Review of Time and Time Again
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[i][Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Time and Time Again" by Don Miller.][/i] [rwc=id450276-125]4 out of 4 stars.[/rwc]Time and Time Again is a philosophical study of different aspects of time and chance by Don Miller. The book has seven chapters. The first chapter is an introduction that explains the author’s interest in these subjects and gives some background to the chapters that follow. The following six chapters, divided three-apiece into two parts, are a collection of articles and conference papers that Miller has authored over the years.
In his opening chapter, the author quotes the Mexican saying: ‘If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans'. It is a theme that runs through several of the articles in this collection. Miller takes a hatchet to the Western belief, which he argues was born in the Enlightenment, that somehow we can control our destiny through diligence and planning. He believes that we are in a state of denial about the extent to which we are at the mercy of fate. He supports his argument by examining different aspects of time, showing how the concept is inseparable from chance. In ‘Political Time’, for example, Miller argues that time and chance together can be explosively political rather than something passive. He puts forward the view that our notion of time as something seasonal stems from an era when we were more connected to the rhythms of the natural world. It has become part of our language and, therefore, our consciousness.
Readers may find that some of the articles resonate more than others. I particularly enjoyed ‘Quality Time’, for example, in which the author argues that time is more than just a matter of a clock or calendar. It is also, he contends, about the meaning we assign to special moments; birthdays, anniversaries, holy days, and so on. It is his view that this is one of the attributes that make us human. I found myself agreeing with him as I read. I also liked ‘To Play With Time’, where the author goes some way to explaining why voters prefer political and religious leaders armed with big certainties and simple solutions. In the face of such rhetoric, rational persuasion is irrelevant, Miller argues; people want to be seduced by 'the truth'.
Some of the ideas the author puts forward are difficult to grasp at times. For that reason, I liked that the book references cultural, sporting, and political figures. This, I think, helps ‘ground’ some of the more difficult concepts in the experience of the reader. Tennis is used as a metaphor on several occasions, and John McEnroe features prominently. Elvis Presley, Edith Piaf, and Donald Trump also rate mentions along with Freud, Derrida, and Nietzche, to name but a few.
There wasn’t much that I disliked about this short book. The title of each chapter runs as a footer on each page, something which I always find a bit strange. That’s just a personal hang-up, however. I am happy to award it 4 out of 4 stars. I recommend it to philosophy students and to anyone who enjoys trying to understand matters that go to the very essence of what it means to be human. There is not a single swear word in the book, nor is there anything of an erotic nature. It is a well-edited book, and I found only a handful of minor errors. ****** [i]Time and Time Again [/i] View: [url=http://forums.onlinebookclub.org/shelves/book.php?id=450276]on Bookshelves[/url]
In his opening chapter, the author quotes the Mexican saying: ‘If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans'. It is a theme that runs through several of the articles in this collection. Miller takes a hatchet to the Western belief, which he argues was born in the Enlightenment, that somehow we can control our destiny through diligence and planning. He believes that we are in a state of denial about the extent to which we are at the mercy of fate. He supports his argument by examining different aspects of time, showing how the concept is inseparable from chance. In ‘Political Time’, for example, Miller argues that time and chance together can be explosively political rather than something passive. He puts forward the view that our notion of time as something seasonal stems from an era when we were more connected to the rhythms of the natural world. It has become part of our language and, therefore, our consciousness.
Readers may find that some of the articles resonate more than others. I particularly enjoyed ‘Quality Time’, for example, in which the author argues that time is more than just a matter of a clock or calendar. It is also, he contends, about the meaning we assign to special moments; birthdays, anniversaries, holy days, and so on. It is his view that this is one of the attributes that make us human. I found myself agreeing with him as I read. I also liked ‘To Play With Time’, where the author goes some way to explaining why voters prefer political and religious leaders armed with big certainties and simple solutions. In the face of such rhetoric, rational persuasion is irrelevant, Miller argues; people want to be seduced by 'the truth'.
Some of the ideas the author puts forward are difficult to grasp at times. For that reason, I liked that the book references cultural, sporting, and political figures. This, I think, helps ‘ground’ some of the more difficult concepts in the experience of the reader. Tennis is used as a metaphor on several occasions, and John McEnroe features prominently. Elvis Presley, Edith Piaf, and Donald Trump also rate mentions along with Freud, Derrida, and Nietzche, to name but a few.
There wasn’t much that I disliked about this short book. The title of each chapter runs as a footer on each page, something which I always find a bit strange. That’s just a personal hang-up, however. I am happy to award it 4 out of 4 stars. I recommend it to philosophy students and to anyone who enjoys trying to understand matters that go to the very essence of what it means to be human. There is not a single swear word in the book, nor is there anything of an erotic nature. It is a well-edited book, and I found only a handful of minor errors. ****** [i]Time and Time Again [/i] View: [url=http://forums.onlinebookclub.org/shelves/book.php?id=450276]on Bookshelves[/url]
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