A reductive, wide-angle primer to life and reality.
An inquiry into the nature of reality.
Joy opens his philosophical investigation by asking about the definitions of reality. “To know what reality is, we must know what truth is….What existence is,” he writes. “These queries are, in a way or two, connected.” In order to answer these questions, Joy turns to the progress of human civilizations, stretching from ancient Sumer and Egypt to the familiar philosophical territory of the ancient Greeks. The worldviews of ancient thinkers, like Thales, Parmenides, Plato, and Aristotle are surveyed, as are Eastern concepts like the yin and yang of Taoism. Joy moves chronologically through history, summarizing the writings of Berkeley, Hobbes, Voltaire, Nietzsche, and more, quoting from some of their work and sprinkling in commentary of his own. Once his tour of philosophy is concluded, Joy reviews some of the modern scientific discoveries that may illuminate certain aspects of reality, like the nature of cosmic background radiation and what it says about the Big Bang, etc. “Perhaps the universe was created out of the disintegration of a preceding universe,” he writes, concisely exploring a few such theoretical possibilities. All of this might be interesting to a high school student who’s never encountered any of these concepts before, and Joy is an energetic guide for such readers. But the many shortcomings of Joy’s narrative are glaring, whether it’s his grumpiness (“Can we live without smart phones nowadays?” he grouses) or his odd decision to open by asking what reality is and then immediately digressing into protracted discussions of religion. His scientific introductions sometimes fall short (at one point he tells his readers, “In case you don’t know who Carl Sagan is just Google him, trust me”). It all ends up feeling somewhat rudimentary.
A reductive, wide-angle primer to life and reality.Pub Date: Feb. 21, 2023
ISBN: 9781737212454
Page Count: 404
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.
A compendium of charts, time lines, lists and illustrations to accompany study of the Bible.
This visually appealing resource provides a wide array of illustrative and textually concise references, beginning with three sets of charts covering the Bible as a whole, the Old Testament and the New Testament. These charts cover such topics as biblical weights and measures, feasts and holidays and the 12 disciples. Most of the charts use a variety of illustrative techniques to convey lessons and provide visual interest. A worthwhile example is “How We Got the Bible,” which provides a time line of translation history, comparisons of canons among faiths and portraits of important figures in biblical translation, such as Jerome and John Wycliffe. The book then presents a section of maps, followed by diagrams to conceptualize such structures as Noah’s Ark and Solomon’s Temple. Finally, a section on Christianity, cults and other religions describes key aspects of history and doctrine for certain Christian sects and other faith traditions. Overall, the authors take a traditionalist, conservative approach. For instance, they list Moses as the author of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) without making mention of claims to the contrary. When comparing various Christian sects and world religions, the emphasis is on doctrine and orthodox theology. Some chapters, however, may not completely align with the needs of Catholic and Orthodox churches. But the authors’ leanings are muted enough and do not detract from the work’s usefulness. As a resource, it’s well organized, inviting and visually stimulating. Even the most seasoned reader will learn something while browsing.
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2005
ISBN: 978-1-5963-6022-8
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
This a book of earlier, philosophical essays concerned with the essential "absurdity" of life and the concept that- to overcome the strong tendency to suicide in every thoughtful man-one must accept life on its own terms with its values of revolt, liberty and passion. A dreary thesis- derived from and distorting the beliefs of the founders of existentialism, Jaspers, Heldegger and Kierkegaard, etc., the point of view seems peculiarly outmoded. It is based on the experience of war and the resistance, liberally laced with Andre Gide's excessive intellectualism. The younger existentialists such as Sartre and Camus, with their gift for the terse novel or intense drama, seem to have omitted from their philosophy all the deep religiosity which permeates the work of the great existentialist thinkers. This contributes to a basic lack of vitality in themselves, in these essays, and ten years after the war Camus seems unaware that the life force has healed old wounds... Largely for avant garde aesthetes and his special coterie.
Pub Date: Sept. 26, 1955
ISBN: 0679733736
Page Count: 228
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Sept. 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1955
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