false 3234809 1 <div><div><div>In the pages of this slim, powerful book Rob Riemen argues with passion that &#8220;nobility of spirit&#8221; 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.<br><br> <br><br>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. <br><br> <br><br>&#8220;The forces now aligned against humanistic values are manifold,&#8221; observes George Steiner in the foreword to the book. In this imaginative and compelling volume, Riemen addresses these forces and speaks to every reader who believes in the power of classical ideas to restore Western civilization&#8217;s highest values.<br><br></div></div></div> 3269284 16 6 2008 Nobility of Spirit: A Forgotten Ideal total:11|5:0|4:1|3:2|2:1|1:0| 11 43 41 7 0 1 false false Tue Jul 22 18:35:46 -0700 2008 Tue Jul 22 18:37:19 -0700 2008 0 0 false false Tue Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Apr 18 05:58:21 -0700 2009 Mon Oct 26 14:31:17 -0700 2009 Rob Riemen were a writer with a different voice, who punctuated his ideas with footnotes and framed his anecdotes with jargon, his elegant volume, “Nobility of Spirit: A Forgotten Ideal,” might be on heavy rotation in philosophy courses worldwide. But Riemen is a humanist with a literary impu...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Jan 18 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Wed Nov 12 20:37:08 -0800 2008 Sun Jan 18 22:17:18 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Tue Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Nov 04 12:58:09 -0800 2009 Wed Nov 04 13:01:36 -0800 2009 more...]]> 0 0 false false Sat Nov 21 09:34:07 -0800 2009 Sat Nov 21 09:34:07 -0800 2009 5 0 false false Mon Nov 10 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu Oct 16 14:15:58 -0700 2008 Mon Nov 10 18:52:09 -0800 2008 4 0 false false Tue Oct 20 19:33:41 -0700 2009 Tue Oct 20 19:35:40 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Fri Dec 04 02:41:45 -0800 2009 Fri Dec 04 02:41:45 -0800 2009 3 0 false false Wed Nov 18 07:25:04 -0800 2009 Sun Nov 15 10:26:35 -0800 2009 Sun Nov 15 10:26:49 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Mon Oct 26 16:56:31 -0700 2009 Mon Oct 26 16:56:51 -0700 2009 2 0 false false Fri Oct 09 14:42:46 -0700 2009 Fri Oct 09 14:42:46 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sun Sep 20 22:23:16 -0700 2009 Sun Sep 20 22:23:16 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Fri Aug 28 10:10:02 -0700 2009 Fri Aug 28 10:10:02 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sat Aug 08 13:22:34 -0700 2009 Sat Aug 08 13:22:34 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Mon Jul 27 12:50:10 -0700 2009 Mon Jul 27 12:50:10 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Tue May 19 00:44:59 -0700 2009 Tue May 19 00:44:59 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Fri May 15 11:15:19 -0700 2009 Fri May 15 11:15:19 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Thu Apr 30 12:08:27 -0700 2009 Thu Apr 30 12:08:27 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Wed Mar 11 18:28:31 -0700 2009 Wed Mar 11 18:28:31 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Wed Mar 11 16:37:53 -0700 2009 Wed Mar 11 16:37:56 -0700 2009 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=3234809