David Fideler

Decent practical intro to Seneca and stoicism in general, but incredibly naive about any downsides, it reads like a hagiography. The occasional overlap with modern psychological takes are trumpeted out to great fanfare, and the darker aspects of a philosophy of passivity in the face of slavery and injustice is swept under the rug. Nor is there much reflection about the principal adherent being part of an elite that had the time and money to walk around thinking about hypothetical problems. show more Stoicism is such a big hit with corporate environments and upper middle class people with office jobs it works about the same these days too; similarly they have no shame telling the wage slave to find peace scrubbing floors and slinging hash.
See McMindfulness: How Mindfulness Became the New Capitalist Spirituality for the "Buddhist" side of this same messaging. show less

"Ancient Cosmology and Early Christian Symbolism" barely suggests the profound topics addressed in this wonderful book. Besides drawing out many of the continuities between the Pythagorean tradition and the Christian mysteries, Fideler's text demonstrates the span and depth of the idea of harmony as the metaphysical basis for universal brotherhood.

There is a certain palpable sympathy between the doctrines expressed by Fideler and the elegant and powerful work of Buckminster Fuller, which show more becomes a matter of direct allusion in the final chapter with Fideler's appeal to "the Philosophy of Whole Systems."

A great strength of the book is its host of illustrative diagrams, conveying the logos of the author's thesis in a more varied and powerful manner than text alone could ever accomplish. Jesus Christ: Sun of God is a master's piece, showing how its author can apply all seven of the arts and sciences to a single, essential topic, and encouraging any fellow craftsman to follow such a course to "the Invocation of Harmony and the Unification of Culture."

Anyone interested in the real spiritual value of Christianity (or arithmetic!) can enjoy this book, and will be likely to learn much from it. show less

Wonderfully clear, accessible interpretations of Stoic principles and nuances.

Much common sense. Taken from Seneca's writings on Stoicism, mostly from letters to a friend, easy to read and to understand. I thought an interesting fact, Jefferson, one of the founding fathers of the U.S., used the phrase "pursuit of happiness" by which the author of this book opines that he meant "the pursuit of virtue."