Bøger af Peter Kreeft

This is the 5th volume in the series of popular, small volumes by the well-known philosophy Professor Kreeft in which the "Father of Philosophy," Socrates, cross-examines various other important philosophers and thinkers (previous books examined Marx, Sarte, Machiavelli, and Socrates himself.) In this work, he states that Socrates and Descartes are probably the two most important philosophers who have ever lived, because they are the two who made the most difference to all philosophy after them. The two of them stand at the beginning of the two basic philosophical options: the classical and the modern. Kreeft focuses on seven features that unite these two major philosophers and distinguish them from all others. So this dialog between Socrates and Descartes is a dialog between the fundamental stages in the history of philosophy, the history of consciousness, and the history of Western culture.

This book is designed for three classes of people: Beginners who want an introduction to philosophy;Those who have already had an introduction to philosophy and who would like to see it in action now applied to a great book written by a great philosophy, but who have never read Plato's Republic, the most famous and influential philosophy book ever written;Those who have read Plato's Republic before but did not understand its deepest significance. Why is Plato the best introduction to philosophy? Peter Kreeft has taught philosophy for over 50 years, including one section of a course for beginners every semester. He has tried just about everything possible, and a few new things that are impossible. He has experimented with every one of the many alternative methods available for teaching beginners. (He has A.D.D., so he easily gets bored and likes to try new things all the time.) But he has never found anything nearly as successful as Plato. Plato is the best writer in the history of philosophy. Most philosophers are dull, undramatic, abstract writers. (There are a few other exceptions besides Plato: Augustine, Pascal, Nietzsche, Kierkegaard.) But Plato wrote dramatic dialogues, in which Socrates, his famous teacher, interacts with a great variety of fools. These dialogues are like intellectual swordfights, and even though you know Socrates is going to win, they are exciting because you see his ideas come alive, like a sword in the handoff a master. Plato is a great dramatist, a great poet, and a great psychologist as well as a great philosopher. Nobody else who ever lived combined those four talents as well as Plato did. Apprenticeship to a great master is the best way to learn any art. The student will understand what philosophy is better by watching a master do it than by reading abstract definitions of it from a second-rate philosopher, or by a mere scholar. Concrete examples are always the easiest way to learn things. Plato's dialogues are the world's first, and still the best, concrete example of philosophizing. Kreeft introduces his students to this love affair through a great matchmaker, Plato, who is a better teacher than the student will ever meet in the land of the living. In fact, Plato still is in the land of the living. He's still alive and kicking in his dialogues. He rubs off on those who are wise and humble enough to become a student.

Jesus Shock is the second in a series of short works on seminal concerns of the impact that Jesus Christ made in the world. The first work, The Philosophy of Jesus (St. Augustine's Press, 2007), explored philosophy in light of Jesus, rather than the other way around. The present work investigates the reception Jesus received both in His lifetime and continuously to the present time, not only from His enemies, but from His friends, a reception of shock, astonishment, even disgust. Perhaps a few remarks from the book best explains it: The point of the book: The point of the title: Imagine a storm has downed a telephone wire so that everyone who touches it is shocked in every cell of his body. Well, the storm of God's crazy love has "downed" (incarnated) Jesus, and everyone who touches this "live wire" is shocked in every cell of his soul. The question of the book: Why is "Jesus" the most non-neutral, the most controversial, the most embarrassing name in the world? Why is talking about Jesus like talking about sex? This whole book is really about a single movie line, the greatest line in the greatest movie in history. Bet you know what it is. Jesus-Shock is about the Real Presence of Christ in the Gospels and in the Eucharist. It is not about the theology of the Real Presence, but about the experience of Him there, and about the experience of everyone in the Gospels who met Him. What was the bitterest controversy of the Protestant Reformation, both between Protestants and Catholics and between different Protestant denominations, the one that had both sides calling the other not just heretics but devils? Answer: It was not Justification by Faith, the hallmark of the Reformation, even though that question is about nothing less momentous than how to be saved, how to get to Heaven. It was not the relation between religion and politics, even though that was a matter of life or death (literally, on battlefields and at guillotines and hangings) and not just a matter of truth or falsity, or of good or evil. It was not about the sufficiency of the Bible, or the corruption in the Church, or the relation between the Bible and the Church. It was not about the Pope, and the governance of the Church. It was not about Mary or saints or angels or Purgatory. It was not about the Incarnation or the Trinity or the Atonement. It was about the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Jesus-Shock, in addressing this controversy forcefully and faithfully, shows the reasons why to this day the name of "Jesus" stirs up controversy, even revulsion, in polite society. In the true spirit of ecumenism, it also points the way toward a true rapprochement among His modern-day disciples.

(1) Science, (2) philosophy, and (3) poetry, myth, and mysticism are three modes of consciousness that are radically different today. We are usually very good at carefully distinguishing them so as not to corrupt them, reduce them, or to confuse them with each other. But almost no one tries to connect them in a synthesis in which each maintains its own identity yet each contributes to a greater whole that no one of them could attain alone - like a happy marriage. If we bring them together at all, it is only to focus in three different ways on a specific issue (like health care, or children's literature, or gender roles). If Einstein Had Been a Surfer dares to do it for Everything, or rather for a "Theory of Everything" that only scientists today dare to talk about. But how can a "theory of the whole" be discovered by a brain that is less than a whole brain? In this book all three dimensions of consciousness not only speak about a "theory of everything" but speak to each other in dialog. The three voices are incarnated in three characters from an upcoming novel, An Ocean Full of Angels: Evan Jellema is a theoretical physicist (and a clumsy Dutchman), 'Isa Ben Adam is a philosophical Muslim (and cantankerously clear), and Libby Rawls is a poet, mystic, and surfer (and a sassy, classy Black feminist). Isn't "surfer" a bit of a stretch? Not at all. Actually, the papers reported last year that an amateur scientist has in fact finally discovered, or claimed to have discovered, the "theory of everything" that Einstein failed to find and that scientists have been searching for ever since - and he is a surfer! Perhaps this is no accident, but a natural connection: the mind of the "soul surfer," having become one with the sea, has awakened its "third eye" which alone gives the scientist the binocular vision, the synoptic perspective, that he lacks. And perhaps only a philosopher can mediate the two other modes of vision, as Aquinas mediated and synthesized the science of Albert the Great and Aristotle with the poetry and symbolism of mystics like Augustine. This lively trialog, full of irony, intellectual surprise, and humor, is a serious call for a post-medieval synthesis. It does not claim to have arrived anywhere near the end of a journey to a "Theory of Everything," only to have begun it. Even that modest ambition will certainly be criticized a priori as impossibly ambitious. Does that tell you anything about the book, or does it tell you something about the critic?

This is not a typical ethics textbook. Most ethics textbooks are anthologies of articles by contemporary philosophers, or a whole book by one contemporary philosopher, about ethical puzzles to be solved by logical analysis. This is good mental exercise but it will not change your life, and you will not remember it ten years from now. You will not remember a hundred bright little ideas, you will remember only a few Big Ideas, the ones that changed your life. This book is about 52 of them.. And it is by 32 great philosophers. They are all dead. (Philosophers die, but philosophy does not; it buries all its undertakers.) Living philosophers who write ethics textbooks are usually very bright, but they do not include any name we know will live for centuries. Why apprentice yourself to second rate scribblers like me when you can apprentice yourself to the greatest minds in history? Why not learn from Socrates, Buddha, Confucius, Plato, Aristotle, Kant, Kierkegaard, and Nietzsche? Why prefer little minds to big ones? They disagree with each other, to be sure, but all of them will help you, not least those who contradict you and challenge you, and stretch you by forcing you to reply to them, and fight with them. I am appalled by the fact that 90% of the best philosophy students at the best universities, which say they cultivate "diversity," have exactly the same politically correct opinions, whether of the Left or the Right. When you were a child your mother probably reminded you before you went out not to forget something like your lunch box or your umbrella. Ethics today is usually treated that way: as an afterthought: check with an ethicist before doing the really important things like business or law or medicine or diplomacy. But ethics is not a P.S. to life. It is about the most fundamental things in life: values, good and evil. Socrates said that a good person does not worry much about little things like whether he lives or dies, but only about big things like whether he is a good person or a bad one.

"Be forewarned. This book pricks prejudices, jostles assumptions, and can do permanent harm to complacent Christianity. Definitely not recommended for people who are unprepared for a rollickingly adventurous journey into truths that might change them forever. Don't say you were not warned." - Fr. Richard John Neuhaus"Peter Kreeft is one of the premier apologists in America today, witty, incisive and powerful. On the front lines in today's culture war, Kreeft is one of our most valiant intellectual warriors." - Charles Colson"This racy little book opens up a far-reaching theme. With entertaining insight Kreeft looks into the attitudes, alliances, and strategies that today's state of affairs requires of believers. Catholics, Protestants, and Orthodox alike need to ponder Peter Kreeft's vision of things - preferably, in discussion together. What if he is right?" - J.I. Packer"With his usual brilliance and wit, Peter Kreeft offers us a combat man manual for the culture wars. Ecumenical Jihad is a reasoned defense of the rights of God and the duties of man, and a bold exhortation to spiritual warfare. It is wise, holy, and prophetic." - Michael O'Brien, editor, Nazareth Journal, and author of many novels.

Reasonable, concise, witty and wise, Peter Kreeft and Ronald K. Tacelli have written an informative and valuable guidebook for anyone looking for answers to questions of faith and reason. Topics include the existence of God, creation and evolution, providence and free will, miracles, the problem of evil, the divinity of Christ, the resurrection, heaven and hell and objective truth.

Peter Kreeft and Ronald K. Tacelli present a condensed version of their popular Handbook of Christian Apologetics,summarizing the foremost arguments for major Christian teachings and offering compelling responses to the most common arguments put forward against Christianity.

In Before I Go, Kreeft presents lessons learned about life, faith, morality, priorities, marriage, and more, as his legacy to his children-and to readers. He shares his practical wisdom, as well as his concern for truth and goodness, in a warm and readable way.