A deliciously provocative analysis of an entirely admirable human quality.
Almost everyone applauds a good Samaritan, but this wasn’t always the case. Psychologist McCullough delivers a delightfully ingenious explanation of how we came around.
“Modern humans’ concern for the welfare of perfect strangers has no analog in the rest of the animal kingdom or even in our own history as a species,” writes the author. “It’s a true one-off.” An ant, wolf, lion, or chimpanzee who wanders into an unfamiliar group will be attacked and likely killed. Primitive humans were no different: “Our stone-age ancestors didn’t care very much at all about the well-being of true strangers.” Darwin maintained that natural selection evolved an instinct to help strangers in the hope of getting help in return and also to obtain praise from those around us. This instinct developed with the advance of civilization, during which culture, trade, and technology added to our capacity to reason and then refined our compassion. McCullough offers a superb history of charity. Ancient rulers and aristocrats paid little attention to the poor. Mostly arising during the first millennium B.C.E., world religions and philosophies gave rise to the golden rule; kindness to others became both virtuous and a mark of piety. Yet few doubted that poverty was “just another of life’s unpleasant inevitabilities” until after 1500, when urbanization and its accompanying squalor and disease convinced observers that it endangered social order, public health, and business, so government should take action. This gave rise to the first effective poor laws and national charitable institutions. By the 20th century, arguments for “natural rights and the dignity of all persons” produced both domestic social programs in developed nations and a steady stream of foreign aid. The 21st-century explosion of social media revolutionized philanthropy, allowing instant appeals and massive responses from “bathrobe humanitarians” sitting at their computers.
A deliciously provocative analysis of an entirely admirable human quality. (10 figures, 2 tables)Pub Date: May 12, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-465-06474-8
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Basic Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 29, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2020
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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