Customer Reviews

Personality, Spirit, and Ethics: The Ethics of Nicholas Berdyaev

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I acquired with great hopes the book of Professor Emeritus Slaatte, because part of my own ongoing work covers Berdiaev, beside a few other important thinker figures. However, I must say that Prof. Slaatte's book turned out to be a disappointment. Despite the evidently good intentions of the author, he does not really get "there". This is to be regretted all the more, because the Index of the book is promising and consists of very relevant Berdiaevian entries, and because Prof. Slaatte's reading approach involves a multitude of detailed references to pages in Berdiaev's books.

For this or that reason, Prof. Slaatte's book does not really go into the thought of Berdiaev but somehow stays gliding in the surface. I see it as possible that Prof. Slaatte's own frame of reference is too different to allow ascent or descent into Berdiaev's sphere. The part of Berdiaev's ample production that Prof. Slaatte goes through is also limited. I find the best book on Berdiaev to be the one by Olivier Clement's, but it is only available in French, albeit in an edition that is not sold out by far.