by
Paul Dolinsky, Ph.D
Now
Available For Download
|
The History of Philosophy Guide In Verse was written to provide a clear summary of the main concepts in the history of Western philosophy, and to provide our readers with an enjoyable learning experience.Whether you are a student taking a class, or a person studying for general interest, this booklet was written for you -- to enrich your understanding of philosophy, and to help make the learning experience enjoyable. The booklet could be used either for self-study or in school settings --in high school, college or adult education. Click here regarding free review copies for teachers.
When I first studied philosophy, I found the original words of the philosophers not easy to understand. Even when I was able to understand original texts, I always sought out works by commentators -- to see how they compared to each other and to the original work, and to help me understand the words of the philosophers. Eventually, I wound up writing the book that I had sought. But now, it is a booklet of poems about philosophy, with an extended Appendix in prose, that expands on the philosophical content of the poems.
This concise History of Philosophy Guide In Verse describes the key ideas of Western philosophy in a series of philosophy poems, Poetry, as both an art form and vehicle for expression, was greatly honored as drama, in classical Greece. Great writers, in the history of Western thought, used verse in extended narrative form -- from Beowulf, through Chaucer, Dante, Shakespeare, and 20th century poets, as T.S. Eliot, Ezra Pound, and Allen Ginsberg, among others. There is no reason why ideas of the great philosophers cannot also be related in verse!
To over 70 pages of philosophy poems, I’ve added an Appendix of 15 pages of my own philosophical commentary on the poems, to expand on the themes and context. Sections from the poems follow, from the jacket of the printed booklet.
The History of Philosophy Guide In Verse is available in two formats:
>>> Downloadable Adobe PDF eBook<<<
<<< Printed Booklet>>>
Please click on a link for more information, or to initiate order.
The complete Table of Contents appears below. It is followed by an Appendix, This eBook is also available in printed booklet form from Searing Sun Press at a greatly reduced price, for readers of this eBook. On that site, other poetry booklets by the author are available, along with other services, described on the site.
Some selections from the poems, which appear on the printed booklet jacket, appear below. The Table of Contents appears afterwards.
Kant's Theory of Knowledge
We cannot know the real nature of
what we perceive,
The thing-in-itself,
unknowable to us,
Causes a thirst we can
never quench,
For we only know things
in space and time,
Not things-in-themselves.
However we romance the thing- in-itself,
Or how fast we dance with our
instruments or senses,
It will not cease to beckon us
with wonder,
This world we cannot know....
Hume (author's comments on)
Skepticism does not wow us over
with its ways,
For each person is king in an empty place,
where other minds are but landfill,
Where each mind scrapes on the landscape
of the world,
And subsists on scraps left by
other minds,
Whose existence is denied,
but through their effects,
Is implied.
Descartes
I think, so I do not sink
into what I cannot control.
I throw tow lines onto the surfaces
of things.
My mind measures the immensities
with my propensities and intensities.
Sequel To The Cartesian Mindset
I am the pilot of my ship,
like an embedded controller chip.
The world can turn against me at any time.
My instruments—my words, my vowels
and consonants,
They are my constants, my castanets,
my casting nets.
Only these can save me.
The physicist calculates the desserts
and delinquencies of his formulas,
How his particles rumble and tumble
into galaxies, and consonants,
Unmeasured temperature of matter
igniting matters in all the spheres.
Is Spirit but reason’s delinquent uncle
Or does Spirit cry uncle to soon,
and reason not deeply enough?
Existentialism
The existentialists reject as spectacle
German speculative idealism.
We are to focus our spectacles
on choices born of realism
not idealism.
Existentialism empties the self
of essence
So it can be filled with potions
and portions of each person's choosing
We are to choose freely,
not from habits or fixed attitudes,
Not from the has bin of stale necessities
But from the bin of fresh possibilities
Will our choices feed us,
or stuff us with old dead stuff?
As with the food on our plates,
So with the moral choices in our lives.
I hope that you enjoyed those brief selections. The Title Page and Table of Contents follow:
HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY GUIDE IN VERSE
***
Original Poems on Western Philosophy
by Paul Dolinsky, Ph.DHere, you will find original poetry on the history of philosophy including Plato, Descartes, empiricism, Kant, Hegel, Schelling, German idealism, Marxism, existentialism, analytic philosophy, and shamanistic creation. Original poems present the metaphysics, epistemology, and ethics of these philosophers and traditions, in an easy to understand manner.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
In The Beginning
Shamanistic Creation
Plato's Forms Visit The Mall
Descartes
Empiricism
Kant's Theory of Knowledge
Kant's Moral Philosophy
Schelling
Hegel
Hegel and Schelling-Some Refrains
Themes In The Key Of German Idealism
Marxism And Beyond
20th Century Anglo-Amerian Philosophy
Existentialism
Supplement --The New Shaman - The Merchant
Appendix
Searing Sun Specials
Order Forms