The Wisdom of Harry Potter

Posted on September 27, 2009 by smellincoffee

The Wisdom of Harry Potter: What Our Fvorite Hero Teaches Us about Moral Choices

© 2003 Edmund M. Kern
296 pages including notes and index.
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Although I’m interested in the transmission of philosophy through literature or similar means, I’m still amused when I see books on the philosophy of Star Trek or Star Wars. When something is so popular as entertainment, it takes a moment to adjust to the idea of it being taken as ideas about life that we can learn from. The same is true of Harry Potter. This book was written in 2001 and published immediately following the release of The Order of the Phoenix. In it, author Edmund Kern elaborates on the idea that Harry Potter is an example of Stoic virtue. My interest was doubly piqued.
This is not the first I’ve heard of such an idea. I encountered an article at a Stoic website I’ve since forgotten musing that Harry is an example of a hero who puts Stoic ideals to heart. It may have been Kern’s own “Harry Potter: Stoic Boy Wonder”, which you can read here. The ideal Stoic believes that there are some things we can control and some things we cannot, and that to concern ourselves with the unchangeable is irrational, futile, and potentially mentally harmful. He also believes that Virtue is the only good, and that virtuous behavior is that which is in line with the laws of Nature — among them, to live wisely, mindful of the aforementioned division between things, and to practice a cosmopolitan spirit — concern for all human beings. Kern sees Harry Potter as trying to live up to those standards: accepting what must be, but working within that to make things better for all.
Although the Stoic Harry theme is quite strong, it is not always present. The book begins with synopsis of the first four books, followed by Kern’s commentary on the themes present in them. In The Chamber of Secrets, for instance, the central theme is the individual’s power over his own choices, and thus his identity. Potter readers may remember Harry’s self-doubt before Dumbledore: in light of the fact that he shares so many of Voldemort’s traits, and that the Sorting Hat was tempted to put him into Slytherin, Harry fears that it is there he belongs. Dumbledore gently points out, however, that Harry chose Gryffindor, just as he choses to do good when it is not easy — just as he chooses to love and fight when neither are particularly safe. Just past the book’s midpoint, Kern also takes a chapter or two to address Rowling’s critics on the series’ political and religious stances (or lack therof, in Kern’s view) and then examines the series as literature in multigenres before returning to the Stoic theme. The book ends with an afterword written in 2003 just days after Order of the Phoenix was released and the author read it. (He read 800+ pages in just a couple of days.)
This was an interesting read. I never found Kern objectionable, although the intersection of Stoicism and Potter wasn’t as riveting as I would have otherwise expected. Still, it’s recommended reading for Potter fans or for those simply interested in the series’ moral tone.
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Fates Worse than Death

Posted on September 25, 2009 by smellincoffee

Fates Worse than Death

© 1990 Kurt Vonnegut
240 pages
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Kurt Vonnegut’s Fates Worse than Death is a collection of semi-autobiographical essays that function as reflections of portions of Vonnegut’s life. The essay texts come chiefly from lectures given by Vonnegut, with comments from him before, during, and after the talks are finished. The threat of nuclear annihilation seems to hang over this book, and Vonnegut’s cynical jokes and comments create a whistling-in-the-graveyard effect. The setting of the lectures tends toward the 1980s, and there are many potshots taken at then-president Reagan, some better than others.
Vonnegut displays mixed feelings about the history and future of humankind: while lamenting about where we very well may be headed, he also scoffs at Reaganites who are obsessed with restoring some lost, golden time and brings up America’s history of social progress (the ending of slavery, universal suffrage, civil rights) to champion liberal progressivism’s cause. This might indicate a hopefulness on his part that things will get better still, but it might just be an attack on conservatism. I tend to think it’s both: no matter how despairing Vonnegut sounds, it always seems as if he has a little glimmer of hope he keeps in his pockets and takes out to look at every once and a while.
The book sees him amend his opinions about some matters — the feasibility of “folk societies”, which he expressed in Wampeters, Foma, and Grandfallons. He still wishes they would work, he just accepts that their time has past and they weren’t really all that great in the first place. Vonnegut voices opinions on all manner of subjects. One of the more interesting essay-lectures was addressed to a Unitarian Universalist congregation in which Vonnegut spoke on the failures of Imperial Christianity (that is, Christianity based on doctrine and power-wielding organizations instead of smaller communities) and expressed his hopes that Unitarian Universalism would not destroy itself in a similar fashion. Other topics include “Occidental Meditation” (reading), war, pacifism, and work. This is a definite recommendation to Vonnegut fans, but to readers in general.
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This Week at the Library (24/9)

Posted on September 23, 2009 by smellincoffee

Books this Update:

  • Constantinople: the Forgotten Empire, Isaac Asimov
  • In Praise of Slowness, Carl Honoré
  • Rubicon, Steven Saylor
  • Barrel Fever, David Sedaris

I began the week with a little history by Asimov. This was the first time I’ve read any of Asimov’s historical work, not counting the historical background he often did for Asimov’s Guide to the Bible, volume I. My ignorance of the Byzantine period is near-total, but Asimov superbly rectified that situation. He tells the story of the Eastern Roman Empire’s last thousand years in a six chapter narrative. It’s very readable, but rather obscure by now.

Next I read a book I’d anticipated for a few weeks, In Praise of Slowness. The book documents the approaches the Slow movement takes in resisting the increasing pace of life in the United States and throughout the world — although the book is rather US-centered in some chapters, unavoidably so. No one does suburban sprawl quite like the states. Although the book has weak spots, particularly in regards to medicine, I was pleased with it overall. It is essentially a book about making human lives both more human and more livable, and I reccommend it — with a caveat or two.

I next continued in the Roma sub Rosa series with Rubicon. Rome is under military law, headed by Pompey the Great. Julius Caesar has broken Roman law and crossed the northern borders of Italy with his army, and civil war seems at hand. Gordianus has a lot to lose in the coming days, given that his son serves as Caesar’s scribe, but things grow worse when a dead body appears in his garden — a young and beloved relative of Pompey the Great. Vengeful Pompey takes Gordianus‘ son in law into his army and refuses to relinquish him until Gordianus finds the killer. Gordianus only has until Caesar and Pompey’s armies meet in the cup of Italy to meet the deadline — but before book’s end, he will see battle.

Lastly, I read David Sedaris‘ first work of stories and essays — mostly stories, with four essays in the back. Sedaris‘ first work doesn’t too much resemble his latter works, which almost wholly consist of his psuedo-biographical essays, but is more entertaining than not.

I’m still working on James Randi’s Flim-Flam, but it may take some time. I’m beginning work on a paper for my senior seminar, and that will detract greatly from my leisure time reading. I think the tone of upcoming books will be more casual than serious — it’s a lot easier to breeze through 400 pages of a quick novel than 200 pages of science or heavier social criticism.

Pick of the Week: In Praise of Slowness. Although Asimov’s history was very enjoyable, this is more meaningful and can help people.

Quotation of the Week: “The most honest man in Rome! No wonder nobody likes you.” This was said to Gordianus the Finder by Pompey the Great. While he meant it to malign Gordianus for not choosing sides, to me it comments on Rome’s declining virtues.

Potentials for Next Week:

  • Flim Flam! James Randi
  • A Chosen Faith: An Introduction to Unitarian Universalism, John A. Buehrens
  • Fates Worse than Death, Kurt Vonnegut
  • The Wisdom of Harry Potter: What Our Favorite Hero Teaches Us About Moral Choices, Edmund Kern. Although I was amusedly attracted to the book’s title, the publisher — Promethus Books — clinched my decision to read this one. Books I’ve read in the past by them have always been enjoyable.
  • The Consolations of Philosophy, Alain de Botton. Long-anticipated: this one is going to make it difficult for me to read through 200 more pages of Randi-style debunking. Still, I think I may refuse to read it until I’ve taken a substantial amount of notes for an upcoming paper.
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Barrel Fever

Posted on September 23, 2009 by smellincoffee

Barrel Fever: Stories and Essays
© 1995 David Sedaris
208 pages

Three years ago I heard David Sedaris talk about his experience living in Paris and was immediately taken by his style of humor. I don’t know how to articulate the Sedaris experience, except to say that he writes dryly about pathetic situations. Beginning with Me Talk Pretty One Day, I began reading his works of collected essays about his life. I believe I’ve only read two since I started this blog, Holidays on Ice and When You are Engulfed in Flames. Barrel Fever, Sedaris‘ first work, is much different from the volumes following it. While they consist chiefly of essays based on Sedaris‘ own life, Barrel Fever is dominated by first-person fictional essays and stories, two of which are repeated in Holidays on Ice owing to the Christmas theme. (They don’t lose anything in repetition, especially not his SantaLand Diaries.)

The stories’ narrators don’t share much in common beyond being kooky and pathos-inspiring. I said before that the only way I know how to describe Sedaris‘ writing is to say that he writes dryly about pathetic situations, and the same is true of these stories. In one, a teenage suicide attempts — through her suicide letter — to instigate a lynch mob at her own funeral, including a CD containing “Music for Stoning”. The humor here is dark, morbid, and more than a little perverse — moreso than his biographical essays, I think, and not quite as funny. While I enjoy his fables (as read on This American Life), I didn’t enjoy his stories here as much as I expected. The essays were typical of his essay collections, meaning that they made for disturbingly funny reading.

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Rubicon

Posted on September 20, 2009 by smellincoffee
Rubicon
© 1999 Steven Saylor
276 pages
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“Alea iacta est.”/”The die is cast.” / “Let the game begin!” – Julius Caesar

“The most honest man in Rome! No wonder nobody likes you.” (Pompey, to Gordianus.)
Murder on the Appian Way began with the people of Rome rioting in the streets. Although our Roma sub Rosa narrator Gordianus was able to leave the city on business, he was unable to escape the political maneuvering that resulted from the murder of populist Publius Clodius.Partially as a result of the increasing political instability, Rubicon begins with news of Julius Caesar’s having broken the law of Rome and crossed the northern frontiers of Italy with his army. The Republic has reached point of crisis. Aging and allegeldy retired Gordianus the Finder would just as soon spend the rest of his life in his study, reading through plays and memoirs while entertaining his grandchildren, but it so happens that a visitor to his home is found death in his garden under the eyes of a newly repaired statue of Minerva. The visitor happens to be a young relative of Pompey the Great, one that the dictator is quite fond of. As Gordianus prepares to sort out the means of the young man’s death, Pompey the Great himself arrives at Gordianus’ door to inquire as to where his relative and courier has gone off to. When he finds out that his relative’s destination is somewhere beyond the river Styx, he promptly seizes Gordianus’ new son-in-law Davus out of spite and impresses him into military service. Davus will only be released from his newfound obligation when Gordianus has solved the mystery of who murdered young Pompeius and why.
The timing is rather unfortunate, as Julius Caesar is marching through the Italian peninsula with his army. His position in Rome being weak, the Great One is departing with those loyal to him to Italy’s extreme south, where he hopes to rally supporters around him. Gordianus must solve the murder before Caesar and Pompey’s armies meet: for no matter who wins, Gordianus will lose. His son Meto is Caesar’s scribe, and with Davus in Pompey’s army his family could meet great sorrow in the battle’s aftermath. Such an investigation seems impossible, as everyone who might be of informational use has fled Rome — either out of loyalty to Pompey or to hiding places in the countryside. Gordianus is given a chance to accomplish his mission when he spots Cicero’s allegedly bedridden scribe and ex-slave Tiro strolling about Rome in disguise as an Alexandrian philosopher. Cicero and Gordianus may not share the same politics or values, but they both dread a Sullan-style dictatorship and are attempting to stay neutral — although Cicero intends to keep on top of things by employing Tiro as a spy to both sides. Together Tiro and Gordianus set out for Brundisium, where they are expecting Pompey and Caesar to meet in battle.
In the last book I commented that the historical background of the novels was becoming increasingly important, and here my attention was attracted wholly to it, with little thought given to the murder that forces Gordianus into such a predicament. History is about to change, and the reader is able to see it happen through Gordianus’ eyes. Rome is utterly deserted by its government, and the Appian way is occupied by marching troops. Before the book’s end, Gordianus will have been invited into the tents of both Pompey and Caesar as they attempt to out-manuever the other. The book succeeds as historical fiction and fiction proper: after finishing the book and reflecting on it, I realized Saylor worked in more foreshadowing than usual in this work, perhaps as a consequence of telling the story differently. I often feel as though I’m literally following in Gordianus’ footsteps, privy to his every thought and facial expression. To be sure, Gordianus always keeps some cards close to his vest, but in this book he seems to have lost an entire deck of cards in there. It’s a fine addition to the series, and I eagerly await more.
It will be some time before I’m able to continue the series, though. I cannot find the three books three books preceding The Triumph of Caesar and following Rubicon in any of my libraries, and I will not read Triumph out of order for purposes of continuity, so I have purchased the books used through Amazon marketplace, and I cannot say how long it will take for Last Seen in Massilia to arrive.
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In Praise of Slowness

Posted on September 19, 2009 by smellincoffee
In Praise of Slowness: How a Worldwide Movement is Challenging the Cult of Speed
© Carl Honoré 2004
310 pages
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I have been living philosophically for over a year now, and as time passes I am attracted more and more to a life that is quiet, gentle, simple, and slow. This is facilitated by the university town I live in that allows such a life — a life where I linger for long hours in the university cafeteria enjoying the company of friends, a life where I am free to simply go for a walk around a beautiful town any time I feel like it. I want to live as a free human ought. As my politics become more radical, my sense of spirituality more universal, and my mind more centered, I have found a variety of topics to be of increasing interest — like the New Urbanism movement, which is intent on making communities “human-sized again”, getting away from ill-considered suburban sprawl. Another is the philosophical and religious concept of “simple living”.
In Praise of Slowness is a book that incorporates simple living, New Urbanism, and the philosophical life into its text. I will summarize as it as being written to make human lives human and livable once more. Where our way of life has reduced us to living passively, consuming unthinkingly, and bouncing from one task to the next without ever really enjoying anything, Slowness asserts that we should slow down and think about what it is we’re doing. This happened to author Carl Honoré in his pre-Slow days: after fuming at every person whose path interrupted his in a busy airport, he was drawn to a store display promising bedtime stories for children that could be told in sixty seconds or less, sparing parents the annoyance of having to sit down and read for their child. In his recollection, he was preparing to order the entire set when he realized that this was going too far. That capitalism, consumerism, suburbanization, industrial agriculture, and other systems in use in our society have gone too far is a common criticism, but is not less valid because of this. As the author writes, people in the United States work too long, drive too fast, turn meals into pit stops, and have allowed life to become nothing more than background noise they are annoyed by while working on to-do lists. Separate chapters cover living arrangements, sex, work, leisure, food, spirituality, medicine, and childrearing. There’s a lot of depth here, because author Carl Honoré is applying the same principle to as much of human life as he can without making the book overly long.
As much as I like the book’s premise, there are signs that some parts of it were written incautiously. There were facts put forth that needed citing and a little too much reliance on anecdotes. The entire chapter on medicine was disappointing. Homeopathy does not work “slow”, it does not work. Perhaps the “medicine model” does need checking — some matters are more psychological than biological, I would suspect, and a little philosophy would be more effective than a pill — but evidence-based medicine is still far superior to massages that are meant to let the body’s “energy” move around more freely. What startled me was how true the holistic doctors kept to the descriptions made by them of skeptics like Steven Novella and James Randi who have examined their claims and found them lacking. The tactics they used haven’t changed!
Although the chapter on medicine is quite week, the newage doesn’t spoil the rest of the book: it’s quite localized, as it were, and I can recommend the book on the whole. Just read with a salt-shaker nearby.
Related Reading:
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Constantinople: the Forgotten Empire

Posted on September 19, 2009 by smellincoffee
Constantinople: the Forgotten Empire
© Isaac Asimov 1970
289 pages
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The history of the eastern Roman empire, ruled from Constantinople, has long been a weak point in my own historical literacy. When I spotted a book on its history by Isaac Asimov in my library’s catalog, I was delighted at the prospect of introducing myself to both Byzantine history and Isaac Asimov’s history work. Unfortunately I won’t be able to read more of it — these books, like most of his work, are out of print and the only copies on Amazon are held by opportunists who offer them only at obscene prices.
The old city of Byzantium’s history as told in section one’s six chapters became the history of the Roman empire when the Emperor Constantine decided to rebuild it in his own image, creating a “New Rome” out of a city on the straits between southeastern Europe and Asia minor. It gained more importance under the reign of Diocletian, when he divided the old Roman empire into four administrative areas headed by two emperors — one in the west, and one in the east at “New Rome which is called Constantine’s City”, or Constantinople.
Although the western empire eventually transformed into the European feudal world and officially died in 474, the empire in the east continued long after — for nearly a thousand years, before finally being done in by the rising Ottoman Turks. In my own experience, histories of the Roman empire have referred to the eastern empire in a very passive way, as if it were only the echo of the west’s once-ringing bell. Although Asimov is only able to give the empire a summative treatment, its history still emerges as fascinating and unique, deserving of more attention. There are many interesting characters and stories here — like the emperor who saw his empire nearly destroyed by the Parthians, who triumphed over them and restored his dominion only to see it eviscerated again by Islam’s armies before his death — and Asimov makes me think of issues I’ve never before pondered. I never for once have given any thought to how the crowning of Charlemagne as “Holy Roman Emperor” by the western pope might be received by emperor in the west, who arguably has a better claim to being holy, Roman, and imperial. It also raises more questions, as answers often do: while I found out how Christianity spread to Russia (and why it is more East Orthodox than Roman Catholic), I then wondered what it replaced in Russia.
For all the story’s interest, it is not a story with a happy ending. Although the Byzantine empire at its height resembles the Roman empire at its height (with much less influence in Europe), over the course of a thousand years it is weakened by constant political intrigue from within (monks seemed to have held a great deal of political power and ambition for more) and the constant attack of enemies from without. “Barbarians” in the Balkans seem to be an ever present problem, the western polities view the old Empire with scorn and hatred (demonstrated by their vicious sack of the city in 1204), and Asia provides a merry list of rivals starting with the Parthians and culminating with the Turks — who destroy the withered remains of the state in a move that is more redundant than dramatic. Asimov’s epilogue comments that while the western empire left an imposter “ghost” of sorts in the Holy Roman Empire, the Byzantines left their own imposter-ghost in the form of the Russian empire, who married one of the last Byzantine princesses and assumed the title tsar, from caesar.
This was a very readable introduction to Byzantine history. I recommend it, but good luck finding it.
So take me back to Constantinople
No, you can’t go back to Constantinople
Been a long time gone, Constantinople
Why did Constantinople get the works?
That’s nobody’s business but the Turks
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This Week at the Library (16/9)

Posted on September 17, 2009 by smellincoffee

Books this Update:

  • Death by Black Hole, Neil deGrass Tyson
  • Murder on the Appian Way, Steven Saylor
  • Waiter Rant, “The Waiter”
  • Taming the Mind, Thubten Chodron
  • Pebble in the Sky, Isaac Asimov
  • Dark Force Rising, Timothy Zahn
  • The Philosophy of Humanism, Corliss Lamont

This was an unexpectedly busy week for reading, although I had read most of two of these before finishing them this week. I began by finishing Neil deGrass Tyson’s Death by Black Hole, a collection of popular science essays and edited for continuity purposes — largely so that the essays refer to one another. The 42 essays are divided into seven sections: “The Nature of Knowledge”, “The Knowledge of Nature”, “Ways and Means of Nature”, “The Meaning of Life”, “When the Universe Turns Bad”, “Science and Culture” and lastly, “Science and God”. Tyson is definitely entertaining to read: popular science readers should give this one a go if they can.

I then returned to Steven Saylor’s Roma sub Rosa series. What stands out most about this book is that history is becoming a more powerful force in the books. Before it was just the setting: when commenting on Roman Blood, I said that Gordianus could just as easily be a streetwise detective in the gritty streets of New York back in the thirties or fifties. As the series has progressed, this has become much less true. The murder of a populist politician, Publius Clodius, has outraged the common people of Rome. The book begins with rioting in the streets, rioting that will see houses of any stature looted and the Senate house burned to the ground. Gordianus escapes this chaos when he is asked by several people to find out the details of Clodius’ murder in the Roman countryside. Unfortunately for Gordianus, politics extend far beyond the city walls, and he will find himself in the thick of things. The book ends with the dictatorship of Pompey the Great, meaning — for students of Roman history — that the death of the Republic isn’t too far off.

I next read Waiter Rant: Confessions of a Cynical Waiter, a semibiographical book consisting of essays recounting the author’s near-decade of waiting tables and serving as front-area manager. I said before that it reminded me of This American Life in that it uses the stories of some people in society to both entertain and provoke to response. The Waiter isn’t just interested in making the reader laugh or wince: he muses on political and sociological topics that relate to why their lives are the way they are.

I also finished Taming the Mind by Thubten Chodron on various elements in Buddhist religion and philosophy. I wasn’t too happy with the book: it was more dogmatic than other Buddhist books I’ve read, even Zen Buddhism for Beginners. It also seemed to lack focus. (No pun intended.) It covers a little bit of everything but doesn’t go into a lot of detail: only one section of the book seemed to deal with the topic’s title, and I think had it been expanded the book would have been better for it.

I picked up Triangle on Sunday for some lunchtime reading. It contains all three of Isaac Asimov’s Empire books, and despite having had it for a year or so I’ve never read any of them. I read through Pebble in the Sky that Sunday, though, and found it enjoyable enough. The book is set in the galaxy’s far future, when humanity has populated most of the galaxy and been unified under a central empire ruled by Trantor. So much time has passed that no one really knows of humanity’s origins on the lowly planet of Earth. It is viewed by the galaxy as you or I might view a wretchedly small town in the middle of a fetid swamp populated by violently superstitious people. On Earth, the reigning theocrats believe that in times past, Earth was strong, mighty, and ruled the galaxy. This opinion has led to their outright revolt several times, and when a time-traveler from 1949 is accidentally thrust into the future, the secret police believe he is an imperial agent sent to uncover their plans for future galactic domination.

I next continued in the Thrawn trilogy by reading Dark Force Rising. The new Republic continues to struggle with its place in the galaxy, and political intrigue makes things all the more worse. Grand Admiral Thrawn is continuing to strengthen the Empire under his leadership, and is enjoying a growing reputation for unfailing cunning. A very interesting element of this book is the Dark Force, a ghost fleet of sorts lost years before the clone war. The ships’ crew went mad and destroyed themselves, but not before launching into deep space with no known coordinates. If found, its two hundred ships could give either the Empire or the New Republic a decisive tool to eradicate the other. This is not quite as strong as the first book, but it is strong enough to keep the story going.

Lastly, I read an introduction to the philosophy of humanism by Corliss Lamont, former president of the American Humanist Association. I read it more for historical information, which I was able to find here. I don’t know that the book’s purpose is to convince those who do not associate themselves with the label: I think it may be more suitable for those looking for information about Humanism, like those who are already drawn to its values. It’s recommended reading for humanists an those interested in nonreligious philosophies of meaning.

Pick of the Week: Murder on the Appian Way was too strong to ignore.

Quotation of the Week: I read a fun little ditty in The Philosophy of Humanism that I’ll share next week, but what I liked most this week was an excerpt from Taming the Mind:

By ourselves is evil done;
By ourselves we pain endure.
By ourselves we cease from ill;
By ourselves become we pure.
No one can save us but ourselves;
No one can and no one may.
We ourselves must walk the path,
Buddhas only point the way

Potentials for Next Week:

  • Constantinople: The Forgotten Empire, Isaac Asimov
  • Our Chosen Faith: An Introduction to Unitarian Universalism, John F. Buehrens, F. Forrester Church
  • Rubicon, Steven Saylor
  • Flim-Flam! Psycics, ESP, Unicorns, and Other Delusions; James Randi
  • In Praise of Slowness: How a Worldwide Movement is Challenging the Cult of Speed, Carl Honore
  • The Last Command, Timothy Zahn
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The Philosophy of Humanism

Posted on September 16, 2009 by smellincoffee

The Philosophy of Humanism
© 1990 Corliss Lamont
326 pages

This is very straightforward book on the obvious subject, giving a history, description, and promotion of contemporary humanism. Author Corliss Lamont once headed the American Humanist Association, although he is perhaps better know for his political activities. After a short introduction, Lamont gives a history of the Humanist tradition, tapping both religious and scientific personalities as well as poets, politicians, and poetry — for humanism is a grand tradition.

Subsequent chapters delve into humanist values and common beliefs — he focuses on the importance of affirming life and using the scientific method as our guide whenever possible, and devotes a chapter to metaphysics. The chapter on the affirmation of life was interesting. Not only did he express a need for naturalistic mysticism — the importance of losing one’s self in the feeling of the sublime — but he writes on ethics and politics. Lamont’s socialistic political views do not seem to motivate the text: he writes that while Marxism and democratic socialism are themselves friendly to humanism, humanists need not be socialists.

Lamont’s humanism is a kindler, gentler humanism, reminding more of Erich Fromm and Isaac Asimov than of the voices in the “New Atheism”. Perhaps Greg Epstein’s so-called “New Humanism” is merely a return to Lamont and Fromm’s. While Lamont criticizes religious elements and maintains that humans must and should ground their lives in the natural world, he doesn’t seem bitter or angry at it — only at the abuses. He’s also more open to emotional life than modern humanists are. Lamont is more passionate about what Humanism is and what it does than the failures of its rivals.

The book is quite readable, although the chapter on metaphysics may give some reades pause: it tends toward academic. My own copy of the book came with the first and second humanist manifestos, which were replaced in 2003 by the third. This is reccommend reading for humanists and those interested in a life of meaning and joy outside of religious belief.

Related Reading:

  • Erich Fromm’s The Sane Society
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Dark Force Rising

Posted on September 16, 2009 by smellincoffee

Dark Force Rising
© 1992 Timothy Zahn
376 pages

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I’m continuing in the Thrawn trilogy with Dark Force Rising. When we left the series at the end of Heir to the Empire, Leia Organa Solo was about to pay a visit to a mysterious alien planet with a strong affection for the recently deceased Lord Vader and his progeny. Leia hopes to use her “royal” influence to encourage the Noghri to break with the old Empire. Luke is drawn to a man who is rumored to be a Jedi master from before the great purge, while Han and Lando Calrissian participate in numerous action sequences.

The title can again be taken in two ways: the Empire is growing more strong thanks to Thrawn’s leadership, but much of the second half of the book concerns the discovery of a “Lost Fleet”. In the last decades of the Republic, a fleet of largely automated ships was lost when their crews went mad from disease. The location of the lost Fleet — the “Dark Force” — has been every merchant’s Holy Grail since. In this book we learn that Talon Kardde, the smuggler-merchant who was sch a strong character in the last book, knows where it is and he might be persuaded to sell them to the Republic if they make a good offer. Things will not go the way anyone expects, however.

This book didn’t seem as strong as the first book, although the ghost-fleet was a strong element. Still, I will be finishing the series.

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