Wouldn't the constitution be nothing without John Lockes ideas? or Darwins Darwinism?
Wouldn't the constitution be nothing without John Lockes ideas? or Darwins Darwinism?
Last exit to Brooklyn
The previous poster is correct. Darwin's Origin of Species is the "most essential writing in the history of mankind."
Confucius, The Analects
IGNORANCE COMES FROM THE BIBLE AND KORAN.
Seal it wrote:
Illogical wrote:[quote] The Bible and Quran are nothing but fictional
Fiction or not you won't find any other books with more impact on the world than these.
It doesn't take a whole lot to learn a little about what the other side has to say - just a little open-mindedness. Its attitudes like these that perpetuate ignorance and intolerance.
toot wrote:
Assuming that was not a trollish statement...
HA HA HA HA HA HA HA
Ayn Rand's books are quality ass-wiping material
Ayn Rand's books are flying off the shelves at record pace because we are living through Atlas Shrugged right now.
Hold it against me wrote:
Wouldn't the constitution be nothing without John Lockes ideas? or Darwins Darwinism?
and their ideas had precursors as well
Go to the website for St. John's College, (in Annapolis< MD or Santa Fe, NM) and check out their reading list.
These are the books you start with.
Calvin & Hobbes
searching for a new read wrote:
If you had to pick one written work with a message so fundamental that it continues to speak to mankind long after the author has died, what would that book be?
You are, all of you, wrong.
The most fundamental written work that continues to speak to mankind long after the author has died is Euclid's Elements.
The Elements are the foundation of logical axiomatic argument upon which civilized argument, i.e. democracy, is based. Read some Euclid, and then read the Declaration of Independence and the Gettysburg Address, where you will see Euclid again. This is no accident because both Jefferson and Lincoln worked through Euclid seriously.
Be warned, Euclid is not armchair reading. You will need plenty of pen and paper and patience, along with an appreciation for the English subjunctive, in Heath's translation.
msr wrote:
Be warned, Euclid is not armchair reading. You will need plenty of pen and paper and patience, along with an appreciation for the English subjunctive, in Heath's translation.
do you want a cookie?
Aussiemiler wrote:
The previous poster is correct. Darwin's Origin of Species is the "most essential writing in the history of mankind."
That is to say, it is the sacred cow of writings, the beginnings of the sacred cow theory of evolution.
or 120 Days of Sodom
geisel's magnum opus: "green eggs and ham."
as a transcendental treatise on carpe diem and a roadmap for the mass of men who lead lives of quiet desperation, it shook the world from its "dick and jane" drowsiness and jackanapesian dreams, drawing from campbellian monomythological archetypes of green (fertility) and rebirth (eggs) and desire (ham--who doesn't like pig flesh???) to renew the human spirit.
or, alternatively, the tale of a budding drug-pusher and the thriving entrepreneurial spirit.
either way you cut it, it's the truth that satisfies the soul...
In addition to being fiction, The Bible is folklore, philosophy, propaganda, folk wisdom, poetry, and dogma. None of that contradicts its value as a window into the human condition.
That said, it MUST be remembered that it is an ANTHOLOGY, composed of the ideas of many authors,living in very different times and cultures,ideas often in violent conflict with each other. Like many another anthology, it is notable for what it left out, for example, the Gospels of groups who did not subscribe to the notion of the divinity or immortality of Christ,views that were not common at the time of his death.
In some respects it is like your freshman lit anthology, arranged in no particularly coherent manner, often leaving the student with the impression that Edgar Allen Poe and Maya Angelou might have known each other.