Someone gave me New York: Architects 01-02 as a gift. What a great gift! I really enjoyed this book even though I am far from artistic and know nothing about architecture and design.

The book has a stylish cover that features a pattern of geometric, almost-three-dimensional boxes that are in different shades of blue. The internal layout is easy to follow and provides a way to compare architects and their styles virtually side-by-side.

At least one reason I personally liked the book so much is that I've lived in NY for many years, and a decent number of the pictures in this book were of buildings and interior spaces I've walked by or through, admired or have always meant to see. It was interesting to focus on the art, design and structure of these buildings and spaces that are a part of my daily life and nice to realize how much New York architects have contributed to the character of New York.

Architect buffs, people getting ready to build or design a home or office or urbanites planning to design or restructure an apartment anywhere in the world will all love this book, will appreciate the easy access to information about a large number of architects and will find it incredibly useful as a source of design ideas.

What a great idea! Organized as a directory of modern architectural firms based in the New York area, this book allowed me to really get an in-depth perspective on each firm. I particularly enjoyed the section in each architectural profile where the architects themselves talk about their personal design philosophy. And of course, all those wonderful photographs of spaces and buildings! This would be a great gift book both for the serious lover of modern architecture or for someone who just likes to dream about beautiful spaces.

You don't have to be an architect to really enjoy this book.

The concept of the book, to present a number of incredibly diverse NY architects in once space, is fantastic and one I haven't seen before. And the book itself, while functional, is also great to look through and easy to read and follow. The pictures of the architectural works beautifully illustrate the diversity, style and capabilities of each architect, while the written information accesses the entire world of the particular architect by showing the scope of that architect's experience and the works for which each is responsible.

What a great book to have on your shelf or coffee table, both for the architectural of mind and the architectural lay person.

Was human society always overseen by a military and police force?
Was wealth and the means of producing more wealth always the private possession of individuals or a small section of society?
Were women always at the bottom of society, treated primarily as sex objects and machines for child-bearing and child-raising?

And is this humanity's destiny?
In this book published in 1884, Fredrich Engels answers the above questions in the negative. His book is based on anthropological data available in his day from societies around the globe. New discoveries since have confirmed his conclusions and the book is remarkably relevant today.

Are the father-centered family, private property, and the state necessary and inevitable part of all human societies?
Frederick Engels, coworker of Karl Marx, says no. Engels demonstrates that these three institutions arose in the fairly recent history of the human race, as a way to establish the rule of the many over the few. And, conversley, when these institutions are an obstacle to human progress, they can be dismantled.
Although this book was written about 125 years ago, the subject matter and his point of view sound surprisingly modern. Evelyn Reed, a Marxist anthropologist, writes a 1972 introduction that updates the original work from the point of view of 20th century anthropology debates abd the rise of modern women's movement. An additional short article by Engels, "The part played by labor in the transition from ape to man" is a lively piece that could be part of today's debates on human origin with almost no hint of its vintage (except maybe for his use of the term "man", instead of gender-neutral "humanity").

This is a serious, scientific and materialist analysis of development and change in human society and its institutions. Frederick Engels, who along with Karl Marx was one of the central founders of the modern communist movement, wrote this book in the late 1800s based on the latest developments in the then-new science of anthropology. Studying it can help us understand society and be better prepared to organize and work to change it.

Engels takes up the rise of the state and of the family and the oppression of women as early societies became more productive, making possible the division of groups of human beings into those who produce and those who live off them, and the need of the exploiters to perpetuate this state of affairs.

The Pathfinder Press edition also has a valuable introduction by Evelyn Reed, long-time socialist activist and author of works including "Woman's Evolution," "Sexism and Science," "Cosmetics, Fashion and the Exploitation of Women," and "Problems of Women's Liberation."

Mr. Parkes provides us with a comprehensive view that does true justice to 'mouths that read' and 'ears that speak' without losing sight of the import of 'the author.' Out of all of the 'Nietzsche's' out there, this is one, seeming following in Lampert's footsteps, that truly brings Nietzsche's corps/e to life. A true find and a passionate, entertaining read for anyone trying to hear aright. Its density and attention to detail brings out the complexity of many of 'Nietzsche's' themes while weaving the many interconnected branches together around the complicated issue of 'composing the soul'. The brilliance of the approach, however, was that Parks allowed 'Nietzsche' to speak and, in my view, did not reduce 'Nietzsche' into a 'psychologist' but rather allowed 'Nietzsche' to be. Nor did he reduce the 'composition of the soul' into crass individualism best representing the 'last man.' A true example of how books should be composed, and out of the plethora of books on Nietzsche I have scanned over the years this may be the best I have read. A book that engages both the new and old traveler embarking on the dangerous sea of "Nietzsche".

Parkes provides a Nietzsche of radical comprehensiveness: an unriddler of the human soul that reaches the entire scope and depth of our protean multiplicity. Nietzsche is a psychologist that performs exploratory surgery upon the entire economy, the whole complexity and manifoldness of the drives, wills, energies, and personalities that make us who we are, and who we are perpetually becoming. A healer, magician, chemist, artist, farmer, midwife, philosopher and composer of wholeness: a cascade of perspectives and masks to explore the entire scope and range of personality and will. A must read and genuine delight that intoxicates with its profundity of metaphor, as well as deeply insightful and probing with its varieties of lenses.

It goes after just about every bit of psychological theory there is to be found in Nietzsche -- in the thoughts of Nietzsche the young student, in the psychological ideas from the writings of those who inspired him, in the ideas he advanced as his own psychological theories, in the images and metaphors of his texts. Parkes has put himself on the map as a Nietzsche scholar and commentator of the first rank. His is the only recent work I am aware of, besides my own earlier efforts in a book on NIETZSCHE AND PSYCHOANALYSIS, whose approach to Nietzsche is based on the principles of archetypal psychology. This approach is acknowledged in the opening reference to James Hillman, dean of archetypal psychology. Even if thereafter it is no longer explicitly mentioned, it remains actively present in every chapter. This is less a book about Nietzsche the person -- his feelings and thoughts and behaviors and other strictly personal idiosyncrasies -- than about the images and metaphors that shape and animate Nietzschean thought. We owe Mr.Parkes a debt of gratitude for the enormously rich way he has worked the archetypal material that goes by the personified name of "Nietzsche". Daniel Chapelle

This edition of Die Physiker deserves a place in the library of every American student of German and Germany. It works on every level it should: it presents the play itself, of course; it does a remarkably good job of identifying the vocabulary that a moderately advanced student of German would need help with; and it serves to help with a broader understanding of the author's work.
FIrst, the play itself is an examination of themes common to Durrenmatt and Frisch: what is the individual's responsibility in an world in which the individual appears to have less and less influence? What is the scientist's responsibility for the uses to which his research is put? Is one murder less heinous than a billion? This is one of the two most accessible of the Swiss postwar examinations of these themes (not to imply that any of them are particularly inaccessible), the other being Frisch's "Biedermann und die Brandstifter." The black humor alone makes the play worth reading.
Second, this edition succeeds in helping the English-speaking student follow the play by an admirably astute choice of assistance with the vocabulary. Any edition destined for students faces the challenge of maximizing the ability of the student to follow the flow of the book by avoiding the disruption of flipping through a dictionary for esoteric (for the target skill level) terms, while minimizing the distraction (and reduced learning value) of plastering English all over the page. At any rate, I found that the editors provided their help selectively and well.
Third, the notes at the beginning of the book are extensive and make great use of Durrenmatt's own words to explain what he is trying to accomplish with the form and content of his play. Those reading for entertainment can skip this part with no loss, but those trying to delve into Durrenmatt will find these notes well worth reading before reading the play. It will help you decide just how many of the characters really belong in the loony bin at the end.

Dieses Buch ist eines der kreativsten Werke Duerrenmatts. Er verwandte einen ausgesprochen treffenden Sarkasmus um das Problem der Wissenschaft (Wer traegt die Verantwortung?)zum besten zu geben. Dieses Buch ist leicht zu lesen, da es nur weniger Vorkenntnisse bedarf und gibt doch einen sehr tiefen Einblick in die verschiedenen Ansichten einiger Physiker. Auch das Ende diese Werkes wurde gekonnt gestaltet, denn es regt den Leser an sich selbst mit dem besagten Thema zu beschaeftigen. Wer dieses Buch versaeumt hat zu lesen, sollte es unbedingt nachholen, denn es gehoert einfach zur Allgemeinbildung.

Eine wunderbare, interessante Kritik und Fragestellung ueber die Rolle der modernen Wissenschaften in der heutigen Gesellschaft. Ein Physiker macht as ob er verrueckt waere und findet sich im Irrenhaus. (Indem er sagt, er hoere Koenig Solomon.) Er begegnet drei anderen verrueckten Physikern, die tatsaechlich Spionen sind, die von drei Maechten geschickt worden sind. Sie wollen ihn ueberzuegen, er sollte mit ihnen gehen, weil er als Physiker das sogenannte "Unified Field Theorem" entdeckte. Hauptfragen: Koennte dieses Wissen misgebraucht werden? Kann man Wissen zuruecknehmen? Falls so oder nicht, auf welche Weisen sind Wissenschaftler und Forscher fuer ihre Entdeckungen moralisch verantwortlich? Eben meine Lieblingsdrama!

- Paul

Water F. Otto's Dionysus: Myth and Cult is a difficult but extremely rewarding study not only of the god Dionysus but of myth and cult as well. The book is divided into two parts. The first looks at the meaning of myth and cult and their relationship, the second attempts to arrive at the essential characteristic of Dionysus. By no means should you skip the first part. In it Otto lays the groundwork for his penetrating analysis of the god. It is a scintillatingly brilliant and illuminatingly original exposition of the meaning and origins of myth and cult. Anyone interested in Greek religion or for that matter liturgy alone, should read it. Although written over forty years ago it will still challenge and startle. Otto is gifted with a poetic depth of perception and gnomic expressiveness worthy almost of Heraclitus. For example at one point he states: "The more alive this life becomes, the nearer death draws, until the supreme moment-the enchanted moment when something new is created-when death and life meet in an embrace of mad ecstasy."

Otto holds that "The true visage of every true god is the visage of a world." In the second part he sets about discovering the form or visage of Dionysus. This he brilliantly lays out in chapters dealing with every aspect of the god. Chapters include: The Vine, The Somber Madness, Dionysus and the Element of Moisture, Dionysus and the Women, and Dionysus and Apollo. I will not attempt to recount his conclusions. Get the book and read them in Otto's lapidary language. Don't be put off from reading this book if you don't know Greek. While there are a fair number of untransliterated words, you can understand the meaning of the sentences from the context. However, be aware that this is not "lite" reading but a serious study that requires and will repay thought. The book itself is a handsome, sturdy paperback with glued signatures.

The author brings the immediate experience of Dionysus to the reader. In the first part, a general context is laid out. In the second, the stories of Dionysus are told, of a living presence. This immediacy makes the essay both powerful and compelling.

This book is written in two parts. The first is an essay about the use of Cult practices as a source for the substance and interpretation of myth. The second (and longest) describes the myths themselves.

I have only read the second part. Ottos description and interpretation of the myths surrounding Dionysus is poetic and, and at times borders on the sublime. His impact is emotional as well as intellectual, and I came away feeling that I knew the God of whom he writes. This must say something for both the passion of the author for his subject and the skill and sympathy of the translator.

The book is well (exhaustively ?) documented. Only one thing was irksome. Reference is constantly made to words from the original Greek using greek characters with no transposition into english characters (for a non-classically trained person such as myself). While the commentary surrounding these texts usually explains their meaning and impact, I have had to learn the Greek alphabet and buy a classical greek dictionary (Langenscheidt) to verify and fully understand the commentary. Even so, the book is otherwise beautifully accessible for a lay person such as myself.

When I was young, I was taught that I should appreciate J. S. Bach and other musical geniuses about like Walter Kaufmann grew up thinking that Hegel was really something. Kaufmann and I have both noticed how reluctant Hegel was to admit who he was talking about, so he considers it an anomaly on page 490 of the J. B. Baille translation of THE PHENOMENOLOGY OF MIND that the name Oedipus has been inserted into the sentence "In the story of *OEdipus* the son does not see his own father in the person of the man who has insulted him . . ." Walter Kaufmann lists the persons whom Hegel actually mentioned in his manuscript ("only thirteen men and women are named." p. 125). I would say Kaufmann left out Julius Caesar, since the preface happens to discuss historical facts like the year in which Caesar was born. Reading the translation of the preface by Walter Kaufmann in HEGEL TEXT AND COMMENTARY, a separate paperback volume with the same index as HEGEL A REINTERPRETATION, is the best approach for understanding Kaufmann's method of explaining Hegel. His commentary in that book is mostly in the form of notes at particular places in the text, and they do not always refer to persons that might have been meant by Hegel, as a lot of philosophy has happened since Hegel, and Walter Kaufmann was aware of various interpretations and more modern philosophers like Kierkegaard and Heidegger (who, "unlike Hegel, seeks to move philosophy closer to poetry rather than science." note 10 on Commentary page 93). Having HEGEL A REINTERPRETATION as a separate book allows Kaufmann to try to demonstrate the scope of philosophy in a way that Hegel attempted to do, encompassing it all as no one had tried to do since Aristotle.

I learned a lot reading this book years ago, allowing myself to feel a lot like Fichte in the comparison, "Nobody today would rank Fichte with Kant;" (p.110). Self-consciousness in German is not quite what it is in America today, but a large part of how modern the intrusive nature of our media has allowed us to become is the constant measure of our own sorry self-consciousnesses becoming aware of each other, a very Hegelian philosophical theme. The appreciation of particular geniuses in our own day might be troubled by knowledge such as Kaufmann's, that "There are not many non-German composers in a class with Bach, Handel, Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven; and during their era German poetry was coming into its own, too. The great achievements of the period were triumphs of the artistic imagination." (p. 114). Our own composers always seem to be thinking about something else instead of what it would take to make their music better.

Did anybody notice how long the song "Lily Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts" was on Bob Dylan's "Blood on the Tracks" album? If "the drilling in the wall kept up, but no one seemed to pay it any mind" could be applied to philosophy, it might be as a form of consciousness which seeks to avoid an overwhelming awareness of anything which is actually going on. Hegel ought to be considered good for philosophy in the way that Bob Dylan would be good for people whose interest in music involves owning the rights to the songs. The big legal questions in our society are about who has to pay for people to keep singing or swapping this stuff. Most people who buy this book will read it as consumers. Hegel was usually not a philosopher to be considered dangerous, but somehow, people like Marx, who read Hegel as an introduction to how unsettled things of their own day were, were dangerous in a lot of intellectual fields. I learned a lot about Fichte the first time I read this book. His attempt to identify God with a moral world order is clearly stated, and it only takes a little knowledge of human nature to see how his career suffered the consequences, with the result, "Accused of atheism, he published a couple of vigorous defenses in 1799 and threatened to resign if reprimanded, which was construed as a resignation--and he was let go." (p. 102). Hegel managed to avoid getting clobbered in that kind of argument, and modern philosophy has a lot of appreciation for everything he managed to say without causing a lot of trouble. This book pulls it all together.

....do start here, for Kaufmann is an able Hegel commentator, clarifier, and critic.

Departing from his area of specialty, Nietzsche and the existentialists, Kaufmann is no less able to authoritatively present a balanced, masterful, thorough, yet concise analysis of the life and work of perhaps the least understood philosopher. As those who have assayed the Phenomenology or the Logic surely realize, exploring Hegel without a guide can be perilous. Kaufmann neutralizes many of the language barriers and ambiguities in Hegel's great works, clearly presents their core themes, and, much to the delight of this reader, locates them within the intellectual currents of the time and Hegel's own intellectual struggles and victories. As all soon find out, parsing a single work of Hegel's is less a challenge than understanding it in the broader context of Hegel's "system," let alone the movement begun by Kant and Fichte and carried onward by Schelling, Marx and others. Kaufmann brilliantly brings the reader from a tight focus on the many subtleties of Hegel's method to a broad view of the intellectual landscape of Hegel's Germany. An added bonus is a diligent if sometimes ascerbic analysis of key players in Hegelian scholarship.

I perused this book in a bookstore and found myself not being able to put the book down. I returned the next day, and read more of it, then decided that this book is well worth the ..., especially since it makes you think and begin to question things around you that you have accepted all your life. This book, in my opinion, is great for anybody interested in Nietzsche or Philosophy- not only is it entertaining, but it gives a nice overview of his life and his works- and is a great starter for anyone who doesn't know where to start with Nietzche. If you are Christian or one who associates with a religion, you may find some of Nietzche's ideas a bit offensive. But even if you are, or if you have already been questioning things like 'culture' and religion, you will smile when you read this book.

Nevertheless, it's good just to read this book- no matter what angle you're coming from, it's always good to know different views, and this is one view you don't want to miss. You will smile at how Nietzche came about gaining so much self knowledge, and by doing this, he came up with his unique and provacative ideas.

I'd highly recommend this book, as well as the others in the series. If you want to go on a journey with your mind, this is a good place to start, well worth the ... that would go towards buying some non-necessity anyways. Hopefully in the end, like Nietzche, you'll find your own philosophy and go your own way, not some way that you did not choose.

I am a fan of all the books in the Introducing series, but this was one of my favourites. Very clear and easy to understand. This is a good place to start if you are interested in Nietzsche but overwhelmed by the amount of material available. Includes an excellent concise list of further reading. The illustrations in this selection are not as helpful as in the other intro books but are still amusing and add entertainment to the text. I read this book in one sitting because I couln't bring myself to put it down.

A concise overview of Nietzsche's life and work, and his influence on later thinkers. Even though I am not familiar with the technical language of philosophy, I found it very clear and easy to read, and finished it in one sitting. It also put to rest my concern about possible connections to the Nazis. Cute illustrations.

This is a well balanced book which will help any parent of multiples keep their sanity -- as much as that is possible :)

The quotes were wonderful. Many of them really rang true and gave me a sense that other families knew exactly what we were going through. It covered all the issues that I could think of.

This is the best book I have read about raising twins or more. I'm a mexican mother of triplets and you don't have an idea how this book has helped and resolved all my questions, doubts and everything referring to multiples. I surely recommend it.

Parent’s Guide to Raising Twins is the best book I have read so far on multiple in the early years. Friedrich & Rowland cover all the important stages from pregnancy, to labor, to issues like surviving the first year through their preschool days. They blend a great sense of humor with the realities of multiples. As a new mother of triplets with very little time to do anything, much less read, I found this book a must read for all mothers either expecting multiples or those mothers with multiples in their early years.

John Russon's ambitious aim in this book is twofold: (1) to identify the conception of the body that is implied by the argument of Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit, and (2) to provide a systematic argument that shows this conception of the body to be both comprehensive and compelling. Not only does the book make a good case for having succeeded in these aims, it also provides material for a very careful and provocative reinterpretation of Hegel's Phenomenology that should prove readable and insightful for both general readers with interests in the history of philosophy as well as trained philosophers.

Russon shows that the body that animates the forms of experience that Hegel studies in his text cannot be adequately conceived as reducible to the merely physical organism. In an important early chapter, Russon gives an account of the systematic way in which Hegel's philosophy challenges and overcomes the dualism of immaterial mind and physical body that stands at the heart of early modern philosophy and science. He argues that the body as we experience it is not merely a natural entity (physis), but is a construct of habit and institutions; our experience of the body is not one merely of nature, but of second nature, as Aristotle described the habitual formation of social dispositions (hexis). The final chapters of the text aim to show, moreover, that this "habit-body" should be conceived ultimately as emerging through communicative activity (logos), and that the ongoing process whereby we (non-arbitrarily) constitute ourselves and our world along with others is precisely what is thematized in Hegel's dialectical phenomenology.

Considering the difficulty of the topic, and the vast resources that the argument draws upon, the text is remarkably clear (and concise, at just 137 pages). You need not have spent several years poring over the details of Hegel's challenging and dense text in order to gain much benefit from reading Russon's book. In addition, the book has the merit of demonstrating (against a number of prejudices from a number of sources) that Hegel's philosophy can be a rich resource for thinking through a number of topics of contemporary concern. Russon's conclusions in fact converge nicely with recent efforts in a number of disciplines to draw attention to the embodied character of experience, cognition, and culture.

Russson's book is nothing less than a re-organization of the *Phenomenology of Spirit*, one that makes explicit the conceptual commitment to embodiment that may have been concealed from many readers. This re-organization is accomplished with an all-too-rare philosophical sophistication, as Russon draws on a variety of sources and informs his reading with a strong command of 20th century phenomenology.

Among the book's strengths is a startlingly lucid and original reading of Hegel's text, a reading that illuminates many familiar passages and arguments in striking fashion. Russon's account of the master and slave, and his account of Sittlichkeit, re-animate texts often thought to have been exhaustively understood, revealing both the richness of Hegel's text and the power of a serious reader like Russon. But Russon is also adept at uncovering new insights in passages under-represented in the literature, and it is perhaps here that this book makes one of its strongest contributions. Russon on the reason chapter, and on the unhappy consciousness (the analysis of which is one of his central arguments), provides original and compelling arguments for the centrality of embodiment to the Hegelian understanding of self-consciousness.

But arguably the most significant contribution made by this book is that it reminds us that a Hegelian argument can and should be a philosophical argument. Rather than limiting himself to contributing to ongoing debates within Hegel circles, Russon has engaged philosophical inquiry itself, and shown how Hegel's text, at the hands of a keen reader, can speak, indeed argue successfully, to the broader philosophical community. This book is an argument for the complete understanding of phases of embodiment as conditions of self-consciousness, and thereby an argument that brings phenomenology and Hegel into the centre of important contemporary discussions.

I highly recommend John Russon's _The Self and its Body in Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit_ to anyone with a philosophical interest in have to conceive body, and thus gives a new understanding of just what Hegel's phenomenology of spirit is concerned with, and what our bodies are. The latter is of central concern in much recent philosophy, and in everyday life in our political and technological culture. 2) It gives a lucid and convincing interpretation of Hegel's difficult book, one that proceeds through an engagement with historical positions in philosophy and science, and more important, through an engagement with the experience of trying to act responsibly in a situation, which experience haunts philosophy from the very beginning and is a most familiar element of life. Russon thus gets to the heart of Hegel's philosophy in a way that is illuminating for both the novice and the dedicated student of Hegel. And he thereby arrives at an important understanding of the body as that sphere of communicative and expressive existence which develops itself so as to enable responsible action in the first place. 3) The book's situation of Hegel in relation to ancient philosophy, transcendental argument and recent phenomenology invites a renewed engagement with Hegel, which is important given the role of Hegel in many current philosophical debates. In particular, Russon's discussion of the body and the unfolding of the Phenomenology of Spirit in terms of phusis (nature), hexis (habit) and logos (here meaning "expression") gives a very comprehensive and original way of grasping both the body and the Phenomenology. Likewise, his interpretation of Hegel's dialectic in terms of the relation of the empirical ego and transcendental ego and focus on recognition help clarify many crucial themes in Hegel. In general, Russon's elucidation of a concept of body in Hegel opens rich ways of thinking about our selves and our bodies.

I originally read this play some time ago while studying German in college and it is one of the few works from those years that has "stuck with me". In fact I still have the German language edition that I used at that time.
As other reviewers have said, one of the central themes of this work is the degree of responsibility that scientists have to humanity or something called "the public". Having worked for over twenty years now as a nuclear scientist, I can definitely say that at times the desire for knowledge can override the consideration of all the possible uses of a given technology. The question them becomes, can an idea be "unthought"? This secondary theme of the book is intertwined with the theory of the inevitability of ideas at a given time and place.
The translation by Kirkup is quite good as compared to the original German version that I have. Though the expository style (some very long dialogs) may be a bit daunting at times, stick with it. This play is a philosophical discussion, not a Hollywood action film.

I want all of you to read this play. It is weird butfascinating, surprising and just brilliant. Get to know Germanliterature at one of its best!

Durrenmatt's play provides an excellent and thought-provoking critique on the role of modern science and technology in human affairs. Is science responsible to humanity? If we deem specific knowledge "harmful", how can we hope to prevent its discovery? If the knowledge does exist, how do we prevent its misuse? This is a play that is incredibly relevant in an age plagued with similar issues in genetic engineering and cloning. I'd highly recommend the German translation.