Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #221180 in Books
• Published on: 2002-09-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 368 pages

From Publishers Weekly
French right-wing "nouveau philosophe" Comte-Sponville, a professor at Paris's Sorbonne, had an international success with this not-so-small book, though it's unclear how many buyers have made it all the way through. Dividing the book into 18 virtue-based chapters "Politeness," "Fidelity," "Prudence," "Temperance," "Courage," "Mercy," "Gratitude," and so on Comte-Sponville quotes a multitude of philosophers from the ancient Greeks through Spinoza, Hobbes and Nietzsche to modern Frenchmen like Vladimir Jankelevitch. But doing so fails to make what is essentially a quirky, self-centered monologue into an all-ages dialogue: "Kant and Rousseau think gratitude a duty. I'm not convinced. Moreover, I don't really believe in duties." Such pronouncements presume a reputation and familiarity that does not carry over to these shores. The humorless writing on humor seems oddly pitched as well: "One mustn't exaggerate the importance of humor, however. A bastard can have a sense of humor, and a hero can lack one. But as we have seen, the same is true of most virtues, and as an argument against humor it proves nothing, except of course that humor itself proves nothing." This is Comte-Sponville's first book rendered in English, and despite the concise translation (by Catherine Temerson), it's not hard to see why. (Aug. 30) Forecast: While Holt must have How Proust Can Change Your Life-like ambitions for this title, Alain de Botton scored with readers because they warmed to his loopy self-obsessions. Unfortunately, fans of de Botton won't find much kinship with self-labeled "atheist and neo-cynic" Comte-Sponville, despite his considerable philosophical reputation, and sales, in Europe.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
*Starred Review* In an age of political correctness, individual virtue has shriveled into an anachronism for many commentators. Not for ComteSponville, a Sorbonne philosopher whose reflections on virtue bridge the gap between timely and timeless. Ascending from politeness (the slightest virtue, pertaining only to form and ceremony) to love (the ultimate virtue, binding society together, motivating all service and sacrifice), ComteSponville confronts his readers with the moral challenges essential to the enlargement of our character and the redemption of our humanity. The analysis of 18 virtues naturally focuses on foundational attributes such as justice and generosity, especially within the context of twenty-firstcentury expectations. Yet, again and again, the great moral philosophers of the past--Aristotle and Plato, Hume and Montaigne--speak up, shredding the smug complacency of modernity. And although he himself disavows any religious belief, ComteSponville opens the door to pious thinkers--from Saint Paul to Simone Weil--who see in mortal virtues a partial reflection of God's immortal goodness. His subject demands a sober seriousness, but ComteSponville still manages to avoid taking himself too seriously: humility makes it into his litany of virtues, as does humor. A laudable renewal of the ancient quest for ethical wisdom. Bryce Christensen
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Tzvetan Todorov, author of Facing the Extreme
"Comte-Sponville's way of approaching well-known themes is almost scandalously original; this book is a quest for wisdom."

Customer Reviews

this book is a book for all life and could help change better our character just wonderfull book
this a special amazing book for all life.. we could read now.. and to 10 years over.. and when we are older.. this is a eterny book.. that teach us.. to understand and to know the virtues.. and how we could add them to our character..
of course that is not your power.. but God always can add virtues to our character if we beg him and if we want really sincerily.
that is just amazing and wonderfull
I have been readind and sharing with many friends..
and in my job also.. I m yoga and pilates teacher..
then.. you know...
bye
silvia garcia pinto

inspirational look at ideal human behavior
Andre Comte-Sponville examines 18 virtues, from the minor to the major, culminating in far and away his most important, love. One may argue around the edges whether his 18 form the right list, and the author admits his own challenge in making the final cuts. I may have tossed simplicity and purity, but that's not important, as even those chapters have solid insight.

The term "treatise" may imply a heavy, theoretical view of the virtues more suited for the famous philosophers. While the author incorporates centuries of ideas from the famous, and responds to them (e.g., Spinoza must appear 100 times), his style is much more informal and accessible, almost conversational at times. The philosophical survey is handy for readers not familiar with their ideas, but that was of secondary value compared to the personal.

Do not read this book if you expect virtues to be derived from or align with religion. Comte-Sponville, an atheist, instead identifies what he believes is moral and proper, independent of religion, although of course his conclusions often overlap with those of the religious. The personal touch includes the same tolerance seen in the author's "The Little Book of Atheist Spirituality", as he understands human weaknesses, including his own, and that religion can be a strong motive for virtuous behavior. His tolerance does not extend to evil, no matter how many other virtues the evil-doer exhibits. The Nazis serve repeatedly as counter-examples. A loyal and courageous killer is still a killer. Fidelity in the service of evil is no virtue.

I knew this was a book for me when the prologue included, "To think about the virtues is to take measure of the distance separating us from them. To think about their excellence is to think about our own inadequacies or wretchedness.... Thinking about the virtues will not make us virtuous, or, in any case, is not enough in itself to make us so. But there is one virtue it does develop, and that virtue is humility - intellectual humility in the face of the richness of the material and the tradition, and a properly moral humility as well, before the obvious fact that we are almost always deficient in nearly all the virtues and yet cannot resign ourselves to their absence or exonerate ourselves for their weakness, which is our own."

Thus we have a basis for a self-assessment of how we measure up. The author is no absolutist, recognizing gray areas in most virtues, as behavior falls in a continuum for each virtue, whether applied to others or to ourselves. I was surprised at the difficulty in contemplating how friends, family and co-workers did, even people I felt I knew fairly well. Is it the embodiment or certain virtues or their absence that forces our opinions of the people around us?

The sections are clear and well-written, with some exceptionally good, and the chapter on humility rather thin. The final virtue, love, occupies one fourth of the book. It's a long riff on the three types of love familiar to Catholics and others (eros, agape, philia), with a major theme being how the lack of love is what mandates virtuous behavior. The essay, while charming and serious, doesn't really fit, as it's not tightly focused on love as a virtue.

4.5 stars

To live Well
What a wonderful idea for a book. To bring Philosophy to the masses...
Of course one would wish that this book was written in English, rather than a translation of the stream of consciousness that the author passes on as good writing. If it is clarity you are searching for, this is not a terribly useful book. If you are willing to work with the book and be patient in translating what the author intends to say, then perhaps one could use this book as a basic stepping stone to delve more deeply into the essentials of good living.