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Beyond Illusion & Doubt

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From Socrates to Sartre, Western philosophers have grappled with the ultimate questions: "What is the meaning of life?" "Does God exist?" "What is the supreme Good, and how can we achieve it?" A thoughtful person should be eager to learn the solutions to these mysteries--yet he or she will look in vain for conclusive answers from Western thinkers. As brilliant as their writings are, they leave s in doubt, wondering if these questions can ever truly be answered.

"Yes, they can," declares the author of Beyond Illusion and Doubt, His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, whom scholars and spiritual leaders worldwide recognize as the most distinguished teacher of Indian culture and philosophy of the modern age. In this remarkable series of conversations on the ideas of fifteen leading Western philosophers, the author points out the ideas' good points and defects, presents the Vedic view, and outlines the process of yoga by which we can transcend illusion and doubt in our own lives and proceed with certainty on the path to perfection.

Table of Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1: Socrates
Chapter 2: Plato
Chapter 3: Aristotle
Chapter 4: Origen
Chapter 5: Augustine
Chapter 6: Thomas Aquinas
Chapter 7: Kierkegaard
Chapter 8: Schopenhauer
Chapter 9: Darwin
Chapter 10: John Stuart Mill
Chapter 11: Marx
Chapter 12: Nietzsche
Chapter 13: Freud
Chapter 14: Sartre
Chapter 15: Carl Jung

Don't judge a book by its cover. You can read hundreds of book on Philosophy and still be in doubt Or you can read this one book and get conclusive answers for the ultimate questions that have grappled the great philosophers.The 15 leading philosophers' ideas are analyzed in general and also in the light of Vedic Knowledge and most importantly straight-forward conclusions are arrived at. Besides Philosophy and Psychology, If you are also interested in Self-improvment, Leadership, Positive Thinking, this book is worthier than 100's of top philosophy books put together.

It's said ability for self realization is what makes men different from animals. So we read so much of Philosophy from the books of western philosophers as eastern philosophies have been hard to get until this New Age movement. In this book the founder of Hare Krishna Movement - ISKCON provides a Vedic angle to philosophies of all famous thinkers of the west. From Fraud to Jung, From Marx to Socrates etc. The authors views are on these philosphies is so enlightened, powerful and that it puts all of them in the right perspectives.

While reading this as we get some introduction to prominent western thought, the authors illumination of the Vedic view so enlightening that it challenges reader to use own sensibilities understands some dogmas and glaring gaps in certain theories as of Fraud's. It's like getting hot daal soup to go with bowl of plain rice!

This book is a must read for all seekers of philosophy and self realization.

More Srila Prabhupada reprints from Godhead magazine, using loaded language to discredit ideas of some of the world's finest minds. He claims that he is in fact a perfect man in the chapter on Marx, and uses a totally flawed understanding of evolution to try to disprove Darwin's theory of evolution. Prabuhpada writes with an arrogant tone throughout, using nonsense examples of perfect Vedic knowledge and is condescending and ignorant in his approach to the work of others.

Good if you want to study religious or cult propaganda, but otherwise a distorted and probably unhealthy discussion on Western philosophy by a man who insists you should be doing what he says.