Josef Pieper's brief essay is a defense of classic CORRESPONDENCE THEORY of language as articulated by Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas. This proposes TRUTH can be articulated...stated confidently...by Language. Language RE-presents REALITY. The essay avoids delving into difficult propositions concerning so-called INTENTIONAL Being (by which Reality conveys particular and universal essences that are asserted as Judgments: statements of sustantive Truth. Circularity cannot be avoided in such propositions. But the principal argument is asserted over-against Post-Modernist ("self-referential"; non-Logos) theories of language which are based not on Reality but on POWER (the purpose for which a statement or proposition is made; rather than to RE-present reality).

Hence: a person is not "blind"; he is visually challenged. Multiple agendas of self-esteem/homage; euphemtic avoidance of manifest reality; exercises in deception and self-absorption become subtle or blunt agencies of distortion and ever decreasing contigency upon "reality". FAIR can become FOUL...FOUL may be FAIR. As a leader who characterized himself ace mis-Re-presnter of Reality stated, "It depends on what you really mean by "IS"......

Pieper points out "Humpty-Dumpty/ Orwellian Newspeak" is nothing new. He cites 2,400 year old examples from Plato's DIALOGUES concerning Sophists' abuse of the Truth "function" of language (pp. 8-13; 18-22). Then he moves with warp speed to Nietzschean assertions of Langage as excellent vehicle of WILL TO POWER. The latter is key to Martin Heidegger's Being & Language theory (Language is the House of Being/Reality). Here Pieper makes a crucial error where he asserts Heidegger as sympathetic exponent of Freedom which truthful language preserves (p. 49). My reading of Heidegger firmly ensconces this once-Nazi philosopher in Post Modern-DECONSTRUCTION schools where language is a tool (zeug), a virtual weapon in an arsenal (zeughaus); whose purpose is not use of language for freedom but distortion of truth for CONTROL. Perhaps I am unfair in citing this error. But irony abounds here: Peiper looks to Heidegger for support when in Reality, Heidegger and his PM legions from Focault to Fish are premier exponents of the "praxis" of Language Abuse for the sake of Power.

This essay was written in 1974. Politically Correct Language (in the USA) began radical evolution. In the 80's PC became, particularly in academia and feminist satraps, common. By 1990 language abuse...leading to what Czeslaw Milos called THE CAPTIVE MIND in Eastern bloc countries...became flagrant. The problem with Josef Pieper's study is how methodically the Professor refuses to reply to adversaries of Reality/Truth with language of POWER. His essay is elegant. He rarely resorts to sarcasm or "irrefutable" barrages of facts framed in blistering rhetoric. He states his case for truth, and in good faith judges this sufficient.

"Do we have to go on?" Pieper poses (p.39). The answer is manifestly self-evident to those who bemoan or fear The Totalitarian danger thought-through-language control portends. The title: ABUSE of LANGUAGE, ABUSE of POWER is an excellent title to a good introduction about Correspondence Theory of language: Language= Reality= Truth. Let "Yes" mean Yes; "No way" mean no. The rest is (should be?) silence...

This excellent little book by Josef Pieper made me think of the movie "Repo Man". Like the movie "Repo Man" it advocated an argument against the hegemony of corporate advertisers proselytizing our minds with sophistic twists of language where it is becoming near imposible for a good decent American to even know what the meaning of "is" is. We drive down the freeway of life and are bombarded with little slogans and attempts to convince and smartly convert us to a way of thinking with marketing bill boards, or through the mail, on TV, in the paper - subtle attempts to steal our minds by over-loading them with a coorporate marketing agenda and sloganism. A bit abusive language on my part. It won't stop, but the question is worth pondering, and the questions raised in this book are of the sort that any educated man should ponder, even if there is no solution, it makes great "smartening-up" not "dumbing down" (sloganism) of the curriculum. Peiper persuasively argues that communication is not happening as much as might be thought, because communication must be void of ulterior motives. And his arguement that we must be able to express our view of the "truth of things" in freedom; why many do not is due to what he calls "the lingo of the revolution". Read it, share it with a friend. Great book - at all levels. Sugjestion - State College Professors, show "Repo man", Read this book, have a discussion, essay. Private Colleges, skip Repo man.

In this slender, but powerful work, the great (and often overlooked) Thomistic scholar Josef Pieper sends out a call to arms against "every partisan simplification, every ideological agitation, every blind emotionality . . . [and] well-turned yet empty slogans . . ." He pulls no punches in taking on those modern (and ancient) sophists who rape and pillage language in order to obtain political power and cultural currency. He also takes on modern advertising, noting that we live in an age and culture where "what is decisive is not what you say, but how you say it." In an era of politically-correct pap, vapid mantras and bumper-sticker philosophy, this book sends a clear, clean note of truth into the murky darkness of a deafened and confused populace.

This is a first novel that presents an interesting look at the Arab-Israeli conflict and how it touches not just Arabs and Palestinians, but people of all nationalities, all over the world. The villians and heroes aren't who you might expect, and one of the key bits of subtext to this book is that the battle over the "Holy Lands" has never really been as holy as we like to believe. The cast of characters is as diverse and motley as the Star Wars cantina theme, with a Portuguese/American CIA operative, a Lebanese/American Navy SEAL, an arrogant Texas oilman, a beautiful Palestinian freedom fighter, and a vicious Texas assassin with strange ties to an eerily familiar first family. If there's a weakness to this book, it's one common to many first novels - too much ambition for the first-time novelist's skill. But the plot is imaginative and will keep you guessing up until the last pages. If you like your heroes and your politics in plain black and white, this one will challenge you. If you like to be educated and entertained at the same time, I think you will really like this one. I guarantee you won't look at the Arab/Israel conflict the same way again!

First published in 1999, well before the September 11 attacks, The Fourth Branch is a suspenseful novel by Josef Wilson that echoes present-day reality. Bobby Rodrigues is a CIA agent with inside information on a terrorist organization that is setting its sights on Washington D.C., and when his own mentor is murdered, Rodrigues must turn to a rogue intelligence organization to unravel the shroud concealing a brutal and demonic conspiracy. The Fourth Branch is a chilling story, adroitly told, and guaranteed to hold the reader's rapt and total attention from first page to last.

This book is on par with ANYTHING Clancy has put out there! After the crisis America has just gone through, this book feels lifted from the headlines. I'm just utterly out of words to explain how hard this book hits and how important a read this book is. Find this book and read it soon!

NOTHING TO DECLARE is like reading a Robert Louis Stevenson in your grandfather's library, as sun sets through the windows on a quiet evening. The tension & escapes are palpable, the excitement of the travel & the fine autos satisfying, & pure curiosity kept me riveted.

An international American smuggler, a world-class Polish forger, a vengeful British embassy clerk, a French police detective on the eve of retirement, an Irishman of many masks, an ancient Scottish ship & a massive artillery gun are stirred & shaken in this tale of childhood enemies, gambling & betrayal, love & greed, murder & fear.

In the novel Nothing To Declare, author Josef Kraus presents the seamy underworld saga of an international smuggler who emerges as a link to heinous murders - but is he the killer, or the pawn of a far greater scheme? Retired Gendarme Inspector Jules Beauvier is determined to find out in this exciting tale of duplicity, underworld connections, conspiracy and more.

One of those rare finds. The ending is great. Anyone know if this guy's written anything else? Can't get a word out of the publisher.

This is a collection of brief speeches given the late Josef Pieper, one of the most popular Thomist philosophers of the last century. The topics addressed include work and leisure, music, seeing, sculpture, celebration, and contemplation.

The book's title is taken from St. Augustine's remark that "only he who loves can sing," and if there is an underlying theme to these occasional pieces it is that art and love, aesthetics and spirituality, cannot be divorced. A sample quote: "Contemplation is visual perception prompted by loving acceptance."

Due to their brevity, these essays can only be suggestive. But perhaps they may whet the reader's appetite for more substantial portions of Pieper's thoughtful yet accessible philosophizing.

This is an excellent book that allows for the integration of appeciating the aesthetic value of a piece of art, poetry, or music to meditation and contemplation. What is more, the value of this small book is tremendous in content and wisdom, integrating the thought of some of the most intellectual geniuses, such as: Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Aquinas, Kant, Nietzsche, and many others. For such a small piece of work, it carries a lot of value and significance, which can be applied to our daily lives.

This is a beautiful little book, actually a compil-
ation of lectures delivered at musical events and
openings. With references to the ancient philosophers,
it reminds us of the moral and spiritual force
of genuine "seeing" and "hearing." A learned series
of essays, but written in an accessible, and poetic, way.

This book; "The Cellular Connection" - "A guide to Cellular Telephones" contains much more. It was written for interested students and professionals who wish to know most of the important information about wireless telephony from the introduction of this amazing communications medium in the early 1980s through the present.

This is the fourth edition of a valuable text, describing the first phases of a communications revolution that changed the modern world as we watched in awe. Now this revolution is at the threshold of again changing the way we think, act and communicate.

Within the next few years literally everyone in the developed world; man, woman and child will have and use wireless service and be instantly linked to everyone else, from virtually anywhere on earth. Personal and business communication and actions will change by orders of magnitude as cellular/wireless encompasses, absorbs and dominates the internet.

The cellular handset will replace many of the familiar tools we use every day. Wireline telephones, FAX machines, laptop computers, portable TVs, satellite location systems and yes, even credit cards will become redundant and obsolete as wireless services and handsets incorporate all these features.

"The Cellular Connection" has sold over 250,000 copies, and has helped thousands of professionals in cellular business to become knowledgeable of the dynamics of the industry. I strongly recommend this book for anyone contemplating a career in wireless telephony as well as to current professionals in marketing, sales, engineering, finance, customer service and training.

Let's face it: the average cellular user is only going to be interested in those cool ring tones, how long the battery is going to last, why calls are sometimes dropped while in the middle of a conversation, etc. Anything faintly technical is not going to be too much of a bother, unless if it is of immediate concern to the telephony experience. If you are one of these people (especially if you are turned off by technical stuff) and you desire to understand your cell phone better, congrats! you have found the right book.

Anything you can possibly want to know as a cellular user can be found in here, in a lucid presentation not devoid of humour. Unlike other books of the same genre, you are not overwhelmed by esoteric technical terms. Following a concise US-centric introduction to the cellular system and how the industry is structured, the guts of what's important to you, the user, are dissected: choosing service providers and phones, billing and pricing plans, features and accesories, cell phone operation, roaming. The most helpful sections, in my opinion, are those which explain how calls are charged, and clarify various items on the bill; though cellular technology is highly accessible and relatively low priced nowadays it is still good to know what you are paying for. The section on cell phone etiquette, though short, should not be missed.

Much of the content is generic, so do not expect to find details on specific carriers or cell phone models here. Despite this being the 4th edition, some of the information is rather dated, especially the sections on cellular technology and future developments. On the other hand, it is a relief to actually read a book by an "industry insider" which does not try to read the palm of the industry beyond what is readily surmisable. For those who are more interested in the technological aspect, take note that there are a few mistakes e.g. (pg. 18) a frequency reuse factor of 7 does not mean that the next co-channel cell site is "no closer than 7 cells away".

The heading on the back cover reads, "How to choose cellular service wisely and become an adept cellular user." This book will not make you wise, but it will certainly make you better informed, and hopefully more adept.

Pieper begins this short book with the observation that while sin still have grave connotations in our
language, it is used largely for humorous effect in modern times.

Confucius once observed that the first step in philosophical debate was to agree on one's terms, and Pieper does a neat little job of investigating what the misunderstood yet evocative word "sin" means. His chief foundation is Thomas Aquinas, but he does a very impressive job of integrating modern, Eastern, and other pre-Christian sources; I did not realize how the concepts of expiation, confession, and original sin have parallels in Eastern and Classical thought. Even Sartre and Nietzsche--hardly Christians themselves!--are used in very sensitive, perceptive ways to show what sin does to us.

The book begins with observations on how sin is perceived in modern times, and then analyzes what the word sin actually means (to "miss the mark"), and how the Hebrew, Latin, and Greek writers have used the the word sin. Building this foundation, we begin to delve into the psychological basis of sin, and look at
a very troubling paradox of sin: "if sin is going against our nature, how can our natural desires lead us to sin?" This question of what exactly drives us to sin haunts much of the book, and Pieper gives no easy answers, but rather opens up this debate for the reader, and gives many references, allowing one to pursue this question on one's own later on.

For anyone who wants to know more about why we do evil things, this is a good beginner's guide. Pieper is intelligent but
accessible, and the book is very compact. Sometimes I wish he would have spent a litle more time developing some ideas--he sometimes takes Scholastic philosophical terms for granted, and while he defines them clearly, it would have been nice if he shows why these definitions are relevant to us. For instance, he observes that the term "order" has a static, fixed connotation to the modern person, but to the Medievals, it could mean a dynamic process. Pieper then adopts the Medieval view without telling us why we should take the Medieval one over the modern. This could have been easily explained by noting how scientific laws, while they are fixed equations, describe dynamic events, like radio waves, falling objects, and chemical reactions. Such an explanation would have been easily within Pieper's capabilities, and would connect his wealth of Scholastic understanding to the modern reader more easily.

Still, that quibble aside, this is a very readable, educational book, and I recommend it.

All too often, the word "sin" stirs up notions of personal responsibility, even guilt, which is uncomfortable and would rather avoid. So we blame our genes, an incurable illness, or we simply declare flatly (without evidence) that this is "human nature".

However, I find that this book places this concept in its proper perspective. Pieper opens his discourse with a quote from T.S. Eliot's "The Cocktail Party", which is illuminating: "I should really like," says Celia, "to think that there's something wrong with me. Because if there isn't, there's something wrong... with the world itself. And that's so much more frightening! That would be terrible. So I'd rather believe there's something wrong with me, that could be put right."

Gombrich is able to draw clear links and connections between human psychology and the artistic expression over time. His insights open windows to new ideas that can be read easily by laymen with only a little foreknowledge of art history. The breadth of his knowledge is startling and his careful and witty presentation is a pleasure to read. He never talks down to the reader. The only criticism is that some of the illustrations are too small, especially those in the chapter on Raphael's Stanza. I would have happy paid more if an increase in picture size happened to mean more paper was consumed.

For sheer range of insight this book is stunning. Gombrich has managed to combine an intimate knowledge of information theory, psychology, social psychology and philosophy along with a highly erudite knowledge of the history of art to create a springboard for investigation. It is the kind of book that I wish had been available when I was a teenager wondering what was possible in the world of scholarship.

Laughter: A Theological Essay may be questioned as an academic theory - the author too easily associates general cultural themes to the specific culture of the Gospel era - but the book is a wonderful catalyst to make one think about the place of laughter in religious experience. It forces one to consider the downplaying of humor and the emphasis on seriousness in the Christian tradition - for myself this brought up interesting issues with regards to the Holy Fools tradition and the Laughing Buddha tradition.

The joy of reading this book is even greater - the reader gets a bonus in postmodern literary analysis in the book's interpretation of Eco's The Name of the Rose. Again, one may not ultimately agree with the book's conclusions but you will be nudged to think about issues rarely raised.

A powerful book in regard to humor analysis and where humor fits into life's plan. Since the author is a theologian, he views life's plan or purpose from that point of view...The book makes great mention of the writer Umberto Eco, who wrote a fictional book, called "The Name of the Rose." The real Aristotle wrote an essay on humor, but it was lost. No problem for Eco. He tells us what Aristotle said...Outside of the best seller "The Name of the Rose," Eco has written other works. His essays are satirically and sarcastically funny. As an Italian, he tells us what he thinks of transportation in New York City. Am I am sure people have written works on transportation where he is...Getting back to the book "Laughter," by Karl-Josef Kuschel, I would recommend that it be read by any performer, writer, or student of humor.

The first of four books in Skvorecky's Lieutentant Boruvka's short stories collection, "The Mournful Demeanour of Lieutenant Boruvka" thrusts upon the world the next great detective of our times. At the same time Holmes and Watson, Magnum and Higgins. These stories rank among the most witty and thoughtful mystery/detective/satire tales ever written. A must read for any true lover of fiction. Mystery or otherwise.

This is great stuff -- I suppose I'm biased since I'm (a) a sucker for good mysteries and (b) an aficianado of Eastern European literature. With this little gem you get the best of both worlds: philosophical musings, superb characterizations, and clever crime stories.

R.U.R. is an immensely important book for its contributions to our language and our perception. Equally, it is excellent commentary on the mechanization of work, and the quest to turn people into simple, perfect machines.

Nonetheless, this translation falls short as literature. Devoid of irony and wit, and possessing only a simple, transparent plot, R.U.R. does not equal the standard set by Capek himself with "War with the Newts."

In the play RUR, the brothers Capek coined the word Robot as meaning mechanical man for the first time. The play probes the ethical issues of humaniod robots and what constitutes humanity, life and the human soul and spirit. Written just before WWII the Insect Play is a wonderful fantasy full of political allegory and social commentary. It is important to keep in mind when reading the Insect Play that Josef Capek died in a Nazi concentration camp.