The author takes a thematic rather than a chronological approach to Italian history; I was skeptical at first, but he makes it work. The chief problem he attacks is why Italy never developed as a nation-state the way other European nations did. Italians have supposedly always lacked any sense of nationalism, but the author points out that Fascism is basically ultra-nationalism, and Italy was the first nation to have a Fascist movement and a Fascist regime. The family, the church, and the community rather than the nation however have always claimed the primary loyalty of Italians, and to this day they remain distrustful of the government and even the law enforcement services. There is a considerable outlining of sordid Italian politics in this book that helps one to understand this, but ultimately the book’s central question remains unanswered. This was not an exciting book, but it expanded my knowledge considerably.
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2014/06/11/modern-italy-by-john-foot/
May 12 2014
For Reasons of State by Noam Chomsky
The first four chapters of this book deal with the perceived immorality and injustice of the Vietnam War. By now I am so used to Chomsky’s blame-America-first arguments that I tend to be dismissive of them, but his indictments in this book do make me stop and think. The rest of this book consists of rather abstract discussions of the nature of freedom and the relation of individual freedom to the state. Chapter Seven, which is a refutation of Skinner’s theory of behaviorism, is the most interesting chapter in the book, although it seems somewhat out of place. Chomsky is eloquent and logical but also a bit long-winded and tedious; he is clearly a product of the academic world, and his political ideas are well-intentioned but frankly pure fantasy. Orwell wrote about leftist intellectuals who are free to criticize the establishment and dream up utopias in the secure knowledge that they will never have any real power and therefore will never have any responsibility for governing. Yeah.
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2014/05/12/for-reasons-of-state-by-noam-chomsky/
May 10 2014
On the Good Life by Cicero
Cicero, they say, was a principled and virtuous man who used his oratorical gifts for the good of the state. In these essays, however, I see not so much virtue as the vanity, self-love, and indulgence of an aristocratic gentleman who is highly pleased with his own accomplishments and evidently believes that his achievements and public standing make him an authority on everything. Some of his philosophical ideas are interesting, but they would be more impressive if one felt that Cicero actually practiced them rather than merely regarding them as interesting dinner table conversation. He insists, for instance, that morality is necessary for happiness, and that a good man cannot fail to be happy. His interlocutor asks if a virtuous philosopher being tortured on the rack can be happy. Cicero answers affirmatively, but he is not convincing. His essay on friendship is more praiseworthy, but in all Cicero’s discussion of the good and virtuous life one smells his hypocrisy. Veritas et vanitas.
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2014/05/10/on-the-good-life-by-cicero/
Apr 18 2014
From Socrates to Sartre by T.Z. Lavine
A survey of six of the important figures of Western philosophy: Plato, Descartes, Hume, Hegel, Marx, and Sartre. This was a delightful book, far more interesting and readable than the works of the philosophers themselves. As anyone who has tried to read Aristotle or Heidegger can attest, concise summaries like this are a much more fruitful and less discouraging approach to studying philosophy than beginning directly with the writings of the great philosophers, many of whom seem perversely enamored of being tedious and impenetrable. The last few chapters on Sartre and existentialism were the most interesting, and the final chapter poses the question of whether analytical philosophy has closed the book on Western philosophy for good. I somehow doubt it.
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2014/04/18/from-socrates-to-sartre-by-t-z-lavine/
Jan 16 2014
1848: The Revolutionary Tide in Europe by Peter Stearns
This a subject I keep revisiting, without gaining much illumination. Much about the 1848 revolutions remains mysterious to me. It isn’t clear to me what set off the revolutions in the first place, or how or why they occurred simultaneously and independently throughout the major cities of Europe, or why they failed so decisively when they should have had the support of the majority of the people. This book narrates the history of the movement without clarifying any of these issues. It is also frankly a mystery to me why the American Revolution seems to be just about the only successful revolution in history, at least in terms of bringing about a social order that was better than what came before. This book attempts to explain 1848 but does not really get at the central problems.
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2014/01/16/1848-the-revolutionary-tide-in-europe-by-peter-stearns/
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2014/01/03/taking-stock-of-2013/
Dec 22 2013
A History of Britain, Volume I: At the Edge of the World? 3000 BC – AD 1603
An extremely good source of British medieval history, with detailed information on the rebellions of Simon de Montfort and Wat Tyler that I have not been able to find in other sources. Readable and enjoyable.
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2013/12/22/a-history-of-britain-volume-i-at-the-edge-of-the-world-3000-bc-ad-1603/
Oct 20 2013
Cognitive Therapy and the Emotional Disorders by Aaron Beck
The central idea of cognitive therapy is that mood disorders are caused by internal delusions or self-deceptions, and that it you can correct the delusional perception, you will correct the the disorder. Beck argues in effect that people can be talked out of their mental illnesses, and as naive as this idea sounds in the face of mental illnesses that seem intractable, cognitive therapy has proven to have the same success rate in treating mood disorders as pharmacological treatments. The way to treat depression, for instance, is to teach the patient to replace negative self-talk with positive self-talk; the way to treat anxieties and phobias is to demonstrate to the patient that the source of his fear is in fact something relatively harmless. There are obviously effective and ineffective ways to go about this; it is not quite as simple as it seems, but it is a much more common sense approach than psychoanalysis and has fewer side effects than drug treatments. I want to learn more…
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2013/10/20/cognitive-therapy-and-the-emotional-disorders-by-aaron-beck/
Oct 16 2013
The Annals of Imperial Rome by Tacitus
Tacitus is the greatest of the Roman historians. He is also the most prejudiced. Modern historians have called into question his portrayal of Tiberius as a cruel and depraved tyrant, and indeed Tacitus’ own narrative reveals him for the most part a capable ruler. Tacitus is always insinuating that while Tiberius said and did one thing, he was secretly thinking something else; how he had access to the emperor’s private thoughts is a mystery. Claudius the stammering fool likewise seems a highly effective ruler; he brought Gauls into the Senate, ruled with great clemency, and conquered Britian for the Roman Empire, something not even Julius Caesar was able to do. The story of Caligula is omitted, but no crime of Nero escapes mention. Tacitus clearly feels that autocracy is evil and has caused the decline of Rome; it is too bad that we cannot ask the common people of the Empire whether the emperors were in fact any worse than the senatorial oligarchy that Tacitus upheld.
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2013/10/16/the-annals-of-imperial-rome-by-tacitus/
Sep 21 2013
The Early History of Rome by Livy
One thing is clear from this history: from the founding of the Republic, class warfare was endemic to Rome. Rome was perpetually at war with her neighbors, but was politically at war with herself for much of her history. It seems the aristocracy used war and external threats as a means to stall the popular demands for reform; since Rome was almost always at war, reform was thus indefinitely deferred. Livy is clearly on the side of the aristocracy, yet even he puts some noble and stirring speeches in the mouths of the tribunes. Livy is too conservative and patriotic to be objective, and he has no head at all for military matters, but he captures the divisive politics of early Rome more clearly than he intended, since he makes clear from the beginning that his aim is to show how glorious and virtuous Rome was in the good old days before vice and decadence set in. There is much in this work that could have been left out with no loss to posterity, but the overall theme is timeless.
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2013/09/21/the-early-history-of-rome-by-livy/
Al Singh
Doug Merrill
Doreen Sheridan
Emily Lauer
John Pitzel
Lars N. Goldschlager
Laura Eilers
Professor X
Robert Maedgen
Sylvere Ap Leanan
The Shire