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My Thoughts on Aristotle’s On the Soul
Title: On the Soul (De Anima) Author: Aristotle translated by J. A. Smith Published:. Preamble It was the summer of 1983 that I walked over to the Ohio State Fair from the trailer park where I lived. The newest edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica had just released, and they had a booth. With my love of books, living on my own, and just a few days into the ripe wise age of twenty, I was easily convinced to take a loan and purchase a library. This collection consisted of a thirty-volume encyclopedia, a fifty-four-volume set of Great Books of the Western World, a three-volume Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary, and a twenty-one-volume collection of the Annals of America. Since then, I have lugged these 108 books from one end of the country to the other. I have never regretted this purchase. This collection was my Wikipedia. It gave me incite into the world around me. The Great Books, encyclopedia, and the dictionary I have used consistently over the years. The Annals, for some reason, have been referenced or read very rarely, some volumes not at all. But, to get back to my topic, Aristotle. Two books, in this collection, are dedicated to his…
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Review: The Scholar’s Mission
Title: “The Scholar’s Mission” in The Works of Orestes A. Brownson Collected and Arranged by Henry F. Brownson Volume XIX pages 65-87. Author: Orestes Augustus Brownson Published: New York: AMS Press Inc., 1966. An oration pronounced before the Gamma Sigma Society, of Dartmouth College, Hanover, N. H., July 26, 1843. Preamble I was introduced to Brownson in The Conservative Mind by Russell Kirk. Since then, I bought the twenty-volume collection of his works assembled by his son. I am surprised I had never heard of him before, but what usually happens after I find someone like this, is his name will suddenly start appearing in other works I read. It is just the fact that now I am aware of him. That is true with so many other things in life. Think of many of the great discoveries made throughout history, once they are known, then it is easy to see. It is like the old tale about Christopher Columbus and the egg. Supposedly he was sitting around with some other people after he discovered America and they were saying how it was not really a big deal. He asked for an egg and requested that they each try to…
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Book Review, English 20th Century, Europe 18th Century, Europe 19th Century, History, My Ramblings, Social Commentary
Book Review: The Conservative Mind: From Burke to Eliot
The cornerstone of Kirk’s essay is that Edmund Burke (1729-1797) was the founder of Modern Conservatism. I have read two of Burke’s works, Speech on Conciliation with America (1775) and Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790). I found them both to be profound. Kirk takes up the conservative conversation starting with Burke and expounds upon it. He goes into depth explaining what he feels are the key points that Burke stressed and how these were continued in both the United Kingdom and the United States of America.
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Book Review: The Truth of Catholicism: Ten Controversies Explored
Title: The Truth of Catholicism: Ten Controversies Explored Author: George Weigel Published: New York: Harper Collins, 2001; Hardcover 196-pages. This book is about reaching out and attempting to start a discussion about Catholicism for those that want to learn more about their own journey or those just curious to know what we believe. There are a lot of good topics in here to discuss with family and friends over a meal or instead of turning on the television. John Paul II was pope when this book was written. Some of the views you can tell were influenced from this time in history. Parts seem almost prophetic about what is to come. The questions are very important, it has been said that a good question is worth more than a good answer. A good question makes us think and search inside ourselves for an answer, it makes us know more about who we are and we grow. One of the strongest messages that come through is the sanctity of truth. As Catholics, we believe that truth is not dependent on how many people believe something to be true, it just is. If all the world denied God, he is still God. …
