Customer Reviews

Thoreau's Living Ethics: Walden and the Pursuit of Virtue

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"Thoreau's Living Ethics" is one of the most engaging philosophy books I have read this year. It examines every facet of Thoreau's virtue ethics, holding Thoreau's ethic up to the light like a diamond and watching it glitter. Cafaro gently questions Thoreau's suppositions and probes the consequences of his beliefs, without ever losing his admiration for this deep thinker who escaped to the deep woods. This is a great book not only for finding out what made Thoreau tick, but for holding up one's own life to the spotlight he created.

The author begins with an explanation of virtue ethics, which focuses on human excellence. The basic concept of virtue ethics, which can be found in Aristotle and Spinoza as well, is that if I am the best person I know how to be, society as a whole will benefit. Most importantly, I will live up to what I was created to be.

Thoreau's personality brought a special emphasis on self-creation and following one's own particular inward nature. He deplored doing things just to be admired by others or to follow the crowd. There are hazards in this perspective, of course, such as the danger of becoming antisocial or reclusive, but Cafaro addresses these carefully, by showing how Thoreau's beliefs caused him to live a life in balance between isolation and community.

If one's true beliefs can only be known by his conduct, Thoreau life passed the test. He was well-beloved by the community in which he lived, in spite of what might be seen as a sometimes cold and distant manner. His ability to find evidences of the divine all around him speaks to those of us who mired in an age increasingly isolated from nature. Most impressively, Thoreau was remarkably free from the need for a large number of possessions to make him happy. Those who are looking for a distinctive set of ethical beliefs from a powerful and original thinker will enjoy this book immensely.

Philip Cafaro pulls together and organizes the best ideas from Thoreau's books, lectures, letters and journal. His book offers the most comprehensive and detailed summation and discussion of Thoreau's ideas I have read, revealing Thoreau as a philosopher of real stature, of great depth and of original thought. Thoreau's Living Ethics stands as a more complete expression of those ideas than any one of Thoreau's own efforts.

This is the most welcome and thought-provoking book I have read all year. Although I have read and enjoyed much of Thoreau's own writings, I have in the past discounted or dismissed certain of his ideas. I did not always understand what Thoreau was aiming at. Now I have a much greater respect for Thoreau's achievements, for his concrete advances and applications. So even a long-time student of Thoreau's works can find new starting points for further study in this book.

This is a serious work about serious ideas, but the author's obvious deep interest in his subject and those ideas lights up every well-reasoned and cleanly-assembled page. This book must have been a labor of love, based on Cafaro's detailed scholarship and enthusiasm. Even then, the author does not idolize Thoreau. Though he puts Thoreau's ideas in the best possible light and context, Cafaro also offers pertinent criticisms and background information when required to fill in the gaps.

Cafaro, a professional philosopher (and professor of Philosophy), has done an excellent job of emphasizing and explicating the central concern of Thoreau's career, which was how to live (that most ethical of issues). For this he deserves well. Get this book. Read it. You'll be glad you did. And then go back and begin re-reading Mr. Thoreau's writings with greater understanding and deeper insights. And, finally, express your gratitude to Cafaro for his contribution. Like I said, he deserves it. Congratulations, Professor Cafaro.