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4.13 of 5 stars
Influential philosopher, poet, and literary critic George Santayana (1863-1952) was a thorough naturalist, concerned with the ideal factors in huma... read full description

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Apr 06, 2011
Eric rated it: 5 of 5 stars
I keep my copy close at hand, as a mental tonic. Santayana has the same worldly, disabused tone, and the same lucid 'Augustan' English, as Gibbon and Hume:

It would be easy, however, to exaggerate the havoc wrought by such artificial conditions. The monotony we observe in mankind must not be charged to the oppressive influence of circumstances crushing the individual soul. It is not society's fault that most men seem to miss their vocation. Most men have no vocation; and society, in i
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Sep 26, 2011
Rick rated it: 2 of 5 stars
Like The Last Puritan: A Memoir in the Form of a Novel, I read this book in Maurice Natanson's course on Philosophy in Literature; the two were paired for a "bi-focal" perspective on the thought of Santayana. Combining the two reads offers a challenging perspective on "the life of reason."
Jan 15, 2008
Avital marked it as to-read
Eric's recommendation
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