True to Our Feelings: What Our Emotions Are Really Telling Us

Author : Robert C. Solomon Number of Pages : 304 Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA List Price : $28.00 Amazon Price : $14.00 Used Price : $14.26

Product Description

We live our lives through our emotions, writes Robert Solomon, and it is our emotions that give our lives meaning. What interests or fascinates us, who we love, what angers us, what moves us, what bores us--all of this defines us, gives us character, constitutes who we are.
In True to Our Feelings, Solomon illuminates the rich life of the emotions--why we don't really understand them, what they really are, and how they make us human and give meaning to life. Emotions have recently become a highly fashionable area of research in the sciences, with brain imaging uncovering valuable clues as to how we experience our feelings. But while Solomon provides a guide to this cutting-edge research, as well as to what others--philosophers and psychologists--have said on the subject, he also emphasizes the personal and ethical character of our emotions. He shows that emotions are not something that happen to us, nor are they irrational in the literal sense--rather, they are judgements we make about the world, and they are strategies for living in it. Fear, anger, love, guilt, jealousy, compassion--they are all essential to our values, to living happily, healthily, and well. Solomon highlights some of the dramatic ways that emotions fit into our ethics and our sense of the good life, how we can make our emotional lives more coherent with our values and be more "true to our feelings" and cultivate emotional integrity.
The story of our lives is the story of our passions. We fall in love, we are gripped by scientific curiosity and religious fervor, we fear death and grieve for others, we humble ourselves in envy, jealousy, and resentment. In this remarkable book, Robert Solomon shares his fascination with the emotions and illuminates our passions in an exciting new way.

Customer reviews

Highly Recommended by .. D. S. Heersink (San Francisco)
Background: Robert Solomon, University of Texas, Austin, philosopher in the Anglo-American method and Continental leanings, re-introduced "emotions" or "the passions" into the vocabulary of the theories of mind, particularly with his seminal (and substantially revised) "The Passions: Emotions and Meanings of Life" (1976/1993). He has since written extensively on this subject, including his evolving essays in "Not Passion's Slave: Emotions and Choice" and his superb "Love: Emotion, Myth, and Metaphor." His own "philosophy" that borrows heavily from Continental Thought is "The Joy of Philosophy" which is a true joy to read, re-introducing those topics that are most meaningful in our daily lives (not connotative/denotative, but meaningful).

As has been a theme throughout all his writings, our emotions are not a subordinate, but the dominant, feature of our mental lives. Plato and Christianity clearly depreciated the West's understanding and value of these "things" we call variously emotions, passions, feelings, etc. Not until Hume did the passions receive the attention they deserved, only to fall into obscurity again with positivism, analyticity, and ideologies. Solomon resurrected them in the 1970s, and has awakened others (e.g., de Souza, Nussbaum, Davidson, et alia) to an energized interest in these curious "things." Alas, even psychology (yes, psychology) has re-awakened itself to these "oddities" they too had marginalized.

This Book: If one is already acquainted with Solomon's other writings, especially those mentioned above, the present one, "True to Our Feelings," will not offer any revelatory insights. If, however, one is new to Solomon, this book is an excellent place to begin one's inquiry into this long-ignored subject, aided by Solomon's articulate writing, keen insights, and devotion to assuring the West that life does have "meanings," those meanings locked-away as "brutish" and "inhuman" by Christianity and others, and the locus of those meanings is indeed in our emotional lives, not in our ratiocinative ones.

Using a rhetorical question Solomon posed in "The Passions," he asks the reader to recall from memory the most-meaningful memories, and demonstrates that in each and every instance those meaningful experiences and memories were achieved through our emotions. But before dumping our ratiocinative faculties for our more hedonistic emotions in order to make life all that more meaningful, Solomon insists that the very bifurcation of ratiocinative/appetitive is solely conceptual, not actual. The West's Mistake was to make the conceptual bifurcation actual, and thus deprive humans of their appetitive faculties as "sub-human." So, he's not articulating an either/or dichotomy as has been the dominant paradigm for millennia, he's conjoining them as they properly belong.

Lest one think Solomon's endeavor is another philosophical pursuit in obscurantism, I assure the reader he's anything but obscure. If any philosopher has touched "relevance" more aptly and assuredly, it's because Solomon has opened the door wide to let all them in. That said, however, it must be remembered that Solomon is a philosopher and these writings, including the present one, are philosophical in their bearing (not biological, as, for example, in evolutionary biology and psychology). The two disciplines are talking the same talk, they're just approaching the same subject from different angles, and both, not either one, are fruitful endeavors in that they mutually-enhance each other's insights and studies.

Thus, the present book is an excellent survey of his own thoughts and how they too have evolved as knowledge of these "things" we variously call emotions, passions, and feeling retake the stage. It also complements all the research in evolutionary biology and evolutionary psychology (e.g., Cosmides, Tooby, Ridley, Pinker, et alia). And, as one's esteem in these curious "things" called emotions has been restored, I heartily recommend reading his "Love: Emotion, Myth, and Metaphor" (if not all of his other works). No Theory of Mind is even half competent if it ignores the most prominent feature of all, viz., emotions.

The Stoics embraced apathethia (apathy) and the Epicureans embraced ataraxia (unperturbility) as "responses" to emotions (see, Nussbaum's "Therapy of Desire" for a great survey of these schools and their approaches to our emotional lives). Saint Paul had little positive to say about emotions, but even he embraced (in a moment of sinful weakness, perhaps) "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control" (Gal. 5:22), so even Christians seem to have protested against emotions too much, too. Solomon has a different approach: embrace our emotional lives, because they fill us with all our most important meanings. And if the emotions of "love" (romantic, parental, universal) don't speak to the obviousness of that observation, then Solomon won't speak to that individual, either. But don't take that appraisal too proudly (since pride is also an emotion, as are hate, anger, jealousy, etc.) If Nature has endowed the human species with such a rich armamentarium of emotions, why are religion, philosophy, and even psychology repressing the very nature of our constitutions?

Hopefully, one will understand why I recommend this book, indeed many of Solomon's books, very highly.

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The Complete Prophecies of Nostradamus: Translated, Edited, and Interpreted by Henry C. Roberts

Author : Robert Lawrence Number of Pages : 384 Release Date : 1999-06-29 Publisher : Three Rivers Press List Price : $12.00 Used Price : $4.42

Product Description

Open the door to the next century with the only unabridged, definitive edition of the authentic prophecies of Michael Nostradamus since 1672.

Henry C. Roberts, regarded by many to be Nostradamus redivivus, presents the original medieval French text of this legendary seer, alongside the verbatim English translation of every Canto. Roberts reveals his uncanny ability to relate the mystic visions of Nostradamus to actual and future events and unlocks the predictions within each of the verses to show that Nostradamus foretold such world events as the French Revolution, the American Civil War, the abdication of the Shah of Iran, and the rise and fall of the Eastern bloc centuries before they transpired.

In his new introduction Roberts's grandson carries on with this work by revealing Nostradamus's ability to predict even recent events. Here Robert Lawrence shows that many of today's top news events such as the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, the tragic death of Diana, Princess of Wales, as well as the Oklahoma City bombing and the downing of TWA Flight 800 were all predicted by Nostradamus. Even the revolution in worldwide communication brought about by the personal computer and the World Wide Web was foretold by this greatest of prophets.

The secrets of Nostradamus's power to foresee the future has never been fully explained, but with this book you will be able to experience for yourself the scope of that power and, with the aid of Henry C. Roberts's interpretations, confidently open the door and know what life holds in store for us into the next millennium.

Customer reviews

Good Book by .. T. Aho ()
This is a good book if your interested in the work of Nostradamus.

Can someone interpret the interpretations? by .. ()
This book is useful in that it lists all of Nostradamus's prophecies and that's what I wanted. A cross-index by what Nostradamus actually SAID as opposed to what the interpreter THOUGHT would have been nice (i.e. how many prophecies referred to "the great one" (Jackie Gleason?)). However, I perceive no rhyme or reason as to how it is determined that this prophecy relates to WW II, that one relates to the 18th century, another one relates to the future, at that one over there relates to something in Nostradamus's own time. The words "clearly" and "obvious" are used with far too little justification. Single terms ("great one," "eagle", etc.) are identified as different parties in different prophecies. No pattern of literal or symbolic is evident. No hint as to why one prophecy talks about individuals while another one discusses nations. Quite honestly, the space that was used in printing the original French phrases (which were pretty much useless to me, anyway) could have been put to better discussion of the interpretations. If you're interested in Nostradamus in a casual way, like I am, this is a place to start, I guess, but it's certainly not of much use for any serious study.

Really Reading Nostradamus by .. C. Gilbert (Amsterdam, the Netherlands)
Actually, for the text itself, I give it four stars, while I only give the commentary two.

First, Nostradamus-- I'll admit that I'm more or less uninterested in the prophecy side of the verses. I was interested in reading them for their historical value. As such, it's a great read. Through the verses, you get a look at the period's preoccupations-- who is named pope, the future of France, alchemy, and the desire to distinguish prophecy from astrology. Nostradamus has had an enduring impact on writing since he put his prophecies on paper, and you can trace that legacy here from the original verses.

The commentary-- Henry C. Robert's interpretation taught me more about World War II than anything else-- he seemed determined to prove that a disproportionate number of the verses referred to the second World War. Probably unsurprising, given that he first wrote his interpretations in 1947. However, he stretched so hard to fit the words to his ideas, that it unfortunately made me suspect his translation. I also could have done with more of an effort for establishing on what basis he was assigning some of the meanings (explanation of period symbolism, the alchemical references, etc.).

If I get a chance to buy another translation version and compare, I probably will.

Not readable as a biography but as a reference text. by .. ()
I thought I was buying a biographical if not auto- biographical text on Nostradamus. It turns out that this is a compilation of quotations by Nostradamus with interpretation and translation into English.

The man who forsee the digital doom day in year 2000... by .. ()
First, I didn't believe that Nostradamus couldn't acculately predict the future.. After I compared the historical events such as the rise of Nazi to the original text to find any discrepencies.. Too my surprise there is none.. Everything that Nostradamus said is very exact.. Perhaps, it is just a coincendent.. Oh Well, One of the most interesting prediction is the Doom Day in Year 2000. Here again Nostradamus is about to be right because Year 2000 is the year of Digital Doom Day.

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Spirituality and Human Emotion

Author : Robert C. Roberts Number of Pages : 134 Publisher : Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company List Price : $6.95 Used Price : $0.75

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The Little Philosophy Book

Author : Robert C. Solomon Number of Pages : 112 Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA List Price : $17.95 Amazon Price : $9.50 Used Price : $7.29

Product Description

The Little Philosophy Book provides a concise and engaging introduction to deep and perennial philosophical questions. In a lively and accessible style, acclaimed author Robert C. Solomon leads students and other readers through an exploration of the self, the universe, and the nature of truth and morality, posing such questions as "Who are we, really?" "Why are we here?" and "How should we live?"
The Little Philosophy Book begins with a quick tour of ancient philosophy that ranges from Socrates' Greece, to Vedic India, to Confucian, Daoist, and Buddhist China, and to the Middle East. The book goes on to examine consciousness, from Descartes' "I think, therefore I am" to phenomenology and the mind-body problem. It then considers God, nature, and spirituality; cosmology; freedom and responsibility; and morality and ethics, ending with an examination of happiness and the meaning of life and the role of philosophy in determining both. Solomon covers topics that are often omitted from other introductions, including existentialism, phenomenology, spirituality, and death. Throughout, he incorporates material on key figures and traditions in philosophy, showing how some of history's most important thinkers and movements have addressed fundamental philosophical issues. Major figures are listed at the end of each chapter.
An ideal introduction for students and novices, The Little Philosophy Book does not provide any definitive answers to universal philosophical questions, but instead encourages readers to think for themselves and to integrate philosophy into their own lives.

Customer reviews

sympathetic little book by .. Richard Levi (Stockholm, Sweden)
Solomon is an ideal guide into this subject. He is analytic enough to avoid postmodern verbiage, and existentialistic enough to care about the human condition, our place in the world, and our efforts in trying to make sense of it all. For a philosophical amateur like myself, most of my time immersed in the everyday chores of trying to keep people alive and well, Robert C Solomon is just the right type of guy to hang around with over a beer, reflecting on the use of it all. A little pearl of a book.

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Winning the Peace: An American Strategy for Post-Conflict Reconstruction (CSIS Significant Issues, No. 26) (Csis Significant Issues Series)

Author : Robert C. Orr Number of Pages : 360 Publisher : Center for Strategic & Intl studies List Price : $24.95 Amazon Price : $24.95 Used Price : $22.46

Product Description

Events in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Balkans have proved that failed and defeated states threaten the national security interests of the United States and the stability of entire regions. But success in addressing these threats clearly depends on more than military might; the post-conflict period is equally crucial. Case studies in this book examine the U.S. approach in Kosovo, East Timor, Sierra Leone, Afghanistan, and Iraq. The book offers policy guidance on how to handle current reconstruction challenges and on building capacity to do a better job when America is inevitably called on to restore failed nations in the future.

Customer reviews

Good for the expert and the interested reader by .. J. M Quirk ()
This collection establishes a framework to review past efforts at post-conflict reconstruction (a subset of the work of nation-building). More importantly, it seeks to draw from an array of experiences to offer guidelines, or at least guideposts, on what to do in Iraq.

Start at the back. In tabular form, Appendix 1 lays out the four primary areas to be addressed in post-conflict reconstruction: security, governance and political participation, social and economic well-being, and justice and reconciliation. It identifies the goals and tasks in each of these areas over time: initial response, transformation, and fostering sustainability. The case studies are Japan, Kosovo, East Timor, Sierra Leone, Afghanistan and Iraq. Germany and Bosnia are glaring omissions, although each is referred to throughout. Unlike many collections, this one has a thorough index.

This is an insightful guide to the individual cases, the cases in comparative perspective, and the challenges ahead in Iraq. I will assign it in appropriate undergraduate courses.

Also, compare this book with a similar one by Dobbins et al., America's Role in Nation-Building (RAND, 2003).

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