Book Review: A Vindication of the Rights of Women by Mary Wollstonecraft

A Vindication of the Rights of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

As the rights of man were debated across Europe due to the revolutions in America and France, the other half of the population appeared to be forgotten about especially when French National Assembly was presented a report that women should almost expect a “domestic education”. A Vindication of the Rights of Women by Mary Wollstonecraft is an answer not only to that report to the French National Assembly and to Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s Emile where he also covered the education of women.

Through 255 pages of text Wollstonecraft examined the current dominate methods of educating women, criticism of those methods and other proposed methods, and finally putting forth her own argument for giving women a rational education. The key to her argument for Wollstonecraft is that women as mothers will be the first educators their children have before they are handed to professionals who’ll advance their learning, given their position women should be given a proper education to fulfill this role and if their husband were to pass, a proper education would allow them to ensure her family’s well-being until her children have grown up as well as secure her own well-being in her old age. Wollstonecraft proposed a national education system in which both boys and girls and from all social classes would learn together in their early years before separating to more specific education for their duties—though if a child of a lower social class were to be particularly gifted he should be sponsored by the government to further his education and thus benefit the whole nation. One of the major criticisms that Wollstonecraft had was that if women continued to be treated as mere future property of their husbands with an education only for that end instead of as “companions” of their husbands, as future mothers, and possible heads of household if unforeseen circumstances arose. Wollstonecraft continually brought up Rousseau’s suggestions for the education of women and attacked them, to the point where it was becoming repetitive and beyond what was needed, which she somewhat acknowledged late in the essay. Another critique I had about the essay was that Wollstonecraft decided to write it after reading the 1791 report on education by Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord that he presented to the French National Assembly that she disagreed with, yet she barely mentioned its existence even when discussing her counterproposals to it. However, even with those criticisms this is an important philosophical essay as well as political theory, which acknowledges that women are important for the body politic and whose education is important for the well-being of the next generation and that all children should receive the same education as provided by the state in their early years.

A Vindication of the Rights of Women is one of the two important works by Mary Wollstonecraft; its influence would be delayed but still be important in the two centuries after her death.

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Book Review: Immanuel Kant's Political Writings

Political Writings by Immanuel Kant
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

The Enlightenment’s most prominent German is known for his comprehensive and systematic works in epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, and aesthetics; however, he never wrote a dedicated work on his political philosophy. Immanuel Kant’s Political Writings edited by Hans Reiss is a collection of either complete or selected portions of works over the course of the philosopher’s career that attempts to give the reader a in-depth understanding of Kant’s political philosophy.

Over the course of 272 pages of text, Reiss’ aim was to outline the central tenets of Kant’s political thinking and aim through his constructed framework of moral philosophy and the philosophy of history. As it says on the back cover of the book, “Kant’s aim was to establish the philosophical principles on which a just and lasting peace could be based, and to provide a philosophical vindication of representative, constitutional government that would guarantee respect for the political rights of all individuals.” The one problem is that frankly, I only learned that in Reiss’ introduction and postscript—along with the back cover itself—not from any of the selections from Kant’s work presented in the collection. Honestly I think I would have preferred a volume of Reiss writing an explanation of Kant’s political ideas for 272 pages than what I read as a whole especially because in the postscript Reiss wrote that Kant disagreed with rebellion of established government and thus thought the French Revolution was wrong but Reiss explained that Kant viewed the American Revolution favorably along the U.S. Constitution but didn’t explain why the latter revolution was different from the former in Kant’s mind. Reiss put in selections from “The Metaphysics of Morals” and an appendix from “The Critique of Pure Reason”, the former Reiss had to explain the entire work up until the selection so the reader would know what Kant’s frame of mind was and the later one long paragraph about the right form of a constitution. From what I can gather, “Perpetual Peace: A Philosophical Sketch” might have been the only complete important work in the collection and while it was interesting, to say I was impressed with Kant’s explanation of his political philosophy—or what could be drawn out—would be a lie though not because it was badly written, it just fine. Overall, I was not really impressed by the book because while it is a collection, it feels more Kant writing about political theory at certain points in a bigger work than articulating a political philosophy.

Immanuel Kant’s Political Writings is a volume from passages from a life’s work which frankly pales in comparison to editor Hans Reiss’ explanations of Kant’s thinking than his actual words presented to reader.

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Book Review: The Age of Reason by Thomas Paine

The Age of Reason by Thomas Paine
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

For the educated elite and free thinkers, deism was philosophical position brought to the fore through reason but was not supposed to be disseminated to the masses for the good of society. Then came Thomas Paine’s The Age of Reason, which brought deistic arguments long available to the elites to the general populace in an engaging and irreverent style, thus making them appealing to his targeted readers.

Paine’s argument comes in three parts, the first of which was against revelation of scriptures as proof of God’s existence as it is hearsay—especially of that in the Christian era because it was bent to political circumstances—while God’s existence is testified to in the natural world. The second is that organized religion is corrupted by civil authorities as well as corrupting civil authorities to gain or increase its power. The third is an analysis of selected Biblical texts in the Bible (Old Testament) and New Testament to show it is not the revelation of God. While the structure of the book is somewhat haphazard due to the history of its publication, Paine begins it with his personal creed which includes the belief in one God and what he believes the religious duties of man are then declares what he is personally opposed to institutionalized religion while supporting the rights of others to believe in whatever creed they want to profess. When one reads this book, Paine’s beginning statement on his personal views of religion should be kept in mind so as not get a knee-jerk reaction to call the author an atheist like some—Theodore Roosevelt to name one—have done since this was first published. As for my view on Paine’s arguments, some are easy to agree with like the history of cooperation of civil and religious authorities to prop up one another, my personal belief in the separation of church and state so to keep each from being tainted by the other. While I agree that God’s existence is revealed in nature, it’s Paine’s arguments that revelation as seen in scripture and his proofs that I critique the hardest. Mainly as he went through several texts, out of context in many cases, I could come up with texts in other locations that completely contradict his supposition of what the highlighted text said. And given that it was most of Paine’s argument, it was no doubt better debated at the time of publication and due to space and time I do not have time to write a pamphlet in response to Paine’s mistakes. Beyond the contents of the book itself, this is a concise though thorough argument for 18th-century British deistic thought as well as the anti-clericalism inspired by the French Revolution that began to influence political thought from then to now.

The Age of Reason is Thomas Paine’s argument to general public against organized religion in favor of the deistic beliefs that had long been developed and accepted among the elites who Paine believed propped up corrupt religious organizations to keep the common man from obtaining his full rights as a free man.

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Book Review: The Seekers by Daniel J. Boorstin

The Seekers: The Story of Man's Continuing Quest to Understand His World Knowledge Trilogy by Daniel J. Boorstin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Discoveries, inventions, and creations are a defining part of Western culture, just as important as the material elements are the religious and philosophical ideas, thoughts, and questions. The Seekers by Daniel J. Boorstin is a chronicle of Western culture’s search for the answer to the question “why?” over the millennia and how it influenced Western culture itself.

In a little over 300 pages Boorstin writes and connects 41 mini essays covering the lives, ideas, and impact of seekers from ancient times to the modern. The book is divided into three epochs, the first of which was Ancient Heritage covering the prophets of the Old Testament, the philosophical trinity—Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle—of Ancient Greece, and finally the merger of the two in Christianity. Communal Search was the second as it covered how history was written for communities first in epics following the struggles of heroes then transitioning to the course of events as seen in Herodotus and Thucydides, then how in the context of their society’s seekers look to define the individual within a community. Finally, the Paths to the Future covers the abandonment of the empowerment of the individual to the masses who follow an ideology that eventually led to the abandonment of the state to find answers in culture or in existentialism or in the solace of diversity and eventually to looking past the finite to the infinite in processes of evolution or figuring out scientific universal laws. Unlike the previous two volumes of Boorstin’s “Knowledge” series, the West is specified from the beginning thus not promising or giving a false impression that he’ll cover viewpoints from other cultures. Also in this volume, Boorstin speaks out about certain things especially ideology, the belief that the ideas expressed were true because they could be “proven” leading to not only the lose of influence of the individual but also the meaning of being an individual, which proved the basis for the rise of the totalitarian regimes found at both extremes of the political spectrum. As an introduction or get a summary of the cultural history of Western religious and philosophical thought, Boorstin’s book is a great place to start or read but this shouldn’t be mistaken for an authoritative look into it.

The Seekers is the final volume of Daniel Boorstin’s “Knowledge” series, the shortest of the series but the one that invites the reader to explore further the ideas and thoughts that were shaped by and did shape Western culture.

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Book Review: Rights of Man by Thomas Paine

Rights of Man by Thomas Paine
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The French Revolution brought about various reactions across the Channel in Britain, especially after the war in America however the split between English supporters of the American cause in-between supporters and reactionaries against the French Revolution brought about one of the most famous counterrevolution pamphlets of all time and then came the response. Rights of Man by Thomas Paine is a series of essays first to counter Edmund Burke’s Reflections on the Revolution in France and then to propose reforms of the English government.

The first part of the book directly answers Burke’s counter-revolution argument with Paine positing that popular revolution is permissible when a government does not safeguard the natural rights of its people. The defense of the French Revolution is expertly done by Paine then he highlights and counters what he perceives to be the weakness of Burke’s argument of hereditary wisdom by the assertion—with examples—of how wisdom does not translate from one generation to another in a monarchy so how could it do so in a whole class. The second part of Paine’s book, which was published a year later than the first, is where the essays start deviating from the defending the French Revolution which was the premise to reforming the English government. While some of Paine’s thoughts and ideas are good, his delving into tax policy and the like it’ll made me wonder why I’m reading Wealth of Nations again. Admittedly I didn’t read Burke’s Reflections before reading Paine, a major oversight, but given that Paine awaited Burke’s response while dismissing lesser writers’ efforts to counter his initial publication—during the time between Parts 1 and 2—I will assume that Paine accurately portrayed Burke’s thesis. Given this assumption, Part 1 is a well written rebuttal to Burke and good defense of the ideals of the early French Revolution. However, the second half of the book and its essays touching on a wide range of subjects that Paine attempts to connect with his theme in an effort to advocate a reform to English system of government to be more like the American republican and French constitutional monarchy forms that the late 18th Century Revolutions had produced to that point, is where things feel scattered and the thrust of Paine’s arguments slacken. Yet, one can’t deny Paine’s way with words especially in defense of causes he believes in.

Rights of Man by Thomas Paine is a defense of the ideals of the early French Revolution against counter-revolutionary arguments by reactionary aristocratic defenders of the “status quo”, when focused it’s very good reading.

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Book Review: Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion by David Hume

Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion by David Hume
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

A friend of mine gave me a warning before Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion that David Hume puts all his mental capabilities to bring into the question the existence of a wise and loving creator, that his can be quite compelling and that I needed to be prepared to have my faith severely tested. After reading this essay, my friend could have saved his time warning me because Hume just wrote stuff down like some people just talk to hear themselves talk, in the words of William Shakespeare this was all “sound and fury, signifying nothing”. This book also contained the unpublished essays “Of the Immortality of the Soul” and “Of Suicide” that were impressive, also included was “Of Miracles” that I read in Hume’s Enquires and I decided not to read a second time for the author circular argument. In all honesty, I have found David Hume to be overrated and wish he had taken the hint when his first book had bombed and never written again.

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Book Review: The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith

The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

There are two non-religious books that have impacted the world in the last two and a half centuries, both dealing with economics that would result in dueling worldviews. The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith was published the same year as the signing of the Declaration of Independence by the nation that would be his “champion” in the 20th century.

The predominate economic thought of the 18th century was mercantilism that sought to maximize exports and minimize imports to accumulate resources, i.e. money. Yet Smith viewed this theory and the French theory that focused solely on land value as inadequate for the growing Industrial Revolution that is just commencing, and this his magnum opus was a paradigm shift for economics. However, for many of certain of today’s defenders and proponents of Smith, they claim fly in the face of the author’s actual words including the very lauded phrase “invisible hand”. But even as Smith’s defenders twist his words, some of his detractors overlook many of his passages that support their critiques of him or what is thought he says by those who use his words out of context. Though this is primarily a philosophical treatise on economics that doesn’t stop Smith from revealing his antislavery views as well as his belief that competition in religion would lead to a more tolerate government—this later point would influence James Madison and the separation of church and state. While these two non-economic points were interwoven within the text as a way to emphasize Smith’s economic arguments, Smith’s use of economic data—or overabundant use—was detrimental to the book especially in his digressions and in the last chapter of Book V when covering Public Debt when he went over the history of England/Great Britain’s debt he could have literally halved the section and had a stronger argument to end his treatise. Smith’s very readable treatise comes in at over 1200 pages in this edition and there are many chapters that like the chapter on Public Debt could have been shortened and been just as, if not more, powerful in argument.

The Wealth of Nations is Adam Smith’s magnum opus that resulted in him becoming the “Father of Capitalism” and has been one of the most important economic books of all time, along with Karl Marx’s Das Kapital, and the world has been debating his work ever since.

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Book Review: A Treatise on Tolerance and Other Writings by Voltaire

A Treatise on Tolerance and Other Writings by Voltaire
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A man loses his son to suicide then the local religious fanatics claim he murdered his son because his son was about to change his religion to theirs and then tortured him to death, no this is not a country in the modern Middle East this is pre-Revolutionary France. A Treatise on Tolerance and Other Writings by the French Enlightenment thinker Voltaire who looks to exonerate a man of accused of killing his son and the religious fanaticism that inspired the injustice.

In reaction to the 1762 miscarriage of justice relating to the suicide of Marc-Antione Calas that ultimately led to the execution of his father Jean by religious fanatics “out for justice”. The whole affair caused a scandal resulting in the philosopher Voltaire became the champion for justice for the surviving Calas family, which brought about this Treatise. Voltaire describes the fatal events of the night of Marc-Antione’s death with evidence that he was for a time had studied how to take his own life, that the timing of his death around the celebration of the anniversary of a well-planned massacre of Huguenots—French Protestants—in Toulouse during the Wars of Religion that led to conspiratorial stories about Jean killing his son because he wanted to convert to Catholicism while ignoring that he had been fine with a younger son already doing that, and the total lack of justice in the entire process. The Treatise of Tolerance then becomes a clarion call for religious toleration while also attacking religious fanaticism—Voltaire specifically points to French Jesuits of his time with able arguments—and the superstition surrounding religion that leads to situations like in Toulouse. Voltaire also writes excellent endnotes that are very informative, though the decision of the publishers of this edition to put those Notes at the end of the book and not at the end of the chapters was a bit annoying. This is one of the most important works of philosophy and religion from the Enlightenment era for those that support the freedom of religion and are opponents to religious fanaticism.

A Treatise on Tolerance and Other Writings is a very well written defense of a wrongly executed man while arguing for religious tolerance and against religious fanaticism by the Enlightenment’s best known philosopher, Voltaire.

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Book Review: Political Writings by Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Rousseau's Political Writings: Discourse on Inequality, Discourse on Political Economy, On Social Contract: A Norton Critical Edition by Jean-Jacques Rousseau
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment and later the French Revolution, yet it is through three pieces written within 8 years of one another that would be the most important. Rousseau’s Political Writings collects the essays Discourse on Inequality, Discourse on Political Economy, and The Social Contract that sees the development of Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s political thought and features how his contemporaries and later commentators have reacted.

In Discourse of Inequality, Rousseau after a long examination of how human society began focused on the creation of private property as the beginning of inequality and this created a corrupt modern world as well as illegitimate states—as alluded to in future writings. In the Discourse on Political Economy, was a furthering of some of Rousseau’s ideas in Inequality to a conclusion while ignoring others but the most important was that he proposed that the best way for a legitimate state to handle inequality is for essentially progressive taxation on income and wealth as he views luxury with distain and leading to corrupting of a legitimate state into an illegitimate one. Finally, The Social Contract Rousseau fully develops his systematic approach into how a legitimate state is established, organized, and run though they are more guidelines as each state’s environmental factors dictate which type of government—democracy, aristocracy, or monarchy—is best for it. The 173 pages in which Rousseau develops his ideas takes up a little over half the book, the second half the editors gave background to Rousseau’s life that influenced his thinking with selections from his own autobiography and the thoughts of his contemporaries and later commentators thought the later would focus on one intellectual thread they loved or hated while ignoring Rousseau’s careful balancing act. Overall Rousseau’s thoughts and the critical reaction they elicited from others made this little over 300-page book very informative in the development of political thought in the 18th century and beyond.

Rousseau’s Political Writings is both a good collection of three of Jean-Jacques Rousseau's most important political essays as well as thoughtful criticism from his contemporaries and later political commentators.

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Book Review: Enquiries Concerning Human Understanding and Concerning the Principles of Morals by David Hume

Enquiries Concerning the Human Understanding and Concerning the Principles of Morals by David Hume
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

One of the best-known modern philosophers wrote his masterpiece at a young age, it wasn’t well received at the time and to being important to Western philosophy, and so David Hume decided to do something to get his thoughts talked about. Enquiries Concerning Human Understanding and Concerning the Principles of Morals are two pieces that Hume wrote from sections of his most famous work to enlarge and make them well known thus putting his name out into the philosophical community.

The two Enquiries are essentially extracts and revisions of sections from his A Treatise of Human Nature, his anonymously published most important work that was not received well and very long. In all honestly, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding was to me were words that signified nothing. Every statement and argument Hume put forward neither interested me nor really was convincing and his section “On Miracles” was nothing more than a circular argument that just wasted my time. An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals was not much better, while I understood Hume’s thinking, I just didn’t understand the reason for the entire piece existing and frankly the four Appendixes that were attached where the best part of what Hume wrote. The publishers decided to include A Dialogue in the book, and it was probably the best piece in the entire book as I took it as satire and if not, I don’t care because those 20 pages were better than the previous 326. Frankly I had hoped for Hume to contrast or compliment John Locke’s An Essay Concerning Human Understanding and while I felt Locke was a bit bloated, at least I cared about what he wrote unlike Hume.

Enquiries Concerning Human Understanding and Concerning the Principles of Morals are two of David Hume’s work combined in the same book, I read them and felt like I wasted my time.

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Book Review: The Spirit of the Laws by Montesquieu

The Spirit of the Laws by Montesquieu
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A French aristocrat spent his life looking at the laws of various people, though mostly those of his native country, to develop political theories related to different governments that would influence the coming “Age of Revolution”. The Spirit of the Laws by Montesquieu is a treatise on political theory that covers a large range of topics including law, social life, and the study of anthropology that would change the way people would look at the development of government.

In a little over 700 pages Montesquieu covers a lot of material but three major themes throughout this treatise that influenced readers of his time and up to the modern day. Those three themes were the classification of political systems and the “principles” that motivate them and that the lack of means they don’t endure, the political liberty that is defined as personal security especially that provided by system of dependable and moderate laws, and the development of political sociology in which geography and climate interact with particular cultures to produce a spirit of the people that influences their politics and laws. Based on these themes Montesquieu pleads for a constitutional system of government with separation of powers, the preservation of legality and civil liberties, and the end of slavery. At times the material Montesquieu covers could be somewhat tedious especially close to the end of the treatise as he covered the transition of French institutions from the Frankish conquest of Gaul to the medieval French monarchy. Yet even with that tediousness the reader gets the thoroughness in which Montesquieu dedicated a lifetime of study to produce this treatise, which influenced the American Founding Fathers, French republicans, and others around the world.

The Spirit of the Laws is the life’s work of Montesquieu, a pioneering work on comparative law, but a treatise on political theory that would be influential almost immediately after it’s publication and be relevant to this day.

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Book Review: New Science by Giambattista Vico

New Science by Giambattista Vico
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The Enlightenment was just starting to bud into existence, but an Italian scholar thought the “modern” thinking was ignoring the light of knowledge from classical antiquity and the Renaissance that he proposed had not been looked at properly. New Science by Giambattista Vico was meant to be the debut of a new scientific method that was better than the rationalism that was developing among the European intelligentsia, but what he helped developed was something completely different than his intent.

Using the mythology and histories from Greece, Rome, and other ancient civilizations Vico proposed a ‘history of philosophy narrated philosophically’ which would be a new variant of Renaissance humanism. However what Vico produced has been interpreted as ‘cycles of history’ by later philosophic thinkers or inspiring anthropologists and sociologists by using myths to figure out a culture’s historical memory and how language, knowledge, and society interact with one another. While Vico’s overall ideas were interesting and I could see how his ideas would later influence others in years and centuries to come, this wasn’t the best written book especially because the modern translator had to insert multiple corrections to Vico’s text because he had the wrong person referenced even though this was the third and last edition of his work. While I was intrigued while reading, if I had never seen this book, I would not have missed anything.

New Science is an interesting read, Giambattista Vico’s theories didn’t not have the exact impact he was hoping for, but they were influential.

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Book Review: An Essay Concerning Human Understanding by John Locke

An Essay Concerning Human Understanding by John Locke
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The year of 1689 saw two publications that would make John Locke influential force in political discussions for the next four plus centuries, but a third publication would set the stage for a new school of modern philosophy. An Essay Concerning Human Understanding in which Locke argues against that the mind is born with innate ideas and is instead a blank slate that knowledge is gained through experience.

The work is divided into four books: Book I focuses on Locke’s main thesis in opposing the principle of innate ideas, Book II presents Locke’s argument that every idea is derived from experience either by sensation or reflection, Book III focuses on words and how man uses unique sounds to signify ideas then relate them to others, and Book IV focuses on knowledge in general—that it can be thought of as the sum of ideas and perceptions—and if there can be a limit to human knowledge. Over the 635 pages, Locke’s reasoning while thorough also verged on bloated arguments that would have diluted the overall piece. Of the entire essay, Book IV had the most interesting material as Locke focused on various issues but the one that stood out the most was his look into the existence of God and of Faith and Reason.

An Essay Concerning Human Understanding is a thoughtful yet nearly bloated piece in which John Locke puts forth his thoughts on how we gain knowledge and how we should use it.

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Book Review: Two Treatise of Government by John Locke

Two Treatises of Government by John Locke
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Originally published in the wake of the Glorious Revolution these two essays were neglected due to a glut of tracts and treatise in support of the events of 1689-90, it wasn’t until the 1760s that they become important in political discourse. Two Treatise of Government by John Locke were a refutation of absolute monarchy and the theory of the state of nature and how government is created.

The less famous First Treatise is a straight line for line critique of Sir Robert Filmer’s divine right absolutist monarch supporting tract, Patriarcha, the conclusion of which Locke examines the Bible and history to demolish Filmer’s hypothesis. In the Second Treatise Locke turns from Filmer’s work into his own theories of the state of nature and how it eventually led to the formation of a government by contract between individuals. Overall, the First Treatise is slog with Locke apparently having to repeat the same evidence to refute Filmer and essentially isn’t needed to understand its follow-up. On the other hand, the Second Treatise begins slowly as Locke references Filmer until transition to his own theory of the state of nature that leads to his own contract theory that is thought-provoking and historically influential.

Two Treatise of Government while being connected as a refutation and then opposing argument, the latter work by John Locke this is more profound not only as political theory and from an historical perspective.

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Book Review: A Letter Concerning Toleration by John Locke

Locke: Letter Concerning Toleration, a by John Locke
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Originally a private letter to a Dutch friend who published it without his knowledge, the political thoughts of John Locke was first introduced to his native England in A Letter Concerning Toleration that would allow his future works to gain a large reading then and now.

In a time of political and religious conflict, Locke’s Letter revealed not only his uncertainty of known the “one true religion” when so many versions of Christianity existed but mixed that uncertainty with practical implications what how the peace in civil society would be affected by religious toleration with a reliance on Biblical analysis in key junctions within his argument. While not explicitly copying Roger Williams’ argument that the state can not enforce the first four commandments of the Decalogue as it would be interfering with God, Locke comes close in his argument that civil magistrates should only focus on keeping the peace of civil society by staying out of God’s purview because it would—though implying it already had—result in oppressed groups disrupting civil society either through civic action against them or them acting out in desperation. Locke’s Letter is not as thoroughly anti-Catholic has it was originally thought—though the criticism of High Church Anglicans that his argument for religious toleration would allow a Catholic takeover of England can be seen as them trying to insert a “boogeyman” to hid the fact they were attempting to do what he opposed—as while he opposed those that followed a “foreign” Prince (the Pope with worldly authority), if others who followed the same religious practices and theology while following their natural civil magistrates (essentially practicing Catholic who view the Pope as authority on spiritual matters only) he saw no reason why the latter could not be tolerated. Only at the end of the Letter when Locke discusses heresy and schism that his thoughts are hard to decipher and what relevance it had in the overall work.

A Letter Concerning Toleration was John Locke’s call for government not to concern itself with the spiritual salvation of its citizens and only on their civic wellbeing, while implying that religion should focus the spiritual not the civil. This short piece gives the reader an introduction into Locke’s writing before going on to longer pieces.

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Book Review: A Theologico-Political Treatise and A Political Treatise by Baruch Spinoza

A Theologico-Political Treatise and A Political Treatise by Baruch Spinoza
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A scion of Jewish refugees from the Iberian Peninsula living in the Dutch Golden Age, brought to print one of the most controversial texts of the early modern period. A Theologico-Political Treatise and A Political Treatise by Benedict de Spinoza are one of the most controversial texts of its time and an unfinished—by the author’s death—text that would have expounded upon the author’s political thoughts.

In his Theologico-Political, Spinoza argues what the best roles of state and religion concluding that a bit of democracy, freedom of speech and religion within a state that remains supreme in governance of the populace without the meddling of religious leaders. To bring about his conclusions, Spinoza critiqued the Bible, organized religion, and the meddling of philosophy and Scriptural interpretation. Yet Spinoza spent so much time in his criticism that his quick turn to his conclusions almost seemed like an add on even though this reader loved his conclusion. The unfinished Political Treatise dealt with how a monarchal or aristocratic form of government—his was just beginning his discussion of democracy at his death—could function without devolving into tyranny and not violating the liberty of its citizens. How Spinoza’s ideal governmental forms of monarchy and aristocracy were constituted were intriguing, but the treatise unfinished status leaves a reader a lot of questions without how Spinoza would incorporate his previous ideas in Theologico-Political. Of the two treatises presented, the completed Theologico-Political is of better value yet is appears to harbor Spinoza’s resentment in falling out with the Jewish community of Amsterdam, however his ending argument for the secularization of state governance along with the freedom of speech and religion are highly valuable.

This book is important for those interested in political thought and the role of religion—if any—in government. While Benedict de Spinoza’s own personal issues due come through the text the Theologico-Political Treatise is important in the evolution of thought in freedom of religion.

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Book Review: Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes

Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

To raise from his short, brutish existence man willing give up his freedom and rights to protect himself if others do the same to one strong man who promises to protect them. Thomas Hobbes’ Leviathan revolves around this idea but leading up to it and expounding upon it is a surprising amount of insight of both political and religious thought.

Hobbes’ work is divided into four parts with the first, “Of Man”, covering human nature and why men form governments not for the greater good as other postulate but to protect themselves and their stuff. Hobbes essentially says that men give up their freedom to the government to be protected from other men so they can keep their life and possessions that they can add to. In the second part, “Of Commonwealth”, Hobbes argues that the perfect government is under one absolute sovereign—whether a monarch or legislative body—that will control all aspects of the government with the aim to preserve the persons of the governed by any means necessary and that the govern must obey the sovereign in all aspects of life including in religion and taxation, the later must be used to support those unable to maintain themselves. In part three, “Of a Christian Commonwealth”, Hobbes discusses how a Christian commonwealth should be governed and essentially says that the civil power is the final arbiter of all spiritual revelation and thus the religious power is subordinate to the sovereign as seen in the Holy Scriptures. In the final part, “Of the Kingdom of Darkness”, Hobbes turns his focus towards ignorance of the true light of knowledge and its causes which stem from religious deceivers through four things—misinterpretation, demonology and saints, the mixing of religion with erroneous Greek philosophy, and mixing of these false doctrines and traditions with feigned history. Hobbes blames all the churches and churchmen for these causes as they are the beneficiaries at the expense of the civil power which endangers the commonwealth and the preservation of every man in them.

As one of the earliest and most influential works on social contract theory, Hobbes’ political ideas are often cited and quoted. However, the fact that almost half the work is a religious discourse was a surprise and insightful. That Hobbes discredited church-led states was gratifying, though he then recommended state control of religion was a disappointment but not surprising given the theme of his work. Besides his views on the church-state relationship, Hobbes’ work is primary to understanding how the political thought of today began and how his contemporaries and those that followed him reacted to his views.

Leviathan is Thomas Hobbes’ magnum opus of political thought and has been influential for centuries, whether one agrees with his conclusions or vehemently disagrees.

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Book Review: Discourse on Method and Meditations on First Philosophy by Rene Descartes

Discourse on Method and Meditations on First Philosophy by René Descartes
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Modern philosophy began in the Netherlands by a French mathematician inspired by the events of the Thirty-Years War in Germany. Discourse on Method and Meditations on First Philosophy are the first two treatise by French mathematician and philosopher Rene Descartes that would that would not only start modern philosophy but also the use of reason which lead to the development of natural sciences both of which impact the world in the 21st Century.

The “founding” document of Cartesian philosophical and scientific method is “Discourse on Method” in which Rene Descartes tackles the problem of skepticism while also acknowledging that a truth can be found incontrovertible. Descartes started his line of reasoning, and thus his “method”, by doubting everything so to assess everything from a fresh perspective, clear of any preconceived notions. To test his new method, he uses it on itself which leads to the famous quote of the work, “I think, therefore I am”. Descartes second work, “Meditations on First Philosophy”, expands upon his philosophical system introduced in “Discourse” and presents Descartes metaphysical system at its most detailed level. Within this series of meditations, Descartes sets further the arguments for the three substances that all existence consisted of which formed the basis of Cartesian ontology—matter, mind, and God.

Rene Descartes significance to modern philosophy and the development of the natural science means this two-treatise collection is important in the history of the development of both philosophy and the scientific method. Yet this book is simply the two treatises without an introduction or explanation to the uninitiated about the importance of the works or the author. Also a significant element of “Meditations of First Philosophy” was missing at least from Descartes perspective, particular the objections from scholars around Europe that he submitted the unpublished manuscript to and his replies that were printed when he officially published the work. Though the book comes in at 130 pages without the two features, it hurts the overall product.

Discourse on Method and Meditations on First Philosophy are the first two treatise of Cartesian philosophy that Rene Descartes and many after developed and refined over the course of the seventeenth century. While the treatise themselves are five-star worthy, without context or adherence to authorial intent the way they are presented in this book lessens their impact.

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Book Review: On the Dignity of Man by Giovanni Pico della Mirandola

On the Dignity of Man by Giovanni Pico della Mirandola
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

The Renaissance was a time of reevaluation of philosophical and theological teachings in various forms and the results at times were interesting and strange. On the Dignity of Man contains three treatises by Giovanni Pico della Mirandola including the titular treatise has been called the “manifesto of the Renaissance”.

The “Oration on the Dignity of Man” is Pico’s justification of the importance of the human quest for knowledge within a Neoplatonic frame as well as an introduction to his unpublished 900 thesis in which he believed provided complete and sufficient basis for the discovery of all knowledge. The second treatise, “On Being and the One”, is an attempted reconciliation between Platonic and Aristotelian writings on the relative place of being and “the one” and a refutation of opposing arguments. The finale treatise, “Heptaplus”, is a mystic-allegorical exposition of the creation according to the seven Biblical senses, elaborates on his idea that different religions and traditions describe the same God.

The titular treatise of this collection is the best of the bunch as Pico is eloquent in his thoughts, justifications, and introducing his thesis. The other two treatise are a combination of Christian, pagan philosophy, and Jewish thought which ultimate stretches credibility even though Pico tries his best to bring forth his ideas. However even thought I’m not truly well read in Plato and Aristotle, even I know they do not agree while Pico tries his best to make them agree. Pico’s belief that all other traditions and religions were pale imitations of future Christianity and thus worthy to be combined with Scripture to bring forth quasi-theological ideas like St. Augustine.

On the Dignity of Man is a collection of treatise by Giovanni Pico in which the titular treatise is the best of the bunch while the other two are well written but utterly worthless due to Pico’s thinking.

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Book Review: St. Thomas Aquinas On Law, Morality, and Politics

On Law, Morality, and Politics by Thomas Aquinas
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Combining the Neo-Platonist influenced theological and political thoughts of St. Augustine with Aristotelian influenced reasoning, St. Thomas Aquinas drastically changed medieval theology and political thought which would far-reaching consequences ever since. On Law, Morality, and Politics is a selection of excerpts from Aquinas’ Summa Theologica and two from On Kingship that provide the reader a glimpse at his thinking.

Of the roughly 280 pages in this collection, almost four-fifths of dedicated to the exploration of law and justice in various facets. The minute differences between types of law (divine, natural, and human) that Aquinas discusses in full then the various types of justice is a mind-numbing exercise of reading that almost makes one throw away the book. The final fifth of the book of selections features a little morality but mostly on politics from leadership to church-state relations of various types. With exception of the two selections from On Kingship, Aquinas’ style of listing objections to the points he is about to make then stating his opinion and finally replying to the previous objections is rather self-aggrandizing. Yet save for a short introduction, there was no commentary to help the layman reader to understand what Aquinas was saying—though in the last fifth of the book it was easier because Aquinas’ thoughts were straightforward compared to the law and justice sections—and making it hard to keep reading.

On Law, Morality, and Politics by St. Thomas Aquinas is a collection of excerpts, with two exceptions, from his most famous work yet only the last fifth of the book is clear cut and straightforward. The lack of commentary to help the read understand what Aquinas is trying to make clear and why it is important makes understanding the thinking of the man hard.

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