Comment

Comment by James on December 2, 2010 at 8:28pm

OK, So I have finished The Moral Landscape. For me it was a tale of two half's. The first half (and conclusion) were pretty lacklustre to me. The first half reads like a begging of the question the book is advertised to answer, and then rehashes it again and again. Some interesting points are made, but nothing groundbreaking. The second half of the book was much better though, and I found myself tearing though those chapters. These sections were not really on the initial subject of the book. Rather is was on the brain, brain states, different studies and religions association with morality. These chapters were well worth the read. If you expect this book to answer the question it poses; it doesn't. That said, I consider it world the read if only for the second half.

Comment by James on November 27, 2010 at 7:46pm

I'm getting close to finishing The Moral Landscape. I would have liked to finish it by now, but other things keep preempting it. I will report my thoughts in the next few days most likely. I did pick up my next read though. I was at an old book store when I found a old looking copy of The Descent of Man. It was only about $7 and the embossed cover looks neat, so I figured why not. But I've been looking at it lately and think that it may possibly be a second edition! The only place it is dated is in the 'Preface to the second edition', where it is dated Sept 1874! It's possible it's a re-print, but I am pretty curious now, I must admit. Old or not, I'm going to read this next. After that... I'm thinking about Your Inner Fish, but haven't decided yet.

Comment by Claudia Mercedes Mazzucco on November 3, 2010 at 7:08pm

From the 2nd Epistle, of his Essay on Man, by Alexander Pope (1688 – 1744)

Know then thyself, presume not God to scan,
The proper study of mankind is Man.
Placed on this isthmus of a middle state,
A being darkly wise and rudely great:
With too much knowledge for the Sceptic side,
With too much weakness for the Stoic’s pride,
He hangs between, in doubt to act or rest;
In doubt to deem himself a God or Beast;
In doubt his mind or body to prefer;
Born but to die, and reas’ning but to err;
Alike in ignorance, his reason such,
Whether he thinks too little or too much;
Chaos of thought and passion, all confused;
Still by himself abused or disabused;
Created half to rise, and half to fall:
Great lord of all things, yet a prey to all;
Sole judge of truth, in endless error hurl’d;
The glory, jest, and riddle of the world!

( Public Domain )

Comment by Cara Coleen on October 18, 2010 at 12:55pm

Well I'm trying to read it between homework and working, so I'll let you know if he references any studies. I hope he does. I like him so much that I don't want to give him a bad review! Is there a thread dedicated to this book?

Comment by Cara Coleen on October 18, 2010 at 12:36pm

I really liked Harris' lecture, but then again I'm not a scientist. I have the book but I haven't begun reading it. I did assume he'd get more specific in the book than he did when speaking. What sort of arguments would you look for?

Comment by Nelson on October 18, 2010 at 11:41am

gotcha. sorry, i thought you meant superficial in the sense of it being shallow the way Hawking's book seems to be.
yeah, i saw the review in SciAm. Coyne's commented on the review.

Comment by Nelson on October 18, 2010 at 11:13am

will do Adriana!
the criticisms of the book i've seen haven't said that the book is superficial, just that Harris doesn't make his case.

Comment by Nelson on October 18, 2010 at 10:49am

been hearing through the grapevine that the book is underwhelming. i have the ebook but haven't dove in yet as i'm in the middle of 2 other books at the moment. looks like i'm not missing anything in waiting. probably will bump Harris' The Moral Landscape up in front of Hawking's book.

Comment by James on October 4, 2010 at 10:11pm

Just finished "The Grand Design" and I must say I was somewhat disappointed. It was a good read, but I must say that I was hoping that it would go into more detail on the theories. Chapter after chapter, I hoped that the details would come, but it was kept easy for all to read. Maybe that was the point, but it left me wanting.

Next for me will be "The Moral Landscape".

Comment by Adrian on July 31, 2010 at 10:53am

"Beasting it" is slang in Scotland for working hard. Hence, the nickname, "The Beast".

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