General-Order

I am thoroughly impressed by this new theory of evolution and its applications in the development of society. I highly reccomend this book to all those that are interested in biological evolution and its effects on social developement. a great book.

Eric Voegelin's monumental historical masterpiece encompass a series of 5 volumes of a new vision of a theoretical history. Voegelin's Israel and Revelation approached the question of revelation from a highly sophisticated view of revelation as part of a historical context. The traditional theological analysis imparts only a limited dimension to the historical reality of revelation. Voegelin's theoretical conception takes us to the heart of revelation as a human activity that created a discontinuity from the the secular world view. He carefully used the Biblical account of revelation against a scholarly approach to revelation that is grounded in the order of being, i.e., the order that reflected the symbolism of revelation. He pointed out the inherent limitations of confusing the order of revelation with the pragmatic dimensions of the human existence couple with confusing revelation as a "second reality" experience. Voegelin investigation in the historical figures of revelation and the complex relationship that must be mastered to keep the religious tension with the order of being and pragmatic structure of human existence. A very absorbing book and a great understanding of revelation in a historical context.

The world is a fortunate place when there are two people alive -- at the same time -- who understand Plato. Eric Voegelin was clearly one of those people in the twentieth century. This material was originally published as Volume 3 of Order and History, the core of the magnus opus that Voegelin chose to publish during his life time.

I met Eric Voegelin once as a graduate student, and asked him, "why'd you publish all this stuff?" I've been digesting his answer ever since. It was "to resist totality and totalitarianism."

Particularly, seen from this standpoint, a clear core of this book is his articulation of the Platonic concept of "metaxy," or the in-between character of life. In philosophical terms, this refers most directly and fully to "in-between" the Agathon (e.g., see myth of the cave and the Divided Line in the Republic) and the apeiron (explored most directly and deeply in the Timaeus). For the philosophically uninitiated, it is possible to speak of this in more mundane terms.

An unstated corollary of Plato's notion of the "metaxy" is that life is always larger than our categories. From a Socratic/Platonic perspective, this may include but will entail more than the epistemological recognition that every way of seeing is a way of not seeing. The notion of the "metaxy" is most fundamentally a linguistic indice pointing to ontological plenty as the ground of life, albeit lived within bounds of existential scarcity. This is a notion commonly shared by the great civilizations of East and West. The notion of the "metaxy" underscores that life is lived within a tension between the "transcendent" and "immanent" dimensions of being.

When we lose track of this tension, as we have to a great extent in the modern world, and subscribe to reductive ideological notions/understandings of life -- and most particularly, when we imagine that we can encapsulate life within the pride of our own "enlightened" categories -- on a political plane, there may be little to constrain the prideful actions of ideologies, irrespective of whether their clothing is Red or Black, or whether it is "left" or "right." Irrespective of the political stripe, repression and murder become "justified" in the pursuit of an ideological aim -- which in Voegelin's philosophical terms is to dissolve the "metaxy" in the usual modernist mode, through immanetizing the transcendent "eschaton."

Voegelin's philosophical terms may sound remarkably abstract to the modern ear (recall Robert Dahl's silly review of Voegelin's The New Science of Politics for the American Political Science journal). Facile critiques such as Dahl's typically focus on the unfamiliar language while overlooking the elementary fact that what Voegelin is asking us to do in every aspect of his work is to take a journey that precisely allows us to see the world in terms other than that of our inherited climate of opinion. For those willing to be thorough scholars rather than merely play at it within the context of given suppositions, Voegelin's scholarship offers new vistas and incredibly rich fields of study. His scholarship offers the capacity to reflect upon and act in the world in a substantively grounded mode with implications for every discipline (see e.g., A.G. Ramos' New Science of Organizations).

I submit that a key to understanding this text and the greater body of his work at large is to grasp the central significance of the "metaxy" -- not as a concept within the history of ideas -- but as a life referent of perennial relevance to the recurring challenge of resisting sophistic pretensions and the inherited or emergent ideologies of any time and place.

This text demands a great deal. You'll develop insights into Plato and Aristotle available no where else. But for Voegelin, such studies were never a matter of antiquarian interest. They were a matter of developing meaningful referents for life. The value in this text is precisely in its yield, capable of resonating throughout your life and offering far more than the initial effort it will require of you.

Susanna Gregory's seventh and latest murder mystery - 'An Order for Death' - shows a growing consolidation of the political umbrage that encloses Cambridge. More and more of the previous novels are tied in, evidence and narration from them used to complete this mystery. For now, it does not matter, but should the author continue in this way we may get a new story where reading of earlier installments are a pre-requisite.
This latest has Matthew's latest sleuthing finding him firmly paired with the Senior Proctor, Michael, investigating the multiple deaths of the young but brilliant upand coming nominalist Raricus, Kyrkus, his and his junior proctor Walcote. The mystery uses several potential motives behind the murders, from philosophy to desperation to both insitigate and conclude each death.
Gregory has done a fair amount of research into the patristic debate between nominalism and realism that gripped the universities of Oxford and Cambridge (providing the link to the former with the arrival of Michael's political nemesis and his faithful follower, Richard Stanmore) so that intellectual debate is used as both motive and focus for this excellent novel.
We are introduced to multiple conspiracies in this novel with Walcote's shadier meetings at St Radegast's (a nunnery masquerading as a brothel which provides an excellent additional plotline for Mathilde and Matthew to delve into) revealing a new political powerbase in Cambridge which gives Gregory the chance to truly bring Michael into play as a somewhat different sleuth in his own right. Portrayed as fiercely intellectual, he is somewhat impetuous and still requires Bartholomew's quiet intropsection to solve the murders that begin to pile up. From the initial murder during a riot, all the way to the riot at the nominalist debate where we reach a conclusion, 'An Order For Death' is firmly settling Susanna Gregory amongst the elite of murder mystery authors, not the least through her wonderful desciption of life in thirteenth century Cambridge. I look forward to many more installments.

This book caused me to review my life and vocation in the Body of Christ. I was impressed by it to seek God for my calling in the church. No longer will I sit idly by while many souls are lost in the world I live in. I was encouraged to know that I am needed in the church for God's purpose. I thank the author for writing this book. All who read it will also be blessed and provoked toward labor in God's vineyard.

Heinz Hohne's book "The Order of the Death's Head" chronicles the history of the National Socialist movement from its very start. The book is thorough in its presentation of material, even describing minor players in the movement. Hohne nearly makes the reader's head spin when he goes into minute detail concerning the political workings of the National Socialist movement. He mentions much information of with most are unaware, such as the rifts between the various party members. A great book for one who wants to gain insight in the National Socialist German Worker's Party.

This is a fascinating study of a previously unexamined area of medieval history. It seeks with some success to reconcile our understanding of the relationship between the aspirational and idealistic world of chivalry with the pragmatic and at some times brutal world of medieval Europe. Focusing in particular on the order of the Garter during the later Middle Ages, it discusses how the politic functions of the order operated within a structure of ideals that embraced the highest aspirations of the chivalric ethos. All in all an inspired work of scholarship.

There are all kinds of reasons to think Joe Doerr won't ever be a popular poet: he likes to write in long sequences; he's interested in obscure areas of Anglo-Saxon history; he quotes large chunks of old Welsh language poetry; he plays complicated games with acrostics and the like. Then again, if you don't mind being a bit bewildered for a while, you might come to find all of these qualities exciting. I know I did. In a poetry scene dominated by easy personal confession, Joe Doerr is fresh air.

He also finds all sorts of interesting ways of linking past and present. "War Music for Steel Guitar" just kills me, in how it takes a medieval Welsh poem about a dead young man and slowly morphs it into a country song from a Texas bar. You get a real sense of how much history changes, but also how enduring certain emotions like grief can be.

It took me a while to really digest this book, but I think I'll remember it for a long time too.

At its core, this book is a philosophical treatise on the relationship of the spirit and the material universe. Although the topic of spirit has been brow-beaten in recent years by pop spiritual writers (and the writer of this reveiew has fallen prey to his share), this book stands out. Ohsawa challenges the reader (and heck, all of western philospohy with it)! His powerful allegories and raw intellectual power moved me into a magical space (something like a zen koan). He fluently and systematically speaks to the theories of Max Plank, Neils Bohr, Sigmund Freud, modern art, politics and darn near everything else of cultural import -- pointing out the beauties and arrogances of each. Again and again, he gently invites the reader to question "Where are we going?" and "For what purpose", always returning to the primacy of the spirit, the primacy of our glimpses of the absolute as we travel "up the river of life". And, he certainly does not forget the tangible material universe, which is part and parcel of the whole -- through insightful descriptions of diet, health and other practical concerns (yes, Ohsawa is the father of the modern macrobiotic movement and has written many wonderful books on the topic). This book is better than Yoda!

This text is a great reference for statistical inference in the presence of ordering or shape restrictions. Isotonic regression, tests for trends and shape restrictions, and many other applied methodologies are presented clearly with illustrative examples. There is a strong theoretical presentation as well, viewing an isotonic regression function simple as a solution to a L2 restricted minimization problem. This blend of theory and application make this an integral text to have at your disposal.