The Closing of the Western Mind

The Closing of the Western Mind: The Rise of Faith and the Fall of Reason by Charles Freeman

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This was an utterly fascinating book.

Freeman takes us through the history of Greek philosophy and intellectual curiosity, spending time explaining how the open debate of ideas helped advance the greater understanding of human nature and the beginnings of natural philosophy.

The second main section addresses the religious and intellectual state of the Levant in the century before Jesus, showing how various groups would eventually influence Christian thought. We then meet Jesus, analyzed in light of the times and religious feelings of the era. Then comes Paul, and his weird hangups that sadly defined many aspects of early Christianity.

The endless debates and heresies swirling around the nature of Christ occupy a good chunk of the book. The main theme is that the arguments were driven not by real intellectual debate but by personal attacks and rigging church councils. Augustine is introduced, and his journey from Neoplatonist to his view of a harsh personal God is explained as part of his own history as a bit of a momma's boy and his seeming fear of women and sex. Brilliant writer, but he really was the man responsible for the end of the honest debate in the West for several centuries, writing that only faith is needed to explain the universe.

The last chapter introduces Thomas Aquinas, who finally successfully justified Aristotelian rational examination of the world into the church, stretching Aristotle's teachings out to encompass Church doctrine. Aquinas, more than any other westerner, jump-started what would become the Renaissance and the later Enlightenment. The contributions of Arabic scholars in translating and preserving Greek writing are mentioned, and a brief allusion to the Islamic Golden Age is made when pointing out that Islamic scholars accepted rational debate as essential to faith while the Christian west was mired in church doctrine.

This was a great book, and I learned a lot from it. I am now inspired to learn more about Ambrose of Milan, for example. A good history should create a desire to learn more in the reader, and this succeeds brilliantly.




View all my reviews

"War and Peace" a collection from the pages of Analog

War and Peace: Possible Futures from Analog by Stanley Schmidt

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


We picked this up on a buy-nothing group. It's a mixed-bag collection of military-relating science fiction, ranging from classics like "The Weapon Shop" by A.E. Van Vogt to lesser-known stories like "The Wabbler" by Murray Leinster.

It was fun to read, but so many of the stories feel dated and some were just odd. So if you're a completist for MillSF, seek this book. Otherwise, I'm glad we got it for free.



View all my reviews

I'll probably use Sprawlrunners for this.

While engaged in a discussion of Cyberpunk tropes everyone is tired of in TTRPGs, one person mentioned the pervasive Asian Chic feeling, with Japanese zaibatsu dominating the world, ninjas, and the entire manga/anime feel.

I agree heartily. What I want to see, and may have to write for the SWADE Cyberpunk system, is a setting where the African Renaissance is full speed ahead and the US and China have been greatly reduced in influence. African corporations are the big influences, African music is hot, and the current First World players like the US and China are collapsing.

Having a campaign set in Mombassa would be really cool, as you have a totally different feel and all of the Continent to play in. You could even ignore the US. Scandanavian mercenaries, Ukrainian bankers, Arab and Indian factors, and a dozen languages are spoken in the new Sprawl as Mombassa (and the space elevator just offshore) have made this city ground zero for intrigue.

What would make this setting unique is Mombassa is an old, old city. It dates back to at least the 14th century. It has ancient mosques mixed in with modern areas. I love the idea of Old Africa meeting New Africa.

And you have all of Africa to play in!

Yeah, I need to write this. I'll be using Sprawlrunners, a cyberpunk Savage Worlds rule set for this. Does anyone want to help?