Scan barcode
normal_cowgirl's review against another edition
3.0
Not my typical genre, but interesting enough. Human Event-ish. Interested in Schumacher’s concept of the four things worth knowing, the hierarchy of matter, and his ideas about modern science, but he lost me with his arguments about evolution.
angelofthe0dd's review against another edition
2.0
The author starts out very well. In the beginning, he makes the case that perception of reality is not the same as measurable reality. He uses the example of mathematicians through history spending their whole lives chasing after measurable facts in search of the fabric of reality. The author goes on to say that our own faiths, beliefs, and imaginations add a depth to life that math cannot quantify. After that, the story goes downhill. The author begins talking about "Levels of Being" - some metaphysical tangent that I assume makes complete sense to him, but made little sense to me. Maybe I'm just not getting Schumacher's wavelength here. Nonetheless, the author lost me at the beginning of chapter 3, and I really didn't feel like re-reading from the beginning to see if there was a passage or paragraph I might have missed that would explain *everything*.
jimmypat's review against another edition
5.0
While not a religious book per se, A Guide for the Perplexed concretely spoke to me about what it means to pray and aspire for an understanding of the higher truths of reality. Yes, I know that sounds like mumbo jumbo, but Schumacher performs the amazing feat of logically laying out religion using secular language and pointing the way forward for those of us who sometimes get lost in the less precise language of the prayer we often hear in religious circles. Not that I’m knocking those prayers, mind you; this book just helped add some dimensions to my understanding.
I’m clearly aware that the way I’ve described this book may not appeal to the less religiously minded- but, really, this is a book I would recommend to anyone. The absolute clarity of thought would be an absolute boon to anyone challenged with the puzzle of living authentically.
I’m clearly aware that the way I’ve described this book may not appeal to the less religiously minded- but, really, this is a book I would recommend to anyone. The absolute clarity of thought would be an absolute boon to anyone challenged with the puzzle of living authentically.
venkyloquist's review against another edition
4.0
Ernst F.Schumacher was at the forefront of the German Economic revival post the ruins and devastation wreaked by the catastrophic World War II. Schumacher in addition to being a formidable economist was also a pioneer in a movement to better understand and preserve the ecological system within which mankind existed. This endeavour culminated in his 1973 Environmental Economics bestseller "Small Is Beautiful". Schumacher advocated a unique blend of Economics which he himself termed "meta Economics" or "Buddha Economics" where Economic progress was measured in incremental and small but measurable units.
However Schumacher himself considered the publication of "A Guide For the Perplexed" to be the pinnacle of his professional and personal achievement. Basing his title on an earlier work by Maimonides, Schumacher intended "A Guide For the Perplexed" to be a cornerstone for humans to live on Planet Earth. He also wrote this book as a metaphysical and philosophical treatise on the nature and organisation of knowledge. The book is a direct and frontal assault against the values and tenets forming the heart and soul of "Scientific Materialism".
One of the most interesting aspects of the book stems from Schumacher's view of the Universe as assimilating a hierarchy of being. Schumacher explains the differences between life, consciousness and self consciousness in the following unique set of equations:
'Mineral' = m
'Plant' = m + x
'Animal' = m + x + y
'Human' = m + x + y + z
The factors x, y and z are representative of ontological discontinuities and are demonstrative of life, consciousness and self consciousness - factors which accord human beings the highest privilege in the continuum of life when compared with plants and animals. While some of the aspects dealt with by Schumacher in his book are complex, abstruse and complicated, there is no doubt about the invigorating element of provocation that is confined within the pages of this small work, which is all of 192 pages.
Schumacher's daughter wrote that her father handed her the book on his deathbed, five days before he died and he told her "this is what my life has been leading to". As the Chicago Tribune wrote, "A Guide for the Perplexed is really a statement of the philosophical underpinnings that inform Small is Beautiful".
However Schumacher himself considered the publication of "A Guide For the Perplexed" to be the pinnacle of his professional and personal achievement. Basing his title on an earlier work by Maimonides, Schumacher intended "A Guide For the Perplexed" to be a cornerstone for humans to live on Planet Earth. He also wrote this book as a metaphysical and philosophical treatise on the nature and organisation of knowledge. The book is a direct and frontal assault against the values and tenets forming the heart and soul of "Scientific Materialism".
One of the most interesting aspects of the book stems from Schumacher's view of the Universe as assimilating a hierarchy of being. Schumacher explains the differences between life, consciousness and self consciousness in the following unique set of equations:
'Mineral' = m
'Plant' = m + x
'Animal' = m + x + y
'Human' = m + x + y + z
The factors x, y and z are representative of ontological discontinuities and are demonstrative of life, consciousness and self consciousness - factors which accord human beings the highest privilege in the continuum of life when compared with plants and animals. While some of the aspects dealt with by Schumacher in his book are complex, abstruse and complicated, there is no doubt about the invigorating element of provocation that is confined within the pages of this small work, which is all of 192 pages.
Schumacher's daughter wrote that her father handed her the book on his deathbed, five days before he died and he told her "this is what my life has been leading to". As the Chicago Tribune wrote, "A Guide for the Perplexed is really a statement of the philosophical underpinnings that inform Small is Beautiful".
More...