Reviews for Hydraulics, Pumps and Water Supply: Technology, Equipment and Media - Her Majesty's Fire Ser...

The average rating for Hydraulics, Pumps and Water Supply: Technology, Equipment and Media - Her Majesty's Fire Ser... based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2018-10-01 00:00:00 Doreen Slaugh Four out of five stars. George Grant is a Christian, which prevents him from critiquing Liberalism as thoroughly as he could. He doesn't recognize what Nietzsche did, namely, that the Christian ethic of sanctifying the lives of the weak leads to the proliferation of weakness, and that it is this itself that leads to Liberalism and its various spiritual diseases. "Liberalism" is Christendom's corpse. Grant doesn't explain why he thinks all human life has value in-and-of-itself, but he is so deeply Christian that he doesn't think he needs to. Still, his essays are nonetheless very solidly written and very accessible. With the exception of the essay on Nietzsche in the middle of the book, I think you could get just about anyone who is interested in the topics discussed in this collection - Technology, Abortion, Euthanasia, the Humanities - to read this book and get an intellectual thrill. Though there are many problems I have with Christianity, I would still rather live in a Christian society than the one we have now. Reading this book confirmed what I have suspected for a long time: It is impossible for Christendom to be able to overcome the Liberalism that is destroying it because its own moral framework makes it impossible to defend itself. All in all, a good read. Recommended for those looking to read some solidly written essays.

Review # 2 was written on 2016-01-02 00:00:00 Zoe Harris As a Canadian chauvinist, I naturally assumed that I was familiar with all the major Canadian philosophers. As it turns out, I had never encountered George Grant. I suspect the reason is that he is a Christian reactionary and his ideas are out of fashion with the prevailing progressive ethos. Nonetheless if he is a reactionary he also seems to be a gentle one who is sincerely concerned with the spiritual well-being of others. This book is his critique of the impact of "technique" on our ability to understand the world, particularly our tendency to reduce things to objects for our (supposed) knowledge. There are also a few additional essays on Nietzsche and the related subjects of abortion and eugenics. "When human beings are oblivious of eternity, they always make false things sacred," Grant writes at one point. This short book's message as a whole could probably distilled down to this simple point. He also draws a moving observation from Socrates that justice (in the original sense of "giving something its due") is something we dislike and find tiresomely distracting at first, but come to find "overwhelmingly beautiful" upon recurring familiarity with it. This is something quietly profound worth meditating on. In general, sadly, Grant is not a great writer. Given that I was already familiar with some of his critiques from Allastair Macintyre I was able to make the best of him in this short book. I don't really recommend it unless one has a particularly developed interest in Christian or specifically Anglo-Canadian philosophy.