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The Illustrated To Think Like God
Fascinating illustrations contribute to this illuminating account of how and why philosophy emerged and make it a must-read for any inquisitive thinker unsatisfied with prevailing assumptions on this timely and highly relevant subject.
By taking the reader back to the Greek colonies of Southern Italy more than 500 years B.C., the author, with unparalleled insight, tells the story of the Pythagorean quest for otherworldly knowledge—a tale of cultism, political conspiracies, and bloody uprisings that eventually culminate in tragic failure. The emerging hero is Parmenides, who introduces for the first time a technique for testing the truth of a statement that was not based on physical evidence or mortal sense-perception, but instead relied exclusively on the faculty we humans share with the gods: the ability to reason.
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"To Think Like God is a highly ambitious book... Hermann's approach deserves to be taken seriously as an alternative to standard interpretations."
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—Richard D. McKirahan Jr.
Pomona College
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"Arnold Hermann brings fresh life into the specialists' debates... A blow of wind that dissipates much fog."
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—Walter Burkert
University of Zurich
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"Arnold Hermann makes a genuine contribution to Presocratics (Parmenides) studies. This book, which is both an introduction to Pythagoras and Parmenides and a scholarly study, will interest novices and experts alike. Hermann's multi-leveled approach and his careful analyses of alternate views make his work a useful teaching tool, while his systematic inquiry into Pythagoreanism, the poem of Parmenides, and the development of early Greek thought will well repay the attention of scholars."
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—Patricia Curd
Purdue University
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Arnold Hermann’s rigorous research systematizes a non-traditional vision of the still poorly known period of the birth of metaphysics, and in this sense, his interpretation of Parmenides as the authentic father of philosophy is remarkable. Hermann proves that Parmenides established the basis for all subsequent philosophical thought when he stated that we cannot understand a thing if we cannot relate it to something. Either implicitly or explicitly, this axiom is present in the ideas of all later philosophers. However, the innovative aspect of Hermann’s investigation lies in his new interpretation of the basic axiom of Parmenides. The author demonstrates clearly that nothing can be asserted without affirming the “unity” of a thing. Moreover, this basic “unity” is none other than the “Naked Is” which implies that everything which must be, is.
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—Néstor-Luis Cordero
Rennes University
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"Arnold Hermann has produced a magnificent reply to those who wonder to what value does one espouse Philosophy as a way of understanding. This book uses over 300 illustrations to provide a living, vibrant context for seeing Philosophy as an underlying, legitimatizing foundation for clear reasoning about not simply the world we sense, but about the process of thought itself. Hermann’s gift to the reader is a concise re-examination of the role of reasoning and how the ingredients of that process led to the scientific method which has brought the planet such incredible breakthroughs in medicine, engineering, energy, and communications. Think: viral vaccines, elegant suspension bridges, hydrogen vehicles, computer chips. Without some of the principles of logic that Parmenides advanced, steps such as verification, testing, elimination, and other key principles of consistency would not allow for scientific replication in the material world. Even many legal rules that we rely upon today, such as evidentiary proofs, come not from the oft-credited Magna Carta, but from his formulations for his native city of Elea. . . . This beautifully illustrated book, measuring 10” x 8” is a reader’s delight because it is so carefully laid-out to balance text with photos and reproductions. . . The book can be marketed at our checkout counter easily because of its abundant color and enticing title. It also belongs in Law, Ancient History, and of course, Philosophy."
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—Thomas Peter von Bahr
New Age Retailer.
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