The Birth of Reason and Other Essays [Book Review]
Review of Metaphysics 22 (3):578-578 (1969)
Abstract |
The twenty-two essays collected for this book range widely in theme, style, and quality. The essays, a majority of which were previously unpublished, are arranged in three sections: 1) Early Essays, containing one particularly fine essay, "The Soul at Play," originally intended as part of Santayana's Soliloquies in England; 2) Later Essays, in which the title essay and "Friendship" are outstanding; and 3) Philosophical Essays, offering commentaries on Russell, Dewey, and James, on his own philosophy, and "On the False Steps of Philosophy." The book's last article, "What is the Ego?", is an elaboration of his criticism of those "German Prophets" who return from self-contemplation "as greedy as children and as stubborn as Inquisitors." Santayana's manner of exposition often involves the elaboration of a single image or metaphor. When an image or metaphor is employed which can bear the weight of subtle distinctions, he is brilliant; but when the metaphor is too weak to encompass his thinking, then his writing becomes flowery and decadent. The essays, unfinished and fragmentary for the most part, are frequently little more than a single extended metaphor--sometimes over-extended. The fragmentary, possibly only experimental, ideas in these essays invite comparison with their use in his completed works. The book will be of special interest to someone already familiar with Santayana.--A. K. T.
|
Keywords | Catholic Tradition Contemporary Philosophy General Interest |
Categories | (categorize this paper) |
ISBN(s) | 0034-6632 |
DOI | revmetaph196922360 |
Options |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Download options
References found in this work BETA
No references found.
Citations of this work BETA
No citations found.
Similar books and articles
The Birth of Reason and Other Essays.John A. Mourant - 1969 - Philosophical Studies (Dublin) 18:278-279.
The Birth of Reason and Other Essays. By George Santayana. Edited by Daniel Cory. New York: Columbia University Press, 1969. Pp. Ix, 184. $5.00. [REVIEW]John Lachs - 1969 - Dialogue 8 (3):513-517.
Logic and Reality: Essays on the Legacy of Arthur Prior.B. Jack Copeland (ed.) - 1996 - Oxford University Press.
Personal Perspective: Seeking an Alternative Baseline for Birth.Darcia Narváez - 2013 - Journal of Clinical Ethics 24:285-286.
Birth Registration: An Essential First Step Toward Ensuring the Rights of All Children.Jonathan Todres - manuscript
"Review of" Religion and Rationality: Essays on Reason, God, and Modernity". [REVIEW]Marilyn Holly - 2004 - Essays in Philosophy 5 (1):21.
1. Reason and its First 'Critique'.Jens Timmermann - 2009 - In Simon Robertson (ed.), Spheres of Reason: New Essays in the Philosophy of Normativity. Oxford University Press. pp. 183.
Analytics
Added to PP index
2012-03-18
Total views
24 ( #438,630 of 2,421,654 )
Recent downloads (6 months)
1 ( #545,272 of 2,421,654 )
2012-03-18
Total views
24 ( #438,630 of 2,421,654 )
Recent downloads (6 months)
1 ( #545,272 of 2,421,654 )
How can I increase my downloads?
Downloads