The World of the Polis, Volume 2 of this series of five, is a very well done analysis of the thinking and circumstances in Greece from Homer to Plato.The World of the Polis, Volume 2 of this series of five, is a very well done analysis of the thinking and circumstances in Greece from Homer to Plato. Vogelin sees the unfolding of historical process as explorations for better civil order, and he makes the case. I read it mainly for the history. Voegelin does get into the weeds of philosophy for a few dozen pages that interested me not at all, but those are easily skimmed.
You get a taste of Homer, Herodotus, Thucydides (and others), and you may thereby be tempted to try those three if you haven't already. Touched on are the Minoans, Mycenaeans, the Bronze Age collapse, the Trojan War, the Persian War, and the Peloponnesian Wars.
His first volume, Israel and Revelation, also was excellent. The third volume is Plato and Aristotle. Archiv.org has all volumes and much else by Voegelin for free.
From his Wikipedia entry: "According to Ellis Sandoz, Voegelin may well be America's leading philosopher, and is rightly compared with the premier minds of our century and, perhaps, of the millennia. Thomas Altizer has said that Order and History 'may someday be perceived as the most important work of Old Testament scholarship ever written in the United States,' adding that it is noteworthy that it was written by a political scientist and philosopher." ...more
Recommended, especially for Christians or for anyone who has not read up on Muhammad and Islam. This is very readable and entertaining, if not the peaRecommended, especially for Christians or for anyone who has not read up on Muhammad and Islam. This is very readable and entertaining, if not the peak of prose writing.
The book may surprise some readers in that Muhammad had great respect for Christians and Jews and entered into covenants with them. There is an entire book about that with this review:
The first third of this, the author's youth, travels, and wrestling with the great philosophies, was interesting. Then it took a turn for the worse anThe first third of this, the author's youth, travels, and wrestling with the great philosophies, was interesting. Then it took a turn for the worse and kept going. Zorba the Greek was excellent throughout....more
This is something of a shock: to learn that life under a tsar was in most ways as bad, and in other ways worse, than life under Stalin. Highly recommeThis is something of a shock: to learn that life under a tsar was in most ways as bad, and in other ways worse, than life under Stalin. Highly recommended for any reader interested in what the people and life in Russia was like in 1839. The author had to conceal his journal while in Russia and smuggle it out at risk of being found out and sent to Siberia. The book is not truly letters but more of a journal wherein he recorded his observations, conversations, and some opinions. He enjoyed several things that he saw in Russia.
The author was a fine writer and perceptive observer, and he had access to Russians who were able to covertly speak the truth about their people, Russian society, and their tsar, who had the people, state and church in an iron grip. The author conversed carefully with the tsar while he was there. The author predicted it would take many generations to change the slavish (not exactly the Slavish) mentality of the Russian people, who overwhelmingly worshipped the tsar, no matter the many outrages, and he could not envision any way that it could ever be changed. And it hasn't.
I pity most of Russia, victims of centuries of this system and likely destined to centuries more of ignorance, poverty and repression. I hope it is not already in their genes. Russia is more Oriental than European, evoking the Mongol and Turk absolute devotion to their Khans and general indifference to human suffering.
From one who finds poetry generally a nuisance, this is no exception. Same for Baudelaire's prose. I'm OK with a Pushkin, Hardy or Milton. Second staFrom one who finds poetry generally a nuisance, this is no exception. Same for Baudelaire's prose. I'm OK with a Pushkin, Hardy or Milton. Second star since people claim they like Les Fleur du Mal. This was important when published due to its frankness and prurient interest. So primarily of historical importance now to poets and literary specialists. Had to skip through most of it after the first 75 pages and glad to put it aside. Archiv.com has it free. Difficult to imagine the general reader enjoying this....more
