Western Books

Apologetics Concerning the Nature of Religion

Apologetics or is it antiapologetics, I have read Hodges arguments about cause and effect, primary and secondary causes in his work on systematic theology which was written a hundred years after this work. RC Sproulamong others discuss similar issues today with a contrary conclusion. David Hume's dialogue about the existence of God and the attributes of God does form some of the frame work for further philosophic and theological discussion. Some seems quite aimless like his discussion whether God is wholly other. Some theologians may make this statement and argument, but this certainly is not fundamentalist or scriptural perspective of God. What I found most interesting in this work is his discussion of causality. Mr. Hume's focus was on Natural theology or the idea that God could be perceived or not perceived through nature. But also included was knowing God through rationalization. To this he compared three notions:

{1} That there is a self existent Being who always existed, never created, and is the ultimate Cause of the whole universe. Something that never was caused, but is the cause of all else.

{2}That there is no ultimate cause. History is an infinite amount of causes and effects that has no starts or ends. Matter in some form has always existed and matter has always been in motion. Universe or galaxy may have a point of beginning, but not what it is composed of.

{3}At a point in time there was no matter, then at another point of time there was matter. The matter move in motion to develop things as we know it.

David Hume does not discuss the concept that simply nothing really exists. I would guess in an earlier work he had dismissed it in some form. It is my conclusion Mr. Hume found point one as absurd as point 2 or 3.

The other major focus of discussion in this work how an all knowing creator, who has all power, and has the capacity to perceive every thing that is going on can create a world that has the highest being of creation suffer pain and evil among each other. The argument is made in this work that the universe does not function in a rational manner, therefore such all knowing, all powerful and all powerful God does not seem to exist. Some reviewers consider it a complete debunk of intelligent design and it certainly a source of comfort for those who do desire.

With the possible exception of his incalculably influential A Treatise of Human Nature, this, I think, is Hume's finest work. The Dialogues is a paradigm of sustained philosophical argumentation on a single subject, and I can't think of a more inspiring work of philosophy. Another reason to read this book is that Hume is one of the few philosophical figures whose work is worth reading as literature. His prose is, of course, lovely and clear as can be; and the Dialogues is packed with the sort of evocative passages that readers of Hume except to find in his work. Furthermore, he's clearly mastered the dialogue format as a way of writing philosophy. He never turns his interlocutors into ciphers spouting the details of their respective positions. Each character has a forceful and distinct personality, and each of them comes to the debate with a well-defined position and adequate means of defending it. In short, I can't recommend this book highly enough.

Most of the Dialogues is devoted to discussion of a posteriori arguments for the existence of God. The main argument considered here is the classical argument from design, which Hume seems to understand as an analogical argument of the following sort: the complexity and order of the universe show that it is similar to artifacts created by human intelligences; similar causes have similar effects; therefore, the universe must have been created by a being with something like a human intelligence; therefore, the universe must have been created by God.

Hume's objections to this argument are legion, and many of the individual objections are both ingenious and forceful. He provides reasons for thinking that the universe isn't all that similar to artifacts created by human beings. He argues, for instance, that at least in some respects, the universe resembles animal or vegetable life more than it resembles artifacts created by human beings. Hume also provides for thinking that, even if we think the universe is similar to a human artifact, we ought to think the universe was created by a being quite unlike God. The relevant empirical evidence, he argues, provides us with no good reason to think that the universe wasn't created by multiple beings (large human artifacts are usually created by multiple beings), or that the being(s) who created it are still alive (human creators die), or that the being(s) who created it were infinite (it's not clear that creating the finite universe would have required infinite power), or that the being(s) who created it were morally perfect (the universe, with all its misery and despair, certainly isn't what one would expect from a perfect being). Furthermore, he proposes certain alternative naturalistic explanations of the existence and nature of the universe; and he claims that it's unclear why an appeal to divine creation is to be preferred to these speculative naturalistic stories of the universe's creation.

As I hope this all-too-brief synopsis suggests, Hume's cumulative case against the argument from design is quite impressive. It is, of course, possible to avoid some of these criticisms in various ways, and his speculative naturalistic explanations leave quite a bit to be desired. But the total case is a philosophical demolition par excellence. Indeed, I'm pretty sure that Hume has shown that the argument from design is more or less worthless as support for anything resembling traditional theism. So, if you're enamored of that argument, I suggest you pick up book and wrestle with the criticisms found here.

Now, this isn't all Hume discusses in the Dialogues. There's a section discussing a priori arguments for the existence of God; it focuses on arguments against a version of the cosmological (i.e. first cause) argument. And Hume's arguments concerning the cosmological argument also rule out any sort of ontological argument, as he claims that no sense can be made of the idea of a necessarily existing being. The book also includes a few some brief discussion of particular issues concerning religion.

Where, in the end, does Hume come down on the issue of theism? It's hard to tell, as it's not clear that any of the particular characters speaks for him. Philo, the character who often appears to be speaking for him, never denies the existence of a deity; he simply denies the ability of human reason to discover anything substantial about what such a being is like. That Hume agrees with this is, I think, the most we can glean from this text about Hume's own religious views. It seems clear that he has no sympathy for organized religion, or for any religious views that purport to describe the nature of God, His intentions, or how and why He created the universe as He did. And the only positive religious claim that is given respectful treatment here is the bare claim that we have reason to think that the cause of the universe as a whole is somewhat similar to a human intelligence.

But does acceptance of this minimal thesis amount to his being a theist? Again, it's very hard to tell. First, of course, one might wonder whether this fairly vague positive view is enough to amount to some form of theism. But let's put that issue to one side. Even if it is enough to support some form of theism, it's often difficult to tell whether Hume means to be advocating such a position here. The problem is that it often seems Hume's explicit advocation of this position amounts to little more than a description of what he thinks is an inevitable human tendency to think this way. Given how our minds actually work, he seems to think, we're bound to think something like this about the origin of the universe. Yet it's somewhat unclear that he thinks forming beliefs in this way is reliable. It may simply be that we have a brute instinct to think in a way that insures we'll see the world as resulting from some human-like intelligence, and it's at least not clear that that isn't a debunking account of the plausibility of theism. (For more support that this is a debunking explanation, see his The Natural History of Religion, where the explanations of various religious beliefs certainly seem to be one's that suggest those beliefs simply aren't plausible.)

David Hume made a reputation by writing on reason and its limits. The main thrust of the Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion is to question whether theological arguments for God that assign Him positive attributes (omniscient, omnipotent, omnibenevolent, etc.) go beyond reason's limits in assigning these attributes. We watch Cleanthes (believer in theological arguments), Demea (believer more on faith) and Philo (disbeliever in theology's efficacy) hash out whether reason and experience alone give us reason to say anything whatever about God.

Hume explores all of the major arguments for God's existence. First, the a posteriori argument is explored; the argument that just as seeing a house gives us reason to assume an architect and builder, seeing the world should give us reason to infer a designer. Hume (through the skeptical voice of Philo) sees much wrong with this argument. Why? Because the reason we infer a builder for a house is because experience has shown us that houses have builders, thus when we see a house, we assume that, like other houses we've seen, this one too has a builder. But experience does not tell us that where there is a world, there is a designer. The leap is extra-experiential. Further, even if we DID infer a designer, why infer just one? Houses have construction crews of multiple people; if we analogize between the house and the world, then why not infer that the world, too, might have infinite creators? (And why infer that the world's creator is omnipotent, if all that is needed to create something is to be more powerful than the thing created - no more, no less?)

Next, we go through the a priori argument - the argument from first cause. Hume (Philo) is quick to point out the obvious flaw with this. If everything needs a cause, then what caused God? If God is said to be eternally existing, then why couldn't the natural world - rather than God - be thought eternal instead? And further, why is a infinite chain of causes and effects so unimaginable, anyhow? (Isn't it just as sensical as an eternal God itself not caused?)

Lastly, Philo brings up the argument from evil. In a nutshell, Philo suggests that while theology sees all the perfections of the world, proclaiming them clear evidence of remarkable design, theologians dismiss or downplay the imperfections. If God is said to all-good Himself, then why did he create humans with such flaws? (one assumes that an all-powerful, all-good God could have avoided those errors).

Still, the main thrust of this book is that Philo, far from challenging whether God exists, challenges theologies capacity to assign ANY characteristics to God by reason and experience alone. Hume does a good job not only in outlaying arguments as to why reason is not capable of knowing a thing about God, but also in making believable dialogues (compared to Plato, whose characters are all made to be one-dimensional foils for "Socrates.") As in so many other areas, Hume was a pioneer in the realm of the philosophy of God. This book furnishes strong proof of that!

David Hume, a philosopher of the period often classified as British Empiricism, is the intellectual associate of philosophers John Locke and George Berkeley. Born in Edinburgh in 1711, he attended the University of Edinburgh but did not graduate. He went to France during his 20s, and spent time there working on what would become his most famous work, 'An Enquiry into Human Understanding', first published under the title 'Treatise of Human Nature'. However, Hume was a prolific writer, and dealt with many areas of philosophy, including politics and ethics, epistemology, and metaphysics. He wrote in the area of history as well, and had a politic career as British ambassador to France and a post as a minister in the government for a few years. His final work, 'Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion', was published posthumously in 1779, although work had begun on it as early as the 1750s.

Hume was very concerned about rationality. Hume was never publicly and explicitly an atheist, but his rational mind, concerned about sensory and intelligible evidence, led him to question and doubt most major systems of religion, including the more general philosophical sense of religion and proofs of the existence of God. The primary arguments in his 'Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion' deal with the Argument from Design, and the Cosmological Argument. There is an assumed distinction here between natural religion and revealed religion, an especially important distinction in the Enlightenment and post-Enlightenment philosophical structure.

- Natural Religion and Revealed Religion -
Natural religion is the idea that we come to know and understand God (and, consequently, what God wants or expects of us, if anything) simply from nature and our sensory perceptions, as well as our interpretations (emotion and rational) of this kind of understanding. From very early in his writing career, Hume attacked the idea of natural religion and most of its conclusions, drawing a sharp line between what we can actually know and what ends up being fanciful extrapolations based on other-than-rational ideas and evidence. Revealed religion is primary what most religions base themselves upon - the burning bush to Moses, the resurrection and post-resurrection appearances to the Apostles, the Buddha's enlightenment under the tree - these are examples of revelation. While Hume does take on the idea of revealed religion in his other works, this particular text does not concern itself with that topic, and stays in the domain of addressing natural religion.

- The Argument from Design -
Arguments from Design have always had a strong appeal to believers within religious frameworks; they have often been used as tools of evangelism, as attempts to show that beyond the revealed doctrines, the very nature of things points to a creator. In very short order, the Argument from Design in Hume's newly-industrial time might have read like this:

- Machines are designed by beings with intelligence.
- The world and the universe it is in resembles a machine.
- Therefore, the world must have been created by means of intelligent design.

This is an argument by analogy, and is convincing to some, but often more convincing to those already inclined to believe in the existence of God.

- The Cosmological Argument -
The Cosmological Argument is at once both more subtle and more simple. The most simple way of stating it would be that God is the 'first cause' of everything. If everything has to have a cause (even the whole universe), then that first cause must be God. In the twentieth century era of thinking of a universe that began with a Big Bang, it seemed to some that the Cosmological Argument was confirmed.

Hume would have been familiar with Leibniz's more subtle form of the Cosmological Argument, which argues for a world of infinite contingent causes. However, there has to be something outside of this system of infinite causes that produced the series - thus, even in a universe with no set beginning or ending, there would still need to be an overarching cause.

- Hume's Arguments -
Hume argues on many levels. His first criticism of the Argument from Design is that this analogy (as are most arguments from analogy) is faulty and not exact; we have no idea if the universe is like a machine. Even if it was, machines are often designed and built by several designers - why argue for one God rather than several? How do we know that matter and the universe don't have their own, internal self-organising principles?

With regard to the Cosmological Argument, the argument is a little more strained. Hume argues that, in any series of causality, once one knows about each cause, it makes no sense to inquire beyond the sequence of causes to some other effect. This is a very Empirical argument, to be sure, and while perhaps not entirely satisfying, it still has merit in philosophy to this day.

- Hume's Structure -
This is a dialogue, set up in the classical way of people talking with each other about the subjects. Hume draws primarily from Cicero, whose work 'On the Nature of the Gods' uses characters of the same names. However, whereas Cicero was concerned about the nature of the Gods (their attributes, powers, etc.) and not their existence, it is the very existence of God that occupies Hume's thoughts.

Hume, despite many years of work on this text, probably never quite thought it was finished. He left the work to Adam Smith (the noted economist, and friend of Hume in Edinburgh), who also thought the arguments against the existence of God were too strong, and likely too damaging to Hume's overall reputation. The tug-of-war over the publication makes for interesting reading in and of itself.

These are important arguments, worthy of discussion and dialogue in philosophy classes, theology classes, and among others who ponder the existence of God.

This short and artfully written book was published after Hume's death. Hume did not wish to experience the controversy engendered by the arguments advanced in the book. It is likely as well that Hume was concerned also with offending some of the moderate Presbyterian clergy who were his personal friends and had been his partisans in other controversies. This book is primarily an attack on the idea that the exercise of reason and logic provides support for religion, and particularly that application of reason leads to strong evidence for the existence of a beneficient God. This line of thought had become particularly popular among liberal theologians in the first half of the 18th century and was a widely held notion among Enlightenment intellectuals across Europe and North America. This idea is still widely held today and can be seen in the writings of the so-called 'intelligent design' advocates of creationism. Hume's criticisms, then, are not only of historic interest but continue to have relevance to our contemporary lives.

The Dialogues are constructed as a 3 cornered argument between three friends. Demea, a man upholding revealed religion against the idea that reason provides support for the existence of God. Cleanthes, an advocate of natural religion. Philo, a skeptical reasoner who attacks the positions held by Demea and Cleanthes. For those who like Hume's sprightly 18th century style, this is a fun book to read. Hume artfully divides some of his strongest arguments between Cleanthes and Philo, and gives the Dialogues the real sense of a dispute among 3 intelligent friends. Philo is generally taken to represent Hume's positions but Cleanthes articulates some strong arguments and provides some of the best criticisms of Demea's fideism. Much of the book is devoted to attacking the argument from design, which Cleanthes attempts to defend against assaults from Philo and Demea. In many ways, the argument from design is the major idea of those supporting the natural religion approach to existence of God. Hume's critique is thorough and powerful. It even includes an anticipation of Darwin's idea's of selection, though the basis for Hume's critique is primarily epistemological. In the later parts of the book, Hume attacks also the comsological argument for the existence of God, though this discussion is relatively brief and a bit confusing. Hume's analysis is consistent broadly with much of his philosophical work. In many ways, his great theme was the limitations of reason, and this book is an example of his preoccupation with the relatively limited role of reason in establishing certain facts about the universe. He finishes with short criticisms of the idea that religion is needed for a stable and well ordered society and defends the usefullness of skeptical reasoning.

It is important to view the Dialogues as part of a critique of religion that Hume sustained in several works. His Natural History of Religion, the On Miracles section of the Enquiry Concerning Human Understacing, and other essays comprise a broad criticism of religion. Other pillars of religion, such as the existence of miracles and revelation, are criticized in his other work. While Hume denied being an atheist and was apparently disturbed by the dogmatic atheism of French philosophes he met in Paris, he was certainly not religous in any conventional sense.

This is a short and very readable book but the power of its arguments are totally out of proportion to its length.

I gave this book five stars because of the all the reasons mentioned by the previous reviewers. After reading Michno's accounts of the battles in my area, I am left with the impression that he's been out here walking the battlefields himself.

That shows the kind of dedication needed to make a reference book like this really valuable. If you don't already have a copy, you'd better get one. It's going to be a classic.

For anyone interested in the late 19th century, this will be an invaluable reference and a healthy counterbalance against some of the politically correct fantasies being churned out by Hollywood and the scattered remains of our once great educational system. I use mine all the time and learn something new every time I pick it up.

Excellent chronological record of the relevant actions of the frontier army from the offical govt/public record.

If you are interested in ALL the battles and skirmishes in the west, this book is for you. I was amazed to see how many fights took place in my part of the country. The author has done extensive research, but I could do without the occasional editorializing when defending the U.S. Cavalry.

Many books call themselves an encyclopedia of this or that but turn out to be simply random collections of information on their topic. However, Gregory Michno's Encyclopedia of Indian Wars: Western Battles and Skirmishes, 1850-1890 really is a miniature encyclopedia of the Indian Wars fought between the U.S. Army and various Native American tribes or groups during the period when Euro-Americans came to dominate the western United States.

The bulk of the book (345 out of 438 numbered 5x9" pages) consists of brief descriptions of 840 major and minor battles and "firefights" that occurred in twenty Midwestern and Western states/territories and adjoining parts of Mexico. The descriptions are arranged chronologically within each year, 1850-1890. Drawing largely on Army after-action reports, Mr. Michno's narratives are heavy on facts for each event: when, where, who, casualty counts and immediate results. By providing the names of many Army officers and NCOs as well as significant members of their Native American opposition it is possible to get a feel for some of the participants' careers over a number of years.

One of the most useful features is a 32-page introductory section of state/territory maps showing the locations, tied to accompanying lists and page references, for every action described in the book. This allows readers to locate all the events in a particular locale regardless of when they took place.

A conclusion and appendix section has several interesting statistical tables summarizing the intensity of the actions in terms of numbers of actions each year, the number of combatants involved and casualties incurred. Twenty-two pages of reference notes, a 16-page bibliography and a 27-page index increase this book's value as a reference for further research or reading. In my opinion the most interesting of the scattered black and white photos of those showing the battle sites in recent years, but the photos are not a strong part of the book. There are no maps showing more detail than the simple state reference maps.

Some reviewers lament the author's supposed apologetic view of the Army's involvement, but I didn't read the book that way. The dominant perspective is that of the U.S. Army and other non-Indians because it is mostly from their records, the only ones available in many instances, that the descriptions are taken. The bulk of the narratives are summaries of facts included in the reports (the weakest link, as in any such war, being the casualty count inflicted on the adversary). If anything, the facts often portray the Army poorly in that its often impossible to glean from the description any rationale for the Army initiating a particular action - and sometimes getting beaten - and there are numerous occasions mentioning non-combatants (primarily women and children) being injured, killed or taken prisoner (i.e., hostage).

I don't think the author's perspective on the infamous Wounded Knee Creek action on December 29, 1890 is apologetic of the Army, just politically incorrect. That's because Michno points out not only that the Lakota suffered 128 killed and 33 wounded (a lerge number of whom were non-combatants), but that the Lakota, in turn, were not passively massacred but inflicted 60 casualties (25 KIA, 35 WIA) on their 7th Cavalry adversaries. That was the largest number of casualties suffered by the 7th Cavalry apart from the Little Bighorn battle. Who knew?

My main complaint is that the day-by-day format sometimes makes it hard (despite references to prior or subsequent related events) to trace a particular multi-day or even multi-week or month campaign. For instance, the 1877 Nez Perce War is hard to follow because unrelated events elsewhere are intertwined in the same months. If the author revises this book I'd like to see a reference section with maps and a listing that groups significant campaigns together in some fashion.

Highly recommended as background reading and a reference to keep for anyone interested in the Indian Wars, American history or military history. Makes an excellent companion book when touring historic sites associated with the Indian Wars (I bought my copy on a visit to the Little Bighorn Battlefield last spring).

If you live in the West this book is absolutely fasinating. The familiar small city names and familiar places, together with an excellent set of maps adds depth to your understanding of your surroundings. But be prepared for an unflinching look at some very brutal episodes though, this is not a sanitized Hollywood version of the West. This is the real deal from a real deal historian.

Gittin' Western describes a life style rapidly disappearing from America's West and ties directly to our western heritage. Very entertaining and enlightening read. Writing is tight, visual & packed full with honest emotion. Couldn't help but to laugh & cry thruout. When the book ended, I wanted more.
Duane Wiltse has created a rare wonderful story you shouldn't miss.

Don't think twice about buying this book.

Like the story of Jeremiah Johnson, this real life mountain man's story will capture your imagination and heart. Duanne, his family, and his "plenty woman" live the dream that many of us can only ponder. Great read!

Gittin' Western by Duane Wiltse is the inspiring and gripping story of one man's struggle in pursuit of his life's dream to establish a big game hunting business. Having moved from Michigan to the frontier of the Wyoming and western American Rocky Mountains, Gittin' Western tells of Wiltse's experiences with runaway horses and mules, forest fires, the bureaucratic constraints of the government, bear attacks, the assistance of New Mexico Indians, the death of his wife, and so much more. An engaging autobiography. Gittin' Western is very highly recommended as an entertaining memoir for readers with a interest in the candid story of a western life.

A wonderful engrossing story about life in the west, told as if you were there, sharing the campfire with Duane and his compatriots. He gives personal as well a philosophical insights to his experiences, suggesting life as it used to be--and still is. I've recommended this to many people, several of whom have used it for their book clubs. A great read!

I wanted to finish the book the first night I started reading it but instead I strung it out over a week so I could look forward to reading more each day. Duane's spirit of adventure struck a chord in me and will inspire anyone who loves the mountains and the wild west and who has dreams and a desire to follow them. His honesty, wit and vulnerablity made for a very entertaining story. I laughed and I cried and I was sad to finish the book. Thanks Duane for sharing your life with us and good ride cowboy, good ride. Chris Nolt, Bozeman, Montana.

I purchased this book for my 4 yr old nephew to go along with a Gold Panning Kit. He completely understood about gold panning and enjoyed being read to about it.

A real pleasure to read, with vivid, bouncy rhyme and great illustrations. Jasper's encounter with the bear was a particular hit . A short, fun book -- parents take note!

Very good book for young children to introduce them to the idea the California Gold Rush was not all glitter! It was cold, wet and most people didn't get rich. The writer tells the story in descriptive words that convey the essence of the period. Jasper is cute!

I give Ms. Kay's GOLD FEVER six stars. The sing-song rhyme is nothing short of wonderful. It is a FAVORITE night read. Even though we have read it again and again, the journey is always new and exciting!

Written in short, cryptic and perfectly rhymed and metered verse, Verla Kay's Gold Fever presents an amusing and authentic picture of the excitement and hardships of California's Gold Rush. The illustrations match the humorous text.

I happened on this book in the library and thought it was the best travel book I have ever used. This is nothing missed in this handbook. Great maps and advise.

Most of the "name brand" travel guides are for fly-by tourists (though I do appreciate Frommer's guides much more than the rest of the big names). Well, if those books are for tourists, then Moon's handbooks (along with Lonely Planet's guides) are for TRAVELERS. And Moon's Wyoming Handbook is, as others here have said, one of their best. It's thick, it's juicy, it's meaty, it's expansive, it's authoritative and wry. So wherever you are in that great big "empty" terrain, it's got some practical information for and historical and cultural insight into places all around.

Wyoming has fewer people than any other state (yes, fewer than Rhode Island and Alaska). But it's places of interest are many and varied, though scattered far and wide. You need a good guide and a GOOD READ to cover the miles and the days. I admire author Don Pitcher's efforts here.

If you choose one guidebook, make it Moon's Wyoming Handbook. If you'd like to get a second general guide to the region for comparison and cross-reference (including more descriptive listings of selected accommodations), I'd add Frommer's guide to Wyoming, which includes Montana as well.

By far the best guidebook to the entire state of Wyoming, with excellent detailed sections on Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. The book, which is superior to some others in the Moon series, is a labor of love by the author for the land, people, and small towns of the state. Pitcher provides great detail on what to see everywhere; colorful local and regional histories; and affectionate, slightly tongue-in-cheek descriptions of small towns. Sure to enhance a visit of any length.

In preparation for our two-week trip to Wyoming, I purchased this book and read as much as I had time for beforehand. During our trip, I found it to be a handy reference for whatever area we were in (mostly Yellowstone/Grand Tetons). The detail is great and some of our lodging choices and attraction choices were made with reference to the book and it was always accurate. I highly recommend it for those heading to Wyoming.

An outstanding guide to a wonderful state. One book, of course, cannot cover all there is about any area this big, but this book does an outstanding job for Wyoming's history, lodging, attractions, background information, etc.

As for any area, it's good to supplement with other specialized topic and / or area guides, but for a general guide to a large state, this one does a great job.

Logically arranged, well-written, and very readable, you can almost read it straight through; it's one of the better travel guides available.

My favorite biography of my favorite philosopher. Previous favorite was the Walter Kaufmann. One can only wonder what intimate details might be uncovered by a Ray Monk treatment but I suspect we aren't likely to get one. Ever. It puzzles me why Peter Singer's little book might be thought of interest to any but those who don't want to read any Hegel.

Two of my favorite Hegel comments are gone thanks to this book. The death bed quote and another item that I can't think of at the moment but I am sure will come to me the next time I go to use it. I suppose another issue is the whole way to approach the dialectic. As many times as the issue comes up it still seems in a short summary class there seems no better way to present it along with the comment that it is a misrepresentation of the process. Which last is always such a marvelously clear thing to point out to people! "Here, let me misrepresent something important for you...."

Can you picture the lightning storm breaking up the birthday party in Tivoli? Ah yes! Just thought of the other thing I have been wrong about - death by stomach complaint and not by plague.

Absolutely good ending.

I won't belabor the kudos here. This is an impressive work of scholarship and well worth the read.

While you are unlikely to approach Hegel aa a novice, all the same, if you were and did, this is a remarkably well written, clear presentation of Hegel's life and thinking, as well as a thoughtful setting of the philosophical questions of his time. It was a time when thinking still mattered to the spirit of a people. Pinkard has written a great account of a life of a man who sought his own voice after so many disappointments. His friendship with Holderlin, his relationship with his illegitamate son, his rancourous rapport with his nephew, the slights suffered working for philistines or in the shadows of lesser minds were the sand in his soul that ground a pearl. Pinkard details them all with a truly 21st Century American voice, and in so doing makes the drama of Hegel's life present to today.
Pinkard is another great Georgetown Hegelian in the line of Wilfrid Desan, and in so doing weaves the dynamics of Hegel's life into the dialectics of his thinking. Pinkard presents a terrifically concise and to the point analysis of the immediate momentums initiated by Kant, Fichte, Schelling and others, casts them in as true a light as possible, and so opens an entire tradition, well regarded for its complexity for consideration by those trained in this tradition as well as by those wondering what all the fuss was about. Hegel was not an Ivory Tower elitist. His life formed the ground of his philosophy, and while he was also not an everyman, he is one in whom thinking took hold at any early age and kept calling him out into its light. Hegel meant that his writings have an impact. He was not interested in building flights of fancy that had no repercussions for culture, politics, spirituality. He distanced himself from traditions that would have ensnared him, compromised his boldness, and left him in a tradition, instead of clearing new ground.
Pinkard clearly shows how and why you have to deal with Hegel in Western Philosophy, just as much as you have to confront Plato, Aristotle, Kant. Nothing was the same after Hegel. History, psychoanalysis, culture, politics were all forever changed. His was an original voice, and the call, once heard, altered everything.
I keep returning to the point that this is a great read. And it is! So novice or enthusiast, you'll find this a book you'll return to often. This should be mandatory reading for anyone pursuing a higher education. The lessons of the life as well as the philosophy produced deserve thoughtful consideration.

It would be difficult to justify a biography of a philosophy as being essential: if you want to understand a philosopher you should read their works instead. But Pinkard manages to wage an astonishingly battle on two fronts: first, elaborating on his philosophical development with a view towards prominent influences and second, foisting off common misconceptions about Hegel.

So, for part one. Hegel is difficult. It was, as I learned, his distinguishing mark in early years: "more obscure than Fichte!" was something like a slogan. Pinkard does a marvellous job of showing the diversity and complexity of Hegel's experience (the chapters on his university friendship with Schelling and Hoderlin are especially absorbing) and pulling out some of the more unexpected sources of his thought. (Adam Smith and Gibbon and the New Testament, for example.) Ever since Dilthey more attention has been payed to Hegel's early work and for good reason. Moving from this account Pinkard gives excellent insights into the genesis and exposition of Hegel's notoriously difficult "system." Having been absoloutely dumbfounded by Hegel in the past I think this book is the best possible introduction to what Hegel is up to in his Philosophical work. Pinkard in addition to being keen has some serious philosophical chops so he brings out some aspects of Hegel that get overlooked.

As for the second front Pinkard does a great job of countering some of the more cartoonish and absurd pictures of Hegel: the pioneer of German nationalism, the doddering obscurantist, the proto-fascist conservative. Pinkard does a good job showing how the most common images of hegel are thorough characters whose longevity has more to do with the fact that few people actually read or know much about Hegel. I particularly liked the way Hegel's complex political commitments were mapped out and how the more intimate aspects of Hegel the person (his addiction to whist, his love of coffee) were brought out.

I am given to understand that Hegel scholarship is experiencing something of a revival these days, and by my account Pinkard's biography should be at the forefront of any movement. He deserves a great deal of credit for producing a skillfull, well-written and insightful work on an extremely difficult thinker.

This monumental work has 665 pages of text, followed by 115 pages of notes, sources, and index. Ten of its fifteen chapters deal primarily with Hegel's life and with the social, cultural and political climate within which he worked. These chapters are very accessible, though marred by a style which is sprinkled with colloquialisms and even slang - I have lost count of the number of times Pinkard uses the phrase "a bit", as in "a bit worried" or "a bit of scepticism". The editorial staff ought to have eliminated these; not only that, but the proof-reading of the book is quite the worst I have ever come across and is a disgrace to an academic publisher.

The technical discussion of Hegel's philosophy is mercifully put into five separate chapters, which I have found almost impenetrable. A reader who would like the read an outline of Hegel's philosophy would do much better to read Peter Singer's little book in the Oxford University Press (1983). But Pinkard is scornful of much that has been written about the philosopher previously. In his Preface he leads the reader to expect a demolition of some of the ideas generally held about Hegel's teaching. The notion of thesis - antithesis - synthesis which was attributed to Hegel in a popular book (not listed in Pinkard's bibliography) by one Heinrich Moritz Chalybäus in the middle of the 19th century and was then perpetuated by Marx was never held by Hegel; and it is true that he used these terms only "seldom" (Coplestone. Pinkard says "never".) But even Pinkard shows how often Hegel explained the development of a new idea arising out of the clash between contradictions.

Extraordinarily, Pinkard never mentions the notorious phrases which Hegel applied to the State: "The State is the Divine Idea as it exists on earth"; "we must therefore worship the State as the manifestation of the Divine on Earth"; "the State exists for its own sake" etc. All these are quoted and sourced by Karl Popper in his famous attack on Hegel, The Open Society and its Enemies (Vol.II, pp. 31 and 305); but Popper does not figure in Pinkard's bibliography either. So these quotations are not confronted: instead Pinkard (p.494) simply uses a sentence from Hegel's Philosophy of World History to convey the opposite impression: "The universal spirit or world spirit is not the same thing as God".

Pinkard does bring out the development of Hegel's thought: like every great philosopher, he changed some of his ideas in the course of his life. Moreover, he was capable of perplexing his contemporaries by what appeared to them to be contradictions in his behaviour. The strength of this biography is to show how Hegel could combine sympathy for the early phases of the French Revolution and then for Napoleon with acting, at the very end of his life, as a government commissar to supervise the University of Berlin and therefore responsible for seeing that the University did not fall foul of the repressive Carlsbad decrees to which the Prussian government subscribed. He approved of the dismissal of a colleague, de Wette, for radicalism, but then urged that he should continue to receive his salary and, when the university refused, contributed to a secret annual fund to support him. He had great sympathy for those of his students who got into trouble for liberalism, and was yet very hostile to liberalism himself. No wonder that even in his life-time, the Reformers, with whom Hegel identified himself in many respects, thought he had sold out to the conservatives. Pinkard generally defends him against this charge. As Hegel himself pointed out to Heine, his famous sentence that "the Real is the Rational and the Rational is the Real" consisted of two statements; and whilst the first of them has a conservative bend, the second has a radical one: if a situation is not or is no longer rational, it loses the claim to be real. After Hegel's death, the Young Hegelians (also called Left Hegelians) would use the second part of the sentence as their lodestar, and would restore to the Dialectic the dynamism which is built into it and with which conservatism was really very ill-matched.

Certainly Hegel was constantly opposed by the reactionaries in the Prussian government and always felt in danger of being denounced as a "demagogue" (i.e. subversive) or an atheist, either of which would have been a cause for his dismissal. He survived because of the patronage of the Education Minister, von Altenstein.

One of the most interesting themes of the book is the immense importance the reformers attached to the universities as the motor of enlightenment, reform and modernization; and within the universities, the principal task of promoting Bildung (culture based on independent thought) should fall upon the departments of philosophy. Hegel had his first academic appointment at Jena (1801 to 1808). His identification with the ideas of the reformers secured him appointments to professorships, first in Heidelberg (1816 to 1818) and then in Berlin (1818 to his death in 1831). Unfortunately, as Pinkard points out, whenever Hegel took up a university position, the cause for which he stood happened to be in retreat: at Jena the reforming philosophers were leaving just as he arrived and the university was subsequently devastated by the French bombardment during the Battle of Jena (1806); at Heidelberg the traditionalists (who there included most of the students) were fighting back; and at Berlin the Carslbad Decrees of 1819 also put the reformers on the defensive.

Pinkard is also interesting on Hegel's personality. Extremely sociable and convivial in private life, he was dry, ponderous and nervous as a lecturer; and yet he gradually attracted very large and loyal student audiences, who took his pauses, hesitations and repetitions as signs that he was arguing with himself while speaking, appearing, as it were, to put the dialectic into operation even while he was thinking. The contradictions which infuse his theories are also present in his life.

If you have to read reviews about I-Ching books this is the first book you need to buy. The study of the I Ching begins with practice by consulting the oracle not with immediate attempts at understanding-especially for the Western mind. This version of the I Ching is the easisest way to make that first step. You read a few paragraphs on instructions to throw three pennies and begin an adventure that can last from a few minutes to a lifetime. Despite its ease of use, this book is a complete work unto itself shold you choose to go deeper. It has ample references to history and more subtle interpretations. A glimpse of Western understanding may be obtained by reading Carl Jung's foreword in the Baynes/Wilhelm interpretation.

I own both this one and the I Ching Workbook and they are practically the same book, though this one doesn't have the spiral binding (which you'll need because you'll open it so much) but has the most beautiful, meditative paintings on each hexagram. The pictures give you a profound inner sense of the truth of each throw of the coins, transforming the experience into a deeply effective tool for inner growth. Not to be confused with the Art of War or the Tao Te Ching, the I Ching focuses mainly on political relationships and the development of character as one navigates one's way through professional and personal relationships. The main thing you'll get from using the I Ching is, to learn which situations you can definitely change and which ones you should just let pass. It also shows you where you are in the development of goals and what to prepare yourself for, as you go on. Start with one question, and when you read the answer, if you have deeper questions, ask them too. You'll get amazing answers.

Some of the longer reviews will tell you how this I Ching integrates relevant art work with practical advice. I just wanted to second all the positive reviews here in saying that from looking at many I Ching books, this is the only one that really clicked with me. The art work is beautiful and the text is very illuminating. 5 +++ stars!

I have bought several books on I Ching and this one is one of the most interesting books I have purchased.The book is larger than most books,about an A3 size but short on text than most books,less than a page for each hexagram.(a bit too light on for text).Written in simple English makes this book an advantage.The illustations throughout add to the character of the book.This book will please a lot of people.Didnt have this book for long because I needed more indepth books.

If you are looking for books on I Ching that go in depth and in great detail you might want to consider other books like those written by author Stephen Karcher,Kim-Anh Lim,Sam Reifler,etc.

this is the best version of the I Ching out: each hexagram is accompanied by a relevant piece of traditional Chinese painting that helps the intuitive understanding of the message the hexagram intends to convey. Lively text translation that interprets the hexagrams on the four planes of existence: spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical aids in the interpretation of the hexagrams' messages as related to the areas the question might address. The tone is psycho-spiritual-social but written in everyday terms.

[...]

This another well done story full of good characters. I want a sequel to this one. Josie and Rebecca are just great strong women and there were a couple of times I thought I hurt myself laughing. Great read I am gonna keep this one.

From the back cover:
When out-law-on-the-run Josie Hunter rescues a young woman from the clutches of three desperados, she unwitting sets in motion a chain of events that will change their lives. Soon Josie and Rebecca are reluctant companions on a journey that leads beyond secrets and past pain to a place neither ever expected to go. As they learn to rely on one another for survival in the harsh world, they eventually forge a bond far deeper than friendship.

What I liked about this novel was that the Old West setting was authentic. I really felt what a dangerous life they were living. The characters were all very interesting, likable (or hate-able) and realistic for the period. And most importantly the authors took their time developing and changing the characters, in particular the relationship between Josie and Rebecca so you had time to get to know them and care whether they became lovers or not. (Oh, and the sex is great!!)Another great thing was that this book is a good length. Despite being fast paced the authors still have lots to say to keep the book a satisfying length.
This is the best lesbian romance book I have read in the historical/western genre to date. I recommend it to anyone looking for a good read in that area.

Josie Hunter is supposedly a wild desperado...robbing trains and killing folks. Unfortunately, one of her gang turns against them and their final job has her gang running for the hills in different directions.

While Josie is riding thru the frontier with no place to go, she hears a scream. When she arrives at the scene, three cowboys are preparing to rape and kill a pretty, young woman. Josie tries to get the girl released without any problems, but the guys go for their guns and they die because they were stupid.

Josie takes the victim, Rebecca Cameron, back to the outskirts of her town looking disheavaled. Rebecca father, Caleb, is a drunken abuser and beat the [...] out of Rebecca because he doesn't believe her story.

So Rebecca runs away and begins following Josie's tracks. Josie almost kills her when she creeps on the outskirts of her campsite. After Josie gives into the fact that Rebecca is going to follow her, she relents and allows Rebecca to travel with her.

Rebecca attracts alot of attention, but it is always the wrong kind of attention, either from men or snakes. Josie is there to take care of the situation, with her gun.

The characters you meet along the trail boost the characterization of Josie. The events which occur during their travels make them both stronger and bond them together.

This is a great read.

Phenomenal... There isn't a better word to describe this book. Miller and Foster have teamed up on several occasions, but this is one of their best.

From the Back Cover... "Josie and Rebecca: The Western Chronicles is an epic western saga with all the elements familiar to that genre; rousing adventure, heinous villans, heart-stopping action, outlaws-turned-heroes, and of course a romance that will warm the heart. At the center of this story are two women - one, a deadly gunslinger, bitter from the injustices in her past, the other a gentle dreamer trying to escape the horors of the present. Their destinies come together one fateful afternoon when the feared outlaw makes the choice to rescue a young woman in trouble. For her part, Josie Hunter considers the brief encounter at an end once the girl is safe, but Rebecca Cameron has other ideas. Enthralled by the enigmatic figure of the legendary bandit and desperate to escape a life that is quickly crushing her spirit, Rebecca decides to follow her rescuer - much to the older woman's chagrin. It is at first a difficult relationship but one which slowly begins to grow and change and deepen as the two unlikely friends share adventures, joys, pains, hopes and dreams, only to discover they also desperately want to share their hearts. It is a beautiful passionate love story that develops slowly, pulling the reader into this drama even as Josie and Rebecca themselves discover a growing intensity between them."

If you're a fan of Xena, you'll love this book. Period.

Much of the plot and experiences of the main characters seems to be a mirror image of Season 1. Rebecca is attacked and saved by Josie. Josie takes her home. Rebecca follows. Josie begrudgingly lets her come along. Josie helps people along the way and depends on Rebecca's way with words to help in many situations. Josie begins to change her reputation from "outlaw" to "saviour" as their adventures continue.

The only differences are the setting and the ability of the characters in this story to actually consummate their love after they slowly fall for each other.

I waited a long time for this one to hit my bookshelf. It is a fantastic read that I hope to enjoy again many times in the future.

Women are often marginalized in history especially in stories about the Old West. BL Miller and Vada Foster have changed that by rewriting history, if only in fiction, with Josie and Rebecca: The Western Chronicles. Women are front and center throughout the pages in this stimulating and inspiring tale of two women finding each other as well as themselves while they forge new trails.

Josie Hunter becomes an outlaw after she is accused of killing her best friend Genie. While on the run, she dispenses her own kind of justice, skirting the "law" quite often. It is during one of these times that she rescues Rebecca Cameron from a gang of men trying to rape the young woman. After this encounter, Rebecca becomes Josie's traveling partner. While unwilling to totally accept this spirited woman, Josie reluctantly lets her tag along.

The authors have invented a truly heroic character with Josie. While it may seem that Josie recklessly breaks the law every chance she gets, in actuality, on the frontier, the law was localized and very arbitrary. Being half Cherokee makes Josie's situation much more complicated. Although deeply flawed and displaying a brusque exterior, she risks her life more than once to save those who can't help themselves. Her compassion for others shows in all of her actions. Rebecca's character complements Josie, offering us innocence as well as a quiet strength. It is her belief in Josie's goodness that draws out the tough outlaw's deep feelings.

As a reader I have found that well written historical fiction is hard to find. Either the authors give too little detail, or they get bogged down in facts that do not move the story along. There is no balance thus the real events detract from the plot. This is not the case with Josie and Rebecca: The Western Chronicles. It is interspersed with actual events that give the readers a flavor for the times. The setting is detailed and accurate. Josie and Rebecca's travels are full of action and variety which keep the book interesting throughout. Foster and Miller realistically portray the women in the story, the choices they must make and the way they are generally treated. The authors also deal with Josie being part Cherokee and the prejudice that Native Americans endured during those times. The authors never preach but let these crucial bits of overlooked history reach us through superb storytelling.

Josie and Rebecca: The Western Chronicles is enjoyable and thorough without dragging. It will surely become as legendary as the great Westerns that have preceded it. I highly recommend this extraordinary account of our forgotten history as told through the fictional characters of Josie and Rebecca.

If you want to read a book of significance, look no further. While it may be a difficult read it is one of the most influential and important books ever written.

There were only 9 reviews on this book . . . what can one say. . . either something brings you to this book or it does not. . . if you are reading these reviews, then buy it.

This book is one of the most important and influential works on ethics. It is dense, not an easy read, the structure is loose and troublesome at times, but it is groundbreaking and brilliant.

There are many internet resources to guide you along the reading,. so do not be intimidated. Much of future work will rest on the contributions by Kant.

This version of the Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals provides a clear and concise introduction. You will find it useful to understand how Kant's moral philosophy fits within his general philosophy and to get acquainted with some of the debates around his work. Although this book is rather expensive for what it is, it is useful and worth buying if you are really interested in this topic.

As translator H.J. Paton states in his introduction, 'Kant's "Groundwork of the Metaphysic of Morals" is one of the small books which are truly great' despite the unapproachability of the title. Many rank this book alongside Aristotle's 'Ethics' and Plato's 'Republic'. Its main topic is the supremacy of morals and moral action, and Paton gives a section by section analysis of Kant's book. The purpose of this work is not to work out all of the implications and difficulties with the a priori part of ethics, but rather to set a foundation of the supreme principle of morality.

The centerpiece of the Groundwork is Kant's most famous proposition, the Categorical Imperative. While this is often equated with the Golden Rule (do unto others as you would have them do unto you), the Categorical Imperative argues for a more universal set of moral action - for example, if one does not mind being lied to, then lying does not become a problem, according to the Golden Rule, but for Kant, this would be unacceptable as it is a violation of the rational principles of what morals are.

Kant proceeds to look at issues of law, duty, free will and the good will, and autonomy of action. Kant argues strongly for the need for philosophy to guard against whim, taste and personal desire from becoming normative agents in the way we construct the moral universe. He argue for objective principles to govern the will, and categorises these as either hypothetical or categorical. 'All imperatives command either hypothetically or categorically. Hypothetical imperatives declare a possible action to be practically necessary as a means to the attainment of something else that one wills (or that one may will). A categorical imperative would be one which represented an action as objectively necessary in itself apart from its relation to a further end.'

Kant goes from this discussion to the formulation of universal law and the way in which rational agents should formulate and view this kind of law. The final section of this work introduces ideas that will be more fully developed in Kant's 'Critique of Practical Reason', the second of his three-volume Critiques. He also covers some of the arguments from 'Critique of Pure Reason', but not very fully; as Paton states in his analysis, 'Kant cannot assume the elaborate arguments of the "Critique of Pure Reason" to be familiar to his readers nor can he attempt to repeat these elaborate arguments in a short treatise on ethics.' The finite, rational person must regard himself or herself both as a member of the world of experience/perception and also as a member of the world of ideas/rationality. This is the essence of the Empiricist/Rationalist split that Kant synthesises together in the first Critique.

This is not easy going - the original 'Groundwork' had 128 pages, contained here in less than 100 (allowing for type-face differences as well as translation). Paton's version has 40 pages of analysis, endnotes, an index, and a statement about the translation - it is the 40 pages of analysis, keyed to section-by-section sequence, that makes this a very useful edition. This is perhaps the best first text of Kant to read to get a sense of his style, thought, and the foundation of what has become known as his most important principle.

'Groundwork of the Metaphysic of Morals' by Immanuel Kant is easily the most important work devoted exclusively to thinking about morality in the history of Philosophy, especially considering it's size.

The cornerstone of the work, and the end result of Kant's analysis is the categorical imperative which says that a moral law are only those for which you can state should be true of all people.

In one fell swoop, Kant marginalizes all thinking about relativism in morality and at the same time distinguishes moral from religious thinking.

If you pair this up with St. Paul's statements in his letter to the Romans (3:19-28) which states strongly that adherance to the law has virtually nothing to do with salvation, it should make things pretty clear to all concerned.

Unfortunately, things are rarely that simple. As important as Kant's conclusion is, it is necessary but not sufficient for a complete analysis of morality.

One excuse may be that this work is really Kant's version of 'Cliff Notes' to his moral argument. His full presentation comes in the 'Critique of Practical Reason', which, however, is not often read.

Note that contrary to another review of this edition, the translator and commentator is the noted Kant scholar of 70 years ago, H. J. Paton.

To people who are not used to reading philosophy, I will not hide the fact that Kant is tough going. He may not be quite as tough as Hegel, the Existentialists, or the ancient Greeks, but he is definitely harder to understand than any modern nonfiction book I can think of.

The biggest argument against the 'Groundwork' and the categorical imperative is usually the fact that it does not rule out trivial rules, such as 'you must always eat a starch at least once a day'. This rule is physically possible for anyone living anywhere in the world, yet it is certainly not a moral law. It is not even a very good dietary law, but that's neither here nor there. A second argument is that Kant's argument seems a bit circular, when he says that the only thing which unqualifiedly good is a good will.

For anyone who has been vexed by moral questions, an honest reading of this work will at the very least give you hope that with the right amount of thought, one can make sense of moral issues.

A truly great book.

I really liked this book. It's interesting to see what went on in his life. It's also very nice to see how God worked through his life and the lives of the people he knew. He shows what it looks like when you are living the life God would have you live. It's very inspiring.

Great book! Very easy to read and yet packed with amazing stories of courage. inspires you to move to a new level in God. Do whatever you can with whatever you've been given wherever you are!!

In this book, Franklin Graham will take you through his life, giving us biblical principles, and helpful insights, on living a life in sync with God. I recommend it. GO READ IT NOW!!! GET THIS BOOK!!! you can get it free at some site, thats how i got it, just search the web for free franklin graham book and you should find it.

This book picks up where "Rebel With A Cause" leaves off. To those that have read his first book, read this one next.

In this book, he tells about his life and ministry with his father, Dr. Billy Graham, and with his own ministry, Samaritan's Purse. You'll get an insider's view on what it's like to distribute relief aid to people in need around the world. He also talks about getting out of your comfort zones and what it means to "Live Beyond The Limits."

Once again, hats off to Franklin Graham. Keep up the good work!

Franklin Graham is carrying on the ministry of his father (Billy Graham) to reach out to the poor and downtrodden in today's world and show them that God wants us to live life to the fullest. He focuses on principles and promises essential to a full life if we are to be in 'sync' with God's design for us. We each are put here on earth for a purpose and, sometimes, it takes almost the entire lifespan to determine our purpose, but it is there waiting to be discovered, so that we can live a life of peace, joy, excitement, and fulfillment before we die.

These real-life stories of people who survived under "the most challenging circumstances imaginable" are amazing and inspiring. Franklin was a rebel for awhile before realizing that his role in today's world is to teach the rest of us what his dad has been doing for nearly fifty years. His autobiography was called REBEL WITH A CAUSE. He has written other books about miracles and religiousity and lives in Boone, North Carolina.

The photo section tells a story with each picture. It is true that one picture is worth a thousand words. They add interest to any book, especially those about real people and not figments of someone's imagination. Now, those are harder to illustrate.