Illinois Books

I read these works for a graduate seminar on Aristotle.
Definition of Rhetoric- capacity of persuasion. Plato is critical of the Rhetoric and the tragic poetry. Rhetoric is approach to political public speeches in the forum. Plato thought that they clouded the mind and thus created a part of his critique of democracy in general. Plato thinks Socrates was killed by rhetoric used by the Athenian democracy. Plato feared the danger of democracy. Poetry appeals to the base human emotions rhetoric, and poetry block rational truth according to Plato. Rhetoric is psychological force of language vs. logical force of language. Psychology leads people to believe things based on emotions. Speech must appeal to the masses in a democracy. Psychology is persuasion, logic is truth. Deduction and induction is arguing logically. Plato says rhetoric is not a technç, (craft) nor is poetry, because they are undisciplined and not uniform in design. Thus, appeal to psychology and emotion can never be done away with in a democracy, thus Plato abhors them and democracy. Plato calls it sophistry this psychological appeal and democracy requires this to exist, so the problem persists. Plato is clear and consistent in his abhorrence of sophistry and democracy.

Aristotle's Rhetoric and Poetics are an alternative to Plato. Aristotle's rhetoric tries to strike a middle position. Aristotle says rhetoric and poetry are a technç, the Rhetoric is a handbook. Aristotle says speaker needs to appeal to appropriate information for the particular setting. Much like a lawyer's argument, not just relying on facts, need to appeal to people's emotions. Aristotle does understand that rhetoric can be used in a harmful way.

Aristotle lays out three features in rhetoric:
1. Ethos= character of the speaker, also charisma, speaker earns the audience's trust, use of body language.
2. Pathos= condition of the hearer.
3. Logos= essential bearing on political persuasion, truth.

Thus, Plato's concern by definition excludes speech because it deals with emotion. These three conditions must be in play for a speech to be successful. The rhetoric contains a detailed analysis of the different human emotions and how to elicit them in a speech. Aristotle knows the speaker must be a good student of human nature to tap into human emotions.

Epistçmç is scientific knowledge. Phronçsis is the capacity of the soul for using education, experience and habit all this is in the ethics. This is the same in political world so politics is not an episteme no scientific reasoning. The things that come up in politics are not deduced scientifically. In politics, humans use deliberation between several possible outcomes unlike math where there is only one correct answer. Political speech is contentious because the nature of politics is contentious.

There are two circumstances in rhetoric.
1. Judicial rhetoric has to do with the past like in a court case.
2. Deliberative rhetoric has to do with the future, what decision should we make in political policies.

I recommend Aristotle's works to anyone interested in obtaining a classical education, and those interested in philosophy. Aristotle is one of the most important philosophers and the standard that all others must be judged by.

I read these works for a graduate seminar on Aristotle.
Definition of Rhetoric- capacity of persuasion. Plato is critical of the Rhetoric and the tragic poetry. Rhetoric is approach to political public speeches in the forum. Plato thought that they clouded the mind and thus created a part of his critique of democracy in general. Plato thinks Socrates was killed by rhetoric used by the Athenian democracy. Plato feared the danger of democracy. Poetry appeals to the base human emotions rhetoric, and poetry block rational truth according to Plato. Rhetoric is psychological force of language vs. logical force of language. Psychology leads people to believe things based on emotions. Speech must appeal to the masses in a democracy. Psychology is persuasion, logic is truth. Deduction and induction is arguing logically. Plato says rhetoric is not a technç, (craft) nor is poetry, because they are undisciplined and not uniform in design. Thus, appeal to psychology and emotion can never be done away with in a democracy, thus Plato abhors them and democracy. Plato calls it sophistry this psychological appeal and democracy requires this to exist, so the problem persists. Plato is clear and consistent in his abhorrence of sophistry and democracy.

Aristotle's Rhetoric and Poetics are an alternative to Plato. Aristotle's rhetoric tries to strike a middle position. Aristotle says rhetoric and poetry are a technç, the Rhetoric is a handbook. Aristotle says speaker needs to appeal to appropriate information for the particular setting. Much like a lawyer's argument, not just relying on facts, need to appeal to people's emotions. Aristotle does understand that rhetoric can be used in a harmful way.

Aristotle lays out three features in rhetoric:
1. Ethos= character of the speaker, also charisma, speaker earns the audience's trust, use of body language.
2. Pathos= condition of the hearer.
3. Logos= essential bearing on political persuasion, truth.

Thus, Plato's concern by definition excludes speech because it deals with emotion. These three conditions must be in play for a speech to be successful. The rhetoric contains a detailed analysis of the different human emotions and how to elicit them in a speech. Aristotle knows the speaker must be a good student of human nature to tap into human emotions.

Epistçmç is scientific knowledge. Phronçsis is the capacity of the soul for using education, experience and habit all this is in the ethics. This is the same in political world so politics is not an episteme no scientific reasoning. The things that come up in politics are not deduced scientifically. In politics, humans use deliberation between several possible outcomes unlike math where there is only one correct answer. Political speech is contentious because the nature of politics is contentious.

There are two circumstances in rhetoric.
1. Judicial rhetoric has to do with the past like in a court case.
2. Deliberative rhetoric has to do with the future, what decision should we make in political policies.

I recommend Aristotle's works to anyone interested in obtaining a classical education, and those interested in philosophy. Aristotle is one of the most important philosophers and the standard that all others must be judged by.

An excellent photographic softcovered record of the Chicago Art Institutes collection - which actually the original collection
of George F. Harding, Jr.
Several period engraving plates, paintings, and informative subpanels about the works or armor/weapons displayed. A worthy addition to an armor/weapons library-reference. 128 pages.

This is a wonderful book, so many memories. Even tho I wasn't born in Momence, I lived there long nough to call it home, and in readng this book and seeing all the pictures, it brought both tears and laughter. Anyone who has ever lived in Momence should get this book. Kevin did a marvelous job and I thank him for it.

The author calls this book a "narrative map" of the Indian Ecumenical Conference - and reading this book really does make you feel like you have traveled on a journey, crisscrossing the map of Canada and the US, hearing stories about so many outstanding and memorable people who were the shakers and movers behind the IEC. The focal point of this movement was a summer conference that took place every year, starting in 1970 and carrying on up into the 1980's - these are the meetings around the "sacred fire" of the book's title, a coming together of people seeking a dialogue between tribal religious traditions and Christianity. These are not people who are famous... with one possible exception - if you have read Margaret Craven's I Heard the Owl Call My Name, you might remember "Gordon", a character based on a real person, Ernie Willie, a Kwakiutl Indian who (as I learned from this book!) became one of the main leaders of the Indian Ecumenical Conference. The life stories of the people in this movement, like John Snow and Andrew Ahenakew and Bob Thomas, provide a really illuminating perspective on the lives of Indian peoples in the 20th century, as played out in many different parts of the United States and Canada (living in Oklahoma, I was really glad to learn about Oklahoma connections to this movement). Before I read this book, the word "ecumenical" to me mostly just meant Protestants and Catholics in dialogue. The Indian Ecumenical Conference was something much more radical, with Christian ministers and tribal medicine men finding ways to understand and respect and support one another. From the start, the theological questions were connected with social and political issues - these conferences naturally became a place where the youth movement and the environmental movement found expression throughout the 1970's, along with the Red Power movement that was unfolding at the same time. There are some great books about the American Indian Movement that have become required reading for people who want to see beyond the self-deception and hypocrisy of mainstream society - and this book would make a great companion piece, showing a different kind of effort in the late 60's and 70's to find answers to hard questions about being Indian and being white in America. Like one of the movement's leaders, Ernest Tootoosis, said: "I believe us Indians, as custodians of North America, will have a contribution to make to white society. We have to go back and take some very fine things about our culture, about our teaching and our way of praying to God, take these good things and try to find something good about the white man, the way they are living now, and piece these two things together for survival." The Indian Ecumenical Conference was built on that hope for survival, piecing things together. And this book tells the story of that movement in abundant, loving detail. Highly recommended!

This is a philosophy book that is illuminating for creative persons (artists, writers, composers etc.) as well as students or lovers of art. If you already value art, but are intellectually embarassed when someone asks you to defend or justify your passion, Art and Freedom provides some ways to respond. The author presumes the value of art first and then sees what varying theories of art have meant for the cultural value of art. Also, which theories best explain art's ability to liberate us (not just provide escape)and from what. It is intelligently written without an overload of jargon or self-concious hipness.

What follows is copied from the book jacket blurb:
"What does a life with art offer that a life without art does not?"
Art and Freedom asserts that the fundamental point of the enterprise of art is the creation and delivery of values that are not singularly available in the nonart world. E.E.Sleinis argues that as art both liberates and provides new points of focus and awareness, the art enterprise depends on a positive freeing from the nonart world, thereby involving freedom in an essential way. (He)introduces a novel classificatory system for representation, expression, and formalist theories of art. Sleinis argues that a characteristic defect of contemporary theories of art is their neglect of the issue of value... E.E. Sleinis is a senior lecturer in philosophy at the University of Tasmania, Australia.

This inexpensive softcover guide is nicely printed and contains an excellent selection of 256 masterpieces from the AIC. The color reproductions are quite good for a book this modestly sized. Each entry is accompanied by a generous amount of illuminating text. All in all, it's perfect for your next visit to the AIC, or simply for home browsing.

I have to give this 5 stars because the book is just as the title says it is. It is about what Jason learned and lost trading the Chicago Futures Markets, so no one should be surprised or disappointed.

"The Art of the Trade" part of the title should really be "The Art of Jason's Trade", but that is ok. One thing about Jason is he has no lack of ego. If ego were energy, this guy's ego could power the entire city of Chicago, but that actually makes this book a little more interesting. To see and feel his ego boldly and unashamedly served up and spatula-spanked point blank right into your face is kind of entertaining.

He has had an interesting career with brokers and he shares not only the experiences he has had, but his thoughts and feeling towards those experiences and how it affected him personally and emotionally. Anyone that has traded for any length of time can relate to many of the emotional turmoils that this business can manifest.

Don't buy this book expecting a "how to" book on trading. He does have some verbiage alluding to some trading theory, but again, like his other book, he doesn't really give you anything you can use. For example, he tells the reader to figure out where the loser is in any given trade situation, but doesn't really tell us how to do that - which is actually the most important part. It's like telling us the secret to trading is to buy low and sell high, but if he doesn't tell us how to do that, then it is really a worthless statement.

So if you are interested in reading about the career and personal thoughts of a trader, and would like a little insight into how bizarre the world of brokers can be, and how it has affected this trader through good times and bad times, then this book is for you.

Prof. Kinderman has done Beethoven scholarship a terrific service with this beautiful set of three volumes; the facsimile is gorgeous, the transcriptions appear to be highly accurate and the commentary is both knowledgeable and insightful. Anyone interested in the development of Beethoven's late compositions, especially the Missa Solemnis, will want to have a copy of this first-rate set. Of all of the sketchbook transcriptions released thus far, this one stands head and shoulders above all the rest. As Project Director of The Unheard Beethoven, I've read a lot of Beethoven manuscripts and must say that Kinderman has done an excellent job of puzzling out Beethoven's often impossible handwriting and converting it into something that makes sense to the rest of us. The price is incredibly reasonable for the value that's here as well. I treasure my copy. Mark Zimmer

This book documents the lives of some of some of the most creative, innovative and provocative artists in America. Most of them we have not heard of. African-American history is a vibrant and essential thread in the history of all Americans. The portraits are haunting, authentic and vulnerable. It is extremely important for the consciousness of our world to see this exquisite book as a vital and important voice that speaks to everyone. We must not let these voices become silent. Savor the photographs, read the content and etch these grand souls into your memory. Then buy another copy and pass it on. This is how we remember.