Agent Books

Oh wow, I get to be the first reviewer of this one too? I ripped off this review's title from someone else on some other book, I don't remember which, but couldn't resist because it applies so well to Chisholm's _Person and Object._

In his book, that titan of analytic philosophy explores some basic concepts of personhood and their interrelations: self-knowledge, agency, action, identity, etc. The satirical Philosophical Lexicon (look for it online) has an entry for "chisholm" as a verb that means "To make repeated small alterations in a definition or example. 'He started with definition (d.8) and kept chisholming away at it until he ended up with (d.8'''''''').'" This isn't what Chisholm does in this book (I think Plantinga does more chisholming than Chisholm ever did, myself!), but rather, starting with basic principles of "self-presenting" knowledge and such, he works "outward" from there via a series of definitions that build one from another, creating a network of philosophical structure by which the topics are treated. His definitions often seem to take the form of definition-by-elimination, but this somewhat alternative method of analysis is more interesting and powerful than one might at first think. Chisholm's method overall in this book is a model of clarity and power (and concision, considering the range of topics covered!), and was quite exhilarating to this reader.

In content, what I find particularly congenial is Chisholm's commonsensical particularism; that is, willingness to take "given" facts such as self-knowledge and agency as fundamentals rather than artifacts of folk psychology to be eliminated by way of some exercise of "methodism." (Chisholm elsewhere elucidates the difference between particularism and methodism, and his favor for the former, in his "The Problem of the Criterion".) This fundamental approach largely accounts for Chisholm's method of "elimination" described in the above paragraph (which may well sound paradoxical!): we already _know_ what we mean by knowledge, action, etc.; what remains is to clarify the concepts by elucidating what they are _not_. And that Chisholm does _par excellence._

For those interested in the MAS area this is a very good material to get really deep into the subject....despite very well written and documented, I personally don't recommend it for beginners

America has always been cursed with opportunists willing to do business with dictators. The current crop of people willing to profit from China - from President Clinton's apparent cash payments from the Chinese secret police to Republican businessmens' use of near slave labor to boost their profits - have their antecedents in William Rhodes Davis, who made a fortune supplying Hitler with the oil to launch World War II. There were many mysterious things about Davis - his relationship to FDR, his role as a Nazi agent, even his death. Mr. Harrington doesn't, can't give us the answers to everything, but he does a brilliant job laying out the facts that are known. The author is both an investment banker and a sensible man. Both are necessary skills to bring to a book like this. As an investment banker, he is anexcellent guide through the thickets of financial manueverings. As a sensible man, he weighs the information carefully and allows the reader to draw his own conclusions. I have only one quibble: he mentions that Sir Harry Oakes became associated with Davis shortly before Davis' strange death. Oakes himself of course figured in a strange murder case in the Bahamas shortly thereafter. I would have liked the author to see if there was any connection between the cases. That is the minorest of quibbles, however, and readers of this book will be able to reflect on just how many facets history has.

Got this book for my husband who was placed on Lipitor and had a bad reaction to it. This has great information and my husband is following the program and has naturally lowered his cholesterol. GREAT BOOK!

Mayell's "Natural Energy" is a normalizing, de-pathologizing discussion of human desire to experiment with its consciousness and a methodical, encyclopedic review of legal, socially-sanctioned mind-altering and mood-brightening herbs and supplements.

As such, the book is a wonderful resource for any substance use/drugy and alcohol providers interested in designing "natural highs" clinical curricula for clients struggling to find psychologically healthy over-the-counter self-medicating options. Let's face it: there will be people who don't like to go to doctors. Whether we call them "resistent," or Stoic, they have and will self-medicate. For some users (or, shall we say, "chemical copers"), drinking and boozing is self-psychiatry. Mayell offers a no-nonsense guide to this kind of herbal/supplemental self-management.

In my work with substance use population (in the correctional setting), I found this tome to be of great value (along with Weil's and Rosen's "Chocolate to Morphine") in designing a "natural highs" treatment curriculum for offering clients an exploration of non-addictive self-medication alternatives.

Perhaps, more valuable than the specific herbal prescriptions, is Mayell's thesis: non-addictive responsible self-medication is a possibility.



Pavel Somov, Ph.D.
Author of "Eating the Moment: 141 Mindful Practices to Overcome Overeating One Meal at a Time" (New Harbinger, Nov. 2008), "Recovery Equation: Motivational Enhancement/Choice Awareness/Use Prevention: an Innovative Clinical Curriculum for Substance Use Treatment"

www.drsomov.com
www.eatingthemoment.com

Michael Tobias is one of the most eloquent and brilliant voices on the front lines of the war for the protection of our planet. This book will amaze you and, hopefully, motivate you to action. Buy two copies, as you'll want to share one with a friend!

This is an extraordinary account by an extraordinary British Patriot, who played what he himself called a dangerous confidence trick, to learn in advance of World War II, Hitler's exact (at first secret, but by 1935 increasingly open) plans to rebuild Germany's Luftwaffe.

As a flying ace in World War I, Winterbotham's rickety set up was quickly shot down on July 13, 1917 and he was held prisoner by the Germans for the duration. This gave him a bit of German language, but more importantly, useful insights into German regional characteristics that later came in very handy.

Originally, he thought information collected on frequent trips to Berlin from 1934 through 1939 were "sufficiently bizarre to convince even the most skeptical and unimaginative politician that the details were genuine."

But these were insufficient to surmount the vagaries of politics, democratic elections and public opinion.

With help from Baron William de Ropp, Winterbotham obtained meetings with Alfred Rosenberg, Hermann Goering, Hitler himself, General Walther van Reichenau, many others--and hundreds of details, complete with dozens of photographs from 'Hitler's bible,' 'GEHEIM' (top-secret), multi-volume war plan--including "The Establishment of Flying Schools" and lists of their locations across Europe.

"Obviously you cannot persuade people to take suitable precautions against new strategic warfare methods unless, in the first place, you have convinced them of the dangers," Winterbotham observed in 1978, when this book was published. Of course, Britain made much good use of the information Winterbotham collected.

But even a conservative, British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin, in May 1935 pretended not to know details of Hitler's rearmament, which if he'd made them public, could have prevented World War II, or shortened it by years and forestalled 10s of millions of needless deaths.

It was political expedience alone that prevented Baldwin from acting--and when he finally admitted in November 1936 he had not taken German rearmament seriously enough, it was too late to do as much as he could even a year earlier.

It is political expedience alone, today too, preventing most politicians from acting to sufficiently protect Western civilization from the latest global threat.

All U.S. presidential and other candidates should read this book, and be forewarned. History repeats itself, all too frequently. And denying facts, uncomfortable though they may be, is never a good idea. The electorate does not forgive such errors--as Baldwin would readily have admitted later on.

--Alyssa A. Lappen

I found this book to be, not only informative, but well-written. In fact, it was actually enjoyable to read. If you are just starting getting interested in this area, there is no better book on the subject.

With the increasing developement of organ transplantations, neurological complications in such patients are a new challenging field. This book is ahead its time and very usefull for consultants facing such complex patients.

This book offers excellent sample test questions which I found were almost identical to those on the exam. I gave myself a crash course the morning of, but really, you ought to get this book a couple of weeks prior to the test if you really want to feel confident. I passed the state exam without any problem. To my surprise, I finished with plenty of time because I knew the answers immediately. I really think I would have had difficulty passing the exam had I not obtained this book. It was well worth every cent.