Customer Reviews

The Embers and the Stars

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Erazim Kohak's little known book combines a rich philosophical background and personal reflections of his experience of building a cottage in the woods. Unlike many philosophical works, Kohak doesn't argue to establish premises and reach a conclusion; he 'evokes a vision', as he says. Having read numerous philosophy and ethics texts, I found this book a breath of fresh air and pregnant with valuable insights into nature and the human's role in creation.

Erazim Kohak's work will leave one astounded and challenged. Astounded in the sense that what one encounters is not another moral sense granted by human decision. No. Instead what the reader encounters is a stauch challenged issued by someone who has lived it, and survived. What they have lived is a life in which they were open to creation and they were aware of the profound affect of being in communion with nature. Each reader will be challenged to put aside their anthropocentric point of view and learn what life and, more specifically, morality might look like if nature was what determined morality.

This is a must read for anyone studying environmental ethics, morality, or enjoys Thoreau or Emerson. Though, Kohak goes much deeper than the previous two. Nature is demonstrated in this book not as a retreat, but a place in which we learn. Our resonsibilties are revealed and our flaws exposed. But Nature forgives. There are many lessons to learn and a quick read will not do either the read or Kohak justice. There are times when the material is thick, but one must continue on. For the richness that lies in the pages is too great to be measured. Go forth and conquer!

Erazim Kohak combines depth of thought with elegance of prose, making this book a pleasure to read. It's that rare book of philosophy that you can really savor. Kohak's reflections evoke a world where the rationality and law that govern human existence blend seamlessly with the rhythms of nature. There is no alienation here, no great divide between man and the world around him, and yet the book never degenerates into mere romanticism about returning to nature. It's persuasive, mature, insightful. It has become one of my favorite books of all time, one that I return to again and again, and I think it deserves a wider readership than it's had thus far.

Just to say, I read this first shortly after it came out. I was enchanted by it. I have read it again since, but its influence on me remains profound.