No comments about Jacques & Raissa Maritain: Beggars for Heaven.

2 comments about Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Witness to Jesus Christ (Making of Modern Theology).

1. This book is a great place to start if you are new to Bonhoeffer's work. It is equally useful for those who have read a lot of Bonhoeffer since it includes selections from key but less well known or less accessible works like his talk at the Fano "Life and Work" conference on the importance of addressing international issues, or his 1939 letter to the Finkenwald brethren. Moreover, de Gruchy's selection of pages or even paragraphs of more difficult texts are a model for such anthologies. The very useful 40-page introduction and editor's notes before each selection say just enough to be helpful while they reveal de Gruchy's mastery of his subject. They also reflect the fact that like Bonhoeffer, de Gruchy was active for years in political struggle within a repressive regime -- in his case, South Africa. Aside from brief biographies by Bethge or Robertson that quote widely from Bonhoeffer, I don't know of a better overview to one of the most useful thinkers of the last century for our own, precarious, ...



2. This volume on the works of Dietrich Bonhoeffer is part of a series by Fortress Press entitled 'the Making of Modern Theology: Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Texts'. Each of the volumes in the series focuses upon one particular theologian of note. These volumes are of use to students, seminarians, ministers and other readers interested in the development of theological ideas in the modern and postmodern world. Each volume is a reader of key texts from the theologian highlighted - the text entries are annotated a bit by the editors, and the editor of each volume provides an introduction setting the general stage for context and understanding.

   Editor John de Gruchy describes Bonhoeffer in simple terms -- as a witness to Jesus Christ. Bonhoeffer is no arm-chair theologian, but rather someone who put his theology into action, and became a modern-day martyr for his beliefs in what the gospel of Jesus Christ requires. Bonhoeffer was executed in 1945 for his part in the attempted assassination of Adolf Hitler, believing that what was finally required of Christian witness in Germany at the time was direct action against the evil that he embodied and perpetuated.

   Bonhoeffer was never a bone fide academic systematic theologian, but his writings, including those pieces he wrote in prison, have become classics of Christian literature. 'Letters and Papers from Prison' and 'The Cost of Discipleship' are known the world over, but are only part of a larger body of essays, lectures, sermons and books. Bonhoeffer's early upbringing, the son of a psychiatrist/professor, part of a Lutheran/Reformed family that was generally non-religious in outlook, was not one that would predict a theological career for young Dietrich -- in fact, his earliest interest in things theological may have had more to do with his desire to be different from his brothers and the rest of his family than any direct faith in the church. Bonhoeffer was a good student, but remained unswayed by any particular influence -- he was influenced by Kierkegaard, but not to the extent that Barth was; he used I-Thou language, but not taken directly from Martin Buber.

   Bonhoeffer was a parish minister, but continued to write during his pastorate. His work, 'Act and Being' was an exploration of the theology of action, including God's action in the world, and the theology of ontology, of being. After this work, Bonhoeffer spent time in America, at Union seminary in New York City, and developed there the beginnings of a theology of scripture and the Word. Back in Germany prior to the advent of the Nazi era (a period of relative political freedom in Germany), he worked on Christological issues. Bonhoeffer became the first Evangelical theologian to attack the Nazi's repressive policies. Was Bonhoeffer thinking that the freedom of expression that had come to be taken for granted in Germany would still exist under the Nazi regime?

   In what is arguably Bonhoeffer's most important work, 'The Cost of Discipleship', he argues against ideas such as cheap grace and doctrines of justification by faith that permit passive acceptance of evil policies and conditions in the world. Using the Sermon on the Mount as one example, he argues that the actions of discipleship are part of the grace bestowed, not in a works-righteousness manner, but nonetheless a requirement against what today we might term 'warm fuzzy feeling' theology.

   de Gruchy looks at several key areas of Bonhoeffer's work in the selected texts. The first section draws extensively from his doctoral dissertation, 'Sanctorum Communio', and his book 'Act and Being'. The other sections draw liberally on his other works as they relate to the topics at hand: Christology, the Confessing Church, Life of Free Responsibility, and finally, some of his last works from prison. de Gruchy speculates a bit on what a 'mature' Bonhoeffer who had lived might have looked like. He also includes a brief annotated listing of some key works that have been significantly influenced by Bonhoeffer's work.

   Each volume in this series also has a selected bibliography section -- this one for Bonhoeffer is divided into works by Bonhoeffer (primary sources in English), works about Bonhoeffer (secondary sources in English), and includes a text of larger bibliographic references. The book also has several indexes -- a place and subject index, and a names index. This is a very good book for scholarship. The translations of the works from the original German is new, preserving some of the language uses (masculine pronouns for God) while modifying others (gender neutral translations for terms such as Mensch, Menschen).

No comments about Guy Debord: Revolution in the Service of Poetry.

No comments about Midwest Studies in Philosophy, The American Philosophers (Midwest Studies in Philosophy).

1 comments about Francis Bacon.

1. Zagorin has not added much to the great mystery of Francis Bacon. He has written a superficial understanding of the life and as a result left out many salient aspects that would have provided greater insight into Bacon's motivations and philosophy. Save your money on this one and buy a copy of Alfred Dodd's:"Francis Bacon's Personal Life Story"instead.

No comments about Stopped in Our Tracks: Stories of U.G. in India.

5 comments about Noam Chomsky: A Life of Dissent.

1. Barsky's achievement is respectable for at least one reason: he got some personal information out of Chomsky. I've been reading Chomsky for a while now and have always been impressed by his guarding of his personal life. David Barsamian, who has interviewed him probably more than anyone has - for sure more than anyone I know has - comes close once in a while. Usually it touches on how he feels about something; never anything to do with the stuff to keep biographers buzzing. As for the rest of Barsky's book I have to say that I was hardly moved by it. I appreciated the organization, and Barsky's quite obvious understanding of the issues that have arisen during Chomsky's "Life of Dissent". But I must refer to my disappointment at the immediate realization that this could hardly reflect the kind of life Chomsky has had. Hence, a 200 plus page book is not a biography. Maybe Barsky promised it was not a biography; I can't remember. To me, however, it doesn't matter. I'm always looking for good stuff by and about Chomsky. Sometimes I find really stimulating material; sometimes I find variations of views that I've seen already; sometimes I find worthless psychobabble. Barsky's book provided some new material (the strain the Faurisson affair on Chomsky was coming close to revelatory, as biographies do) but mostly it covered as much as it could about 40 plus years of intense public activity in the US (of all places) and public scrutiny in the same amount of space allotted for a court judge's decision on where domestic pets can and cannot defecate, and why. Barsky's book is excellent commentary on some significant events in Chomsky's life - in precis form - but comes up short of adequately depicting a life of dissent, especially Noam Chomsky's.



2. For those who only know Chomsky for his revolutionary work in the field of linguistics and are not aware that he is also an untiring critic of media propaganda and government malfeasance this book is for you. In this enlightening biography of one of America's leading dissidents, Barsky beautifully illustrates Chomsky's dedication in his tireless fight against the forces of injustice and hate--at great personal risk to both his career and life. The ideal that Chomsky follows is not new, however, but based in the long tradition of social activism that finds its birth in the philosophy of Socrates, put to use by countless individuals from Thoreau, Ghandi and Martin Luther King, through their adherence to the fundamental idea of intellectual independence and a healthy skepticism of the dictates of power and authority.
   In a society so full of apologists for militarism, who substitute mindless justification for military operations in place of a critical, reasoned view of world events, Chomsky stands out for his courageous opposition to totalitarianism, wherever it is found. Apparently, this hiding place is alittle to close for some. Regardless of his critics, Chomsky is destined to go down in history as one of the most important thinkers of the 20th century--an exemplary example of what an intellectual should be.



3. ...

   As for this biography, I suggest taking a copy out of a library and check it out before purchasing. It does cover some ground, and is an enjoyable read, if you're a fan.




4. This biography doesn't have much to offer for those who are more or less familiar with Chomsky's work. On a side note, there isn't much to say about Chomsky's life beyond his work, which is obviously all-consuming. As such, the biographer is reduced to an amateurish overview of Chomsky's career and influences which are all together pretty dry and unsatisfying. It's much better to get an understanding of Chomsky's work from his own words, I highly recommend "Understanding Power, and "Language and Politics," for instance. Perhaps the only thing that kept me reading is the author's overview of Chomsky's political development as an activist and scholar. There are some excellent selections going into the various political literatures that helped shape Chomsky's ideology as a young person. Unfortunately, the biographer takes it upon himself to subjectively defend Chomsky in some of his more controversial endeavors. I'm referring now to the Robert Faurrison affair. The author should have simply let Chomsky's defense of the matter speak for itself but instead he chooses to attack an author who was critical of Chomsky by explaining an encounter he had in which he heard the author speak give a lecture on the topic in which he didn't seem to have a handling of the material which the biographer decides is proof that he didn't actually read his book. This is a task for another text and shouldn't have been included. An average read on the whole, though it may be useful as an overview for those who are new to Chomsky.



5. Obviously anybody with a triple-didget I.Q.
   can see by even a casual read that Chomsky
   is a complicated man. Thus many of his books
   are at least somewhat complicated reads. I
   highly recommend this as a potential 'Best
   of...' book for Anti-Statist fans who also
   like other controversial jewish authors books
   like Murray N. Rothbard (my favorite of the
   genre!), Art Koestler (The Thirteenth Tribe),
   et, al. Also check out Art R. Butz 'Hoax of
   the Twentieth Century', and Walt Sanning's
   Dissolution of Eastern European Jewry...

No comments about Yours Faithfully, Bertrand Russell: Letters to the Editor 1904-1969.

1 comments about On Nietzsche (Wadsworth Philosophers Series).

1. This is a very good account of Nietzsche's thinking from an Analytical perspective. Neitzsche was the least systematic of all the great Western philosophers, but behind his many brilliant metaphors, innovative concepts, and razor-edged critiques of 'Progress' and other idols of modern culture, usually dished out in a flurries of aphorism, Nietzsche was still a modern, 'rational' man of science. At least that is what this book contends.
   
   Nietzsche resisted laying out a systematic view himself because, like Heidegger, he despised the idea that his work might become something others could learn by rote or PowerPoint bullets. Like Heidegger he wanted his philosophy to become a self-transforming existential challenge to the individual reader. But if Nietzsche were to articulate a Hegel-like systematic synthesis of his major ideas and 'overall' view of reality, this book shows what that would probably be like. A good introduction.

No comments about Autobiographical Reflections (Collected Works of Eric Voegelin, Volume 34).