The National Catholic Register kindly reviews The Last Superstition in the May 31 – June 6 issue. From the review:“If you understand Aristotle, and Feser shows you just how commonsensical Aristotle really is, then you will necessarily understand why belief in God, an immortal soul, and natural law morality are all rational. You will also comprehend why atheism, a purely materialistic evolution, and contemporary ethics do not make sense because they are, at root, irrational. Far from being the redoubt of benighted fools, Feser shows that religion and natural morality are demanded by rationality. It is modern atheism that is the last superstition, the final holdout of an irrational illusion clung to by those who will not let their minds lead them to what is right in front of their noses…
In six exciting chapters, Feser demonstrates how and why Aristotelianism became the cornerstone of Occidental thought and why so many contemporary builders reject it. Far from fighting a rearguard action against the onslaught of modern barbarism, Feser argues that the best defense is a solid offense…
Though the book is academic, it is something for people of goodwill who want to understand why our culture is in the sorry shape it's in — and how to fix it…
Do you have a child or grandchild bound for college? Buy him this book and immunize him against the errors now hawked as ‘philosophy.’ More than anything else, Feser deserves praise for showing, in a comprehensible way, that philosophy makes sense and remains terribly relevant to how to live well in the world today.”
Still a semi-zombie after childbirth. (And you should see my wife!) Non-self-promoting posts to return shortly.
Congratulations upon your at least partially final cause! And too, along with your Philosophy of Mind I have just received the irresistably entitled "Locke". Your "Last Superstition" is brilliant and should I write a review for the average Western reader so efficiently inculturated in material measurements, , I might well entitle it "Read this or die dumb."
ReplyDeleteCheers
Paul Boire
I really look forward to buying this book and your book on the philosophy of mind. So many good books so little time...*sigh*
ReplyDeleteWhat got me interested in Aristotelian thinking was Ric Machuga's "In Defense of the Soul: What It Means to Be Human." Have you read this book? If you have, what do you think of it? Is your book just a rehash of Machuga's arguments or is it more in-depth than his book?
Thanks, Paul and Ron. Re: Machuga's book, there are some interesting things in it, though I would take issue with some of his exposition of Aristotelian-Thomistic metaphysics. In any case, my own book is by no means a "rehash." I deal at length with issues he does not touch on (e.g. the classical A-T arguments for God's existence, natural law theory), and in greater detail with issues he does deal with.
ReplyDeleteGood. Thanks, Edward.
ReplyDeleteI hope you and your wife will soon recover.
ReplyDeleteThe book is great btw.