Hayes Books

This book degrades women and homosexuals. NOT FUNNY at all.

This book is not a very original idea and some of the lines are the same ones repeated over and over.

It must be stated at the outset of this review that the work in question (the 1992 revised edition) is not scholarly, nor is it intended for an academic audience. Rather, it is aimed at the Pro-Life reader.

I mistakenly purchased the book expecting to read a well-reasoned, cogent argument. However, as I explored the argumentation of the author, it became clear that Willke commits a fundamental flaw in his reasoning. His comparison of abortion and slavery will work, if one takes it solely at face value. It is true that there are existing historical parallels between the two causes of the Pro-Life and Anti-Slavery movements. However, underlying the two issues are fundamentally differing principles, which Willke does not address.

The similarities he proposes are accurate enough, and the crux of his argument is presented in a simple enough tabular format several pages into the work, which he then expands throughout the work. This is not, however, enough to prove a premise that is based largely upon assertion.

At this point, it is necessary to add the following caveat: It is not the purpose of this review to propose any solution to the question of abortion, nor do I hope to convince another to uphold any position. However, as I have a vested interest in biomedical ethics, I could not but help to take exception to what I perceive to be the most egregious fallacy of argumentation in his hypothesis. Underlying the issue of slavery in its historical context are many issues, ranging from dignity to human rights to the fundamental equality of humanity. Underlying the abortion issue, once arguments about personal choice, moral and/or religious offense, or responsibility for one's actions have been removed is the question of personhood.

Willke is quite right to note that the semantics have shifted away from discussing humanity. This is to say, we are no longer discussing whether the fetus is human. Biogenesis answers the question quite readily, human beings cannot conceive and give birth to a! nything but more human beings. However, he fails to note that underneath this is the question of personhood, which is far more important. This is the issue which links abortion to many other issues in biomedical ethics, with euthanasia being the most obvious parallel. To explicate this, one might simply consider the case of a PVS patient (persistent vegetative state). In such a state, it is not generally called into question whether the patient is a human being. My falling into an irreversible coma does not result in my reclassification as a horse. Thus, were we the doctors or family members, we would certainly still have before us a human being. The question is, however, whether we have a _person_ before us. It is one's personality which yields and defines our social existence, and hence our social identity, not our mere physical existence (this has been amply argued by psychologists from a variety of positions for decades). Deprived of this social quality, the ability to interact, actively or passively, or even to potentially recognize this interaction (such as a baby first learning of the world around him or her, learning what the mom-shape, dad-shape, or dog-shape might mean), is to be placed outside the realm of personhood. Thus, when Willke equates slavery, in which the concerned subjects quite clearly have the ability to interact with others, and hence are persons, with abortion, in which personhood cannot be demonstrated (though this is admittedly still a very thorny issue), it is an act of intellectual dishonesty and misrepresentation.

Hence, I believe that the work is fundamentally flawed. Unless Willke rises to the occasion and demostrates his theory in light of the deeper issue of personhood, ultimately his work only abets the polarization of America on this issue. Most of the issues in bioethics create a schism in society. The only real means of repairing and reconciling such division is education and reasoned discourse. Neither of these elements is to be found in this book.

The dictionary may be fine, but beware of Kindle products in Esperanto; the Kindle often fails to display the Esperanto characters correctly. Always download the trial chapter first and check to make sure that the characters are correctly formatted. I hope Amazon figures out a way to correct this.

This is mind-numbingly dull. If you are not slap-yo-mamma passionate about dry, hardcore academic biblical studies, do NOT take whatever class has this book on its syllabus. You will rue the day you did.

Cram101 misleadingly displays their cram notes as if they were less expensive alternate editions of the underlying works. I've noted that some have been deceived. I think many folks have had their time wasted by this publisher's misleading marketing tactics. Amazon need to provide some non-misleading means for such works to be marketed. If they cannot, they should ban the publisher.

I ordered this book thinking it was a fine art instruction book dealing with still life subject matter. Well, yes and no. It has some lovely samples, but they are all destined to be on some piece of furniture or plates. So if you are looking for a wonderful and explicit book on toll painting and craft painting this is for you. However, if you are looking to paint good old fashioned canvas paintings of that favorite ginger jar and this summers produce keep looking this book is not for you.

This book in excellent condition is worth 40 to 50 dollars max.

Robert D.Hawes,
New Hampshire

Alas, so much of this book is taken up with white supremacist rants of the vilest sort that one wonders if Eckenrode was capable of any objectivity whatsoever. Whatever the merits and demerits of President Hayes, Easton wasted its leather-and-gold-leaf on this turkey.

The first thing I noticed is the extremely limited selection of maps that come with this product. Secondly, I noticed that many of the maps were out of date. I would suggest you get any-old-screensaver-slideshow program, and just down load the maps you want, because this program probably won't have them. Also, though I expected this, the "snow report" ticker is even more limited that the map selection.

There is too much rambling, not enough specific help and examples, and the index is terrible. Please read the review of this in "The Library Quarterly" vol 67, Oct 1997, #4, pp406-408