Bernard Books

This is one of the best books I have ever read dealing with transition. The poor octopus has to transition from the aquarium to the wild ocean. What an experience and the choices to make! My son used this book to stump the librarian in a contest and WON!! This is great for a child who is moving or trying to decide what group to belong to.

This book will be interesting as for geographers and biologists (due to the detailed description of Northern nature), so for common readers who are fond of adventures literature.

Bernard Bosanquet was, in his time, widely recognized as Britain's most important and influential living philosopher (with the possible and partial exception of fellow Idealist F.H. Bradley). Unfortunately both he and the "neo-Hegelian" tradition he represented have since been eclipsed by analytical philosophy -- Moore and Russell having undermined the Idealists' speculative metaphysics, and Karl Popper having quite unfairly tagged Hegelian thought as a statist enemy of the "open society."

But thanks to the efforts of William Sweet and a handful of other scholars, a renaissance in Idealist studies is afoot. And the present work is as fine a contribution to it as I have seen.

In this volume Sweet sets himself the task of recovering Bosanquet's doctrine of _rights_. That Bosanquet even _had_ such a doctrine may come as a surprise to anyone who knows of Bosanquet only through secondary sources, but he did indeed develop a fairly thorough account of rights in _The Philosophical Theory of the State_ and elsewhere. Since the table of contents of Sweet's marvelous work is helpfully listed on this page, I shall keep my comments brief.

Bosanquet's account of rights is thoroughly teleological: he holds that both rights themselves and their moral authority derive from their contribution to a common end which consists at heart of a society in which everyone is able to live a "good life." For him, the existence and action of the "state" are justified precisely insofar as they contribute toward this end. Central to this account is Bosanquet's doctrine of the "real will," of which Sweet provides an excellent exposition.

Basically, in my own paraphrase, one's "real will" consists of what one _would_ explicitly want, all things considered, if one were fully and completely rational. Sweet provides a thorough and careful explication of this centrally important concept (including an admirable account of why it should be called our "_real_" will).

This doctrine, which strongly influenced Brand Blanshard's similar account (in _Reason and Goodness_) of what he called the "rational will," has been attacked on any number of grounds (notably by Hobhouse early this century), and part of Sweet's concern is to defend it against contentions that it e.g. leads to statism, fails to assign the proper place to individual good, and so forth. He handles the task well, and to my mind makes a case that should be heard by libertarians and free-marketers of all stripes.

(My own view, for what it is worth, is that Bosanquet's teleological account of rights is essentially correct and with almost no modification can be invoked to provide the real basis of the libertarian society. I do not think statist conclusions follow from Bosanquet's premises at all; indeed, I think Austrian economics would benefit from placing its analysis of "market process" on such a philosophical foundation.)

Sweet's volume is enormously helpful for another reason: Bosanquet's own prose style has been found somewhat uncongenial by many readers. Despite a brilliance that repays close reading, he does at times stand in need of a more felicitous expositor who can make clear what Bosanquet himself leaves rather obscure. Sweet is a fine expository prose stylist and handles this task with clarity and skill.

As a Certified Pilates Teacher and Hellerwork Pactitioner this book has provided an in depth understanding of the body's wisdom. I highly recommend this book for all Pilates Instructors and Rolfers! Mabel Todd was a heroine!

may all beings be well,
moksa7@yahoo.com

I happened to be assigned this book for a college lit class, and knew nothing of Malamud at the time. After reading the story for which the book is named, Idiots First, I could not stop reading. His stories are so deeply insightful into the complexities of the human soul, and the painful and paradoxical nature of everyday life. Aside from the philosophical aspects, he writes with the voice of a true New Yorker, and reflects the universal experience of growing up as an immigrant in a big city. Read it! You'll love it!

Anyone interested in medical history will truly enjoy this book. I highly recommend it.

What is the Christian Love that Jesus desires that his followers spread throughout the world? "The Image and Likeness of God in Bernard of Clairvaux's Free Choice and Grace: Reflections both Philosophical and Theological" by Luke Anderson is a scholarly writing on the work of Bernard of Clairvaux, a sainted Roman Catholic monk from centuries from centuries past. A deft treatise on Christian love and how it should be applied according an august and highly regarded theologian, "The Image and Likeness of God in Bernard of Clairvaux's Free Choice and Grace" should be read by anyone seeking a better understanding of the Christian concepts of God's Grace and humanity's free choice.

Although there may not be a plethora of scholarly activity on the imagination itself, it is known amongst those alert Kant scholars that the imagination plays a key role in the first and third critiques. In his first book "Imagination and Depth in Kant's 'Critique of Pure Reason,'" Bernard Freydberg demonstrated the pivotal role that the imagination plays in Kantian epistemology. But in this provocative work, Freydberg asserts that imagination is the "linchpin" in any understanding of the second critique as well. With keen insight and scholarly rigor, Freydberg discloses imagination as the driving force even in the "Critique of Practical Reason" where it appears to have no significant role.

Freydberg's approach is masterful for two reasons. First, instead of planting himself only within a textual analysis of the second critique, he bridges the first critique with the second. That is, he shows how the first critique informs and "opens up" into the second critique by appropriating the relevant passages and concepts from the "Critique of Pure Reason," most notably the role of synthesis/image-making and the imagination that powers it. This allows for an analysis that doesn't arise in a vacuum. Freydberg also examines the relation of the second critique to its successor, the "Critique of Judgment" much the same way as he does with the first. Second, in the bridging of the first critique to the second, Freydberg foregoes what could have been a more trouble-free appraisal. Instead of utilizing the A Deduction alone where imagination is prominent, he relies heavily on the B Deduction where Kant seems to have given imagination a "lesser" role. Thus he treads the more difficult path to make his case while also reaping the rewards that this type of journey brings at its conclusion.

Although Freydberg takes his cue from Heidegger (and in turn Sallis), his insights are original. Heidegger, in his book "Kant and the Problem of Metaphysics," claimed that the imagination is the root of both sensibility and understanding but that "Kant recoiled in the face of this unknown root." What makes this account both provocative and exciting is Freydberg's treatment of this "unknown root." He demonstrates that imagination, even when it seems to be absent, is in fact always, already deeply at work even in the construction of our moral framework.

For example, Kant says of the Triebfeder (incentives of pure practical reason) that they are the subjective ground of the determination of a will. As finite beings, we are subject to our pathological incentives. Yet through moral feeling that human beings are also subject, we are aware of the moral law as well (an a priori concept), which is the only law that qualifies as a moral incentive. Bridging this chasm is the imagination. Freydberg reveals how any determination of the will of a finite human being has already undergone the synthesis of imagination. In this case, imagination has generated an incentive out of the pure, moral law as well as bringing it (this moral incentive) into opposed play with our sensuous inclinations.

There are many more examples throughout this work that exemplify imaginations disclosing and synthesizing role. Freydberg's arguments are precise and well thought out. Although working within the continental tradition, he provides a close reading of the text, supporting his position with a logical rigor that should garner the respect of those in the analytic tradition.

In the last analysis, Freydberg's inquiry achieves the notable goal of disclosing how the imagination beats at the heart of the second critique in particular, and all three critiques in general. Suffice it to say that "Imagination in Kant's `Critique of Practical Reason'" is a work that adds sorely needed scholarship to the Kantian corpus. Ignored for too long by many Kant scholars, Freydberg discloses that which, although hidden, plays the crucial role in the "Critique of Practical Reason." Imagination at the heart of Kant's second critique...who would have thought?

I bought this to replace my original copy. It is a treasure. The plates are so full of life. It is a very interesting book that will please any art lover.

The authors of this book provide an easy to implement model of transformational leadership based on four points, which they call the four I's. The focus of their full-range leadership model is a long-term transformational change, as opposed to short-term transactional models. The author's model reflects the importance of leadership and vision in creating organizational "buy-in," driving competitive change, and creating self-sustaining organizations through the growth of like-minded leaders.

I found this book to be well-written and easy to read. The authors apply the model to a wide-range of organizational situations. The only limitation to this book that I found, was a question that I posed to the model, which questions the validity of the model if the culture does nor support the leadership and vision. I suppose though, that the authors would counter argue that if the culture did not support the leadership and vision, that the basis of their model, the four I's were not being implmented properly.