Singer is a graceful writer, but one who seems most comfortable addressing an academic readership. Nonetheless, committed...
An ornately conceived, sometimes elliptical, but comprehensive and insightful examination of the work of philosopher George Santayana.
Singer (Meaning in Life, 1991, etc.) structures his book succinctly, to “unpack” the different layers of a philosopher whose life and work, closely intertwined, are less discussed today yet were hugely influential in their time: in his day, Santayana (1863–1952) was a prolific intellectual who made tremendous strides in merging philosophical and fictive writing. Singer defines his discussion by linking eight discrete long essays, each offering particular examinations, such as “Santayana as Literary Critic” (a fascinating entree to his then-radical attempts to glean clear philosophical stances and ethical qualities from the poetry and fiction of Dante, Shelley, and Dickens) or “Idealization: Santayana versus Freud” (an examination of these thinkers’ sharply divergent views on the human pursuit of unattainable objects). Singer also presents a well-executed analysis of Santayana’s “essayistic” novel The Last Puritan, a 1935 bestseller of broad scope that Santayana asserted was based upon philosophical notions developed over 45 years. Somewhat racier ground is covered in a surprising chapter on “Santayana’s Philosophy of Love,” where Singer maintains that, in “insisting upon the interrelation between ideals and natural processes” and contemplating the instinctual human drive towards “erotic bonding” for purposes of pleasure, Santayana implicitly laid directions toward the sexually explicit schools of thought that exploded a decade past his lifetime. Two concluding chapters approach Santayana’s ideas more actively, in relation to cultural stimulus: they address “Greatness in Art” in terms of the harmonic unity of form, material, and “significant world outlook” he required, and the relevant roles of aesthetic and moral criticism. Overall, one receives less of a sense of Santayana the man, and more of his immense interrelated body of ideas.
Singer is a graceful writer, but one who seems most comfortable addressing an academic readership. Nonetheless, committed lay readers will also find this to be a sound introduction to Santayana’s broad sphere of philosophic influence.Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-300-08037-9
Page Count: 212
Publisher: Yale Univ.
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2000
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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