2 comments about Zizek: A Critical Introduction (Key Contemporary Thinkers).

1. If you've never read Lacan, and you're reading Zizek for the first time, this introduction is for you.
   
   Kay's text is a great foray into Lacanian aspects of Zizek's thought, and, in fact, makes a decent introduction to Lacan himself (although it purports not to be such). Compared to Ian Parker's introduction, I prefer how Kay begins: with the problems of conceptualizing the Lacanian real. This forms her first two chapters, and the subsequent ones make individual
   passes at the real from the angles of sexual difference, ethics, and (finally) politics. Kay writes with progressively broader strokes and only concludes with the Lacan, Hegel, Marx triad. This progression is the easiest and best way to get a foothold on Zizek's thought (rather than begin with Marx, as Zizek himself frequently does in his writings).
   
   Highly recommended as a first introduction (though why not read Zizek himself?--The Sublime Object of Ideology and, especially, Looking Awry are good places to start).



2. The buzz of Slavoj Zizek is eminently important, fascinating and politcally useful within today's cultural force fields at work. Zizek has found a combustible energy between philosophy and the omnipresence(largely Hegel) and psychoanalysis(Jacques Lacan forever)."We love you Jacques. . . " So whether he speaks/writes about "The Matrix"(Loaded or Not-Loaded), or Kieslowski's "Decalogue",Hitchcock, Lenin, Christianity, cyberspace, junkspace or other competitors,(quite recently) as the late Deleuze of currently Alain Badiou, Zizek locates his triggering points in how objects are pitted against the real and can delude us and seem important, like a prostitute's gaze/or flick of the eye toward her prospective john. So fantasy becomes one place for focus and popular culture abounds in the fetish of the Cult,what is marketable(another pathway into Marx),and one of Zizek's most fertile breeding grounds where his work has spawned and is chocked filled with objects to discuss as they are hardened against the death-drive, the end of time as we know it, the Buzz turned Off. So we,(our culture,our objects) become in a state of "acceleration" as Virilio(within another context) has referred to as the "dromos",the "running or race".

   The Real, The Imaginary, and the Symbolic are three cyclical/ellipitical Lacanian icons of discourse that forever revolves within Zizek's thought,be it politics of culture,or cyberspace and consequently ours. For the Real, is Real(real) wherever it may interface with the human object.

   This is an utterly useful book, a virtuosity of intellectual thought/,creating a capsule like profile of such a formidible thinker, explaining his vast philosophic Helegelian energies expanding over 20 years of Zizek's work. Kay knows how to break apart/and impeccibly analyze Zizek's vast edifice.She touches on all his primary texts,most of which are far from breeze-easy reading.In that there is always a synthesis, a coagulative process at work finding Hegel in cyberspace or Lacan in Hitchcock, or truth in Lenin. But she defends this endeavor as well worth a flatter, the exepnditure of time. Zizek is a livily impassioned speaker,often throwing wonderful jokes, quips,shibboleths, incidentals, and dirty humour into the texture of his thought written or spoken.Kay's remarkable job here is locating points of developmental alchemy and longevity within Zizek.

   Zizek having experienced first-hand the break-up of the Soviet empire/ satellites, Zizek has been an important instigator/speaker toward committment into the ethics and the political, Desiring(as I understand here) a Marxism without Marx, and a Lenin without anyone. Lenin? Ethics? Now, What For? The fascination here is magnetized toward points of hardened committment,vision,cohesion,agenda something quite rare within After-postmodernity hopscoth ontology. In that we(our cognitive faculties,our cultural products)seem to move/mulitply/accrete (and die) at such great speeds. Lenin(in Zizek's eyes) had vision for success, The Revolution. This is given meaning further with his recent fascination with Paulist Christianity,Belief and the work of Alain Badiou, a philosopher who has been reconstructing the philosophic edifice,perceptive pieces from the French deconstructive,(In that Derrida can only summon the complaisance of Marxian "ghosts" as explaining reality Now)and virtuosic post- structuralists(Baudrillard,Lyotard)both representing a kind of escapism of the past three decades.Badiou has been useful for Zizek in the search for the truth "event", that truth never finds itself impacted within a system, but truth always is determined by its past, a point Zizek finds worth developing.

   Kay quite clearly brings a forward looking narrative to this in Zizek's forever search at expansion from the kernel of Hegel/Lacan/Marx.There is also a useful Glossary of terms.

4 comments about The Chomsky Effect: A Radical Works Beyond the Ivory Tower.

1. I enjoyed reading The Chomsky Effect. Barsky does a good job of explaining Chomsky's philosophical influences, some of whom I had not heard of before. This is a good book, but it does have a major flaw: Barsky is so biased in favor toward Chomsky he does not do a balanced analysis of Chomsky's career. I would have preferred a more objective biographer. Notwithstanding this criticism, I highly recommend the book.



2. Chomsky's biographer Robert Barsky has compiled an extremely substantive volume about the wide variety of perspectives on Noam Chomsky's work, including all of the different areas that he has made an impact. Barsky discusses Chomsky's anarchist roots in fine detail, drawing on the writings of Rudolph Rocker (who comes off as Chomsky's greatest influence) extensively. There are also discussions of Chomsky's anti-Bolshevism, which Barsky loyally follows, as well as his meteoric rise to fame in the field of linguistics. I found the chapter on Chomsky's appeal on youth/counter-culture to be redundant and not particularly interesting, though it has clearly become an undeniable aspect of Chomsky's fame in the last ten years. Barsky also takes on the task of defending Chomsky at great length against his various detractors, including Zionists like Alan Dershowitz, and intellectuals like Christopher Hitchens. Barsky also details Chomsky's more controversial battles such as the Faurisson affair and the case of Cambodia (which is severely lacking in this account). There are a number of problems with this account of Chomsky, the most basic of which is how eager Barsky is to not only detail Chomsky's politics and intellectual commitments, but also to accept them himself. For instance, in the discussion on Chomsky's criticisms of the post-modern/post-structuralist movements in Europe, Barsky proceeds to accept even the most flippant of Chomsky's condemnations. Additionally, it is apparent from the text that Barsky does not have any real grasp of this material; he cites two peculiar examples of post modernity's decline: Victor Farias' book on Hediegger's Nazism and Paul De Man's anti-Semitic articles from the 1940s (pps. 242-243). Neither of which are credited as serious examples of 'post modernity's decline by serious scholars of the topic. To his credit, Barsky is not entirely complementary of Sokal and Bricmont's mediocre attacks on post modernity, but never the less it is clear that Barsky does not really know of what he speaks in this section. Two major surprises surface in 'The Chomsky Effect,' Barsky's periodic comparisons of Chomsky to the French anthropologist Pierre Bourdieu, and literary theorist Mikhail Bakhtin, as well as the emphasis on Chomsky's apparent "humor" (chpt. 7).
   All together, Chomsky comes off as an incredibly courageous and brilliant thinker, who has consistently committed himself to freeing others from the shackles of ideological and political power. Although not perfect, 'The Chomsky Effect' is one of the best books about Chomsky's prolific career as a public intellectual.



3. Chomsky is very much like Socrates; but instead of being ordered to drink hemlock, there has been a massive campaign by multiple servants of power and privilege to marginalize him. Countless right-wingers, who haven't read much of Noam's writings, bristle when his name is mentioned. Similarly, many liberals who have some familiarity with Chomsky's ideas have entrenched prejudices against him via the endless calumny, such as, he's a "self-hating Jew," a "conspiracy theorist," or an "apologist for Pol Pot." The efforts to assassinate his character are a sure indicator that Chomsky has probably been doing something worthwhile, such as challenging the preferred illusions not just of war-mongers, but of all sorts of comfortable people who don't want to face some harsh realities. It's much more fun to claim that we "live in the greatest country in the world," than to take a close look at the blood that's on our hands. Moreover, these realizations confer responsibilities, and people are often at a loss as to what they can do against the leviathan of corporate militarism. That would be one weakness in Chomsky's analysis, it's incredibly heavy on the problems and offers little in terms of solutions. But, as another oft quoted source suggests, "seek and ye shall find." Yes!
   
   Others want to dismiss Chomsky because they feel radical politics will bring all sorts of grief into their lives - depression, broken relationships, lost jobs, surveillance, death threats and so forth. And every so often, a figure like Paul Robeson, Ward Churchill, or Jay Benish (an honest high school teacher who was excoriated in Denver's press) is made an example of. Oddly, after Chomsky writes 20,000 pages worth of death and destruction, he scolds people who suggest that there may be some danger in being an activist. As Derrick Jensen and others have noted The Culture of Make Believe, the reason why there isn't a great deal of political repression in this country is because the population is largely pacified Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business. Organizations like the Black Panthers, the American Indian Movements, the Socialist Workers' Party, and activists like Judi Bari and Norman Finklestein, all have been quite effectively assailed. Chomsky recognizes that people can become "dangerous," but the corporate mafia they go up against knows a little bit about creating danger themselves. The War Against the Greens: The "Wise-Use" Movement, the New Right, and Anti-Environmental Violence Agents of Repression: The FBI's Secret Wars Against the Black Panther Party and the American Indian Movement (South End Press Classics Series, Volume, 7) What Every Radical Should Know About State Repression: A Guide For Activists
   My own feeling is that, while silence can provide protection from unwanted attention from monied interests or agents of an increasingly authoritarian state, that silence is ultimately empowering forces that are threatening not only our immediate well-being (our wages, our health care, our environment, our consumer protections, our children's psyches, etc.), but the very survival of the species. The World Without Us; to say nothing of the brutal assault fellow members of the human family experience at the hands of our masters of war (military war, and economic war).
   Killing Hope: U.S. Military and CIA Interventions Since World War II
   Chomsky's analysis brings forth all sorts of troublesome political, financial, psychological, and emotional issues into our consciousness, and conjures various dilemmas. So when people such as David Horowitz or Alan Dershowitz throw mud in Chomsky's direction, there are many who are quite receptive to the suggestions that they should hate Noam Chomsky. Imagine people who have a career with Lockheed Martin, or have been pulling the trigger on the .50 caliber machine guns; they want a Horowitz to facilitate the longing to just turn away from the horror of books like The Washington Connection and Third World Fascism (The Political Economy of Human Rights - Volume I)
   On the other hand, some feel that Socrates had a point when he said "the unexamined life is not worth living."
   Our conglomerate media is filled with "programming" to intimidate people away from political engagement, divert their attention, instill a sense of futility, and so forth. Various shows, movies, sit-coms and ads comprise a very effective psy-ops campaign, the sort of thing that would be "carried out in enemy territory" (to quote one Reagan administration official) The Hollywood War Machine: U.S. Militarism and Popular Culture. But, for those who value freedom of consciousness, there are ways out of the "web of endless deceit."
   The red pill or the blue pill (borrowing from a scene in "The Matrix"), it's our choice.
   
   To quote one of Chomsky's influences,
   "Power operates only destructively, bent always on forcing every manifestation of social life into the straightjacket of its rules. Its intellectual expression is dead dogma, its physical form brute force. And this unintelligence of its objectives sets its stamp on its representatives also, and renders them often stupid and brutal, even when they were originally endowed with the best talents. One who is constantly striving to force everything into a mechanical order at last becomes a machine himself and loses all human feelings.
   It was from this understanding that modern anarchism was born and draws its moral force. Only freedom can inspire men to great things and bring about intellectual and social transformations. The art of ruling men has never been the art of educating and inspiring them to a new shaping of their lives. Dreary compulsion has at its command only lifeless drill, which smothers any vital initiative at its birth and brings forth only subjects, not free men. Freedom is the very essence of life, the impelling force in all intellectual and social development, the creator of every new outlook for the future of mankind. The liberation of man from economic exploitation and from intellectual, social, and political oppression, which finds its highest expression in the philosophy of anarchism, is the prerequisite for the evolution of a higher social culture and a new humanity."
   -Rudolf Rocker, "Anarchism and Anarcho-Syndicalism"



4. According to this book Noam Chomsky is one of the most important, if not the most important, intellectual of modern times. This book seeks to examine the effect he has had on thought. It also seeks to examine his history, his causes and his beliefs and his ability to polarize thought through his passionate writing. It examines his stances on Vietnam and the Middle East.
   This book is also a philosophical tour through the world of Chomsky, showing on whome he builds his foundations of thoughts, and on whome he relies for his dialectic of `freedom.' It examines his Marxism and his interest in anarchy, who his philosophical and political ancestors might be. An interesting exploration of Chomsky, but one that probably gives him more credit than he deserves. While he may be the `most important' thinker for a small, tiny, elite, minority of Americans and Europeans, and Hugo Chavez, he is ignored by most of the world as a rambling lunatic and extremist.
   
   Seth J. Frantzman

No comments about C. I. Lewis in Focus: The Pulse of Pragmatism (American Philosophy).

1 comments about Edmund Husserl: Philosopher of Infinite Tasks.

1. Natanson's book is amazingly well-written. Husserl's often difficult and wordy ideas of phenomenology are covered clearly enough for the beginner, and in-depth enough for the student of Husserl. Natanson offers not just a review of phenomenology, but covers all from attitudes to methods, existence to the application of phenomenology. This is the first book I recommend to anyone studying Husserl.

No comments about Searching for Cioran.

1 comments about On Pascal (Wadsworth Philosophers Series).

1. Anyone with any mathematical background will have undoubtedly heard of Pascal. His contributions to mathematics are well noted. Groothuis, who is exceptionally familiar with the philosophical work of Pascal, has done an admirable job in a short space of introducing the reader to Pascal the man, mathematician, inventor, and philosopher. The first four chapters lay out the historical background needed to understand Pascal and his work. Chapter 5 introduces the Pensees, the fragments of a grand work that was unfortunately left unfinished by Pascal's early death. Chapter 6 describes the rejection, in the Pensees, of arguing for God's existence from natural theology, the accepted apologetic of the day. Groothuis begins the next chapter by explaining Pascal's apologetic in that he "aimed to spark a philosophical and existential crisis in his readers that would be resolvable only by Christian revelation" (50). Groothuis explores two of Pascal's ideas, "deposed royalty" and his controversial "Wager". Groothuis helps those not familiar with or only passingly familiar with these two topics, as well as the Pensees, to better understand Pascal's thinking and intent. Groothuis' extensive work and expertise on Pascal shines through in this work. Anyone interested in being introduced to the genius of Pascal will find the time they spend reading this book to be well rewarded.

4 comments about A Life of H. L. A. Hart: The Nightmare and the Noble Dream.

1. I agree entirely with the previous reviewers that this was a well written and informative biography of a very humble, very private intellectual. If not for N Lacey, the legion of Hart followers who do not know him personally would guess that he was not only brilliant, but also a kind and wonderful human being. Now, thanks to the book, there can be little doubt that he was indeed so. However, I suspect that the third line from the top of page 349 might be incomplete. It seems to be an editorial oversight that should be rectified in reprints or a second edition.



2. I couldn't put this book down. Nicola Lacey is a surprisingly good biographer. "Surprisingly" because Ms. Lacey is not (or was not until now) a professional biographer, but a legal academic.
   
   The book makes you want to dust off "The Concept of Law" again and take up sides in the Hart/Dworkin debate. Because Hart comes across as such a loveable great guy you'll find yourself rooting for him.
   
   On that note, I could have used more legal philosophy, rather than less (as some reviewers suggest), but this is a very minor criticism. I also looked forward to the moment when Ms. Lacey herself would appear on the scene (she knew Hart personally), as she indicated in her preface, but I did not see her.
   
   American readers will be mystified (but only slightly) by Ms. Lacey's not infrequent use of the adjective "shambolic" (may there always be an England!), which if I'm not mistaken means something like it sounds: a bucolic shambles, which is, by the way, not what this book is--it is, rather, an elegantly written biography that is both intellectually and emotionally satisfying.
   
   And note to Oxford Press: put Hart's "Punishment and Responsibility" back in print! It is only one of the four most important books written on criminal law in the last one hundred years! (the other three being: George Fletcher's "Rethinking Criminal Law", R.A. Duff's "Criminal Attempts", and Michael Moore's "Placing Blame: A General Theory of the Criminal Law".)



3. For far too long there has not been a full-scale biography of H.L.A. Hart, author of "The Concept of Law." That gap has now been eliminated by this superb biography by Nicola Lacey of LSE. And this is a biography, and not an "intellectual biography" (such as Duxbury's masteful book on Frederick Pollock)which focuses primarily upon the subject's writings and theories--although Lacey addresses Hart's jurisprudential concepts within the framework of developing his life. For those who want to use this volume as an introduction to Hart's substantive work, ample references support the incisive discussion within the text. But the focus here is his life. As such, it is helpful to also read his wife Jennifer Hart's autobiography, "Ask Me No More."
   
   Lacey had access to the most private of Hart's papers, his private diaries. While invaluable insights result, one is almost at times uneasy with the most intimate thoughts that Hart expressed in these writings. Lacey shares this concern, and in a "rule of thumb" describes what guidelines she imposed upon herself in the use of this material. This leads naturally to a second fundamental question--do we really need to know about such intimate issues as sexual orientation in the biography of a jurisprudential thinker? Each reader will have to make their own decision--but one really does get an incomparable insight into Hart the person as a result. In my view, it is healthy to be reminded from time to time that major figures such as Hart are people just like the rest of us and don't reside on some intellectual Olympus.
   
   The narrative is crisp and with the exception of an overly long chapter on Hart's wartime service, never ceases to spark interest. The blending of Hart's theoretical contributions within the context of a biography is a challenge that is more than well met. The fact that Lacey personally knew Hart adds an important dimension as well. Also making apperances are a number of fascinating characters, including Hans Kelsen, Julius Stone, Lon Fuller, Ronald Dworkin and a host of Oxford philosophers. In her "Biographer's Note," Lacey explains a number of key issues she confronted in writing Hart's life, which in itself is an important contribution to the literature on biographical writing. Whether one is particularly interested in legal theory or not, this is simply one of the most extraordinary and important biographies to appear in recent years.



4. Let me begin by saying that I have no connection at all to the author of this book (I feel such disclaimers are needed on Amazon.com). I picked up this book because, as a law professor, I wanted a bit of biographical background on H.L.A. Hart, perhaps the most important legal philosopher of the 20th century. Hart's writings are dense and hard even for experts to understand -- so I expected his biography to be equally dry. I am very happy to say that this book is virtually a page turner. The Da Vinci code it's not, but it is something more valuable -- a fascinating look at a very, very complex individual.
   (...) I found the book particularly engaging because of my interest in legal philosophy, ordinary language philosophy, and Ronald Dworkin. Non-academics might find the author's discussion of these difficult subjects hard to follow and frustrating. However, the author does not obsess about these difficult matters and on the whole handles these technical subjects with grace and a soft touch. I would recommend the book to any person who is interested in the private life of a public philosopher. For those with an interest in legal philosophy and particularly modern positivism, this book is a "must read." Nicola Lacey -- Bravo!

2 comments about Unknown Philosopher: The Life of Louis Claude de St. Martin and the Substance of His Transcendental Doctrine.

1. A well documented study into the life of Louis Claude de St. Martin and how by discovering the works of Jacob Boehme he turned away from a conventional life to live "The Way of the Heart." He created a mystical society and his teachings and initiations still exist today. A fascinating read about the man and his work and how he influenced French culture.



2. The book is an awesome biography of the Mystical life of Louise Claude de St. Martin. The author fully described the sequence of events of the life of this Unknown Philosopher. Excellent reference for the students in Martinism or traditional Martinist Order as well as a path in the search of Truth by modeling from the examples of the book.

5 comments about The Inner Life of Krishnamurti: Private Passion and Perennial Wisdom.

1. This is a wonderful book. Not only because it explores for the first time and in the deepest way, the inner life of one of the most astonishing figures in world history, but because it's a very lucid exploration into the teachings of Krishnamurti. This exploration makes clear of the urgency there is for an actual human transformation. Our insensibility and our shalowness have reached to a very critical point of ignorance which is the real cause of violence, our suffering and our sence of meaninglessness. It is of great importance that we realize that only through an individual investigation we will be able to trancend our ignorance. Such an investigation cannot be of the nature of past investigations, which have been governed by the analytical mind. As it is expressed in this book and in countless times by K himself, one must totally die to the past and to our personal history to engage in this kind of observation. This is not an easy task for us, people of the 21st century, deeply conditioned by the patterns of our culture and by all of our ideas and preconceptions of what life is supposed to be.There can be no other real revolution than that of the psique. We must effortlessly renounce to all the methods that have been offered to us, and to all the happiness manuals that promess freedom and elightment if we do this or that. We have to be able to stand alone for the first time and listen to life without the influence of words, we must aproach life in new and unknown ways. This is how we can become trully responsable with life as a whole. Freedom and real maturity won't come in the future, they can only occur now because the present moment is all we have, it's where reality actually takes place.
   I am a young person living in this messed up world swamped with information, entertainment, competition, greed, violence and worst of all, a big sence of meaninglessness. But I do feel there is a way out of this, and I do feel that life can be much simpler, richer and meaningful than we could ever imagine, but this calls for real work and real engagement.
   There is a highly recomended book which is quoted by Sanat and can be found at Amazon.com : "The Paradox of Intention" by Marvin Shaw.
   (I want to thank Ariel Sanat for this wonderful piece of work, which has touched me and other people I know, in a very profound way. If anyone knows how to contact the author I would be really grateful-my mail is aprilandseptember@yahoo.com thanks)



2. A deeply thoughtful and well supported look at a previously obscured dimension of K's life. Scientifically rigorous in it's honest approach of this topic, the book is a must have for anyone who has been touched by the life of Jiddu Krishnamurti.



3. The reader from Alamogordo is completely right. Several people have written bad reviews of this excellent book, giving it one or two stars, thus bringing down the number of stars for it, & giving a very distorted perception of its true worth for a potential new reader. It's OK for people to have different points of view, of course. But it is obvious to anyone who really knows the subject, that some of these reviewers are ignorant of one aspect or another of it, and/or have some pet theory to promote, & are perhaps afraid of the truths that this book shares with its readers.
   This is a truly extraordinary accomplishment, because what K said has been believed to be totally incompatible with the ancient esoteric tradition. Yet Sanat shows here, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that when one looks at the FACTS and not at the repetition of unfounded rumors, it becomes clear that the two are seamlessly related. This book does require having both an open mind and having wide knowledge and understanding of the subject, which is a tall order. But it's "right on the money." Even someone without a great deal of knowledge or understanding of all the issues, but with a truly open mind, would get a great deal out of it.
   This is the best book on K's life & teaching, to date.



4. This book is an extraordinary achievement, since it shows, for the first time ever, the very real connection there is between the theosophical movement and Krishnamurti, as well as between Krishnamurti and the ancient perennial wisdom. Sanat does this not by speculating or spinning unsupported opinions (as has been done quite dishonestly by some of his reviewers below). He achieves this by appealing by actual historical facts, by actually quoting what K REALLY said (as opposed to OPINIONS some people have formed without reference to FACTS). This is, so far, the ONLY book on Krishnamurti that addresses these issues without preconceptions, but by quoting sources and giving precise references, and by appealing to what actually happened.
   Unlike every other author on this subject to date, Sanat lets his reader know when he is offering his own personal perceptions of the many facts that he marshals. When he does that, it is clear that he bends over backwards to let the reader come to his/her own conclusions.
   It is unfortunate that some reviewers, who have obviously some pet theory to defend, have misrepresented the real worth of this excellent piece of research. I am particularly intrigued by the fact that the first "two" reviewers sent their messages within two days of "each other," and say pretty much the same thing. One of "them" was from "San Felipe, CA," & "the other" claims to be from New Mexico, yet does not know how to spell his own hometown, calling it "Albuquerqui." Then there is yet another reader from San Felipe, CA, writing three years later, but saying pretty much the same thing! I smell a rat!
   If you are serious about understanding who K was, please do yourself a favor, and read this book. But do so with an open mind. What Sanat has achieved here is almost like solving a Zen koan: What K said was simultaneously compatible with the best that the perennial wisdom has taught throughout the ages, yet at the same time was breaking new ground, by showing us the dire need to disassociate ourselves COMPLETELY from all identifications, such as with Buddhism & Advaita Vedanta, before there can be clarity in our lives. Sanat has done a magnificent job, in showing with astonishing clarity that what has been considered incompatible, is actually eminently compatible. In doing this, he has placed K in a proper historical setting, something that had never been done before by anyone, because in order to do that, one must do the enormous work it must have taken for him to have been able to achieve this.
   Contrary to what some reviewers have said, Sanat has shown how and why what really matters is that each of us engage in a transformative lifestyle. K's status, or lack thereof, is absolutely irrelevant in that quest. THAT is what Sanat makes crystal clear, unsupported criticisms of his work notwithstanding.
   So do read the book. But be prepared to do a great deal of research yourself (like Sanat has done), before coming to conclusions based on previous knowledge. This book is a genuine creative effort, and deserves being read with a genuinely open mind.



5. Let us just for a minute imagine Krishnamurti himself reading this book. Would he invite the author for tea afterwards? I think not. One can only imagine why a writer who supposedly understood Krishnamurti's ideas would be so interested in what Krishnamurti himself bent over backwards to avoid discussing. The author claims that K didn't reembrace the Theosophical Society legends surrounding his enlightnment journey to protect his devotees from their own distracting fantasies about the occult, etc. Pul-leese! Krishnamurti's neverending emphasis was on his listeners' ability to do their own investigations into what was "the case." Thereby hung their salvation from conditioning. The picture painted of Krishnamurti by some recent authors, including Sanat, has been of a secretive man interested in concealing both his so-called inner and personal lives from the spiritually unwashed masses. Perhaps, but this author does not make a convincing case for Krishnamurti as a closet Theosophist.

1 comments about Life of Apollonius of Tyana, Vol. 2: Books 5-8 (Loeb Classical Library).

1. _This is the definative, unabridged translation of Philostratus' _Life of Apollonius_ for your permanent library. The Jones translation was made from the Teuber text of C.L. Kayser.
   
   _Philostratus completed this work in C.E. 220, while the historical Apollonius was generally thought to have left this world around C.E. 98. Apollonius is presented as an example of the ideal spiritual and good man in the classical world. In a Roman Empire ruled increasingly by force, violence, and greed, this Apollonius would be the ideal role model. Indeed, that is what you encounter in the books, example after example of Apollonius encountering worldly and wicked men and setting them straight. It is still rather inspiring, even though you realize that this Apollonius is probably a composite character of many philosophical and religious characters of the classical world. This is not to categorically state that there was no original, Pythagorean, named Apollonius that served as the original inspiration- it is just that we do not know how much of the original is still there.
   
   _Apollonius was to be understood as the champion of traditional "pagan" cults and philosophy against the new religion of Christianity. Apollonius is shown to be tolerant to other religions and faiths- something that the new cult, even then, was not. Perhaps his very name reflected this tolerance and defense of the traditional. This is also no doubt why he visits India during his travels, for even in those days the Vedic tradition was seen as the "root" of all religious tradition.
   
   _In any case, the account is still quite edifying in its depiction of what was considered the archetypical example of the good, just, and tolerant man in the late classical world.