Steven Nadler is the William H. Hay II Professor of Philosophy at the University of Wisconsin--Madison. His books include Rembrandt's Jews, which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize; Spinoza: A Life, which won the Koret Jewish Book Award; and A Book Forged in Hell: Spinoza's Scandalous Treatise and the Birth of the Secular Age (Princeton).
The 17th Century produced a multitude of free thinkers. Philosophers were no longer devoted to the writings of Aristotle and Plato. These "heretics" were determined to seek explanations for occurrences based upon reason, hypotheses and evidence.
Galileo, an astronomer, built a telescope to examine the nighttime sky. He ascertained that the moon's surface was not smooth. He viewed dark spots moving across the sun. In 1632, condemned by the church, Galileo spent the rest of his life under house arrest for defending the Heliocentric Theory of Copernicus. Galileo's book, explaining that the earth was not the center of the cosmos but a planet orbiting the sun, was banned.
Most philosophers believed that "blind fealty" needed to questioned. Descartes, a devotee of meteorology, published an essay stating that rainbows were not a sign from God but rather light passing through water droplets in the sky.
In the late 1600's, Leibniz's discourse on metaphysics explored the theory that although the number of possible worlds were infinite, God created the best world for us. To explain misfortune, plagues and earthquakes, he surmised that we could not experience joy without understanding sadness.
"Heretics! The Wondrous (And Dangerous) Beginnings of Modern Philosophy" by Steven and Ben Nadler is a fact-filled entertaining book. Many philosophers populate this tome including Bruno, Bacon, Spinoza, Hobbes,Newton and Lady Anne Conway, to name a few. Many of the writings were banned in the 17th Century by The Vatican Index of Prohibited Books. The "heretics" persevered. They hypothesized, experimented, tested and revised in order to view and define the world anew.
Thank you Princeton University Press and Net Galley for the opportunity to read and review "Heretics!"
Spectacular work, putting dry and often unattractively abstract ideas into the graphic novel format. I especially appreciate the ways that this work outlined the logical limitations of each of the philosophers covered as they attempted to reason out the nature of reality and our physical (/metaphysical) place in it. Spinoza, especially, seems to have been close to an empirically accurate view of the world, save for the bit about politics that did not seem to logically follow from his own position on free will not existing. All in all, I'm glad we have more evidence to root this sort of thinking into now.
The foundations of modern philosophy are examined through the lens of those deemed 'heretical' and a threat to the status quo: Galileo, Descartes, Spinoza, Locke, Leibniz, Newton (and others) were cornerstones in so many of the scientific 'truths' we now accept - but what they had to go through to defend the ideas they had is a good lesson for everyone in this age of 'viral truths'.
I was so excited to receive a copy from netgalley to review. This is a wonderful book about the beginnings of philosophy and even early ideas in science. From Bruno in 1600 all the way to Voltaire this book covers many of the philosophers we know. I do admit I was not a complete fan of illustrations especially the incorrect portrayal of Galileo dropping spheres from the Tower of Pisa which never happened.
2,5 猸� Gostei do humor e gostei das ilustra莽玫es. A premissa do livro 茅 bastante interessante e original. O resto... O problema n茫o 茅 do livro, 茅 verdadeiramente meu!! 馃檮馃槉
Amac谋na ula艧m谋艧, felsefeyi ba艧ka bir sanat谋n arac谋l谋臒谋yla (莽izgi roman) g眉zel ortaya koymu艧 bir eser. Asl谋nda d枚rt y谋ld谋z vermeyi d眉艧眉nd眉m ama bu d眉艧眉nce kitaptan kaynaklanm谋yordu. B枚ylesi g眉zel bir eserin 枚nceki ya da sonraki d枚nemleri de ayn谋 formda aktaran devamlar谋, 枚nc眉lleri olmal谋yd谋. Alfa Yay谋nlar谋'n谋n sitesini inceledim. Bu seri ile ilgili bilgi bulamamakla birlikte genel felsefe kitaplar谋nda da bir d眉zen g枚r眉nm眉yor. Da臒谋n谋k. Umar谋m bu ve bunun gibi anlat谋lar, eserler 莽谋kmaya devam eder. Burada eseri 莽eviren Abdullah Y谋lmaz'谋 da tebrik etmek laz谋m. 脟ok g眉zel akan diyaloglar ve metin var.
This graphic novel introduction to early philosophy is truly excellent. I found it new at the library last week, and it was perfect timing, because I'm in the first weeks of a philosophy class for college. I am a visual learner, and this book helped me better understand the metaphysical ideas abstractly presented in class reading. This isn't an illustrated textbook, however; it's a true graphic novel. The writing and art are sublime together, and I like how playful, inventive, and cheeky the book is while still taking history seriously. This book is informative, engaging, and appropriate for all ages.
I first read an excerpt of this book in the magazine, Nautilus. The excerpt contained a witty summary of Leibniz's theory of the "best of all possible worlds," which was later (unfairly, I discovered) trashed by Voltaire in his parody, Candide. The wit of this book comes primarily through the drawings. One of my favorite images is a group of "possible worlds" sitting in a waiting room, getting ready for their auditions with God. They are lined up, sitting on a bench, with their arms and legs dangling from their globe-shaped, but nevertheless anthropomorphic bodies. Leibniz is sharing the bench, to their right. A clock is ticking overhead on the wall. From a nearby office with its door ajar comes the voice of God: "Next!"
One thing that's clear from this book is that three "philosophers" from the 17th century continue to influence our thinking quite powerfully, even to this day: Descartes, Newton, and Locke. (I put "philosophers" in quotes because nowadays most people would call Newton a scientist. But the lines of demarcation were not so sharp back then.) From Descartes we inherited the dualistic notion that mind and body are utterly separate; from Newton we inherited the notion of "absolute space,"; and from Lock we inherited the notions of "natural law" and the mind as a "blank slate." All these ideas are probably wrong but have persisted in the popular mind despite mounting evidence to the contrary.
Based upon what I read here, it's unclear to me why brilliant philosophers like Leibniz and Spinoza did not have more lasting impact on the direction of Western thought. Based on the rudimentary introductions to their works in this book, they produced compelling and insightful bodies of work that are worthy of our consideration even today.
Other philosophers with whom I was not familiar appear in this book: Antoine Arnaud, Anne Conway, and Pierre Gassendi, to name just three examples. All three grappled with Cartesian dualism (the mind/body split) and either offered trenchant criticisms or proposed solutions.
Overall, this book seemed to be an enticing introduction to 17th century philosophy and showed how it is still relevant today. Readers won't get a deep understanding, but it might just inspire them to pull Spinoza (or Leibniz, or maybe even Anne Conway) off the shelf.
A certain acquaintance of mine once claimed that the universe is divided into two categories only: "think-space," and "meat-space." I sure hope that he will read this book and see that several prominent philosophers took issue with this Cartesian straitjacket, and not without good reason.
A note on the art work: it's at the level of a Dilbert cartoon. If you are thinking of buying the book, don't expect it to be pretty. What saves the art, as I mentioned above, is the wit behind it.
A good one if you want to start somewhere! Too light-hearted for what I expected, but still a fun read. Managed to make me want to read almost every book mentioned :D
Nice overview of the ideas of 17th century philosophers and scientists. (The distinction barely existed then, and even today isn't clear-cut.) Doesn't go into great amounts of detail on any of them, but works well as an overview, much better than one might expect from a "comic". Some of their ideas seem ridiculous today, at least to me, but other of their ideas remain influential. One of the authors is an expert on Spinoza, but he gets no more emphasis here than any of the others. If any one person gets more detail than the others, it is probably Leibniz, many of whose ideas are utterly insane to me.
This is a funny book, the narrative of Heretics! is woven so as to accommodate an amusing, accessible and tangible account of the key metaphysical preoccupations of 17/18 century European and English philosophy. The striking visual setting of the comic genre coupled with Nadler's writing, the characters's conversational exchange of ideas and occasional squabble make for a mostly enjoyable ride.
The graphic narrative form coushins the reader and does a great job of making presentable material that might, on its own, seem uninviting, boring and dry.
Al leer esta novela gr谩fica no puedo m谩s que pensar que la iglesia siempre ha jodido las cosas. Si fuera por ellos a煤n ser铆amos unos trogloditas f谩ciles de manipular. Menos mal que a largo de los siglos hemos tenido varios "herejes" quienes se negaron a dejarse intimidar y nos sacaron de esa era de oscuridad.
This seemed like a fantastic premise - to tell the tale of 鈥渉eretical鈥� philosophers in Europe during the enlightenment (give or take a couple of decades). But there was a bit too much info and dense info at times too, for it to be a fun book to read.
As for the artwork鈥 just couldn鈥檛 stand all the red noses. I鈥檝e seen comics done in this style before and just have a visceral reaction to it.
La filosof铆a suele ser tomada como algo aburrido, pero yo siempre he pensado que el hombre, tarde o temprano, busca desarrollar su propia filosof铆a para comprender su existir. Es algo natural, es parte de nuestra vida.
Gracias a ella el hombre genera su propio pensamiento y no se vuelve un simple borrego siguiendo todo lo que se le dice que haga o que piense y, por ello, ayudar a mejorar nuestra sociedad鈥�
Este libro recopila los diversos pensamientos de algunos de los personajes m谩s importantes de esta rama a partir del siglo XVII. Lo agradable es que nos expone sus filosof铆as de la forma m谩s sencilla posible e, incluso, con vi帽etas graciosas de tanto en tanto.
Disfrut茅 mucho leyendo la manera en la que se explic贸 la filosof铆a de cada uno de los llamados 鈥淗erejes鈥� pues, como imaginar谩n, sus pensamientos no eran bien recibidos en la 茅poca que fueron concebidos y, por lo tanto, obtuvieron t铆tulos como ese.
Gracias a todas estas filosof铆as, llegu茅 a muchas conclusiones respecto al pensamiento del ser humano; as铆 que puedo decir que se trata de un libro din谩mico e intuitivo para todo aquel que haya tenido alguna vez alguno de estos tipos de pensamiento pues, estoy segura, se sentir谩n identificados con uno o varios de ellos.
Respecto a las ilustraciones, me parecieron muy agradables a la vista. Hay vi帽etas que incluso son graciosas o contienen alg煤n tipo de iron铆a o simbolismo referente a la teor铆a que se est谩 explicando; as铆 que, no son solo dibujos que adornan el contexto y que resulte atractivo para la lectura, si no que en realidad apoyan mucho al texto.
颁辞苍肠濒耻蝉颈贸苍 Si les agrada la filosof铆a, este libro les brindar谩 un acercamiento sencillo, intuitivo y din谩mico para comprender a algunos de los pensadores del siglo XVII. Igualmente, disfrutar谩n de las im谩genes de cada vi帽eta y la forma en que se hilan los pensamientos. Una lectura que, podr铆a no parecerlo, pero es en suma interesante y los llevar谩 a darse cuenta, cuando menos lo esperen, que se encuentran debatiendo mentalmente con estos fil贸sofos.
i by the father-son duo and tells the history of scientific thought in the 17th century. Overall, good introduction to the topic, but the format is not used to full potential.听
++/- Following the heights of Catholic church abuses and the horrors of the Inquisition, the 17th century set the philosophical and practical foundations of modern science. The story follows 18 key characters, and in particular Bacon,听Descartes, Galileo,听Spinoza, Leibniz, Locke, Pascal, and Netwon. The chronology and the story are clear, but some of the explanations fall short due to the choice of using seemingly original formulations which by now seem outdated and cumbersome.听
+/- There is very little plot. The authors do show that the ideas caused rumour in the society and led to philosophical disputes across Western Europe, and they do emphasize the opposition mounted by the听church, but the tone is light and the information of less detail than when presenting the main philosophical ideas.听The authors could have emphasized more this interplay.听
+/-- The format used in this book is based on traditional comics. The core layout is 2 columns听by 3 rows per page, with the occasional merging of two adjacent cells. This is听promising, but also very common today and in this sense rather dull. There is no exceptional panel, double-spread, or exciting layout invention; this is no (author of the super-panel,听of ,听, and -听the latest - renown), (author of the graphics funk/cyberpunk look of and ), or and 听(slice-of-life听manga mixing realistic and fantastic drawings).听
+听The graphic style is derived from Herge's clear line. Unfortunately, the intention of adding a modern take does not seem successful. The coloring is dull, and the special inversion effects and strong contrasts (a bit of De Stijl, maybe), plus rhe various adornments (e.g., line-thin indications of light effects in the hair) are more confusing than revealing. This contrasts with the book's stated goal听of explaining (the history of human thought).听
--- Perhaps the most important missed opportunity here is the relationship between the philosophical and historical content, and the graphical format. The story fails to build on the strengths of the medium, one that is particularly good at illustrating abstract concepts, and surely more so than movies. The graphics are inadequate for this type of book, and perhaps a simpler, minimalist take in the style of , or a grittier style approaching would have been better. After all, these styles were able to carry through many examples of graphic journalism, to which the narrative of this book seems close.听
Heretics, by Steven and Ben Nadler, is a nearly 200-page graphic run-through of, as the subtitle says, 鈥淭he Wondrous (and Dangerous) Beginnings of Modern Philosophy鈥�. More specifically, it covers the writings/arguments of Seventeenth Century figures, including but not limited to: Francis Bacon, Robert Boyle, Anne Conway, Rene Descartes, Thomas Hobbes, Gottfried Leibniz, John Locke, Nicolas Malebranche, Isaac Newton, Blaise Pascal, and Bento Spinoza. It鈥檚 an engaging and informative exploration and one I highly recommend as a starting off point for anyone interested in the particular topic or history in general, as so much of what they wrote on rippled outward to large social/political/religion effect.
On the offhand chance someone might misconstrue the graphic form of the novel as being an overly-simplified version of philosophy for kids, the authors quickly disabuse readers of that possibility in the introduction, where they toss around words like paradigm, epistemology, metaphysics, and scholastic. Not to mention that the opening image once one reads the intro is of Giordano Bruno being burns at the stake. Not then a book for children.
What follows is an excellent job of explaining concisely in clear, precise language the major contributions of the above thinkers to the philosophies of their time, the ways in which they built on the ideas of those who came before, whether that be expanding on them, furthering them, or rejecting them. As for the visuals, because philosophy is by its nature abstract, the illustrations I鈥檇 say only occasionally add greater understanding. Certainly they carry less illustrative (in the education meaning of the word) content and effect than, say, illustrations in a physics text. Instead, they鈥檙e often more entertaining than explanatory, but with such weighty topics, there鈥檚 something to be said for entertainment and for the humor they bring to the table.
Text and visuals work well therefore in tandem to create a wonderful learning experience, and were I teaching philosophy or history in college or high school I would absolutely consider using this as a text for the class to give my students a solid basic grounding before moving on to a more in-depth look. Recommended.
If all you know of Calvin and Hobbs is that it was a comic strip, rather than who the two men were, then this book could be for you. If all you know of Issic Newton was the apple falling on his head, and not his philosophical background, this book could be for you. And if all you ever wondered where Candid came up with the idea of this world being the best of all possible worlds, then you should read this book to see where it all came form.
It is done as a graphic novel, which makes it very accessible, and easy to understand, in as much as philosophy is easy to understand. It is hard, sometimes, to think of a time when the church had all the authority, and to not agree with them would brand you as a heretic, thus the name of the book.
Things such as free will, the divine right of kings, and anarchy are all discussed.
Very weighty graphic novel, but interesting to have things written (or drawn out) for easier consumption.
Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.
It was a fun idea to take some of the most complex ideas in all of philosophy and turn them into a graphic (comic) book. It seems to me that Steven Nadler and Ben Nadler did a very pleasing job of leading the reader from page to page, each famous philosopher's great ideas leading to the next (either building on them or opposed utterly to them). Obviously, not all of a reader's (my) questions were answered, but it is so easy these days to pursue any question and go more deeply into that subject.
There's a wryness to both the words and images. Any young reader will learn both how far we've come as a society, and how much our forerunners risked when simply telling the truth as they understood it. Science and philosophy are so intertwined, and this book makes that plain. It would also be a fun way to review all that groundbreaking thinking that happened in the seventeenth century.
a graphic narrative...what a surprise! Because of the format, I had trouble adjusting my reading to do the subject matter justice. It covers many centuries and many philosophers and scientists devoted to teasing out some very subtle differences in thinking. I found it difficult to avoid skimming and dwelling on the artwork and as a result missed much of the meat of the topic. Probably just a matter of personal tAste. A clever approach to a generally dry and complex topic.
4.5. I loved this and would recommend it as a text for an intro level course. There are a few unclear panels though (some folks can look a little too similar in drawing) that need more effort than they should to read.
As all narratives necessarily do, there is a bias in the telling. The book appears to portray religion as being opposed to developing philosophical discourse and scientific advances- this is especially apparent at the end. While certainly there were conflicts involving the church during the time periods covered, that is undeniable, it is reductionistic to say they were only about these ideas. A number of factors were involved primary the radical political and social changes. That's not in any way to say the western church is innocent, merely that it was a far more complicated situation then religion opposing intellectual "progress"- point of fact, many of the philosophers and early scientists were devout in faith as well. This is not an attack on the book, as I said all narratives are necessarily painted with biases but it is important to recognize them.
Now you may have noticed I placed "progress" in quotation marks in the above paragraph; which tends to give off the impression that I'm repeating an idea asserted by another that I disagree with- this was intentional. Herein lies my one critique of the book- it mischaracterizes the develop meant of philosophical ideas in such a manner as to incorrectly give the impression that subsequent philosophers critiqued prior ideas and they were abandoned. This is not true, ideas and arguments from the past are still imminently relevant to philosophy and you can find proponents of virtually all schools of thought. While this misrepresentation appears to be implicit throughout, it is of course most evident at the end in which "Descartes is remembered as a dreamer and Newton as a sage". This is simply untrue, Cartesian philosophy is still relevant and (in certain limited respects) plausibly true. Other examples of this misguided portrayal of linear progression is the political philosophy shown- Hobbesian social contract theory neither fully supplanted the divine right of king's notion nor was fully supplanted by subsequent social contract ideas (e.g. Locke's).
One thing I think the book did a good job of doing was demonstrating the intrinsic philosophical presuppositions of science as well as philosophical influence on it. In an age of scientism, this is a welcomed reminder.
All in all a good book: 3.5 star rating if that were possible on 欧宝娱乐.
It鈥檚 like A Dummy鈥檚 guide to the wave of 17th Century philosophers. All your favourites pop up like Descartes and Newton as well as an ensemble cast of lesser talked about ponderers. Each figure is given a spotlight to explain briefly their beliefs or hypotheses and how that fit into the period and their peers. It鈥檚 quite nicely done. The cartoons, illustrated by the author鈥檚 son, are nice but often don鈥檛 serve to add to the text beyond something fun to fill the pages with. Which I think is ultimately fair enough but does make you wonder what the point is, to make it more appealing to younger or less interested audiences I suppose. Well it worked on me; pretty pictures made me read all about philosophers in the 1600s.