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Forbidden Knowledge: From Prometheus to Pornography Paperback – September 15, 1997

by Roger Shattuck (Author)
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 42 ratings
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In his “best achievement to date” (Harold Bloom), National Book Award- winner Roger Shattuck gives us a “deeply learned, highly intelligent, and beautifully written” (New York Times) study of human curiosity versus the taboo, from Adam and Eve to the Marquis de Sade to biotechnology research. Index.
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  1. Print length
    384 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publication date
    September 15, 1997
  4. Dimensions
    5.25 x 0.98 x 8 inches
  5. ISBN-10
    0156005514
  6. ISBN-13
    978-0156005517
  7. See all details
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4.5 out of 5 stars
42 global ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

  • Joe Kerr
    5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating look at banned materials through history.
    Reviewed in the United States on November 17, 2015
    Verified Purchase
    Gives a fascinating look from the earliest oral traditions & writings to the 20th century at things, mostly books & works of art, that have been banned or locked away by rulers, the Catholic Church, and governments. Everything from the Marquis de Sade to Promethius' fire is covered. Very interesting read.
    4 people found this helpful
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  • amber bracks
    5.0 out of 5 stars Fast shipment
    Reviewed in the United States on April 29, 2013
    Verified Purchase
    I love this book. The price was much cheaper than what i would find in stores or on kindle. I love an old fashioned hard cover book reading is a big stress reliever for me. The item arrived and in excellent condition
    One person found this helpful
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  • CHO WON KYUNG
    5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
    Reviewed in the United States on December 18, 2014
    Verified Purchase
    TRIPLE EXCELLENT!!!
    One person found this helpful
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  • Jose F. Obregon-Plaza
    3.0 out of 5 stars Three Stars
    Reviewed in the United States on June 4, 2018
    Verified Purchase
    I did not understand 30 % of the conclusions.
    3 people found this helpful
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  • Roger Lathbury
    5.0 out of 5 stars Ad Hominem Per Astra
    Reviewed in the United States on July 14, 2002
    A rare and wonderful argument, written with verve and considerable moral urgency, Forbidden Knowledge frames the question of whether there are some things we should not know. The subtitle "From Prometheus to Pornography" points to the middle ground Shattuck ultimately takes.
    The first half of the book sets up the opposition in literary terms. Untrammeled exploration is the taking of what cultural institutions say must not be taken; Shattuck traces this exploration from the myth of the fire stealer Prometheus, through Eve's eating of the interdicted apple in the Bible and Paradise Lost, Ulysses' illicit voyage (Book XXVI, Dante's Inferno), and many other literary representations. The opposing way of approaching prohibitions is found in two instances (both written by women, a point Shattuck could make more of) of liberation that comes through self-limitation: La Princesse de Cleves and the poetry of Emily Dickinson. The second half of Forbidden Knowledge applies these oppositions to life, as in the social consequences of violent pornography (e. g., De Sade's influence on Ted Bundy) and scientific exploration (the human genome project) that seems to promise complete control over human existence. Shattuck's range of literary reference is divertingly breathtaking: Socrates and rap, Aeschylus and Woody Allen, Goethe, Ghandi, Melville, Maimonides, Walter Pater, Democritus, Roland Barthes, Perrault--aw, hell, everything: if you've taken Western Literature at any quarter-baked college or university, you'll come upon something you've read. And Shattuck will illuminate it from the alternative perspectives of pleonexia vs. portee.
    It would have been simple-minded, easy, and instantly suspect to compose a polemic for intellectual freedom. This Shattuck does not do. He argues instead that philosophical and scientific thought--the law of infinite regress, for instance--affirms the impossibility of complete knowledge. Although human nature is such that exploration cannot be stopped, the ways in which knowledge is applied can be controlled. Incompleteness is inevitable--and humanizing. "Be lowly wise" (Paradise Lost, Book VIII).
    I summarize shamelessly because I am confident that anyone who reads this will want the book. It is learned, original, many-sided, allusive without crowing, invigorating, earnest yet sophisticated, written with humor and grace. In our age, when science and art have displaced religion, only scientific and aesthetic arguments can hold weight. Forbidden Knowledge is the largest and most valuable contemporary book I have read to address in large, relevant compass the question of moral responsibility. And it is the only one to do so convincingly.
    63 people found this helpful
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  • Amazon Customer
    4.0 out of 5 stars why you shouldn't screw with a french policeman
    Reviewed in the United States on November 27, 2008
    It starts as a kind of CHronology of "shhh..don't say that, or don't talk about THAT!" but much liek Bernard McGinn's "Anti-Christ," chronicles instead, to steal his subtitle for his book, "the human fascination with evil." IN fact the books could almost be read in tandem, not just for a class, but a study... link it with WIlliam James Varieties of Experience, and you might even have a full course of, "What the F*&* happened here" What i like about forbidden though is it's persstence to it's theme, and not nec. relying on a wierd academic stance, much like books on the plague for instance.. what ends up is really an almost bible story extended..a lesson in the frailty of humanity, and how it is at the same time in our suppossed weakness that there is a subtle strength.. one can only think of the bio of joan of arc for instance.. it's not as much a question of ethics, or what peeps strangely call morality, but rather what life really is.. one great big lesson in forbiddness, and possibly why or why not.. for me this book captured the essence of a Pet Shop Boys song (80's band) "It's a Sin" now i wonder ifg they ever did a a book tour for this, if they ever used that song...hmmm...
    One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

  • David Wright
    5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 12, 2014
    Verified Purchase
    Very thoughtfully written, and prompts 'Yes but ...' on the reader's part! Excelent
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