I have read sections of this book over and over again; Pieper provides the reader with a sensible and precise way to understand virtues which have heretofore been described in vague and sentimental terms.

I believe this work to be, perhaps, one of the most important that I have read to date. Ideas can be a very powerful thing. I believe this book delivers and packages ideas that are truly life-changing. Be prepared to stretch your vocabulary, your mind, and your heart.

This collection of works on the four cardinal virtues brings out the classical meanings of prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance. It also clearly explains the vices surrounding the virtues. It is a clear summary of classical thought on the virtues from Aristolte, Plato, Augustine and Aquinas. Very interesting digrestions on prudence and fortitude.

Pieper, in these three essays, describes what we have to learn from the works and life of Aquinas. The essays detail the scholastic arguements of the day and how Thomas, in the true spirit of open mindedness (his life and method are the definition of this oft abused term) brought some peace ond understanding to the various sides, a very serious matter in his day. The book explains how much of an Aristotilian Aquinas was, and more importantly how much he was not. Mainly by showing how the charactoristics of the Latin Averroists have been unjustly attributed to Aquinas by his detractors - the Latin Averoists (Averoes was an Arab) were whole hearted Aristotilians.

This book is an excellent addition to reading Etienne Gilson's "Unity of the Philosophical Experience" as Pieper gives further explanantions as to the behavior of the Augastinians and Latin Averroists. It could explain also why modern Muslims are so singularly textually dogmatic - it is in reaction to Averroist's attempting to rid religion of faith altogether - and thus the violent reaction in nixing reason and rationalism. It tells how Aquinas circumvented this problem. The last essay also compliments Gilson's book in that it shows what Existentialism has in common with Aquinas, some interesting things, despite some gapping fundimental differences at their very root and conclusion.

The first essay vividly descibes what an attitude of accademic pursuit and teaching should look like. Too many teachers are dogmatic and are only interested in pursuing and supporting an idea that is presently clear in their minds and propogating it, rather than treating the moment as an active pursuit of truth. Thomas was a model teacher and the book is an active discripition of his method.

The book also argues, with supporting evidence and reason, that Thomas' main work The "Summa Theologica" was intentionally left unfinished. Why it was left unfinished is at the root of what Aquinas was all about concerning philosophy and metaphysics - it is a process not a conclusion. Gilson's book describes what a conclusion is, as sometimes philosophers have rejected the idea that they have reached a conclusion, when in fact they have. Gilson effectively defines what a conclusion looks like.

Both are highly recommended books for Teachers, Historians, and Philosophers.

St. Thomas Aquinas, needless to say, is not easy to understand. In this little guide, which makes nice supplemental reading to get a look "behind the scenes" of the saint's philosophy, Josef Pieper first sketches a biographical outlines of Thomas' life and then delves into the negative element in his philosophy and concludes with the "timelessness" of Thomism, which makes it a perennial philosophy.

This book is primarily concerned with St. Thomas' epistemological assumptions (which were taken for granted, hence the "silence"), what knowledge meant for the saint, and how and to what extent it can be achieved. Pieper tackles Thomas' seemingly paradoxical stance on essences, and whether or not they can be known, for Thomas maintains both that we cannot know God in His essence and that God's essence is His existence.

Pieper shows St. Thomas' beautiful conviction that "it is part of the very nature of things that their knowability cannot be wholy exhausted by any finite intellect, because these things are creatures, which means that the very element which makes them capable of being known must necessarily be at the same time the reason why things are unfathomable" (p.60).

All in all, this book is a fine look at Thomas' profound epistemology, so rarely discussed in philosophical courses today. If you have an interest in the philosophy of St. Thomas, don't pass this one up!

The unifying theme of the three essays composing this book is the paradox that the intelligibilty of things and their incomprehensibility both derive from their being creatures, that is, from their possessing natures that are communications of the ideas in the mind of God. Things can be known only because they are created, but at the same time, things are unfathomable because they are created: "one and the same factor explains both why things cannot be entirely grasped and why they can be known" (pp.95-6). Why is this so? I'll not deprive the reader of the pleasure of reading Pieper's book to find out.

For me, this book ended a long struggle to discover what St. Thomas Aquinas really taught about our knowledge of things. Pieper succeeds in reconciling Thomas's frequent statements that we cannot know the essence of any created thing with his repeated claims elsewhere that our minds are receptive of the forms (i.e., essences) of things.

While my attitude toward Pieper's understanding of St. Thomas's thought is not uncritical, I must concede that he is one of the best and most original (the two are not the same) of twentieth century Thomist philosophers. Unfortunately, he is sometimes (unjustly) put down by scholars as a mere popularizer. Let them read this book and be disabused; Pieper has much to teach them.

My ratings of other books by Josef Pieper: Guide to Thomas Aquinas ****; Leisure the Basis of Culture *****; Scholasticism *****

This book really cannot be praised too highly. Pieper's discussion is more deep and insightful than any psychology text I've seen, and he's not even trying to do psychology.

He uses traditional and technical words (like "sloth"), but this is necessary to distinguish shades of moods, emotions, and actions. I used to think of "slothful" as synonymous with "laziness" -- but this book made me realize what a huge difference there was. You could work hard every day, but if deep inside you know you could do great things, and you simply don't bother to do them, then you are guilty of sloth. Many Christians (and non-Christians) that I know, including myself, will recognize this as a part of their lives.

And that's just from one paragraph of "Hope", the least powerful of these three essays!

This book is a compilation of three essays by the popular Thomist, the late Josef Pieper, on the theological virtues.

Though Pieper writes from a Christian perspective, he is doing philosophy not theology. (The theological virtues are so called not because they are for theologians only, but because they derive directly from God.)

The richness of these essays is their thoroughgoing personalism. Pieper defines all three virtues in terms of relationships. In faith, "the will of the believer is directed toward the person of the witness, toward the warrantor." "Hope says: it will turn out well....It will turn out well for us." And "to love means to rejoice in the happiness of another."

As always, Pieper writes clearly, logically, at times movingly. This book reminds us that while the source of these virtues is beyond human reason, the practical understanding and practice of them is not.

A good introduction and jumping off point to Pieper's philosophy and philosophy in general. Reading this book first might make his other works (like Virtues of the Human Heart, Abuse of Language Abuse of Power, and Leisure the Basis of Culture) more palitable. Pieper, here, describes what philosophy is - its likeness to poetry; why it should be done - freedom can not exist without it; and where philosophy stands in relationship to the exact sciences and religion. Pieper, with great detail, also lays Sartre flat, and critisizes Jaspers and Heidegger to the degree that they fail to recognize their own religiosity and how this contridicts their views of what a philosopher is -- throwing their own words in thier face, so to speak. Great reading.

This book might read something like a simple methodology; much more comprensible than "Living the Truth" which is quite a book, a definite methodology, but difficult reading.

In this excellent little book (120 pages), Josef Pieper shows why philosophy is essential to human life. Pieper states his thesis at the beginning of the book: "to engage in philosophy means to reflect on the totality of things we encounter, in view of their ultimate reasons; and philosophy, thus understood, is a meaningful, even necessary endeavor, with which man, the spiritual being, cannot dispense." Pieper concludes this chapter by responding to four objections to the thesis: (1) it answering a philosophical question even possible? (2) what does it really mean to encounter something? (3) what about modern sciences? (4) what good is philosophy since it doesn't have a practical end?

In the rest of the book, Pieper shows how the ability to philosophize is different from studying philosophy in a classroom. He shows how philosophy is related to art and to religion. He then discusses the axiom: "philosophy alone is free," and how philosophy is a loving meditation on truth.

In the final chapters, Pieper enters into discussion with modern philosophers (e.g., Heidegger and Jaspers) who affirm that a religious believer cannot be a philosophy and shows the errors of this view in light of the ancient concept of philosophy found in Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, and Thomas Aquinas.

This book reads much more like a methodology of how Pieper uses philosophy, and his justifications for his usage, than any of the previous books of his I have read. Pieper defines how modern thought has corrupted much of our vocabulary - in comparison with the Medieaval use - of such words as: truth, reality, knowledge, perception, idea, essence, object, subject, imagine, potential capacity, natural, ideal, cognition, will. He also makes an effort to clear the name of Aquinas, from past abusers of his ideas, Aquinas being the primary philosopher Pieper draws his ideas from. Pieper largely defends Medieaval thought against the Modern. The Modern insignificantly began with Montaigne, significantly started with Decarte, and became rock solid with Kant (each with their legions of followers). Pieper is a defense of what there was before. How what is good in the Western Tradition fundamentaly lays there. The book's points are profound; at their essence the most profound of all of Pieper's books I have read thus far. However, they are also the most abstract and possibly the least accessable to the common reader, such as myself.

Many of Pieper's books read much more as a guide to living a better life, this is not one of them. Abuse of Language Abuse of Power is, as are Leisure the Basis of Culture and The Virtues of the Human Heart - and many of his other books I have not read as of yet. These books are accesible and ones, I believe, that will result in a reader making postive life changes significantly altering one's view of the world for the better, for themselves and their brothers.

Living the Truth is probably the best of Pieper's books. It offers the finest insights into Medieval epistemology available, illuminating philosophy from Plato to Aquinas in a remarkable way. The second part of the book, building on the first, gives completely fesh insights into the basis of moral action, grounded in the knowledge of essences. Perhaps the most significant thing about the book is that it shows what has been lost in Western philosophy since the Enlightenment, where the concern changed from knowledge of essence to empiricism.

As usual with Pieper, the book is written with consumate clarity.

Pieper spends much of his effort in defining the true meaning behind words that have been perverted or lost their depth of meaning over time. Words like: faith, prudence, listening, silence, fortitude, patience, sensuality, passion, anger, indolence, magnamity, humility, hope, and acedia. The modern mind, it would appear, has lost the vocabulary keys to salvation and proper moral elocution. Pieper argues, in the simpliest, if not only way, I can define, that too much subjection of one's senses to unfilterd, unanalyzed, unrationalized, unpassioned exposure can lead to a distancing from one's true nature of self, and also a distancing, if not hopeless seperation, from cummunication with the divine. The between-the-lines inference here is too much tv, newspapers, cnn, and anything that is unpassioned and unrationalized to oneself is detrimental to the soul. It is noise, noise, and does not fill the heart, too much of this state and one's heart can get out of tune, possibly irrevocably. Pieper argues that acedia is the state of one not fulfilling the true beauty of one's divine nature and passion. This laziness of endeavor is a sin against nature and God, as well as to oneself. This book is jam packed with good reasons on why my soul is doomed to everlasting damnation. Not a feel good bandaid sort of book of nice little aphorisms. This book is deadly serious and after a serious reading one might be lucky enough to realize the big job involved in being oneself, and how important that is to God. As serious as the air one breaths. Silence and rationalized enrichment, Pieper defines them both. A superficial reading of the book might lead one to think it is just a bunch of unconnected maxims - far from it. A nice little book. Bring a dictionary.

Josef Pieper is probably best known for his book "Leisure: The Basis of Culture." This book on festivity is a good companion to that volume. Pieper discusses festivity's contrast to ordinary, everyday work, but points out that festivity involves more than the absence of labor. Real festivity also requires a quality of spirit which makes enjoyment possible, and that quality of spirit is love. He says, "One who loves nothing and nobody cannot possibly rejoice." The artificial festivals created by business can not possibly regenerate us the way festival is meant to do, because they are rooted in acquisitiveness rather than love and generosity of spirit. This is a beautiful book which will make you want to celebrate something truly festive!

For those unfamiliar with the writings of the German Thomist Josef Pieper, this is the place to start. Pieper, like his contemporaries von Balthasar and Etienne Gilson, had a wide ranging intellect and an incredibly deep knowledge of philosophy and history. This is evidenced by the topics found among the essays in this volume: semiotics, sexuality, the nature of evil, the supernatual virtues, freedom and predestination, leisure, and true work. While not easy reading by any means, Pieper's writing is filled with the sort of pithy and sharp observations that are so often missing from modern philophical works. A must buy!

German Catholic philosopher Josef Pieper (1904-1997) discusses with clarity and erudition the issue that grips all of us: what is the basis of our hope on the pilgrimage we call life? He points out that our status is that of people "on the way" who can easily fall into a meaningless existence. He calls us to high virtue. His description of the greatness of spirit of the Christian-- of Christian magnanimity--captures the exciting challenge of going on the pilgrimage of life as a Christian. He points out in this small book how essential hope, as opposed to despair or presumption, is to the Christian life. This book will challenge you to examine the status of your own pilgrimage.

The Malsbary translation may be the problem to this otherwise respected work. His syntatical structures, often omitting verbs, makes for difficult reading. Maybe it just German philosophical writing, which tends to the obtruse.

The exposition is not clear. Many passages have to be re-read for comprehension. The message does not flow, but spurts and starts in a jarring manner.

Pieper has many salient points to make, all of which should be used in dialogue with Veblen's "Theory of the Leisure Class." It's not that they are the same wavelength, but the differences are telling all the same.

This isn't a book I'd buy (but I did), but get through a library. It's not a book florid with gems of wisdom.

Pieper begins with a common (and ironically ancient) human insight that people today have lost touch with their inner, spiritual lives, and something must be done before we become soulless drones. His solution is leisure, that contemplative and calm state that produces joy in the greatness of a full life. The highest expression of this leisure is the religious festival. I won't divulge any more of Pieper's philosophy; it is much better understood and appreciated by reading his well-written text. Sometimes Pieper soars and takes the reader with him into the loftiest reaches of man's soul and intellect, other times it seems like nothing more than the intellectual masturbation of a prentious, old-school European academic. Still, it is beautifully and succinctly written, which is very refreshing, and you could easily read it in a week. Especially recommended for the Catholic intellectual.

The excellent Malsbury translation of Pieper's famous work brings together many of the themes found in other works of the author. For instance, leisure or stillness, is not to be thought of as leisure in the contemporary sense. Leisure is to be thought of in a framework of an teleology which is a contemplation of ends, or last things. Since man is made for union with God, human work is not seperate from this end. Today, the work of man is an end in itself, and philsophical anthropology and culture suffers. Pieper shows how this is a reorientation from the classical and scholastic world view which shared a common vision of anthropology as man seeking those things which are above. This book is a must read for all those who think modern culture is suffering from an identity crisis.