Reviews for Descartes' Dualism

The average rating for Descartes' Dualism based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2018-07-07 00:00:00 J Nelson There's no doubt that the contributions to Kierkegaard scholarship owe much to the significant work of Hongs. Amazing in their background, the Hongs journeyed from assisting German POWs in the US and WW2 refugees in Europe to building one the finest Kierkegaard libraries and study centers in the world. Their dedicated effort to translate all of Kierkegaard's works for four decades has become the standard volumes found in any philosophy section of a library or bookstore. Having taken one philosophy class from Howard Hong I can attest to his Socratic skills as a teacher which generated quite a bit of excitement and meaning from many of us who attended (and for those who went on to more of his classes). Given that, I was not, however, overly thrilled with this book which is mostly a set of collated stories about the Hongs from his children, various students and colleagues. I really shouldn't have expected more but it didn't reveal much about who Howard Hong really was other than over-emphasized adoration by his most ardent fans. A festschrift is an honor and not a biography - so, if you don't mind other's memories of him and how they honored him in some way then you'll probably enjoy it. The best 2 chapters in my mind were 'The Steady Wind of Unhurried Translation' which gave a very good mix of philosophical research from a personal perspective in relation to the Hong's contributions of Kierkegaard's translations. And, the first half of 'The Hong Kierkegaard Library: A Research Collection at St. Olaf College' which gives an excellent historical background on how it came to fruition. There are some bits and pieces of biographical information as well as some sense of character in the other stories but nothing that really penetrates the deeper side of the Hongs. But I should add that the book does hint at how to live a deeply rich life which the Hongs clearly did.

Review # 2 was written on 2013-03-05 00:00:00 Masayoshi Itoh 'Organs Without Bodies' was an interesting and even entertaining read. However, if one expects this to be an in-depth commentary or critique on Deleuzian thought, prepare to be disappointed. The book rather seems to be a collection of essays that sometimes 'encounter' the thought of Deleuze, but other thinkers as well (such as Alain Badiou). Nonetheless, some of the ideas that Žižek develops in 'Organs Without Bodies' are quite inspiring and stimulating. Moreover, I found Žižek's reading of Deleuze to be very fruitful. He punctures and transforms Deleuzian lingo to his own advantage - something which Deleuze enjoys doing to other authors as well. Although this is probably very upsetting for a Deleuze-scholar ("This is all wrong!"), I found it daring and sometimes illuminating. In short, 'Organs Wihtout Bodies' is an interesting read. Although I would not deem this book to be of much use for academic purposes, I did find it inspiring and stimulating for the development of my own ideas. Take the book for what it is; don't burn it for what it's not.