Nobility of Spirit: A Forgotten Ideal

Nonfiction, Religion & Spirituality, Philosophy, Ethics & Moral Philosophy
Cover of the book Nobility of Spirit: A Forgotten Ideal by Rob Riemen, Yale University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Rob Riemen ISBN: 9780300145403
Publisher: Yale University Press Publication: October 1, 2008
Imprint: Yale University Press Language: English
Author: Rob Riemen
ISBN: 9780300145403
Publisher: Yale University Press
Publication: October 1, 2008
Imprint: Yale University Press
Language: English

In the pages of this slim, powerful book Rob Riemen argues with passion that “nobility of spirit” is the quintessence of a civilized world. It is, as Thomas Mann believed, the sole corrective for human history. Without nobility of spirit, culture vanishes. Yet in the early twenty-first century, a time when human dignity and freedom are imperiled, the concept of nobility of spirit is scarcely considered.

 

Riemen insists that if we hope to move beyond the war on terror and create a life-affirming culture, we must address timeless but neglected questions: What is a good society? Why art? Why culture? What is the responsibility of intellectuals? Why anti-Americanism? Why nihilism? Why the cult of death of fundamentalists? In a series of three essays, the author identifies nobility of spirit in the life and work of Baruch Spinoza and of Thomas Mann; explores the quest for the good society in our own time; and addresses the pursuit of truth and freedom that engaged figures as disparate as Socrates and Leone Ginzburg, a Jewish Italian intellectual murdered by Nazis.

 

“The forces now aligned against humanistic values are manifold,” observes George Steiner in the foreword to the book. In this imaginative and compelling volume, Riemen addresses these forces and speaks to every reader who believes in the power of classical ideas to restore Western civilization’s highest values.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

In the pages of this slim, powerful book Rob Riemen argues with passion that “nobility of spirit” is the quintessence of a civilized world. It is, as Thomas Mann believed, the sole corrective for human history. Without nobility of spirit, culture vanishes. Yet in the early twenty-first century, a time when human dignity and freedom are imperiled, the concept of nobility of spirit is scarcely considered.

 

Riemen insists that if we hope to move beyond the war on terror and create a life-affirming culture, we must address timeless but neglected questions: What is a good society? Why art? Why culture? What is the responsibility of intellectuals? Why anti-Americanism? Why nihilism? Why the cult of death of fundamentalists? In a series of three essays, the author identifies nobility of spirit in the life and work of Baruch Spinoza and of Thomas Mann; explores the quest for the good society in our own time; and addresses the pursuit of truth and freedom that engaged figures as disparate as Socrates and Leone Ginzburg, a Jewish Italian intellectual murdered by Nazis.

 

“The forces now aligned against humanistic values are manifold,” observes George Steiner in the foreword to the book. In this imaginative and compelling volume, Riemen addresses these forces and speaks to every reader who believes in the power of classical ideas to restore Western civilization’s highest values.

More books from Yale University Press

Cover of the book Adolescent Risk Behaviors by Rob Riemen
Cover of the book Queens and Mistresses of Renaissance France by Rob Riemen
Cover of the book Ill Composed by Rob Riemen
Cover of the book The Perilous Life of Symphony Orchestras by Rob Riemen
Cover of the book At the End of an Age by Rob Riemen
Cover of the book The Red Millionaire by Rob Riemen
Cover of the book Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave by Rob Riemen
Cover of the book A Darwinian Left by Rob Riemen
Cover of the book The Traveling Artist in the Italian Renaissance by Rob Riemen
Cover of the book The Road to Terror: Stalin and the Self-Destruction of the Bolsheviks, 1932-39, Updated and Abridged Edition by Rob Riemen
Cover of the book A Love Letter in Cuneiform by Rob Riemen
Cover of the book Falun Gong by Rob Riemen
Cover of the book The Question of Intervention by Rob Riemen
Cover of the book Quantitative Evaluation of HIV Prevention Programs by Rob Riemen
Cover of the book Global Crisis by Rob Riemen
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy