Nobility of Spirit: A Forgotten Ideal

Nobility of Spirit: A Forgotten Ideal [Rob Riemen] on leondumoulin.nl *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Already translated into ten languages, this brief.
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Riemen's intent might otherwise have been difficult to pin down amid the mish-mash of anecdotes and abstractions, polemics and conversations real, fictional and fictionalised that make up this collection of three essays and a prelude. What is clear is that Riemen sees "leftist intellectuals" - from Sartre to Mailer - as part of the problem. The intellectual ideologues of the 20th century, justifying violence and untruth in the interest of some promised utopia, offer a tragic parody of the Platonic ideal of the philosopher king.

This amounts to a betrayal by the cultural elite, whose proper role is to pass on their knowledge of transcendent values, emphasising the distinction between good and evil and safeguarding the dignity of mankind in the light of our spiritual nature. Riemen's humanism is not the sceptical, secular brand familiar to readers of this magazine. The rationalism he admires is of the Neo-Platonic persuasion rather than the Enlightenment rationalism of a Hume or Spinoza. It is surprising, then, to find Riemen co-opting the latter as a standard-bearer for nobility of spirit. Yet Riemen's firm belief in the existence of evil and the ineffable certainly owes little to the earlier Dutch philosopher's "dogma of 'Reason, Virtue and Happiness'".

Riemen is on firmer ground when he pauses from stipulating what the "immortal values" of the noble in spirit are and simply offers a picture of the intellectual toil involved in tracking them down. Mann labouring in his study despite the outbreak of a world war or his own son's suicide, Socrates preferring to die rather than stop questioning, Leone Ginzburg refusing to save himself from torture by renouncing his anti-Fascism - each epitomises the faithfulness to thought characteristic of the noble spirit. Spinoza makes a far more plausible poster-boy here: Riemen's faith in the art of conversation stands firmly in the tradition of the Renaissance humanists he admires.

The determinedly anti-scholarly style of Nobility of Spirit , however, makes it almost impossible to disentangle which words are whose - a problem when one suddenly finds "Nietzsche" bemoaning the death of spirit and morality. But if the execution of Nobility of Spirit leaves something to be desired, nobody, at least, could accuse Riemen of wanting in ambition.


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Nobility of Spirit is published by Yale University Press. He speaks approvingly of Lenin and Robespierre and packs lecture halls across the world. Jul 22, Ed is currently reading it. A simple yet complex book on how the world appears to lack a true understanding of freedom and democracy.

Nobility of Spirit: A Forgotten Ideal by Rob Riemen

Although slim by page count, it is deep in thought. It takes some time to digest the material but it has been an enlightened reading adventure for me. May 31, Nelson Zagalo rated it it was amazing Shelves: Um livro fundamental e extremamente atual. Jul 06, Hugo Fidalgo rated it it was amazing. Dec 18, Scott rated it really liked it. Without a doubt, the three short essays in this book are thought provoking. Though not its core subject, Nobility of Spirit has been a serendipitous installment in my recent reading on the philosophy and historical background of liberal education.

Other reviews have noted Mr. Riemen's nostalgia for old European values; I echo these reviews, but would also add my admiration for his enthusiasm in their defense. He draws on a great and lengthy history and infuses new interest in the old "conversati Without a doubt, the three short essays in this book are thought provoking. He draws on a great and lengthy history and infuses new interest in the old "conversations" of Socrates, Spinoza, Camus, and others which are a large part of the text. Nobility of Spirit is not the clearest or most exhaustive book ever written.

Riemen leaves a good number of things unsaid, many terms undefined, and many questions unanswered— some worthy questions are not even asked. But I don't mind this so much. These omissions do not detract from the depth of the thought presented. They, and the elegant language which pervades the whole volume, make Nobility of Spirit an essay of the best kind— a roundabout journey the path of which is its most interesting feature.

I leave this book full of thoughts and questions and a new view of what Mr. Riemen considers the "spirit" to be. Most of all, I'm eager to return to some classic texts and begin new conversations with old thinkers. I'm inspired to continue and to be brave by this little volume. Oct 12, Ricardo Melo rated it really liked it. De estos tres ensayitos de Rob Riemen se puede concluir: Hablar de justicia, libertad, verdad, frente al caos, es maravilloso y necesario.

Oct 30, Viridiana Otamendi rated it it was amazing. I probably write an extended review later because I have to find the right words. In totality this felt like a nostalgic book. Reiemen is referring to his cultural heroes like Thomas Mann, Spinoza and Socrates who contemplated truth, righteousness and beauty as values in there own rights. These values that are seen as universals in the platonic sense and should not be combined with political thought, because political thought is narrow minded, it only permits his own ideology.

The universal sing I probably write an extended review later because I have to find the right words. The universal singular notion of truth or one of the other values caused some epistemological distress for me. His axiom is that there is something as truth above there as in the platonic sense.

This truth is unknown, always partly behind a veil, and intellectuals must be open for this.

Nobility of Spirit - Rob Riemen

This imposes a dualistic relation between a transcendent dominant object, the value and a passive artist or intellectual. In this receiving the artist shows a truth. This seems to be a to simplistic notion of reality. An artist is also a historic being that plays with the current possibilities and shows something in that play.

To state that the artist only receives from some higher value seems to favour one part of the relation above the other. An ideology where complex circular relations are replaced, and man becomes a being with just a relation of the transcendent. Men is rooted and free. This paradox is not addressed enough in this work and vital for a re-appreciation of these humanistic values in the 21th century.

Reason to read this anyway are Riemens good writing skills and the using of stories to try to show his ideas. Besides this it forms a good stair in thinking for yourself on these big concepts of truth, justice, beauty, fee will, creativity etc. An thought provoking book! It has references to cultural and philosophical issues and authors I happen to be familiar with; at the same time it shines a spotlight on them to create a new insight.

Indeed it is one of the themes of the book to have these conversations within our Western cultural commonwealth. The author reconstructs or mediates conversations which he thinks highlight our most im An thought provoking book! The author reconstructs or mediates conversations which he thinks highlight our most important concerns, some Socratic ones and the ones taking place in Thomas Mann's Magic Mountain. Thomas Mann is very much at the forefront of the author's interest; if you are a fan of Thomas Mann as I am, this is very gratifying and actually one reason this book arose my curiosity in the first place.

At the core here are the searing questions about human nature and human spiritual abilities, truth and responsibility, democracy, culture, value, good and evil.


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The author keeps his quest well enough tethered to a recognizable social or historical reality so that the reader can find her way and follow the path of his thinking. This books wants to encourage the Socratic quest of examining life and thus make it worth living.

Mar 04, grackyfrogg rated it really liked it. Dec 28, Pavel rated it really liked it. This is an eminently readable book that reminds us of some old "Europan" values, and associated practices, that are fading from popular discourse: The author g This is an eminently readable book that reminds us of some old "Europan" values, and associated practices, that are fading from popular discourse: The author gives well chosen examples of great educators, as well as a list of most serious challenges fascism, consumerism, populism, superficiality, philistinism.

I wish, however, the author attempted a clear definition of "nobility of spirit" so one is sure what is and what is included in it. As it stands, it could be a blanket term into which one inserts pretty much whatever one likes or finds congenial. Jun 20, Elizabeth Urello rated it it was ok Shelves: Riemen fails to define the three main concepts he discusses in this essay -- truth, spirit, and nihilism. He seems to equate them with different things at different points, and so while I agree with him about the absolute importance of the pursuit of truth, I'm not sure I mean the same thing by 'truth' as Riemen does.

He blames the lack of nobility of spirit in the contemporary age on what he terms nihilism, but most of the world events he blames on nihilism were driven by fundamentalists. He se Riemen fails to define the three main concepts he discusses in this essay -- truth, spirit, and nihilism.

He seizes on Lenin as proof that intellectuals make poor political leaders, but never even mentions Havel. And the style is odd -- the way in which he writes both of and as his admired intellectuals, slipping in and out of their voices without much indication, makes it difficult to distinguish which of their ideas he's championing, and which criticizing.

Nobility of Spirit

Dit boek was voor mij een erg interessante introductie in de westerse, socratische filosofie. Een aanklacht tegen de nivellerende massamaatschappij, met veel historische voorbeelden van hoe deze maatschappij vrijdenkers heeft proberen uit te bannen, en dit in zekere zin ook altijd zal blijven doen. Riemen is een bevlogen schrijver die opvalt door zijn open houding tegenover de zaak die hij predikt: Met vele historische aanknopingspunten en anekdotes maakt Riemen duide Dit boek was voor mij een erg interessante introductie in de westerse, socratische filosofie.

Met vele historische aanknopingspunten en anekdotes maakt Riemen duidelijk dat er op intellectueel gebied zal moeten worden gestreefd naar een herwaardering van het 'eeuwige', de adel van de geest. Het boek is een persoonlijk getinte reis langs de kruispunten van de twintigste eeuw, langs morele vraagstukken over de Europese cultuur en haar verval, belicht in enkele 'cruciale' gesprekken.

Een erg goed, leesbaar en leerzaam boek. May 13, Miguel Galaz rated it really liked it. Too often has our 21st century society forgotten how important true values are, too often have we lost ourselves in superficiality, consumerism, abject adherence to spurious values. Nobility of Spirit reminds us of deeper ideals and deeper values we must strive for, even if we just try to face each day with a little bit of nobility and grace, to try to honor the truth, and not let ourselves get carried away by populist winds which are often wafted by those in power seeking more power.

Rob Riemen Too often has our 21st century society forgotten how important true values are, too often have we lost ourselves in superficiality, consumerism, abject adherence to spurious values. Rob Riemen's work, recounting the works of Thomas Mann, as well as Socrates, amongst others, shows us how far we've drifted from such lofty goals, and encourages us, even sets the path, for us to make our way back to purer ideals. How about you, have you been noble of spirit lately? Nov 04, Lewis Manalo rated it liked it. The issue may be that I don't hold the same ideals as Riemen, and a common disdain does not make a reader passionate about a book.

Het is voortbestemd voor de vissen Riemen logra sacudirnos en nuestra estructura moral.

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En sus reflexiones nos hace tocar fondo. No pongo 5 estrellas por el estilo literario, pero el libro bien vale su lectura. Apr 30, Tom Hallin rated it it was amazing. A must-read if you care about human spirituality. The essence of creativity and its importance to humanity and for ourselves. May 02, Ivan Eysackers added it. Gelezen in de nederlandstalige originele versie.. Ik denk momenteel terug te verkrijgen maar was lange tijd niet meer beschikbaar. Nexus instituut - Tilburg.

Oct 20, Peter rated it really liked it. Truly inspiring - I know Rob Riemen stands for something very deep and meaningful, but I don't think I'm cultured and well-read enough yet to fully grasp what he is desperately striving for here.