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heidihaverkamp's review against another edition
5.0
A lovely, manageable book of essays and sermons by the most profoundly human and humorous Anglican theologian, like ever. What is consciousness, from a Christian lens? What is a person? We are not machines, and we are not worlds unto ourselves, Williams says. He makes the unsurprising but insightful claim that in fact that religious faith, whether Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, etc., nurtures human flourishing in a way radical to a modern Western capitalist norm through its honor for time, bodies, dependence, death, and self-critique (!).
jbmorgan86's review against another edition
3.0
I’m a seminary graduate and I’ve studied a bit of philosophy, but I felt like a caveman attempting calculus while reading Rowan Williams’ “Being Human.”
“Being Human” is a loosely-related collection of five essays on what it means to be human. Most of it is rooted more in modern philosophy and anthropology than theology. What is below is less of a review as it is a summary for my own sake (to make sense out of what I read!).
• “What is Consciousness?” This was, perhaps, the most challenging essay in the collection. Williams argues that the metaphor of the mind as a machine is flawed and the idea that the mind is a mistake is wrongheaded. His argument is four-pronged: 1) the consciousness is located, 2) the consciousness is relational, 3) the consciousness is a continuous narrative, and 4) consciousness is a shared language.
• “What is a Person?” In this essay, Williams argues that a person has “a presence or meaning in someone else’s existence,” and ultimately in the “non-worldly, non-historical everlasting attention and love, which is God.”
• “Bodies, Minds, and Thoughts” This essay really seemed disjointed to me. There are bits in here about learning a craft, practical knowledge, and empathy.
• “Faith and Human Flourishing” This is the first essay that starts to feel theological (maybe even apologetic?). Williams points out that most people see religion and human flourishing in opposition to each other. He argues against this saying that “being a mature human is shaped by an acceptance of a liberty on which we depend, by embracing the need for honesty and discipline in our instinctual life, by a readiness to see the passage of time as symbolic and complex (not just an undifferentiated continuum that has to be filled), and by a recognition of the ultimate limit imposed by mortality.”
• “Silence and Human Maturity” This essay really feels like the odd man out. It doesn’t, in my mind, really conform to the theme of “being human.” Rather, it’s a brief essay on silence. Williams argues against a philosopher that says all silence is the suppression of a voice. He argues that the moments in life that leave us speechless are significant because those are the moments that take us deeper.
There were some interesting thoughts in this collection, but nothing really earth-shattering for me. The title and cover seem to be a bit misleading
“Being Human” is a loosely-related collection of five essays on what it means to be human. Most of it is rooted more in modern philosophy and anthropology than theology. What is below is less of a review as it is a summary for my own sake (to make sense out of what I read!).
• “What is Consciousness?” This was, perhaps, the most challenging essay in the collection. Williams argues that the metaphor of the mind as a machine is flawed and the idea that the mind is a mistake is wrongheaded. His argument is four-pronged: 1) the consciousness is located, 2) the consciousness is relational, 3) the consciousness is a continuous narrative, and 4) consciousness is a shared language.
• “What is a Person?” In this essay, Williams argues that a person has “a presence or meaning in someone else’s existence,” and ultimately in the “non-worldly, non-historical everlasting attention and love, which is God.”
• “Bodies, Minds, and Thoughts” This essay really seemed disjointed to me. There are bits in here about learning a craft, practical knowledge, and empathy.
• “Faith and Human Flourishing” This is the first essay that starts to feel theological (maybe even apologetic?). Williams points out that most people see religion and human flourishing in opposition to each other. He argues against this saying that “being a mature human is shaped by an acceptance of a liberty on which we depend, by embracing the need for honesty and discipline in our instinctual life, by a readiness to see the passage of time as symbolic and complex (not just an undifferentiated continuum that has to be filled), and by a recognition of the ultimate limit imposed by mortality.”
• “Silence and Human Maturity” This essay really feels like the odd man out. It doesn’t, in my mind, really conform to the theme of “being human.” Rather, it’s a brief essay on silence. Williams argues against a philosopher that says all silence is the suppression of a voice. He argues that the moments in life that leave us speechless are significant because those are the moments that take us deeper.
There were some interesting thoughts in this collection, but nothing really earth-shattering for me. The title and cover seem to be a bit misleading
mkanyion's review against another edition
3.0
I’m not an avid reader of Rowan Williams. He writes as if he wants everyone to be able to read his book; I appreciated that about Being Human. This book was helpful but, in my opinion, there are many others like it. I understand that it is part of a series. Those who have read the previous two would be helped, I wouldn’t recommend it to people who are just beginning to study this subject.
biblialex's review against another edition
3.0
I read this one for a church discussion group, and I thought it was both interesting and at times profoundly inaccessible. Worth is for my new favorite aphorism, "We can't all be monastic choirs singing Compline." Right you are.
annarella's review against another edition
5.0
An book full of reflections what being human means. A lot of food for thought that is interesting also for people who are not Christian.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to SPCK and Netgalley for this ARC
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to SPCK and Netgalley for this ARC
andi_h's review against another edition
What an extraordinarily thought-provoking little book. Looking at what it means to be human and how a human being might live well, Williams asks, 'What is consciousness?', 'What is a person?', and examines the connections between bodies, minds, and thoughts; between faith and human flourishing; and between silence and human maturity. 'Humanity transfigured', the sermon enclosed as epilogue is a rather lovely way of pulling it all together. Williams pulls on science, philosophy, and theology throughout to paint a picture of a more expansive path forward, a more sustainable way of being human.
annarella's review
5.0
An book full of reflections what being human means. A lot of food for thought that is interesting also for people who are not Christian.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to SPCK and Netgalley for this ARC
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to SPCK and Netgalley for this ARC
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