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The Cave and the Light: Plato Versus Aristotle, and the Struggle for the Soul of Western Civilization, by Arthur Herman
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Arthur Herman has now written the definitive sequel to his New York Times bestseller, How the Scots Invented the Modern World, and extends the themes of the book—which sold half a million copies worldwide—back to the ancient Greeks and forward to the age of the Internet. The Cave and the Light is a magisterial account of how the two greatest thinkers of the ancient world, Plato and Aristotle, laid the foundations of Western culture—and how their rivalry shaped the essential features of our culture down to the present day.
Plato came from a wealthy, connected Athenian family and lived a comfortable upper-class lifestyle until he met an odd little man named Socrates, who showed him a new world of ideas and ideals. Socrates taught Plato that a man must use reason to attain wisdom, and that the life of a lover of wisdom, a philosopher, was the pinnacle of achievement. Plato dedicated himself to living that ideal and went on to create a school, his famed Academy, to teach others the path to enlightenment through contemplation.
However, the same Academy that spread Plato’s teachings also fostered his greatest rival. Born to a family of Greek physicians, Aristotle had learned early on the value of observation and hands-on experience. Rather than rely on pure contemplation, he insisted that the truest path to knowledge is through empirical discovery and exploration of the world around us. Aristotle, Plato’s most brilliant pupil, thus settled on a philosophy very different from his instructor’s and launched a rivalry with profound effects on Western culture.
The two men disagreed on the fundamental purpose of the philosophy. For Plato, the image of the cave summed up man’s destined path, emerging from the darkness of material existence to the light of a higher and more spiritual truth. Aristotle thought otherwise. Instead of rising above mundane reality, he insisted, the philosopher’s job is to explain how the real world works, and how we can find our place in it. Aristotle set up a school in Athens to rival Plato’s Academy: the Lyceum. The competition that ensued between the two schools, and between Plato and Aristotle, set the world on an intellectual adventure that lasted through the Middle Ages and Renaissance and that still continues today.
From Martin Luther (who named Aristotle the third great enemy of true religion, after the devil and the Pope) to Karl Marx (whose utopian views rival Plato’s), heroes and villains of history have been inspired and incensed by these two master philosophers—but never outside their influence.
Accessible, riveting, and eloquently written, The Cave and the Light provides a stunning new perspective on the Western world, certain to open eyes and stir debate.
Praise for The Cave and the Light
“A sweeping intellectual history viewed through two ancient Greek lenses . . . breezy and enthusiastic but resting on a sturdy rock of research.”—Kirkus Reviews
“Examining mathematics, politics, theology, and architecture, the book demonstrates the continuing relevance of the ancient world.”—Publishers Weekly
“A fabulous way to understand over two millennia of history, all in one book.”—Library Journal
“Entertaining and often illuminating.”—The Wall Street Journal
From the Hardcover edition.
- Sales Rank: #44175 in Books
- Brand: Random House Trade
- Published on: 2014-06-03
- Released on: 2014-06-03
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 8.00" h x 1.50" w x 5.15" l, 1.13 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 704 pages
Features
From Booklist
Herman (How the Scots Invented the Modern World, 2002) boils Western philosophy and culture down to two competing notions: the idealism of Plato and the empiricism of Aristotle. Plato, says Herman, asks, “How do you want your world to be?”; Aristotle, on the other hand, asks, “How do you fit into the world that already exists?” Walking through two and a half millennia of Western thought, Herman emphasizes that the two philosophies—the material and the spiritual aspects of existence—have repeated themselves through Western history, waxing and waning and remaining in tension with each other to the present day. Romanticism? Poetry? Totalitarian dogmatism? That’s Plato. The U.S. Constitution? The Manhattan Project? Modern consumer culture? That’s Aristotle. If it sounds like a sweeping polemic, that’s because it is; Herman seems to revel in overbroad claims, particularly when he’s talking about modern phenomena. Beneath all the broad assertions and polemic showiness, however, lies a serious argument for the primacy of Plato and Aristotle and the essential dynamism of a culture that embraces both philosophies.
Review
Praise for The Cave and the Light
“A sweeping intellectual history viewed through two ancient Greek lenses . . . breezy and enthusiastic but resting on a sturdy rock of research.”—Kirkus Reviews
“Examining mathematics, politics, theology, and architecture, the book demonstrates the continuing relevance of the ancient world.”—Publishers Weekly
“A fabulous way to understand over two millennia of history, all in one book.”—Library Journal
“Entertaining and often illuminating.”—The Wall Street Journal
Praise for Arthur Herman
Gandhi & Churchill
Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize
“You finish the book knowing that you can evaluate the world today, particularly modern India, with more knowledge and insight.”—USA Today
“Scrupulous, compelling, and unfailingly instructive . . . a detailed and richly filigreed account that introduces the Anglo-American reader to many facts and vivid if little-known personalities, both English and Indian.”—Commentary
Freedom’s Forge
“A rambunctious book that is itself alive with the animal spirits of the marketplace.”—The Wall Street Journal
How the Scots Invented the Modern World
“Professor Herman demonstrates an infectious and uplifting passion for his subject. Unlike many academics, he is a natural writer, weaving philosophical concerns seamlessly through a historical narrative that romps along at a cracking pace, producing a text that is highly accessible without compromising the rational quality of his argument.”—The Guardian
From the Hardcover edition.
About the Author
Arthur Herman is the bestselling author of Freedom’s Forge, How the Scots Invented the Modern World, The Idea of Decline in Western History, To Rule the Waves, and Gandhi & Churchill, which was a 2009 finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Dr. Herman taught the Western Heritage Program at the Smithsonian’s Campus on the Mall, and he has been a professor of history at Georgetown University, The Catholic University of America, George Mason University, and The University of the South at Sewanee.
Most helpful customer reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful.
INTELLECTUALLY STIMULATING
By Len Levinson
This book confirms and expands upon vague thoughts I've been having for a long time, namely that the world is made up of idealists and realists. According to the author, idealists are represented by Plato, and realists by Aristotle. Of course there are no 100% idealists or realists. Everyone includes both tendencies, but one usually predominates. The book explains how all philosophers and philosophies fit more or less into one or another of these two categories. I expect that professional philosophers, people with Ph.D.s and snobs will loathe this book because it's clearly written and easy to understand. They'll say it's a lightweight simplification of extremely abstruse matters. Well, what's wrong with writing clearly and straightforwardly? Idealists also will dislike this book because the author tends to be a realist. I think that most open-minded people will find the book very stimulating intellectually. It probably will diminish much of the confusion many feel in this bewildering, rapidly changing, baloney-driven world. It certainly clarified a lot for me.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful.
Entertaining and thought-provoking tour of Western civilization's development
By Christopher Barat
It's been quite a while since I've read a book as enlightening as this. Arthur Herman (HOW THE SCOTS INVENTED THE MODERN WORLD) walks us through the history of Western civilization on the twin shoulders of Plato and Aristotle, who might be described as the "ultimate dead white males." The two philosophers' disagreements over the nature of reality and how best to understand the world continue to echo today. While I fully realize that Herman's disputatious dipole can't be used to explain every subsequent current in Western thought, it does provide a useful framework through which to understand how philosophical systems grew, flourished, declined, and/or adapted over time as they attempted to co-opt and/or synthesize the Platonian and Aristotelian worldviews.
Though Herman certainly does not short-shrift Plato's successors and carefully lays out the good and the bad consequences of the two Greeks' philosophies, it's not hard to detect a subtle Aristotelian bias. The best evidence of this is the inclusion, amidst a list of the very heaviest of philosophical hitters, of Ayn Rand. One of Herman's previous books (FREEDOM'S FORGE) covered the theme of the "heroic entrepreneur" as it related to American war production during World War II, so I do see how Rand's thinking along those lines might have appealed to him.
This would be an excellent "companion" book for a high-school or college course on "good old Western civ" or just a good, browse-able read for anyone seeking to further their liberal education outside the walls of academe. I think that I'll be revisiting it more than once.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful.
Sheds light on the cultural battle between Aristotle and Plato
By Pete from across the River
This book explains the battles between Aristotle and Plato (Socrates) that have ensued over the years. The one, major, lasting contribution of Aristotle's philosophy is the development of "the scientific method" that has served western science very well once it was formalized in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Personally, I've always had trouble with Plato -- his viewpoint carried more mysticism than I could tolerate. Our overall society and western culture has reflected the ongoing battle between science/reason and mysticism/emotionalism that originated with the differing views of these two philosophers.
The historical aspect of the books are also quite interesting. During the middle-ages, when the Catholic Church was the dominant cultural force, "Aristotelian" scholars had become influential in various doctrinal matters. Unfortunately, these scholars did not actually reflect Aristotle's suggested processes ("examine nature to learn the truth") but rather accepted his determinations of "truth" which became embedded in church dogma. (e.g. Aristotle made numerous hypothesis about physical aspects of the world. Some were essentially correct, some were partially correct, and some were simply wrong based on future scientific discoveries.) By using Aristotelian determinations, the Church taught that we had an Earth centric universe. When Copernicus and Galileo suggested otherwise, the Church objected ... This attitude actually reflects Plato more than Aristotle, since Plato's view was that there was a set of "ideals" that we referenced to understand what a chair or table actually was.
You may draw different conclusions from the book ... and I'm not arguing for or against the conclusions of the author. Any fan of philosophic thinking and the history of cultural philosophy will find this book a fascinating read. Once you finish this book, I suggest reading The DIM Hypothesis by Leonard Peikoff.
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