Customer Reviews

Passion of the Western Mind

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This book is an excellent text on history of ideas, which have shaped western world. Starting from classical (greece) the book takes you through how christianity evolved and what impact classical thought and Rome had on development of christian world-view (and vice-versa). And then author traces the development of modern and postmodern world-views, taking one through renaissance, reformation and scientific revolutions.

It doesn't go in too much depth for any single idea/person, so if you want to know about Kant in detail, you will have to refer to some other work, but here you would get a good overall picture of what he was talking about, what problem he was trying to solve and what was his impact.

This book would in my top-10 list to recommend to anyone who is interested in history of western world.

This engaging summary propels readers through the epic story of how Western thought has evolved through the centuries. If you are new to philosophy, you will find that this book gives a lucid overview of subjects ranging from the early Greeks through the evolution of Christian thought, and proceeding onward through the Renaissance and the Scientific Revolution to current-day Postmodernism. This book gives many insights on the context underlying current-day views and assumptions about man's place in the universe. If you seek answers to existential questions or religious uncertainties, you may find the Epilogue wanting, but the book as a whole will intrigue you.

Tarnis's treatment of part III & IV are commendable, for the accuracy of historical facts, and for the scope of subjects covered. The last part, Epilogue, is something else entirely, full of subjective arguments for unsupported ideas.( mainly depth psychology studied on drug-induced subjects) The last time I found something about him on the internet, he was talking about aligning of planets as the cause of 9-11 tragedy. It is mind-boggling even to think of someone, of his intellectual capacity, being lured into astrology.

This is a great review of the major themes of Western Thought. Most major thinkers (e.g. Plato, Descartes, Aquinas)are discussed and placed into their historical, philosophical and social contexts. At times the book seemed to ramble on and was a bit disorganized, but overall was an excellent text.

After reading this impressive work I come away with mixed feelings. Tarnas covers the major and many minor figures in the canon of Western Philosophical thought. At times his synthesis and intepretation of some rather difficult philosophical concepts was truly brilliant. The book does suffer from being a translation from a Spanish work. Tarnas seems to be actively trying to demonstrate the importance of Spain's 20th century philosophers. However, what I feel seriously detracts from the book are phrases and whole lines of spanish, latin, french and german which are used repeatedly and never translated. I feel that I missed many points because my latin is not up to snuff. In one particularly egregious incident a french passage is translated into spanish but not into english. With the polyglot requirement aside this is an excellent text and Tarnas is clearly a gifted thinker if not a gifted writer.

The list of introductory works to the history of philosophy is never-ending. Tarnus' is THE WORK that stands out. Tarnus presents the history of thought with a level of insight and understanding that reaches depths previously not considered possible for an introductory work. Not only do you get the particular ideas of each philosophy and era of thought, you get the cultural influence and the context out of which each philosophy arose. What motivated each thinker? What particular convictions influenced the philosophy of the era? What were the pressing concerns building in history of thought that motivated each thinker to construct his particular system? These are the invaluable truths Tarnus makes clear for the reader. In this respect his "introductory work" can also be considered important even for readers who are well educated and familiar with the typical history of philosophy. Tarnus' education in the field of psychology offers the reader a rare insight. I can't recommend it enough.

If you are thinking of buying this book, please pay no attention to thoughtless reviews written by people who either have an axe to grind or do not have the power to understand that which they are "reviewing." The one-star review on this page brings to my mind the quote: "It takes a carpenter to build a barn, but any jackass can knock it down." Richard Tarnas has written a masterful book that makes "the ideas that have shaped our world view" highly accessible. The epilogue is a brilliant piece of thinking, and a lovely piece of writing.

I went to one of England's " best " schools, and a leading university where I studied Social Anthropology. I assumed I was well educated - until I read Rick Tarnas' book, sitting on a beach in India, and realized that I knew virtually nothing about the history of thought in the West. And I realized that without that knowledge, all that I thought I knew was rendered paper-thin. I could not put the book down. It was an incredible experience to trace the history of Europe, the West and thus the modern world, through the lens of philosophical, religious and scientific thinkers and, for the first time ever, feel that I could see the map, grasp the background to my own personal experience, and thereby address the ever more urgent questions arising in me about our world.

In addition to the question of at last becoming familiar with the underpinning of the Western way of thinking and acting, I found great pleasure in the way Richard Tarnas uses language. He writes with extraordinary lucidity and elegance. It drew me on, feeding my aesthetic appetite, which I found as important as the content, finally, for this book is an experience. It does what all writers hope for in their writing, but few can really achieve.

A few years after that experience, I ended up coming to study in the place where Rick Tarnas teaches, the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco. I have found him to be as elegant a speaker and teacher as I found his writing to be.

My final thought is that this book should be required reading for ALL students in senior grades of high school, or in the first year of university - whether studying Sciences or Humanities. The way we think is of critical importance for the well-being of the world. The first essential step is to understand how we have got to where we are. From there a creative critique can be born. And at no time has it been more urgent that we learn everything we can about our habits of thought, and become capable of activating our creativity for a more functional, more equitable, more sustainable world. And a world that can value beauty in all its forms. All disciplines, the entire spectrum, developed as they have been in the European mind, need the contribution of aware, creative, innovative minds. This book helps us towards that goal.

I went to one of England's " best " schools, and a leading university where I studied Social Anthropology. I assumed I was well educated - until I read Rick Tarnas' book, sitting on a beach in India, and realized that I knew virtually nothing about the history of thought in the West. And I realized that without that knowledge, all that I thought I knew was rendered paper-thin. I could not put the book down. It was an incredible experience to trace the history of Europe, the West and thus the modern world, through the lens of philosophical, religious and scientific thinkers and, for the first time ever, feel that I could see the map, grasp the background to my own personal experience, and thereby address the ever more urgent questions arising in me about our world.

In addition to the question of at last becoming familiar with the underpinning of the Western way of thinking and acting, I found great pleasure in the way Richard Tarnas uses language. He writes with extraordinary lucidity and elegance. It drew me on, feeding my aesthetic appetite, which I found as important as the content, finally, for this book is an experience. It does what all writers hope for in their writing, but few can really achieve.

A few years after that experience, I ended up coming to study in the place where Rick Tarnas teaches, the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco. I have found him to be as elegant a speaker and teacher as I found his writing to be.

My final thought is that this book should be required reading for ALL students in senior grades of high school, or in the first year of university - whether studying Sciences or Humanities. The way we think is of critical importance for the well-being of the world. The first essential step is to understand how we have got to where we are. From there a creative critique can be born. And at no time has it been more urgent that we learn everything we can about our habits of thought, and become capable of activating our creativity for a more functional, more equitable, more sustainable world. And a world that can value beauty in all its forms. All disciplines, the entire spectrum, developed as they have been in the European mind, need the contribution of aware, creative, innovative minds. This book helps us towards that goal.

This book is an absolutely superb read. I would completely disregard the review "reader beware" from may 2000.