Nobility of spirit :
Riemen, Rob, 1962-
Nobility of spirit : a forgotten ideal / Rob Riemen ; translated by Marjolijn de Jager ; foreword by George Steiner. - New Haven : Yale University Press, c2008. - xl, 116 p. ; 21 cm.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 113-114).
Foreword / Prelude: Dinner at the River Cafe -- The Quest of Thomas Mann -- Untimely Conversations on Timely Questions -- Be Brave. George Steiner --
"In the pages of this book Rob Riemen argues with passion that "nobility of spirit" is the quintessence of a civilized world. It is, as Thomas Mann believed, the sole corrective for human history. Without nobility of spirit, culture vanishes. Yet in the early twenty-first century, a time when human dignity and freedom are imperiled, the concept of nobility of spirit is scarcely considered." "Riemen insists that if we hope to move beyond the war on terror and create a life-affirming culture, we must address timeless but neglected questions: What is a good society? Why art? Why culture? What is the responsibility of intellectuals? Why anti-Americanism? Why nihilism? Why the cult of death of fundamentalists? In a series of three essays, the author identifies nobility of spirit in the life and work of Baruch Spinoza and of Thomas Mann; explores the quest for the good society in our own time; and addresses the pursuit of truth and freedom that engaged figures as disparate as Socrates and Leone Ginzburg, a Jewish Italian intellectual murdered by Nazis."--BOOK JACKET.
9780300136906 (alk. paper) 0300136900 (alk. paper)
40015487147
2007046550
Nobility of character.
BJ1533.N6 / R56 2008
170
Nobility of spirit : a forgotten ideal / Rob Riemen ; translated by Marjolijn de Jager ; foreword by George Steiner. - New Haven : Yale University Press, c2008. - xl, 116 p. ; 21 cm.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 113-114).
Foreword / Prelude: Dinner at the River Cafe -- The Quest of Thomas Mann -- Untimely Conversations on Timely Questions -- Be Brave. George Steiner --
"In the pages of this book Rob Riemen argues with passion that "nobility of spirit" is the quintessence of a civilized world. It is, as Thomas Mann believed, the sole corrective for human history. Without nobility of spirit, culture vanishes. Yet in the early twenty-first century, a time when human dignity and freedom are imperiled, the concept of nobility of spirit is scarcely considered." "Riemen insists that if we hope to move beyond the war on terror and create a life-affirming culture, we must address timeless but neglected questions: What is a good society? Why art? Why culture? What is the responsibility of intellectuals? Why anti-Americanism? Why nihilism? Why the cult of death of fundamentalists? In a series of three essays, the author identifies nobility of spirit in the life and work of Baruch Spinoza and of Thomas Mann; explores the quest for the good society in our own time; and addresses the pursuit of truth and freedom that engaged figures as disparate as Socrates and Leone Ginzburg, a Jewish Italian intellectual murdered by Nazis."--BOOK JACKET.
9780300136906 (alk. paper) 0300136900 (alk. paper)
40015487147
2007046550
Nobility of character.
BJ1533.N6 / R56 2008
170