Humanities Books

Professor Jackson has embarked on a consciously obscure symbolism. Before reading this book, fractals conjured in my mind those trippy psychedelic posters. Then there is a reason fractals are a trippy subject, and the implications are beyond pop culture and pure geometry. Fractals are an epitome of chaos-complexity theory; they are representative of the universes nature. This book demonstrates that humans have innately picked up on the deep sense of order within the universe `chaos-complexity theory'. The universe is highly structured, even when seemingly chaotic there is a very fine intricacy of structure and in the fractal that is repetitive, infinite.

I do have to say that this book can be a bit tricky to read (or rather approach); one must approach it as being less a description, and more of a philosophical and religious dissertation. I mean this to say; that the nature of the Fractal is in this book used - to launch a greater discussion, of the infinite and complexity they represent. Rather this book is about the greater mystery of the universe and an examination of the sacred geometry of fractals. William Jackson takes us across cultures to explore the mysteries of the infinite, the divine consciousness, and how the fractal has played a universal cross cultural symbolism to the mysteries. Otherwise know that fractals are a sort of symbolism and this book is very representative of that nature.

I can say, that it makes one think twice about those tripy pop culture posters, as there exist the possibility that they devour you into revelation.


K.D. Goodman

I read this book for a graduate class in history. Hegel's philosophy of history is perhaps the most fully developed philosophical theory of history that attempts to discover meaning or direction in history. Hegel incorporates a deeper historicism into his philosophical theories than his predecessors or successors. According to Hegel, the events whose story is told by political and legal history can be given a philosophical interpretation that will bring out its philosophical meaning. He does this himself in his lectures on the Philosophy of History. He views it to be a central task for philosophy to comprehend its place in the unfolding of history. History is for Hegel the development of Freedom, or rather, of the consciousness of Freedom. History is the process by which Spirit becomes conscious of itself. Individual thinkers, artists, and historical actors are primarily the means or instruments by which the collective spirit (God in the world) becomes conscious of truth.

Hegel constructs world history into a narrative of stages of human freedom, from the public freedom of the polis and the citizenship of the Roman Republic, to the individual freedom of the Protestant Reformation, to the civic freedom of the modern state. He attempts to incorporate the civilizations of India and China into his understanding of world history, though he regards those civilizations as static and therefore pre-historical. He constructs specific moments as "world-historical" events that were in the process of bringing about the final, full stage of history and human freedom. For example, Napoleon's conquest of much of Europe is portrayed as a world-historical event doing history's work by establishing the terms of the rational bureaucratic state. Hegel finds reason in history; but it is a latent reason, and one that can only be comprehended when the fullness of history's work is finished.

Many in Western Europe saw Europe or the Western European nations as the pinnacle of historical development, poised to carry their mission civilisatrice to Asia, Africa, Oceania. Yes, they could say, ancient civilizations had contributed to the eventual emergence of modern European civilization, but Europe had integrated what was valuable in those ancient insights into a higher form and it could now turn around and offer this higher form of culture to the rest of humanity who had remained "backward" and "underdeveloped." Hegel has very little to say about the New World. He acknowledges that the Native Americans have been overtaken by Europeans, thus the New World is a continuation of the Old World in its civilization and culture. He sees history progressing in America (populated by Englishmen), but finds that it has not matured yet. He sees America as a growing, prosperous, and industrious nation with a population that is a federation of people who love freedom. However, the nation is not politically fixed yet and he thinks, "a real state and a real government will arise only after a distinction of classes has arisen, when wealth and poverty become extreme." However, this can't happen as long as America has vast territory for people to expand and populate, he thinks these changes can't come about until America is as crowded as Europe so that people agitate each other and clamor for change. I think Hegel foresaw the Civil War. I think the America he ultimately envisioned is finally here today. Our country seems to be equally divided politically and I am not sure our present political institutions can hold us together.

Hegel once described Napoleon, whom he observed in the flesh just before or after one of Napoleon's major victories, as "the world spirit on horseback." Napoleon at that time was a major expression of the dynamic process which was transforming Europe in a certain direction. When Napoleon had served his purpose, he was discarded by the World Spirit, which then adopted other political leaders as its means.

It is worth observing that Hegel's philosophy of history is not the caricature of speculative philosophical reasoning that analytic philosophers sometimes paint it. His philosophical approach is not based solely on foundational a priori reasoning. Instead he proposes an "immanent" encounter between philosophical reason and the historical given. His prescription is that the philosopher should seek to discover the rational within the real--not to impose the rational upon the real. "To comprehend what is, this is the task of philosophy, because what is, is reason." Hegel's approach is neither purely philosophical nor purely empirical; instead, he undertakes to discover within the best historical knowledge of his time, an underlying rational principle that can be philosophically articulated.

Recommended reading for anyone interested in philosophy, political science, and history.

In Hegel: A Re-examination, J. N. Findlay gives a brief but well-rounded account of Hegel's philosophical doctrines and relates them to the ideas and language of Hegel's own time. He also provides a "guiding thread" through the tortuous intricacies of Hegel's principal writings, which exceed in difficulty those of any other philosopher. Utilizing quotations from Hegel himself, Findlay clears up many misconceptions about Hegel's philosophy and aids the reader to see again (or for the first time) the workings of a great mind.
--- from book's back cover

This is a first-rate and thorough analysis of Heidegger's thought of selfhood, from the early writings focusing on fundamental ontology to the last seminars in the late sixties and early seventies. Raffoul provides an in-depth treatment of Heidegger's critique of the tradition of the subject, particularly through close readings of Descartes and Kant. He then carefully unfolds Heidegger's ontological appropriation of the subject, focusing on Heidegger's thought of Dasein, of transcendence and being-in-the-world, ecstasis and reflection. The work culminates in a meditation on Heidegger's notion of 'mineness' (Jemeinigkeit), a notion that indicates that the event of being is 'each time mine,' that is, each time my own task to be. Raffoul thus argues that Heidegger's thought is not without a reflection on the proper being of human beings, and that his critique of the subject opens onto a renewed understanding of what it means to be human. This is an important work, for it engages Heidegger's texts rigorously while staying away from sterile polemics. It is both a contribution to Heidegger studies and to the task of a philosophical rethinking of selfhood.

The history of 20th century German philosophy can be neatly summed up in three words: Husserl, Heidegger and Jaspers. They were the giants of the rich philosophical tradition and most of 20the century thought is influenced by them, either as followers who adapted their thought to other paths or as opponents, deriding what was seen as a preponderence of metaphysics over "clear thinking."

The emphasis on Heidegger in recent years has expanded into an investigation of his personal life, intertwined as it was with the Nazi regime during the '30s. We have access to the Arendt-Jaspers correspondence, but only get to know Heidegger second-hand. That is why the release of the Heidegger-Jaspers correspondence is a tresure for every student of philosophy. Not only do we gain valuable insights into the workings of each author's conception of existentialism, but we also get to soak in the atmosphere of German university life, and its view of scholarship, so different from our own universities today, which now serve as little else than extensions of high school.

The letters also give us the opportunity to see how the Heidegger-Japsers friendship fared over the years. (The letters are from 1920 to 1963.) During the '20s, the two are very close and share critiques of each others philosphy. During the '30s, with the rise of the Nazis, we see a cooling off due to the fact Heidegger sides with the Nazis and Jaspers, whose wife was Jewish,was appalled by what was happening to Germany. Very few letters are exchanged during the period from 1936 to 1948, when Heidegger, by now defanged by the Allied occupation, once again ventures into the public eye. The letters of this perios lack the warmth of the letters from the '20s, with Heidegger wishing to forget what happened in the '30s and Jaspers wanting an explanation.

This is an unforgettable foray into the livers anf thought of two giants of twentieth century philosophy, and, as such, is a must for every philosophical library.

Not being an expert in translations from ancient Greek to English, I can only comment that I got what I wanted out of the MP3 CD. To learn about the Persian Wars. The narrator is easy to understand, and made a worthwhile presentation.

By JONATHAN KIRSCH, Special to The LA Times "...An illuminating and entertaining survey of films and television programs in which Latino actors, settings or themes figure prominently, "Hispanics in Hollywood" is full of such surprises. Anthony Quinn, perhaps best known as Zorba the Greek, is only one of many actors whose Mexican origins were once concealed, and there are many others whose Latino roots have only recently come to public attention, ranging from Rita Hayworth (born Margarita Cansino) to John Gavin (born John Anthony Golenar) to Raquel Welch (born Raquel Tejada). And it was a young Emilio Estevez who boldly reclaimed his own Latino family history and thus revealed to the world that the real name of his father, Charlie Sheen, is Ramon More often Latino actors found themselves in an awkward dilemma in Hollywood, as the authors of "Hispanics in Hollywood" point out--if their Latino identities were not concealed, they were put to use in depicting stereotyped Latino characters: "maids, slum dwellers, drug addicts and gang members," co-author Luis Reyes reminds us, or "cruel dictators, mustachioed bandits and beautiful señoritas." Only in the last couple of decades have Latino actors and directors enjoyed the opportunity to tell stories about their own heritage in a more open, honest and affirming voice in movies such as "Zoot Suit," "La Bamba," "Stand and Deliver," "Selena" and "A Walk in the Clouds." Reyes, a movie publicist who is also a chronicler of Hollywood's Latin American heritage, describes the book as "an attempt to show the way Hollywood has depicted Hispanic Americans and Latin America, while also pointing out the contributions to Hollywood movies and television made by unsung Hispanic Americans as well as those more famous." Thus, his book can be approached as a serious effort to ponder the issues of race and ethnicity in American pop culture and, at the same time, as one of those useful reference works that can be pulled down from the shelf when puzzling over some old and obscure movie on cable.

This is truly a superb history of Christianity. The book deals with all the complex and subtle nuances of Christian history, yet it is always readable and concise. This book is approachable enough to serve as a first introduction for those new to the field, yet it is scholarly enough to challenge any reader.

The author, Glenn Gass, is a music professor at Indiana University, and is on the education advisory board of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. He is a truly exceptional speaker on the history of rock music, and his love and knowledge of the subject comes across clearly in this book. This book is NOT full of glossy photos (there are only a handful of photos), and it is not a fancy coffee table book. What it is, though, is a very thorough discussion of the early days of rock & roll (up to the British invasion). Gass gives a great discussion of the blues, jazz, and R&B influences and origins of rock. This book is well worth its price.

This comprehensive volume covers the history of science and religion in Western Civilization with dozens of contributions from leading scholars.

Discovery Fellow Stephen C. Meyer authors the entry "The Demarcation of Science and Religion," where he notes that some theologians have defined religion as the study of God through revelation, while science is the study of the natural world. Meyer recounts how one court testing creationism in the 1980s accepted the testimony of philosopher Michael Ruse to define science as "(1) guided by natural law, (2) explanatory by natural law, (3) testable against the empirical world, (4) tentative, and (5) falsifiable" (pg. 22), but that this definition was subsequently repudiated by various philosophers of science. Indeed, by 1993, Ruse repudiated his previous support for those demarcation arguments by admitting that "Darwinism (like creationism) `depends on certain unprovable metaphysical assumptions.'" (pg. 22) Meyer concludes that theories such as intelligent design and Darwinism are "methodologically equivalent" because "[b]oth prove equally scientific or equally unscientific provided the same criteria are used to adjudicate their scientific status (provided that metaphysically neutral criteria are used to make such assessments)." (pg. 23)

William A. Dembski explains in "The Design Argument" that "the design argument infers from features of the physical world an intelligent cause responsible for those features." (pg. 60) Dembski is careful to explain that "[t]he design argument needs to be distinguished from a metaphysical commitment to design." Despite this distinction, the design argument has often been confused with arguments for metaphysical design or Christian theism. Dembski applauds Elliott Sober's characterization of the design argument as "neither an argument from analogy nor an argument from induction but an inference to the best explanation." (pg. 66) Dembski then paraphrases Sober as saying that "biology has no intrinsic quarrel with the design argument and that the only thing keeping it from being reestablished in biology is the absence of empirically adequate criteria for design." (pg. 66) Discovery Fellows Dembski and Michael Behe have recently attempted to provide such criteria.

Discovery fellow William Lane Craig opens his entry on "The Anthropic Principle" by explaining that it observes that "our own existence as observers acts as a selection effect determining which properties of the universe can be observed by us," for "we can observe only those properties which are compatible with our own existence." (pg. 366) When it is conjoined with a "hypothesis that our observable universe is but one member of a wider collectionof universes" the Anthropic Principle may be used to "explain away the unimaginably improbable fine-tuning of our universe for intelligent life." Thus the Anthropic Principle was originally formulated "in an attempt to come to grips with the so-called large-number coincidences in contemporary cosmology." (pg. 66) Under the weak Anthropic Principle, our temporal location in the history of the universe acts as a selection effect upon what we can observe, while the strong principle "asserts that our very existence constrains what values of the universe we can observe" (pg. 66) Objectors to the Anthropic Principle have observed that "[f]rom the obvious fact that we should not be surprised that we do not observe fundamental conditions incompatible with our existence, it simply does not follow that we should not be surprised that we do, in fact, observe fundamental conditions compatible with our existence." (pg. 366) Therefore, "[t]hat such improbably fine-tined conditions should uniquely exist is amazing, even though we should not be here to notice if they did not." (pg. 367) The fine-tuning of the universe for life is thus an event not necessarily coupled to life's existence, and the fine-tuning must be explained on its own apart from making the mere observation that complex life exists. Craig states that the lack of any evidence for multiple universes makes cosmic design a question worth considering.

In his chapter on "Genetics," Richard Weikart investigates how scientific discoveries in genetics have affected religious views of God. Mendelian genetics were hailed early on as confirmation of creationist views, since it entails the mere reshuffling of pre-existing genetic traits without providing a mechanism for creating new ones. Many religious people embraced both evolution and Mendelian genetics, however, and materialists embraced the discovery of DNA as providing a mechanism for generating new traits. Yet DNA has also inspired belief in God, as the famous painter Salvador Dali said, "And now the announcement of Watson and Crick about DNA. This is for me the real proof of the existence of God." (pg. 479) Weikart concludes by assessing current controversies over whether genetic engineering should be permitted

Writing with Edward B. Davis, Discovery Fellow Robin Collins explains that "Scientific Naturalism" "is the conjunction of naturalism--the claim that nature is all there is and, hence, that there is no supernatural order above nature--with the claim that all objects, processes, truths, and facts about nature fall within the scope of the scientific method." (pg. 201) According to Davis and Collins, "Darwin's theory spawned the widespread use of the concept of evolution to justify various social, political, and religious agendas, claiming for them a scientific basis." (pg. 203) This included its role in "naturalism's becoming the dominant worldview of the academy by the middle of the twentieth century." They observe, "Darwinism largely set the stage for the dominance of scientific naturalism," and that "in every discipline today, except in some schools of theology, a strict methodological naturalism is observed, and typically an ontological naturalism is presupposed by most of the practitioners of these disciplines." (pg. 203) Responses from religious persons to scientific naturalism have ranged from the "extreme response ... to interpret religious beliefs naturalistically" or "vigorously to reject any form of naturalism." (pg. 205) The degree of "accommodation" of scientific naturalism depends on "what is regarded as essential to a particular religion." (pg. 205) Naturalism has caused some Christian philosophers to reject the idea of an immaterial soul or deny the occurrence of the resurrection of Christ. But scientific naturalism is not compatible with "religious believers [who] think a fully supernatural understanding of the inspiration of their scriptures is essential to their religion." (pg. 205) Many religious persons have also offered scientific critiques of the arguments used to bolster naturalism.

This comprehensive volume is accessible and a worthy addition to the library of anyone interested in the intersection of science and religion.