Friday, November 9, 2012

South-Asian, philosophical and theological reviews on Amazon

I am listing here the reviews I have posted on Amazon until today. The purpose is to present a short summary of the main good and weak points of a book, so that one can figure out whether to read it or not. Furthermore, I will discuss both "Indological" books and books on philosophy (without geographic boundaries). Who knows, maybe there are other readers out there whose interests are not confined to the arbitrarily chosen geographic boundaries of "India" or "Germany" etc.

Review of Comparative Theology, by Francis Xavier Clooney (an interesting summary on a key topic; but it does not add much to F.X. Clooney's previous great works on this topic ---thus, read it as an introduction, but avoid it if you have already read other comparative works by him).

Review of The Logic of Commands, by Nicholas Rescher (if you have followed my posts on prescriptions you will know why I picked it up. Rescher's attempt is in many ways comparable to Maṇḍana's way of reducing prescriptions to assertions).

Review of Reflexion und Ritual in der Pūrvamīmāṃsā, by Lars Göhler (a great book, one that is worth reading even if your German is rosty, if only you are interested in Mīmāṃsā and/or the Veda and/or Indian philosophy).

Review of Penser l'Autorité des Écritures, by Vincent Eltschinger (a wonderful attempt of explaining philosophy through history without becoming a reductionist or a Marxist).

Review of The Vākyārthamātṛkā of Śālikanātha Miśra, by Rajendra Nath Sharma (the first English translation of a fundamental text –unfortunately not flawless).

Review of Kumārila on Truth, Omniscience and Killing, by Kei Kataoka (just a great book by a great Mīmāṃsaka, reliable and insightful).

Review of Re-use. The Art and Politics of Integration and Anxiety, by Julia Hegewald and Subrata K. Mitra (eds.) (a very interesting example of bridging disciplines on a thought-provoking topic).

Did you read any of these books? I would be glad to read your comments (here or at the reviews).

For my posts on commands, check the tags "prescription" and "Maṇḍana". For my more detailed comments on Eltschinger's book, see this post and the ones directly following it. For further considerations on reviews in Amazon (etc.), see this post. For further comments on Julia Hegewald and Subrata Mitra's Re-use, see this post.

5 comments:

windwheel said...

You wrote this- 'However, I am not fully convinced by the author's attempt to reduce the logic of commands to the assertoric logic of command's terminations (e.g. "Close the door!" and "The door has been closed"). This solution is better than that of speaking of the "truth" of commands, or that of taking into account obedience (as shown by the author in a convincing way). Nonetheless, in this way what is lost is exactly what makes a command different than an assertoric statement. At last, this logic of commands works only by killing commands as a distinct field. (In Classical Indian thought, this is akin to Maṇḍana's choice of seeing commands as tantamount to statements of what is conducive to a desired result. Attracrive, but simplifying).

Could you please read over what you have written and just go look up Wikipedia or something?
Hey, you aint a fat man who does child molesting- you needn't write this sort of shit.
I say this because you are a fat woman- twice in your life your belly had a wider circumference than mine- you are no longer fat, I am.
Ask yourself 'what would Kant's Mum say?
I know the answer
You don't write in dead languages unless the constituting trauma of your life project- your Kantian Phenomenology- is one you want to bury. Bury by making it habit or prejudice.
Gee, its like I can almost see your face. Don't wanna. This is not the forum.
You're smart. Fucking do it.
Sorry to everybody else but mi Donna can do it. Will. Hey?

windwheel said...

Look I originally came here just to apologize.
I have seen with my own eyes how INDOLOGY how Sanskrit are corrupting and Sociopathy-enabling factors.

There is this madness in you that you are a Sheldon Pollock style empathy-less cunt. You are not. No woman is a cunt- even if she knows Skt. I personally am being harassed and forced to commit suttee just because I have very beatiful man-boobs and any way, where I live, I fucking rule- i.e. just punch in the gut and that sort of thing.
What? You live somewhere more provincial yet. BTW if your Son was in my Chess Club- he'd do extremely fucking well.
What?
Here where I live,where the first Indian Skt.scholars lived in London, probably the only place in Europe where you can learn Skt and Dance and so on from Indians- you can send me your eldest.
I'll fucking make sure he can eat meat, including beef, if he wants to, and can be as fucking bright without being a shithead as he likes.
How old is he?
What you don't understand is that sons love Mum very very much. That kid probably knows better Skt. than you= where it counts- I APPEAL TO YOU AS A MOTHER OF SMALL PEOPLE NOT TO WRITE SHITE= TELL TRUTH AND SHAME THE DEVIL.
I would like you to imagine me as having crossed my arms and crossed my legs and taken of my glasses.
What? Oh. Okay.
Sorry Signora- boo! I only came near you coz everybody sends their small children to me for baby sitting. It's true, among working class people, y'know, a tall person is a good Uncle
By the Grace of .
You learn and teach a dead language which had words for me. You yourselves don't come from North Korea- but the same thing wherever.
Guys, I look at what you write and it's just wrong. Ashwamitra has Skt but I'm going this is wrong that is wrong- fuck.
Yet I am credited on a Reggae Album circa 1982 and also have my face quite prominently on a C.R.E Poster from that time.
Your Skt is bad, thoughtless and stupid.
In any case, you can't understand it- look I'll send you something to translate- you do it, you know Skt. You get a good sum of money.
Well, the truth is you could be a big earner for me. You got something. Not Stupidity. I got that. Frivolity. That's your thing.
The Messian emerges from a Mirror and thus your being on the surface redeems, what?- nothing at all.

windwheel said...

Just to be clear- your Skt. is shite coz it starts rough, wobbles and just gets plain wrong- it's fucked. sorry Luv.

I am also very sorry to see you have published, in an entirely pre-mature manner,something Hindus like me can so easily shoot down.
What are you a Sheldon Pollok like SOCIOPATH?

Anonymous said...

@Windwheel: backing your criticism with no argument,you prove it nothing more than a rancorous list of insults.
Good Luck,
G.

windwheel said...

I apologize. The truth is I'm a Manic Depressive drunk. For me in my moments of prophetic exaltation, Elisa's truth is so imperilled by collocational Credentialist availability cascades that I go fucking mad.
Sorry, guys. I'm a big Tamil guy forced into the shrill shape of a Classical Cassandra. The disaster has already happened. But, Dr. Freschi aint a one book wonder. She will redeem, give voice to the hungry ghost, of the Astyanax that I am.
I think this blog is fucking ace.
I am, like a mad dog, growling at Dr. Feschi, but if she wants to put me down she can. Don't get between a young person and her 'Old yaller' dog.- rabid or otherwise.
What? When did Sancrit cogiatre, or loqui- become a drawing room comedy?
@G-tell me not here but on my Email- polypubs@gmail.com- what it is I'm missing.
A dialogue would be a good thing- surely?
Incidentally, I do know about 'Indology' and have blogged about it- vide socioproctology. blogspot.com- I have also written books available on Amazon.
@ G- rancorous list of insults? It is a phrase not without a sort of felicity. I harbour rancour against Dr. Freschi because she has uttered this book. I volley insults against her. BUT, I love her. She knows it. Anybody who reads this knows it. I want her to rise above a narrow 'Pollockian' 'no interpersonal empathy or rasa' Mimamasa literalism to embrace the glories of my own hereditary 'Brahmin' Hinduism. There is not a single sentence in what she writes by way of commentary which is not wrong or foolish or both.
But there is not a word that she writes that is not dictated by love and Italy's embrace of (as in my case) Dark or Dirty Alterity.
@G- would you be so kindly elucidate anything not nonsense in the screed you claim to have examined?
Who needs friends like you when enemies like me spontaneously are attracted to that angel who has the power to destroy the self-defeating and negative in us.

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