Lush, comprehensive scholarship aimed at a very limited academic readership.
The acclaimed author of The Name of the Rose (1980) and Foucault’s Pendulum (1988) returns with a deeply academic collection of previously published essays, speeches and a book review, all examining issues in semiotics, linguistics and medieval history.
Not for the faint of heart—or for those who neglected their homework in Latin or world history—this anthology is for scholars, philosophers, historians, linguists and semioticians. Novelist and literary critic Eco (Emeritus, Semiotics/Univ. of Bologna; The Prague Cemetery, 2011, etc.) has revised each of the pieces, and they retain their full academic regalia: parenthetical citations, long block quotations and dense footnotes. He begins with a discussion of the semantic differences between dictionaries and encyclopedias and then proceeds to a historical analysis of metaphor and a tracing of the philosophical use of the dog—and the barking dog—in the thinking of some heavyweights like Augustine, Abelard, Aquinas and Roger Bacon. Among the more interesting selections is one about how people in the Middle Ages viewed fakes and copies. Since they had few ways to determine authenticity, they were more accepting of them. Dante figures prominently in a number of the pieces. We learn that he accepted the biblical account of the variety of Earth’s languages, and Eco explains the notion that God perhaps gave Adam a sort of Chomsky-an universal grammar rather than an actual language—though he also acknowledges the long attempt to demonstrate that Hebrew was the language of Adam. Eco is generally generous to other scholars, but he does go after Benedetto Croce for a “lack of precision” and an “extremely limited familiarity with the arts.” Another engaging essay deals with what he calls “natural semiosis,” and he revisits and reaffirms some thoughts about Kant and the platypus.
Lush, comprehensive scholarship aimed at a very limited academic readership.Pub Date: Feb. 3, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-674-04918-5
Page Count: 590
Publisher: Harvard Univ.
Review Posted Online: Nov. 23, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
A very welcome instance of philosophy that can help readers live a good life.
A teacher and scholar of Buddhism offers a formally varied account of the available rewards of solitude.
“As Mother Ayahuasca takes me in her arms, I realize that last night I vomited up my attachment to Buddhism. In passing out, I died. In coming to, I was, so to speak, reborn. I no longer have to fight these battles, I repeat to myself. I am no longer a combatant in the dharma wars. It feels as if the course of my life has shifted onto another vector, like a train shunted off its familiar track onto a new trajectory.” Readers of Batchelor’s previous books (Secular Buddhism: Imagining the Dharma in an Uncertain World, 2017, etc.) will recognize in this passage the culmination of his decadeslong shift away from the religious commitments of Buddhism toward an ecumenical and homegrown philosophy of life. Writing in a variety of modes—memoir, history, collage, essay, biography, and meditation instruction—the author doesn’t argue for his approach to solitude as much as offer it for contemplation. Essentially, Batchelor implies that if you read what Buddha said here and what Montaigne said there, and if you consider something the author has noticed, and if you reflect on your own experience, you have the possibility to improve the quality of your life. For introspective readers, it’s easy to hear in this approach a direct response to Pascal’s claim that “all of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone.” Batchelor wants to relieve us of this inability by offering his example of how to do just that. “Solitude is an art. Mental training is needed to refine and stabilize it,” he writes. “When you practice solitude, you dedicate yourself to the care of the soul.” Whatever a soul is, the author goes a long way toward soothing it.
A very welcome instance of philosophy that can help readers live a good life.Pub Date: Feb. 18, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-300-25093-0
Page Count: 200
Publisher: Yale Univ.
Review Posted Online: Nov. 24, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
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