I was dissatisfied by the recent review in NPDR by Gretchen Reydam-Schils, of Tad Brennan's book, The Stoic Life. It told me almost nothing about the book. I find myself thinking back to the review, trying to reconstruct what I know about the book as based on the review, and I come up with the following:
- The book contains both introductory and non-introductory material.
- The introductory passages contain simplifications.
- It is written in the style of analytic philosophy.
- Its bibliography largely consists of works written in English.
- To analyze Stoic arguments, Brennan makes disputable decisions about how to interpret some of their claims.
- At one point, Brennan appears to misconstrue Pierre Hadot.
- A reader of this book should not rely upon it alone but should consult primary sources as well.
To me it seemed that the book irked Reydam-Schils for reasons that are ultimately subjective. She should have vented her irritation in a draft, thrown that away, and then written something that was serviceable to others.
0 comments:
Post a Comment