Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 170
EAN: 9780300136906
ISBN: 0300136900
Label: Yale University Press
Manufacturer: Yale University Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 160
Publication Date: 2008-06-16
Publisher: Yale University Press
Studio: Yale University Press

(20080610)

Customer Rating:
Summary: An Unforgettable Conversation
Comment: The Nobility of Spirit will profoundly resonate with the 21st century reader who struggles to find and protect human dignity that is the mark of a great civilization. The author makes a very interesting case that this search and struggle is one that is recurs throughout history. While often the subject of Socrates, this battle waged on through the 20th century and is exemplified in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks in America. In these historical contexts, Riemen's extremely substantive essay seeks to tie a series of human conversations to the theme of Socratic bravery. Most memorable and pertinent are the works of Thomas Mann and the heroic example of Leone Ginzburg. In doing so, Riemen brilliantly stages his premise that the 21st century is in need of intellectual integrity and intellectual bravery, in the Socratic sense, in order to preserve and protect human dignity. A dignity exemplified by individual freedom to aspire towards the truth. Citing Thomas Mann's belief that this freedom is the absolute standard by which human dignity is measured, he believes that a democracy is the best social order to protect it. He believes however, that a democracy must have its own aristocracy, a nobility, not determined by birthright, but by a nobility of spirit. That is, an intellectual spirit willing to recognize and protect this freedom. A nobility of intellectuals that possess the integrity to stand up and protect human dignity in its quest for the truth that is continually at odds with politicized minds, communism, fascism, nihilism, fundamentalist terrorism, and hypocricy, that attacks western civilization and democracy. Rieman berates intellectuals who "legitimize what never should be legitimized" and who "subordinate the distinction between good and evil to the dogmas of their political ideology". Reimen believes that the lack of intellectual integrity and enormous betrayal of the nobility of spirit by the intellectual has its roots in their need for power, their bad faith which discredits human values, and the immense influence of the scientific paradigm. He calls for a renewed sense of morality which transcends politics and holds what is good and what is virtuous above all else as the standard bearer of human civilization. Hats off to Mr. Riemen for his absolutely timely and pertinent work. Absolutely brilliant. A priceless gift worthy of great attention.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: All times are desperate and require much of us
Comment: Rob Riemen has composed a deeply satisfying work in which he calls on a selection of prescient "thinkers" of the past, going as far back as Socrates, to speak to the basic but pervasive conflicts that threaten civilization. His fluid and fluent referential prose bring these voices into a startling alignment with the present, and we realize that some things may be ever-present, namely good and evil, liberty and oppression, truth and the lie. The final chapter builds to an intensity of invocation at which point the author leaves us with the urgent plea to "be brave." It is a call to life.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Essential reading for troubled times
Comment: This slim volume stands as the most stirring redoubt against the ascendant forces of know-nothingness that I've come across in a long time. A full-throated, unapologetic defense of the virtues of Western Civ - in which "elite" is not and never should be a dirty word - this inspiring exploration of high art and high ideals is divided into three sections: The first looks at the life of Riemen's great hero Thomas Mann as a model for the examined life. The second imagines a series of conversations from turning points in European intellectual history, populated with the likes of Socrates, Nietzsche and others. The final section, "Be Brave," is nothing less than an exhortation to dig deep, especially in times of risk. The notion of nobility of the spirit might strike some modern ears as quaint but it seems more desperately necessary than ever before, and there are worse ways to read the accessible Nobility of Spirit than as a crash refresher in the Great Thinkers, free of academic jargon and cant. As a meditation on what is at stake when the pursuit of high ideals is elbowed aside by the pursuit of fleeting material gain, however, Nobility of Spirit might well be the most prescient book I've yet read on what's at stake in the current election cycle and in the developing global situation. Agree or disagree with Riemen's profound, ambitious and high-minded plea, you will be thinking about his words for a long time.

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