There isn't much more that I can say besides WOW! Paul Tillich uses a modern existential analysis of the human condition, and then a radical reinterpretation of the Christian tradition to understand and conquer the bleak condition of existential estrangement.

In this volume, Tillich examines the conditions of existence and the feature of Christianity which makes it distinctive among religions: the Christ. Explaining that all religions are meant to diagnose the human condition and to provide ways to reunite man with his essential being. He shows how sin, guilt, and pride are marks of the estrangement of man from his essential self and how religion has consistently and traditionally explained this facet of his existence.

However, he then begins his reinterpretation of the Christ event as the "bearer of New Being," where Christ is the model for all to reunite themselves with their essence - to exist without being overcome by estrangement.

In the book, Tillich uses an easy-to-read and uncomplicated prose to explain his ideas. No where near as complex as other thinkers, but easily as intelligent and dense, Tillich's Systematic Theology is the best attempt at a systematic reinterpretation of the Christian message I've ever read, and is a must-read for anyone interested in a discernible and acceptable rendtion of the Christian story in the world today.

In "Being and Nothingness," Jean-Paul Sartre's postmodern classic, Sartre correctly proposes that in order to truly examine oneself at his or her foundation, one must be outside the self as it is examined. Unfortunately, Sartre rightly contends, this being-for-itself on its own is impossible, and there is always and unavoidably a prejudice when it comes to self-examination. In "Postmodernity," Paul Lakeland desires to examine what he calls a "fragmented age" from within its own confines. Though a valiant attempt, Sartre's allegation is proven true: Lakeland produces a flawed, though not entirely wasted, critique of the postmodern age.

The title of Lakeland's book suggests that he will attempt two different, though related, objectives. First is the identification of postmodernity. Second is the discovery of a Christian identity in postmodernity, this "fragmented age." He begins the book with a very interesting, though inadequate, look at popular culture in contemporary times. He postulates that contemporary attitudes toward technology, design, and ways of life have contributed toward a "breakdown of givens: time, space, and order" (2). His arguments are fascinating, from the hotel with its spacious lobbies sans clocks (4), to the computer in a globally connected age (5). They suggest that his original assertion concerning the collapsing of givens is correct. However, he has not fully developed these examples, nor does he give himself the chance to do so. Assuming that the reader will agree with his arguments, he moves on.

The next two segments, it would seem to me, are invaluable toward the development of his overall argument. Postmodern "sensibilities," and the philosophical thought that reflects the times are at the crux of any possible analysis to be made on postmodernity itself. Unfortunately Lakeland makes broad, sweeping statements with only rudimentary evidence to support them. He states, "the emotional range is narrow, between mild depression at one end and a whimsical insouciance at the other," (8-9) and while he may have accurately depicted the postmodern sentimental scale, he does little to provide examples of such a generalization. Here begins Lakeland's tireless objective of categorization. He attempts to simplify the complexities of postmodern identity by assigning tendencies to categories. For example, the first distinction he makes is between those in the postmodern culture who are given the task of subjective value-giving, but loathe the responsibility and instead allow themselves to succumb to the will of the many (10), and those in postmodern culture who recognize their predicament, enjoy it to some extent, but ultimately wish to return to an earlier time (11). Lakeland also identifies a third group as amorphous and unidentifiable (11). Here lies the problem with his categorization. When he attempts to identify the unidentifiable, he falls into the Sartrian dilemma; without an objective place from which to view the postmodern world, the author cannot hope to evaluate accurately and without prejudice.

In dealing with thought in postmodernity, he seems to accurately depict the landscape as a post-enlightenment reaction to Kant's critique of reason and placement of emphasis on the subject. To deal with the topic in such cursory fashion, however, is in many ways a crime unto itself. In order to briefly summarize the entirety of postmodern thought, Lakeland resorts to more categorizations, and oftentimes they appear to be flawed or woefully incomplete ones at that. He places Martin Heidegger, for instance, within the umbrella group of a "postmodernism of nostalgia" (17). This is unfair - Heidegger's project may have been to remind man of his being as Da-sein but it is in a new way, not by way of nostalgia. This iniquitous classification of Heidegger is but one instance of a larger problem of unmerited categorization within the realm of postmodern thought.

The second section of Lakeland's short work is titled "Religion," and it looks at postmodern attitudes toward the philosophy of religion itself. Again, Lakeland begins with four groupings within this section - the groupings seem fair at the outset but still fall short of their intended goal of bringing the reader to some understanding of the distinctions and similarities of the individual thinkers. He makes two strong points in this section; first, that a decentering within the world has taken place and irrevocably this decentering affects all people, Christians and non-Christians alike, and second, that there has not yet been a completely successful non-anthropomorphic view of God in the postmodern world, when one is sorely needed (at least in his view). The decentering, or self-alienation, of humanity in the world is a very common theme in postmodern deconstructionalism, and Lakeland does an excellent job summarizing this characteristic. The anthropocentricism which Lakeland uncovers as a problem in the human dialogue about God does present a problem - but it is an unsolvable one, humanity must analogically apply human characteristics to anything in order to communicate about it, even God.. Though Lakeland wishes to speak in non-anthropomorphic terms, he does not present a clear way to completely do away with the language of humanizing God.

When this discussion enters the final section of the book - an attempt at a postmodern Christian apologetics - Lakeland asks the question, "is there a place any longer in postmodern Christianity for God, Christ, and the church?" (85). However, from a Christian standpoint, this is the wrong question. To ask if there is a place for God in postmodern thought is to, in some way, do what Lakeland protests against - to make God a thing in the world, as opposed to a transcendent creator. Finally, Lakeland introduces a Christology of Otherness at the end of "Postmodernity" that fascinates the reader, though he does not develop it far enough for it to leave a lasting impression. In all fairness to Lakeland, his project is extremely ambitious. As a survey of postmodernity, particularly Christian postmodern thought, it serves as a partially adequate introduction, though ultimately an unsuccessful attempt at objective analysis of this postmodern era. Sartre may be hard-pressed not to say, "I told you so."

An advanced course in Hegel is probably the course which shuttled me forward toward a career in philosophy (and, eventually, theology). It is partly the responsibility of Hegel's thought and part my teacher (look up books by DG Leahy if you are interested in the first real new philosophy of the 21st century). Anyway, back to Hegel's "Mind." In this work, Hegel has created a tour-de-force in systematic philosophy following Kant.

though Kant has adopted the dualism of Plato, Hegel's synthesizing of Kant's ideas has resulted in an amazingly complex but understandable and brilliant work. Hegel proposes that the Mind is the second moment in a three-fold syllogism, following Nature but preceeding Logic (Reason). Here, Hegel explores the nuances of the Mind. Though the other two volumes of the three volume set are important, it seems Mind contains all the ideas of the other two.

If you enjoy hard German philosophy and have a penchant for the absolute idea, read Hegel as soon as possible!

Kierkegaard's analysis of the concept of anxiety is unbelievably useful! He presents anxiety as dealing with guilt and sin in a Christian context but his idea and thought can be understood in a secular and non-religious format as well.

Kierkegaard is responding to Hegel's optimism strikingly in this work. Hegel's attempt at a systematic explanation of the ever-evolving Idea is shattered for Kierkegaard by man's encounter with non-being and nothingness, and this encounter is accompanied by the anxiety of man in the world.

This work, along with Philosophical Fragments, and the Sickness Unto Death, are the most important and influential of Kierkegaard's writing. In his work Being and Time, Heidegger uses Kierkegaard's analysis of the threat of non-being to describe what he calls "angst." Sartre does similarly in Being and Nothingness when he speaks of man's freedom as condemned to anguish. There are countless other works that indicate that this contribution by Kierkegaard truly is the seedlings of modern western existential thought.

A must have for anyone with a beginning interest in Kierkegaard!

Camus' The Rebel is the first book of his that I had the great pleasure of reading. Eloquent and enlightening, The Rebel speaks to me in a way that no other 20th century philosophical work has, at least in its entirety.

The Rebel is both an introduction of new ideas and a history of previous ideas and events: Camus' scholarship is unbelievable in the area of revolt. It spans from early greek history and earlier all the way through to the French Revolution and beyond.

I wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone concerned with spiritual, historical, or any kind of rebellion - and really to anyone who concerns themself over the human condition.

Reading Heidegger for the first time was a laborious chore, one that I disdained every minute of. However, I think it was the fact that I was not ready for this work when I first read it. After beginning more work in Theology and discovering the work of the great 20th century theologian Karl Rahner, I found myself more interested in the work of Heidegger. Rahner was a student of Heidegger's in Germany, and you can see his influence running deeply through Rahner's work.

Reading it a second time with a more open mind, I found it to be enlightening, though still immensely difficult. The translation is not bad, as everyone seems to have trouble with Heidegger as they do with Hegel. Heidegger's ideas on death and the angst man has when facing death are integral to my own work, and the entirety of Being and Time should be read by anyone thinking of delving into post-modern philosophy and existentialism.

An earlier reviewer suggested to read this without Sartre: I completely disagree. Heidegger and Sartre should be read together, as they have so much to share with one another that to ignore one is to miss the point of the 20th century movements in thought. They are, together, the two heavy-hitters of the 20th century, though thinkers like Camus and Merleau-Ponty may make a claim for space there as well.

Being and Time is Heidegger's magnum opus, and should be read with an open mind and a notebook to keep track of all the ideas.

This is a book which takes constant re-reading and reading within context: that is, pick one theme, and read the entire book in search of all Sartre has to say about that theme. This book is completely indispensible to anyone wishing to deal in post-modern philosophy and existentialism: it is a secular philosopher's bible. Dealing in systematic brilliance throughout the experience of life, Sartre delves into psychology and theological ideas while remaining true to his own purely atheistic and philosophical roots.

Dense? Sure... but illuminating examples help to describe the deep thought, almost as parables in the Synoptic Gospels. The crag in the rock, the meeting at the cafe, all these verbal illustrations work into the text very well. Personally, I love the sections on the anguish of man when faced with the facticity of his own freedom. The dualism expressed by Sartre is a theme in philosophy which I usually don't enjoy (like any good post-Hegelian, I enjoy synthesizing opposites), he is able to pull it off with ease and magnificence. Though it is not as eloquent as the existentialism expressed by Albert Camus, it is every bit as enlightening and valuable.

Most people object to its density because they are used to the existential wanderings of the modern novel - Camus' The Stranger, or Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment - but this is the philosophical reflection of the situation of man expressed by such work. Sartre states early on that he is not performing an objective analysis of humankind, but rather a biased and understandably nuanced descriptionof ontology from the perspective of the modern man.

Brilliant and exciting, Being and Nothingness is an essential part of anyone philosopher's bookshelf!

Don't get me wrong, Husserl's contribution to post-modern philosophy is impossible to ignore. However, his constant beating of the transcendental horse is even more annoying then the Catholic theologian Karl Rahner's! At least with Rahner, you can expect man's transcedence toward God... with Husserl, it is a transcendence toward the self by the epoche - the "bracketting" - of the world and the retreat into the self. While the ideas are immensely important, they are more valuable as a transitional piece from the work of Descartes toward the work of Heidegger, Sartre, and others than they are on their own. An ego-pole? How is a pole, as Sartre would say, not simply a thing of the world? Husserl seems wed to the idea that the mind is constitutive of the world around us, and thankfully post-modern philosophy has not devoted itself entirely to that idea.

Perhaps it is the translation, but the work is hard to read, and you would be better to borrow it from a library then to spend the [price] on a 80 page book.

Still, it gets 3 stars. why? because it is so important. The work of Heidegger, Sartre, Merleau-Ponty, and even Rahner would not be possible without this work by Husserl. He is a bridge thinker - now that we've crossed the river maybe occasionally we can look back at his thought for its worth but we don't have to spend any more time on that bridge.

Though densley packed and, at least at the outset, entirely too "transcendental" to be understood in a proper light, Rahner's "Foundations" provides an excellent introduction to his themes and ideas. Written in the latter part of his life, it is amazing that he was able to condense his more than 50 published works into one 400 page book.

This is a fantastic book for the late undergraduate or early graduate student who studies theology. It is particularly useful having read Husserl, Heidegger, and Sartre, from whom Rahner borrows heavily (amazing, to have a Catholic theologian borrow from two atheists and an agnostic). Though it is devoid of the normal scriptural references found in a theology book, and it does not treat the foundations of Christianity in Judaism in a fair way, it is nevertheless an important and vital work of philosophical catholic theology.

Rahner will argue that God is the constitutive element of man... and after reading the book it is hard to truly disagree.