosophical traditions. Its arguments are more than plausible, indeed, they are imaginative, courageous and persuasive. I had, until now, been unable to recommend to my students in "comparative world religions" a reliable book from which they could see the possible connections between seemingly disparate traditions. Much that comes under the rubric "comparative philosophy" is rather dated, superficial, or burdened with overweening biases and prejudices (not to mention bereft of historical warrant). I see this work as taking up where other pioneers have left off: Karl Potter, Ninian Smart, B.K. Matilal, for instance, in Indian philosophy, and Herbert Fingarette, Joel Kupperman, David Hall and Roger Ames, most notably, in ancient Chinese philosophy. Those students of ancient Greek philosophy who have read, and enjoyed, their Nussbaum, Sorabji or Hadot, will likewise be moved by this book. Having set an enviable and emulative standard, I hope it portends more works along these lines.

Click Here to see more reviews about: The Shape of Ancient Thought: Comparative Studies in Greek and Indian Philosophies

This unparalleled study of early Eastern and Western philosophy challenges every existing belief about the foundations of Western civilization.Spanning thirty years of intensive research, this book proves what many scholars could not explain: that today's Western world must be considered the product of both Greek and Indian thought—Western and Eastern philosophies.Thomas McEvilley explores how trade, imperialism, and migration currents allowed cultural philosophies to intermingle freely throughout India, Egypt, Greece, and the ancient Near East. This groundbreaking reference will stir relentless debate among philosophers, art historians, and students.

Buy NowGet 27% OFF

Click here for more information about The Shape of Ancient Thought: Comparative Studies in Greek and Indian Philosophies

Read More...

The Temple in Man: Sacred Architecture and the Perfect Man Review

The Temple in Man: Sacred Architecture and the Perfect Man
Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)
Magnificent. This short book is work of genius. It is not surprising that academics ignored it when it was first published in 1949 - and continue to do so. Of course, most thinking people are dubious of Egyptologists - they still can't explain how the pyramids were built - but de Lubicz proves that a profound ideology underpinned Pharaoh's Egypt. Its focus was less on pagan deities and fanciful notions of the afterworld, and more on a comprehensive knowledge of the human being, physical and spiritual. This understanding was inherited by medieval hermeticists and alchemists. This is a positive and uplifting book, and though the language is somewhat dated, don't let that put you off.

Click Here to see more reviews about: The Temple in Man: Sacred Architecture and the Perfect Man



Buy NowGet 21% OFF

Click here for more information about The Temple in Man: Sacred Architecture and the Perfect Man

Read More...

The Secret History of Hermes Trismegistus: Hermeticism from Ancient to Modern Times Review

The Secret History of Hermes Trismegistus: Hermeticism from Ancient to Modern Times
Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)
While the traditional discussion of the Corpus Hermeticum begins with Marsilio Ficino's 1471 translation for Cosimo de' Medici, the discussion soon stalls with the centuries' old debate of the text and if the ideas it expresses are truly Egyptian wisdom or are merely a Hellenistic patch-work infused with Egyptian atmosphere.
In The Secret History of Hermes Trismegistus: Hermeticism from Ancient to Modern Times, Florian Ebeling takes a fresh approach by focusing on the character/author Hermes Trismegistus within countless literary sources attributed to him from Coptic, European and Arabic sources. Florian, beginning in Antiquity, isolates two distinct traditions and then follows them through the Middle Ages, the Renaissance and the enlightenment up to the twentieth Century, arguing that Hermes Trismegistus did not spontaneously appear in Italy during the Renaissance but was consistently popular, often referenced in both Europe and in the Middle East since his first appearance over 2000 years ago. Ebeling continues by outlining how Hermes as well as hermetic wisdom was eventually discredited then more recently vindicated by historic, religious and scientific opinion.
This new approach benefits from recent scriptural finds from Nag Hammadi, decipherment of Egyptian Hieroglyphics, and a greater, more critical understanding of the Hellenistic cultural milieu. By building on recent scholarly works like The Eternal Hermes by Antoine Faivre, The Egyptian Hermes by Garth Fowden and Hermetica by Brian P. Copenhaver, Florian Ebeling, breathes fresh life into the religious tradition of the Thrice Great Hermes allowing these ancient scriptures an increasingly wider audience.

Click Here to see more reviews about: The Secret History of Hermes Trismegistus: Hermeticism from Ancient to Modern Times

Perhaps Hermeticism has fascinated so many people precisely because it has made it possible to produce many analogies and relationships to various traditions: to Platonism in its many varieties, to Stoicism, to Gnostic ideas, and even to certain Aristotelian doctrines. The Gnostic, the esoteric, the Platonist, or the deist has each been able to find something familiar in the writings. One just had to have a penchant for remote antiquity, for the idea of a Golden Age, in order for Hermeticism, with its aura of an ancient Egyptian revelation, to have enjoyed such outstanding success."--from the IntroductionHermes Trismegistus, "thrice-great Hermes," emerged from the amalgamation of the wisdom gods Hermes and Thoth and is one of the most enigmatic figures of intellectual history. Since antiquity, the legendary "wise Egyptian" has been considered the creator of several mystical and magical writings on such topics as alchemy, astrology, medicine, and the transcendence of God. Philosophers of the Renaissance celebrated Hermes Trismegistus as the founder of philosophy, Freemasons called him their forefather, and Enlightenment thinkers championed religious tolerance in his name. To this day, Hermes Trismegistus is one of the central figures of the occult--his name is synonymous with the esoteric.In this scholarly yet accessible introduction to the history of Hermeticism and its mythical founder, Florian Ebeling provides a concise overview of the Corpus Hermeticum and other writings attributed to Hermes. He traces the impact of Christian and Muslim versions of the figure in medieval Europe, the power of Hermeticism and Paracelsian belief in Renaissance thought, the relationship to Pietism and to Freemasonry in early modern Europe, and the relationship to esotericism and semiotics in the modern world.

Buy NowGet 24% OFF

Click here for more information about The Secret History of Hermes Trismegistus: Hermeticism from Ancient to Modern Times

Read More...

Lectures on Ancient Philosophy Review

Lectures on Ancient Philosophy
Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)
As is often the case with Manly Hall, this book is deceptively clear. Much of what he says sounds obvious and easy to understand -- until you put the book down and try to understand the authors he's written about. Then you will find that he has brought a wonderful clarity to the essential truths of ancient philosophy, delivering the heart of wisdom without the encumbrances of academic verbiage. An excellent starting-point for young people interested in the great visionaries of the past, and an enlivening refresher for those bogged down in the tedium of classical philosophic texts.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Lectures on Ancient Philosophy



Buy NowGet 29% OFF

Click here for more information about Lectures on Ancient Philosophy

Read More...

Lost Masters: The Yoga of the Ancient Greeks Review

Lost Masters: The Yoga of the Ancient Greeks
Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)
Linda Johnsen's book on "Greek Sages" is almost too good to be true. There are, in fact, lot's of good books to read about Greek philosophy that more or less accurately convey its spiritual content - but most of those books are fairly or even extremely demanding of the reader. Three good examples of what I'm talking about are Pierre Hadot's "What is Ancient Philosophy?", Robert Lamberton's "Homer the Theologian" and Gregory Shaw's "Theury and the Soul." Those just aren't books that I can recommend to most of my friends - not because my friends are stupid, but because to tackle those books you have to already have a pretty high level of interest and motivation - which most people don't have when it comes to the "boring" topic of Greek philosophy. But Johnsen has a Goddess-given gift for not only communicating her infectious enthusiasm, but also for making things as simple as possible - but no simpler (as Einstein advised).
Reading "Lost Masters" is like "taking the red pill" in the Matrix - the veil isn't just lifted - it is rent in two and you see what was there all along, but which had been invisible before. The artificial barrier between "East" and "West" dissolves and you realize that the great wisdom of the Pagan sages could never be extinguished, because it's origin was Divine.
You see, the great Sages of both Greece and India were both in touch with the same Divine source of Wisdom. And not only that, but there certainly were direct human contacts between "East" and "West". Johnsen does a good job of (1) drawing parallels between Greek philosophy/spirituality and that of India, (2) pointing out the historically well-documented fact that the Greeks looked to India and Egypt for spiritual inspiration and information, and (3) at the same time avoiding extravagant claims that might otherwise ruin a book like this.
The single most important thing about this book is that Johnsen emphasizes the importance of understanding the ancient sages of "Western" philosophy in their own terms. We can read what they wrote in their own words (or in translation, in the likely event that your Attic Greek and/or Latin are a little rusty) - and when we do we can hear the genuine voice of a Pagan spiritual tradition that has never truly died - in part because it was one piece of seamless whole that also included the Wisdom of India (which has survived intact, despite the best efforts of centuries of Muslim and Christian invaders).
Johnsen manages to cover an enormous amount of material in this book - but she does so without oversimplifications or "dumbing down." At the same time, this book should only be the beginning for anyone who is serious about taking up this path of the "Sages of Ancient Greece." I would strongly recommend going directly from "Lost Masters" to Pierre Hadot's book mentioned above - and then directly to Plato himself. But as Johnsen points out, you absolutely need "spiritual practice" as the basis for your path, so, of couse, you'd better be meditating, too! Hadot, by the way, also emphasizes the fundamental necessity of "practice".
There are actually a few minor things that I could complain about. I wish the book had an index!!!! Arrrrgh. And Johnsen is a little too easy on the Christians in the chapter "Extinguishing the Light" - and she is a little too positive (to put it mildly) about Gnosticism. She should re-read Plotinus' extensive critique of their dualistic version of Christianity. And she could have had a lot more to say about Roman/Latin sources of Pagan wisdom, like Virigil and Apuleius - who played a very important role in keeping Pagan spirituality alive even in the darkest of the Dark Ages. Despite these complaints I would give this book six stars if I could!!! This is possibly the most revolutionary book on Paganism since Starhawk's "Spiral Dance." Seriously.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Lost Masters: The Yoga of the Ancient Greeks

Famous Greek philosophers studying in India? Yoga ashrams in Europe 2,600 years ago? Meditation classes in ancient Rome? It sounds unbelievable, but Linda Johnsen has uncovered a treasure trove of historical evidence of spiritual practices in the ancient Western world paralleling the yoga tradition of India and the East. Even more amazingly, she brings to light long-neglected historical accounts by the ancient Greeks themselves describing their pilgrimages to India and their encounters with enlightened masters of the East.Rediscover the long-forgotten spiritual masters of Egypt and Europe, their astonishing lives, their schools of practice, and their teachings about higher states of consciousness and how to achieve them. Learn what they taught about karma, the afterlife, reincarnation, and God.

Buy NowGet 22% OFF

Click here for more information about Lost Masters: The Yoga of the Ancient Greeks

Read More...

The Egyptian Philosophers: Ancient African Voices from Imhotep to Akhenaten Review

The Egyptian Philosophers: Ancient African Voices from Imhotep to Akhenaten
Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)
Molefi Asante's Ancient Egyptian Philosophers: From Imhotep To Akhenaten is a timely redressing of a serious omission in the human history -- the antiquarian contributions of African philosophers to medicine, philosophy, science, and the birth of civilization itself. Beginning with a chronology of Ancient World Philosophers, this scholarly, superbly crafted survey covers Imhotep and the "emergence of reason", Ptahhotep and the "moral order", Merikare on "common sense", as well as the contributions and insights of Akhenaten, Amenemope, and others whose work was ignored, suppressed, or simply unknown to the academia based on Greco-Roman sources and histories. Ancient Egyptian Philosophers: From Imhotep To Akhenaten is highly recommended reading for students of Black Studies, philosophy, and the history of science.

Click Here to see more reviews about: The Egyptian Philosophers: Ancient African Voices from Imhotep to Akhenaten



Buy NowGet 33% OFF

Click here for more information about The Egyptian Philosophers: Ancient African Voices from Imhotep to Akhenaten

Read More...