Book Description
Become an effective leader with THE LEADERSHIP EXPERIENCE! Packed with interesting examples of real world leadership, this management text will help you acquire the skills you need to become an effective leader. See leadership in action with Leadership Profiles and In the Lead boxes that spotlight current leaders in business, education, the military, politics, and not-for-profit organizations. Each chapter ends with exercises that allow you to apply the concepts you?ve learned while gaining insight into your own leadership development.
Customer Reviews:
Great book on Leadership with interesting material.......2007-02-14
I'm using this book for a graduate course. It is very readable and has lots of interesting side articles included. The many evaluations it provides provide a quick way to see new perspectives on your leadership style. It provides a broad view of leadership theories, styles, followership, culture, etc. I have taken another graduate course that uses Dr. Daft's Management book. There are many overlapping topics between the two books as expected. There is also a website associated with the book which has some good resources including PowerPoint slides. My only complaint is the price seems high for a non-hardbound book.
Book Description
The Western Experience offers a thorough, analytical overview of Western civilization, giving students an introduction to the major achievements in Western thought, art, and science--as well as the social, political, and economic context for understanding those developments. To help readers develop their reasoning and writing skills, each chapter is constructed to serve as an example of a historical essay: A historical problem is presented, and arguments are developed using historical evidence.
Available in a single volume as well as two-volume and three-volume formats, The Western Experience now devotes an entire chapter to empires in the nineteenth-century. Based on the work of Lisa Tiersten, Chapter 26 “Nineteenth-Century Empires” has impressive breath and depth of coverage both chronologically (nineteenth century, 1780-1914) and geographically. The chapter also includes exciting new illustrations and photographs and new primary source material.
Customer Reviews:
Review .......2007-09-27
This book is very broad and does not go in great detail. Good for overviews, or a teacher who is not looking to press you for details. Is written quite simply and plainly for anyone to understand. Keep in mind the viewpoint of the authors when reading this...
"Western Experience" a good experience.......2005-09-09
This book covers everything I needed for my high school sophomore AP European History class. Though it is at a college freshman level, and I found the reading tedious sometimes because of the information, it is, all in all, no more and no less than the history scholar would need. The authors did a superb job of tying everything together and explaining not only the "when", but the "why" and the "how" of the events covered. No irrelevant information is presented; it is all important to the study of European History. Plus, there is a bibliography in the back of each chapter for further reading and information sources. There is a list of maps, an introduction, and an epilogue, all of which are helpful.
The book has many helpful maps, charts, and boxes with the chronology of certain important events (i.e. the "fall" of Rome and the Persian Wars.) There are also pale yellow boxes throughout containing sections of literature and poetry from or about the time period that is being covered. The text not only covers major battles and people, but a bit about the lifestyles of the people being studied.
In short, this book is a wonderful resource for all those learning about European History.
Western Experience truly brilliant.......2003-09-15
For any serious student of History, this book is a must have. It gives you the information in such a way, that it is both understandable, and easy to use.
Very well done to the Authors.
Not a book for beginners.......2001-05-26
I had to purchase this book for my guide to AP European History.
I had never before had a course in European History and this gave me a disadvantage in using this book.
Because the text assumes you know who everyone is, the immeadiately tell you every single way history views important people, classes, wars, monarchs, etc.
Also, the reading can get very tedious.
However, I gave this book 3 stars because it does offer more than just what happened. It also tries to show the student, "why did it happen."
TO teachers/professors: Only give this book to your class if they have some experience of European History
A nice 1000-page synopsis of the European Culture, but..........2001-05-12
"The Western Experience" edited by Chambers covers a massive range of topics in a manner that is conducive to the understanding of the material. The book discusses many Social, Political and economic trends for each respective time frame. However, there are some glaring omissions as a historical text. The book will state for example, that a certain organization was established in a certain year, however, nothing further is mentioned. No explanations as to why or as to what purpose said organization ultimately served. Further, the text becomes, at times, difficult to follow, as things are not discussed in chronological order. The reader often has difficulty in distinguishing the year and what specific events where happening elsewhere at the same time. But it must be noted here that the reader most certainly does recognize parallelism within history, as the result of its interconnected, yet non-chronological, organization scheme.
If must be noted, however, that while it is at times difficult to follow, the book, especially in the more modern history parts, does a relatively good job of remaining objective.
Book Description
Dutch SS accounts are very rare, particularly ones such as this, covering recruitment, training, and frontline service first with 5th SS Panzer Division 'Wiking', then later with SS Regiment Besslein. He not only informs and illustrates the general politics of the time, but also explains how Dutch views of the Third Reich changed so radically, discusses the founding of the Waffen-SS, the recruitment of Dutch volunteers into it and why so many non-German Europeans volunteered to fight and risk their lives for Germany. His discussion of the intensity of the SS's training is also noteworthy. Of course, the core of the book lies in Hendrik's recollections of his service on the Eastern Front between 1941 and 1945, initially with the 5th SS Panzer Division 'Wiking'. He offers the reader an impressive and fluid account, whether it be describing the midst of battle, surviving 50 degrees below zero, frosts and frozen ground, or traversing a quagmire of roads. Of particular historical interest are his later recollections of service during 1944-45 with SS Regiment Besslein on the Eastern Front, focusing on his participation in the epic defense of Breslau - this siege remains little-known in the West, and first-hand accounts such as Hendrik's are even scarcer, making this title a worthy addition to the literature on the Second World War. REVIEWS "...reveals a perspective on the battlefields of World War II that is not often encountered by an American readership. ...Is as compelling as it is informative. Exceptionally well written and impressively candid.....a welcome and recommended addition to the growing library of WWII military memoirs..."Midwest Book Review May 2007 James Cox
Customer Reviews:
An interesting perspective.......2007-07-04
Verton was a Dutch Waffen SS voluteer. His story is laced with many explanations and justifications for his decision to join the Waffen SS and later settle in post-war Germany; these do not detract too much from the story and perhaps help readers who are not famililar with the motivations of non-German Waffen SS voluteers. The retribution his family suffered due to his and his brother's service for Germany was a new insight for this reader. Overall, a good read and recommended for persons interested in first person stories of the Eastern Front.
Miraculous survival and literary snapshots of the times.......2007-05-13
What made this book stand out was the author's un-apologetic reasons for a Dutchman voluntarily serving in the German Military. Although he does not give due blame and responibility for the mass murders of the Nazi's (he does describe some of the atrocities of the Communists), the author does give a good and clear account of the fighting he was in and the defense of Breslau, Germany which was never taken in battle before the fall of Germany. This was an interesting account in particular as it is a fairly unheralded battle and the author was a witness. His defense of the SS and German military is valid for the reasons he accepted as an indoctrinated idealistic young man. -Just as the reasons for fighting for their cause were equally as valid for the typical US or Soviet soldier. Government leaders so typically manipulate the patriotic juices of their citizens in order to get them to support whatever war happens to be the current cause, whether it is fighting the "Red Menace", "Evil Nazi's", "Stopping Communism", "The Taliban". Wars are a profitable tool of the Controllers and every nation has lost too many fine sons for the temporary control of real estate in the name of their Cause.
A welcome and recommended addition .......2007-05-08
"In The Fire Of The Eastern Front: The Experiences Of A Dutch Waffen-SS Volunteer On The Easter Front 1941-45" is the personal memoir of Hendrick C. Verton and reveals a perspective on the battlefields of World War II that is not often encountered by an American readership. Verton includes his recruitment, training, and frontline service experiences as he saw service with the 5th SS Panzer Division 'Wiking" and then later with the SS Regiment Besslein. Verton touches upon the general politics of the day and explains how Dutch views of the Third Reich changed radically over the years of the war. Verton also covers that founding of the Waffen-SS, the recruiting of Dutch volunteers like himself, and why many non-German European volunteered to fight and imperil their lives for Germany and Adolph Hitler. Verton's stories of fighting in pitch battles, surviving 50 degree blow zero weather, transporting men and equipment over terrain that would range from quagmires to frozen ground is as compelling as it is informative. Exceptionally well written and impressively candid, "In The Fire Of The Eastern Front" is a welcome and recommended addition to the growing library of World War II military memoirs and autobiographies.
Excellent coverage of Siege of Breslau 1945.......2007-03-05
This is a very interesting book. The author manages to cover a lot of interesting ground, which is not usually written about in other German World War II memoirs. In particular, his perspective as a Dutch volunteer is written about at length. The prewar conditions in the Netherlands that the author views as responsible for the early years of World War II seeing so many of his fellow countrymen volunteer for service at the front with the Germans are explained in detail (even if one may not always agree with his political opinions).
Likewise, the way the early volunteers joined the SS, their induction and training is also explained at some length.
If you are looking for combat experiences, then the fact that the author served in the East in Silesia during 1945 easily justify buying this book. His account of service in a Kampfgruppe in besieged Breslau with SS Regiment Besslein is very good indeed. There is plenty of detail, particularly as these events are little known in the English-speaking world, and even less written about.
This title is well worth buying because of the different perspective it offers, and particularly for its excellent coverage of some aspects of the final months of the war on the Eastern Front which receive very little coverage elsewhere.
not for the casually interested.......2007-03-02
In a nutshell: In the Fire of the Eastern Front left me with mixed feelings. On the one hand as the publisher's blurb suggests WWII memoirs of Dutch Waffen-SS volunteers are very rare and this makes this book interesting and worth having in it's own right. On the other hand for me it did not deliver on all points. Foremost is the fact that from a purely military-history point of view the descriptions of the frontline experiences are a lot less detailed than one could hope for. For instance there is little specific technical information relating to (the use of) small-arms in combat nor much about tactics, little unit or order of battle information and the author surprisingly rarely mentions specific comrades or unit commanders. The time the author Hendrik Verton spent in the ranks of the Wiking division (in fact with a detached sub- or ad hoc unit of said division) was limited to the winter of 1941-1942 and spring of '42 on the central part of the front. Verton then fell ill with typhoid fever and was transported back to Germany. The period from the summer of 1942 to the summer of 1944 is covered in only a few pages; after recuperating from his illness the author took part in a couple of training courses. The action only picks up again in the second half of 1944 when Verton is posted to a Kampfgruppe in East Prussia and afterwards to SS (fortress) regiment Besslein in Silesia (an area of Eastern Germany which is now part of Poland). Unclear remains why Verton never returned to the Wiking division. The Silesian and Breslau siege part of the book I found to be the most interesting. Breslau held out till after the fall of Berlin and it is an epic episode in the closing stages of the Russo-German war which is not well known outside of Germany. Verton's experiences during the siege are well worth the read. The fairly extensive post-war part of the book is fairly interesting but one could secretly wish more of these pages had been spent on his actual front-line experiences.
Completely superfluous however to all but the complete WWII novice are the many pages relating the general course of the war. Who for example wants to read some digression about the Battle of Britain in an Eastern Front memoir? Having read about two dozen German veteran memoirs it still amazes me why some editors do not make their authors stick to what they personally experienced, with say only the broadest outlines of the bigger picture of the front where the author served to put things in perspective.
Unsurprising but perhaps for some after a while annoying are the many `apologist' statements in the book. They do not detract from the substance of this memoir and of course the author is free to expound his views on whether WWII was really such a clear-cut showdown between pure good and pure evil. Interesting in this light is the recent book on WWII in Europe by Norman Davies. However Verton is not an historian and while he repeatedly accuses Western opinion of being unfairly biased towards Germany in general and to the Waffen-SS in particular the author then resorts to his own bias and paints a very one-sided picture of stalwart volunteer idealists bravely fighting Communism and saving Western civilization. No shades of gray here. However precisely because of the fact Verton is not a historian it is interesting to see how so long after the war a person can still be so adamant and unwavering about his views and convictions.
The translation from the original German could have benefited from better proof reading. Some sentences seem a bit quirky. A couple of times an obviously Dutch word or name should have been translated into Dutch instead of being left in German. Also a Dutch newspaper is called National Socialist instead of Socialist (or Social Democrat), an embarrassing mistake. Sometimes abbreviations are not explained, footnotes and an index are sadly missing and some quotes are not attributed. The bibliography is almost exclusively German.
So there you have it, a mixed bag. If you are not familiar with WWII nor with eastern front memoirs from the German point of view do not buy this book, you will be disappointed. A far better start would be Blood Red Snow for instance by Koschorrek. If you are more familiar with the Eastern front and or are interested in the Waffen-SS volunteers then this book should be in your collection, despite its faults. Before you order it though you might first want to have a look see at Twilight of the Gods by Hillblad and Wallin.
Book Description
What is the self? The question has preoccupied people in many times and places, but nowhere more than in the modern West, where it has spawned debates that still resound today. Jerrold Seigel combines theoretical and contextual approaches to explore the ways key figures have understood whether and how far individuals can achieve coherence and consistency in the face of inner tensions and external pressures. Clarifying that recent "post-modernist" accounts belong firmly to the tradition of Western thinking they have sought to supercede, Seigel provides a persuasive alternative to claims that the modern self is typically egocentric or disengaged. Both a Fulbright Fellow and a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellow, Jerrold Seigel is currently William R. Keenan Professor of History at NYU. His previous books include The Private Worlds of Marcel Duchamp (University of California Press, 1995) and Bohemian Paris: Culture, Politics and the Boundaries of Bourgeois Life (Viking Penguin, 1986).
Book Description
In an age when so many people only look forward, THE WESTERN EXPERIENCE combines new and traditional approaches to the past that, combined with an interpretive approach, challenge, stimulate, and engage students. The approach of the authors is appealing to those who want students to come away from their course with more than a grasp of the “facts”, but instead wish students to analyze assumptions and use critical thinking skills. To further this goal, the authors not only see their book as a collection of interpretive essays that can serve as an example of historical writing, but they show and exemplify how historians struggle and deal with the past, for instance by discussing various controversies in history such as the Black Athena question.
In addition, while the text presents a chronological survey of the history of Western Civilization, the narrative weaves several recurring themes that are strengthened and highlighted in new ways in this edition. The themes of social structure, the body politic, organization of production and the impact of technology, evolution of the family and changing gender roles, war, religion and cultural expression are laid out at the beginning of each chapter in the form of a color coded grid that the student and instructor will find easy to follow through the narrative.ive.
Book Description
A hundred years after William James delivered the celebrated lectures that became The Varieties of Religious Experience, one of the foremost thinkers in the English-speaking world returns to the questions posed in James's masterpiece to clarify the circumstances and conditions of religion in our day. An elegant mix of the philosophy and sociology of religion, Charles Taylor's powerful book maintains a clear perspective on James's work in its historical and cultural contexts, while casting a new and revealing light upon the present.
Lucid, readable, and dense with ideas that promise to transform current debates about religion and secularism, Varieties of Religion Today is much more than a revisiting of James's classic. Rather, it places James's analysis of religious experience and the dilemmas of doubt and belief in an unfamiliar but illuminating context, namely the social horizon in which questions of religion come to be presented to individuals in the first place.
Taylor begins with questions about the way in which James conceives his subject, and shows how these questions arise out of different ways of understanding religion that confronted one another in James's time and continue to do so today. Evaluating James's treatment of the ethics of belief, he goes on to develop an innovative and provocative reading of the public and cultural conditions in which questions of belief or unbelief are perceived to be individual questions. What emerges is a remarkable and penetrating view of the relation between religion and social order and, ultimately, of what "religion" means.
Customer Reviews:
Varieties of Reading Experience.......2004-05-05
This book is a fascinating, thought-provoking meditation on religious issues related to William James' classic work. Taylor's take on religious developments in Western Europe/North America is fascinating and enlightening in several senses of the word. And while truly respectful of William James and his insights, Taylor is no cheerleader and convincingly discusses a number of James' key blind spots along with their probable sources. The book's brevity and readability belies the punch it packs.
The one glaring imperfection is the pedantic and pretentious refusal to translate French quotations, some of which seem like they're probably quite important. Too bad, I'll never know for sure.
What the heck?.......2002-09-20
Seeking enlightenment? Seek somewhere else? This "update" to the classic is a classic waste of time. Unlike the original, you will give it to your library to write it off on your taxes.
A reflection on religious belief and the state.......2002-06-29
This book is a collection of a series of lectures Charles Taylor gave reflecting on the legacy of William James. In thinking about James' work, Taylor reflects on the tensions between private religous experience and public religious expression; the problem of belief and unbelief; and the implications our religious beliefs have for our political organization. It is almost impossible to do justice to the richness of Taylor's thought in a short review.
Taylor's first task is to situate James within his own religious context. James inherited the strand of religious belief that was quintessentially Protestant -- with an emphasis on private feeling as against public expression. For James, the ultimate religious experience is private and fundamentally individual. This precludes James from fully grasping the types of religious expression that are more communally-based.
Taylor's second task is to reflect on James personal struggle with the question of belief and unbelief. In James' day a strong argument was being made that religious belief is intellectually dishonest. Taylor offers a good summary of James' defense of belief as a viable choice.
Finally, Taylor integrates James' thought with the question of how our religious belief interacts with our political structures. Taylor offers an invaluable historical narrative of the variety of relationships between religion and state that we have seen in the past. In doing so, he makes our current dilemmas much clearer. We are moving from a country that has a broad consensus in some sort of belief, but which allows individuals to join whatever church best gives expression to that experience, to a country in which there is no such broad consensus. If there is no shared understanding of the sacred, we are forced to ground our political structures in the purely human. It is not yet clear whether the new project will succeed, but in his reflections on the tensions between belief and unbelief and their relationship to our political organization, Taylor can only enhance our discussions as we move forward into this virgin territory.
Taylor's book does presume that the reader has a fairly sophisticated historical sense. And he often makes reference to the situation in France, which can be a bit opaque to those who lack a basic familiarity with French culture. Indeed, he often quotes from French writers without offering a translation. Still, the book offers valuable insights, even to those without the background to fully grasp everything he writes.
Customer Reviews:
Inner Experience.......2000-03-15
In this book Bataille shows how "project" -- the realm of work not just physical but also the incessant discourse running through one's interior mind -- is a prison, a prison based upon our inauthentic interaction with the world: one puts everything off until later, one lives in a "hazy illusion". But this viel can be broken, says Bataille, through the dynamic ground of non-knowledge, the point one reaches when the quest for the "summit", for God and Absolute knowledge, dissolves. This point is the height of drama and is ultimately the last act of folly (like when Sisyphus realizes his fate of rolling a rock up a mountain). One then experiences a fusion of anguish and ecstasy; one is moved by Inner Experience, something that, paradoxically, is not "inner" nor "experience", but rather is like a slap in the face, a slap simlilar to what a zen monk receives in meditation when he or she realizes who he or she IS: emptiness.
Transgress the limits of experience.......1997-08-04
Georges Bataille was a French writer and philosopher during the surrealist period. He founded many literary movements in the form of magazines and critical reviews within surrealist circles such as, "Acephale", with friend and contemporary artist, Andre Masson. Other contemporaries of Bataille's include, Salvador Dali, and Bataille's nemesis, self-professed 'leader' of the surrealist movement, Andre Breton.
The book, "Inner Experience", was compiled post-humously from notes Bataille kept with the intention of putting into book form. Nonetheless, "Inner Experience" is very comprehensive and essential to understanding Bataille's philosophies of base materialism, expenditure, the sacred and the need to transgress the limits of experience.
Recommended reading by Bataille: "Story of the Eye", "Documents", and "Visions of Excess" a collection of essays (edited by Allan Stoeckl). Also, to learn more about Bataille, look up "Against Architecture: The Writings of Georges Bataille", by Dennis Hollier
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The Western Experience Volume C, with Powerweb
Mortimer Chambers ,
Barbara Hanawalt ,
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ASIN: 0072565489 |
Book Description
In an age when so many people only look forward, THE WESTERN EXPERIENCE combines new and traditional approaches to the past that, combined with an interpretive approach, challenge, stimulate, and engage students. The approach of the authors is appealing to those who want students to come away from their course with more than a grasp of the “facts”, but instead wish students to analyze assumptions and use critical thinking skills. To further this goal, the authors not only see their book as a collection of interpretive essays that can serve as an example of historical writing, but they show and exemplify how historians struggle and deal with the past, for instance by discussing various controversies in history such as the Black Athena question.
In addition, while the text presents a chronological survey of the history of Western Civilization, the narrative weaves several recurring themes that are strengthened and highlighted in new ways in this edition. The themes of social structure, the body politic, organization of production and the impact of technology, evolution of the family and changing gender roles, war, religion and cultural expression are laid out at the beginning of each chapter in the form of a color coded grid that the student and instructor will find easy to follow through the narrative.
Customer Reviews:
Excessive Jibber-Jabber with a Catchy Title.......2007-03-10
Being a practicing Buddhist for as long as I have, I've come across lots of books on the subject. Speaking only for myself, I found the book excessively wordy and full of so much fluff. The best books about Eastern philosophy are the ones that get to the point without belaboring it or adding unnecessary paragraph upon paragraph which serve only to turn on the snoring machine. In fact, I think the author WAS asleep as his pen hand began rolling across the pages to create this fat opus. For the price, the book is definitely over-hyped. Save your money, go the hot dog stand, instead, and ask for "one with everything".
The Meaning of Transcendence.......2007-01-04
For going on nearly a decade now, I continue to be inspired by Franklin Merrell-Wolff's (FMW's) two-in-one book, Experience and Philosophy, containing Pathways Through to Space, and, in particular, The Philosophy of Consciousness Without an Object (CWO). CWO is remarkable because it eloquently expresses how FMW 1) "became convinced of the probable existence of a Transcendent mode of consciousness that could not be comprehended within the limits of our ordinary forms of knowledge." 2) proceeded to experience It for himself, and, most usefully (and ingeniously) 3) documented his Realizations within a systematically reconciled Eastern and Western framework of philosophies. There are many, many transcendental ("enlightened") people, but few who can actually explicate and teach the meaning of Transcendence!
What I have always resonated to--going back to them over and over again--is what FMW calls the "precipitated effects" of the Transcendental state. I like the phrase, Transcendent Effects, but it would be the same to me if they were Transformation Effects, or Enlightenment Effects, or simply Awakenings, Realizations or Recognitions. They can be found in Chapter 2, A Mystical Unfoldment. FMW strongly qualifies them as -effects-, not Pure Consciousness itself, which is ineffable--totally inexpressible on any linguistic level.
Still, what impresses me is how they are itemized and so fully and wonderfully articulated. For me they are rather much an inventory, such as a psychologist might assemble for a survey. If I were doing a dissertation on Transformation amongst us (yes, it -does- happen), then, as a guide for research, I would be using them as operational definitions for constructing a scale. One simply has to believe that Transformation is a matter of degree, or quantum of change.
To pose the Transcendent Effects in language I like, they would be: 1, an experience of a transformational shift; 2, non-duality, or a sense of oneness with all things; 3, an illumination or deep understanding (this IMO is where the word "enlightenment" might apply--but only as -part- of the picture); 4, classical transcendence (i.e., of being beyond time, space and "physical" reality); 5, a sense liberation from any restriction or bondage; 6, a sense of redemption from all wrong and wrong doing; 7, a sense of completion or wholeness; 8, a sense of peace and calmness; 9, a sense of groundedness, clarity, or inner consilience; 10, a joyfulness--an awareness of the "life-force"; 11, love or compassion; 12, inspiration, creative intuition, noetic resonance, or, as FMW likes to call it, "knowledge through identity"; 13, paranormal ability--clairvoyance, precognition, etc (FMW admits that he's not experienced this dimension, referring to it as "atypical features"); 14, dhyana, or ecstasy; and, 15, what he calls high indifference, a state of satisfaction, yet with a Knowing that it does not matter whether you have it or not. This latter one is discussed elsewhere, but I include it because it seems to fit.
Franklin makes it clear that the levels at which one can Know that these Effects of Pure Consciousness are themselves infinite, each level or form being subject to still higher levels, no matter how powerfully you might feel you know them in the present, they is always something beyond it, something more.
What's wrong with FMW's picture? Well, it's that he explicitly avoids prescribing any particular method of getting there. It is, ultimately, a matter of Grace--somehow bestowed upon you, whether or not you are doing your meditation practices every day, living with mindfulness, or having loving kindness towards everything.
However that may be the case, what I gather between the lines is that Transcendent Effects cannot happen by looking at (or reciting, or speaking about) any particular object, whether physical or mental. Thus the practice towards experiencing Transformational Effects is based upon being engaged with one's -subjective- reality, whatever you might be experiencing within your whole being.
Speaking for myself, I have sensed that there have emerged some practices that literally embody these subjective practices, as I call them. One can find subjective practices in such disciplines known as Focusing, Somatic Experiencing, EMDR, and, possibly, Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT), Hakomi, and Thought Field Therapy (TFT), and still others. Such practices, which are a recent emergence of what I call collectively the Somatic Movement, carry us into subjective practice. Many close students of FMW's work might not agree, but they can open the door to Transcendent Effects. They are humanity's answer to FMW's prescription for Introceptualism, a pre-conceptual, direct knowing of what is.
Unique and remarkable!.......2003-11-06
Franklin Merrell-Wolff is perhaps the greatest little-known philosopher of the 20th century. As the other reviewers have pointed out, FMW's deep understanding of Western philosophy and his genuine Realization of the highest level of Enlightenment as defined by Eastern religious philosophy, have made it possible for him to provide an utterly unique and remarkably detailed explanation of what It is all about.
Don't bother reading any more reviews: Buy this book NOW and read it. You will not be disappointed!
Utterly clear, extraordinarily profound.......2001-10-30
I found "The Philosophy of Consciousness Without an Object," one of the two books making up this volume, by chance a few years ago. Dr. Wolff is like pure gold. He provides independent confirmation and explication of mystical experience outside of religious traditions.
To existing reviews I just want to add that one of the deep joys of this book is Dr. Wolff himself, as transmitted by his language. Extremely literate, deeply kind, considerate, powerful, courageous, patient, thorough, Dr. Wolff is beautiful to read. This book contains the truth, in sentences that are so precise that they are like mathematical equations, and so vast in scope that they are themselves like books.
Pathways Through To Space.......2001-05-12
Franklin Merrell-Wolff's memoir of and reflections upon his experience of "Realization" is one of the most engaging and intelligent accounts ever written. His path was that of the jnani and the philosopher, and his lucid critical thinking is a rarity in this sort of literature. But this story is far from dry, and the mysticism is genuine and deep. This book got me through a series of "spiritual" crises in the mid-80s and has come around several times since, and is richer and more suggestive on each reading, as few books are. There is a subtle chemistry to "mystical" writers; one person's revelation is another person's tedium. Merrell-Wolff's work has a particular ineffable quality, a flavor that appeals to me immensely. He was an inspiration to Richard Moss, whose works are also highly to be recommended to those pursuing the path that disappears into God's country.
Books:
- The Modern Mind: An Intellectual History of the 20th Century
- The Occult Roots of Nazism: Secret Aryan Cults and Their Influence on Nazi Ideology
- The Open Society and Its Enemies: Hegel and Marx (Routledge Classics)
- The Origins of FBI Counterintelligence (Modern War Studies)
- The Origins of Totalitarianism
- The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers
- The Rise of Western Christendom: Triumph and Diversity Ad 200-1000 (Making of Europe)
- The Scalpel and the Silver Bear: The First Navajo Woman Surgeon Combines Western Medicine and Traditional Healing
- The Shi'is of Iraq
- The Story of the World Volume 2: History for the Classical Child (Story of the World: History for the Classical Child (Audio))
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Recommended Books
- A Billion Bootstraps: Microcredit, Barefoot Banking, and The Business Solution for Ending Poverty
- Survey Of Historic Costume: A History Of Western Dress
- Public Policy Toward Pensions
- Routledge Philosophy GuideBook to Plato and the Republic
- SCAR TISSUE
- The Golem's Eye
- Songs of the Earth: A Tribute to Nature, in Word and Image
- The Economic Impact of Tourism in the Islands of Asia and the Pacific
- MCSE Windows Server 2003 Core Exam Cram 2
- Investors in People Maintained
The Leadership Moment: Nine True Stories of Triumph and Disaster and Their Lessons for Us All
Beyond Reengineering: How the Process-Centered Organization is Changing Our Work and Our Lives
Interpersonal Skills in Organizations
Working GlobeSmart: 12 People Skills for Doing Business Across Borders
Organizational Diagnosis: A Workbook of Theory and Practice
