Product Description

The author of the world wide best-seller, Small Is Beautiful, now tackles the subject of Man, the World, and the Meaning of Living.Schumacher writes about man's relation to the world. man has obligations -- to other men, to the earth, to progress and technology, but most importantly himself. If man can fulfill these obligations, then and only then can he enjoy a real relationship with the world, then and only then can he know the meaning of living.

Schumacher says we need maps: a "map of knowledge" and a "map of living." The concern of the mapmaker--in this instance, Schumacher--is to find for everything it's proper place. Things out of place tend to get lost; they become invisible and there proper places end to be filled by other things that ought not be there at all and therefore serve to mislead.

A Guide for the Perplexed teaches us to be our own map makers. This constantly surprising, always stimulating book will be welcomed by a large audience, including the many new fans who believe strongly in what Schumacher has to say.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #21999 in Books
• Published on: 1978-06-30
• Released on: 1978-05-31
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 160 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780060906115
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Review
"A Guide for the Perplexed is really a statement of the philosophical underpinnings that inform Small is Beautiful. Those who have read neither book should be wise to read the latest book first. Those who have read Small is Beautiful will benefit from careful reading of this new book. It's impact may be less immediate, but perhaps more substantial and lasting." -- Chicago Tribune

"A Guide for the Perplexed offers us a harvest of utterly insane, consoling , and life-afffirming insight from one of the wisest minds of our time. It is and unapologetic defense of traditional Christian humanism which I am certain will light many a darkrned path." -- Theodore Roszak, Los Angeles Times

"A harvest of utterly sane, consoling, and life-affirming insight from one of the wisest minds of our time." -- Los Angeles Times

The late E.F. Schumacher understates his case in titling this book A Guide for the Perplexed; what he undertakes is to provide nothing less than a Manual for Survival, concerned not merely with individual physical or even societal endurance (though that, too), but more importantly with the full realization of human potential.

Does that sound impossibly ambitious? It's only the beginning. In the process of articulating his view of life, Schumacher proceeds to knock the foundation from under much of what science has been about these past few centuries, and then to bring into synthesis the definitive tenets of the world's major religions. All this -- and more -- in only 140 pages.

But hold the snickers; the man pulls it off. Compelling reasoned and persuasively presented, this Guide diagrams a view of humans and the world in which they live that will challenge and stimulate every thoughtful reader." -- Newsday

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Chapter One

On a visit to Leningrad some years ago. I consulted a map to find out where I was, but I could not make it out. From where I stood, I could see several enormous churches, yet there was no trace of them on my map. When finally an interpreter came to help me, he said: "We don't show churches on our maps." Contradicting him, I pointed to one that was very clearly marked. "That is a museum," he said, "not what we call a 'living church.' It is only the 'living churches' we don't show.

It then occurred to me that this was not the first time I had been given a map which failed to show many things I could see right in front of my eyes. All through school and university I had been given maps of life and knowledge on which there was hardly a trace of many of the things that I most cared about and that seemed to me to be of the greatest possible importance to the conduct of my life. I remembered that for many years my perplexity had been complete; and no interpreter had come along to help me. It remained complete until I ceased to suspect the sanity of my perceptions and began, instead, to suspect the, soundness of the maps.

The maps I was given advised me that virtually all my ancestors, until quite recently, had been rather pathetic illusionists who conducted their lives on the basis of irrational beliefs andabsurd superstitions. Even illustrious scientists, like JohannesKepler or Isaac, Newton, apparently spent most of their timeand energy on nonsensical studies of nonexisting things. Enormous amounts of hard-earned wealth had been squanderedthroughout history to the honor and glory of imaginary deities,not only by my European forebears, but by all peoples, in allparts of the world, at all times. Everywhere thousands of seemingly healthy men and women had subjected themselves toutterly meaningless restrictions, like voluntary fasting; tormented themselves by celibacy; wasted their time on pilgrimages, fantastic rituals, reiterated prayers, and so forth; turningtheir backs on reality-and some do it even in this enlightenedage-all for nothing, out of ignorance and stupidity; none ofit to be taken seriously today, except of course as museumpieces. From what a history of error we had emerged! What ahistory of taking for real what every modern child knew to betotally unreal and imaginary! Our entire past, until quite recently, was today fit only for museums, where people couldsatisfy their curiosity about the oddity and incompetence ofearlier generations. What our ancestors had written, also, wasin the main fit only for storage in libraries, where historians andother specialists could " study these relics and write books aboutthem, the knowledge of the past being considered interestingand occasionally thrilling but of no particular value for learningto cope with the problems of the present.

All, this and many other similar things I was taught at school and university, although not in so many words, not plainly and frankly. It would not do to call a spade a spade. Ancestors had to be treated with respect: they could not help their backwardness; they tried hard and sometimes even got quite near the truth in a haphazard sort of way. Their preoccupation with religion was just one of their many signs of underdevelopment, not surprising, in people who had not yet come of age. Even today, of course, there remained some interest in religion, which legitimized that of earlier times. It was still permissible, on suitable occasions, to refer to God the Creator, although every educated person knew that there was not really a God, certainly not one capable of creating anything, and that the things around us had come into existence by a process of mindless evolution, that is, by chance and natural selection. Our ancestors, unfortunately, did not know about evolution, and so they invented all these fanciful myths.

The maps of real knowledge, designed for real life, showed nothing except things which allegedly could be proved to exist. The first principle of the philosophical mapmakers seemed to be "If in doubt, leave it out," or put it into a museum. It occurred to me, however, that the question of what constitutes proof was a very subtle and difficult one. Would it not be wiser to turn the principle into its opposite and say: "If in doubt, show it prominently"? After all, matters that are beyond doubt are, in a sense, dead; they constitute no challenge to the living.

To accept anything as true means to incur the risk of error. If I limit myself to knowledge that I consider true beyond doubt, I minimize the risk of error, but at the same time I maximize the risk of missing out on what may be the subtlest, most important, and most rewarding things in life. Saint Thomas Aquinas, following Aristotle, taught that "The slenderest knowledge that may be obtained of the highest things is more desirable than the most certain knowledge obtained of lesser things. "Slender" knowledge is here put in opposition to "certain" knowledge, and indicates uncertainty. Maybe it is necessarily so that the higher things cannot be known with the same degree of certainty as can the lesser things, in which case it would be a very great loss indeed if knowledge were limited to things beyond the possibility of doubt.

The philosophical maps with which I was supplied at school and university did not merely, like the map of Leningrad, fail to show "living churches"; they also failed to show large unorthodox" sections of both. theory and practice in medicine, agriculture, psychology, and the social and political sciences, not to mention art and so-called occult or paranormal phenomena, the mere mention of which was considered to be a sign of mental deficiency.

Customer Reviews

A wonderful, life-changing book
I read this book about 10 years ago and I still read it again and again. The author widens our perspective on science and point to the fact that 3/4 of reality can not be investigated by conventional scientific methods. I am a scientist and I read thousands of scientific reports and also report some myself. When I read this book I instantly felt that the author was absolutely right about the limitations of conventional science. Thus, his book changed my whole perspective of science and I started to investigate the "other areas". I have never regretted that. This book is beautifully written. It is one of my 3-4 favourite books which I very often take out from the bookshelf to read in silent mornings when the family is asleep. I recommend this as a first read of my favourite books. It is particularly important reading for scientists.

We all need to create our own map for living
Do you wonder whether humanity has the correct view of itself? Do you think that we need a radically different worldview? Do you think we need to awaken from our spiritual sloth? Are you interested to read the last words from a brilliant mind and unorthodox thinker to a muddled world - a world perplexed by the problems of its own making? This book by the author of "Small is Beautiful" received good reviews, such as "The most exciting philosophical book for ages" and in fact the author starts off with philosophical maps. At school he had been given a map of life and knowledge - how to get into the job market and make money basically - but without any of the markings which he considered to be of the utmost importance for the conduct of his life; he was perplexed until he realized that his perceptions were probably sound and it was the map that was not only incomplete but also basically unsound. He felt like he had been given a map of New York and told to find his way in Chicago. In due course, he came to the conclusion that the traditional map makers - those in authority, our teachers, our leaders - know nothing about what really matters in life and that they were quite unqualified for the task. From that moment he started to think for himself and piece together his own map of what is important that he should know and of how he should live his life. He found that with the ever more rigorous application of the scientific method the last remnants of ancient wisdom had been discarded in the name of objectivity. He decided to construct his own map based on four universal truths - the world; man and his equipment to meet the world; man's way of learning about the world; and what it means to live in the world.

Schumacher found that traditional wisdom handed down to us through the centuries distinguished between "higher" and "lower" things and levels of being but that this had been rejected because they were not subject to quantitative measurement. Thus the traditional map did not address the question "What am I to do with my life?" Without the qualitative concepts of higher and lower it was impossible to even think of guidelines for living that lead beyond individual or collective utilitarianism and selfishness. Without these qualitative concepts it is not possible to find out where everything has its proper legitimate place because nothing can be understood unless its level of being is fully taken into account. Many things are true at a low level of being but become absurd at a higher level and vice versa.

The author then moved on to reflect on levels of being and that his task was to look at the world and see it whole - what our ancestors referred to the great "Chain of Being", beginning with the Divine. The great majority of mankind, throughout its known history, until very recently, has been convinced that the Chain of Being extends upwards beyond man. What is more, they considered this belief to be the most profound of all truths. A person fixed in the philosophy of materialistic scientism, denying the reality of the "invisibles" and confining his attention solely to what can be counted, measured and weighed lives in a very poor world - so poor in fact that he will experience it as a meaningless wasteland unfit for human habitation. It is self-awareness, constituting the difference between animal and man, that is a power of unlimited potential, a power that not only makes man human but gives him the possibility, even the need, to become superhuman. To be properly human you must go beyond the merely human. It is as though a book of great wisdom is given to a dog and to different people. To the dog, the book is nothing more than a colored object. To an illiterate it may be no more than pretty pictures; to a young and undeveloped mind it may be no more than words and sentences; to the superficial reader the book may be just a good story; but to the wise the book may unlock the secrets of the universe. This is what Schumacher meant by self-awareness, of higher and lower. Man is capable of bringing the whole of the universe into his experience but what he will actually grasp depends on each persons Level of Being. The "higher" the person, the greater and richer is his or her world. Life is a magnificent symphony that only the higher can appreciate.

The author goes on to imagine a perfect being who is always and invariably exercising his power of self-awareness - his power of freedom - to the fullest degree, unmoved by any necessity. This would be a Divine Being, an almighty sovereign power, a perfect unity, where "higher" also means and implies "more inner", "more interior", "deeper", "more intimate" and where "lower" means and implies "more outer", "more external", "shallower", "less intimate".

If you have concluded that the philosophical map given to you when young did not equip you well for living in this world; if you have a gut feeling that moving beyond the "lower" and seeking the "higher" is what we are here in this world to do; if you feel that you have been concerned only with the measurable and have been missing out on the invisibles; if you feel that you have settled for an impoverished view of reality; if you have been struggling to make your own philosophical map because you were given a map that was inadequate or misleading; then this book by one of the wise men of the last century is a very good place to start.

A Refutation of Science Without Soul
This is a profound piece of writing, well worth a mere ten dollars. Schumacher, even though he was a high ranking economist in the British government for over 30 years, understood that numbers and other forms of quantifiable (observable) knowledge were phantoms of true knowledge. This book, in a very dense and deep, yet perfectly rational and understantable way, describes the failure of modern societies (and people) to reconcile themselves with their past and their place in creation. Your life has a meaning and a purpose beyond your physiological composition and the consumption of material goods. Read this book to find out why.