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Title: The Intellectual Life: Its Spirit, Conditions, Methods
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Manufacturer: Catholic University of America Press
List Price: $19.95
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| The Intellectual Life: Its Spirit, Conditions, Methods by Catholic University of America Press A Guide to (Christian) Scholarship | This book would make an excellent gift for the student beginning university work and the tired student, professor, or independent researcher who needs a refresher. Sertillanges has advice for everything from being moral to staying healthy to taking good notes, all of it both persuasive and practicable.
It's a good guide for scholars of every discipline, so long as they are Christian or warm to Christian ideas. Sertillanges' arguments, especially in the first chapters, rely upon premises like the unity of God's creation and the incarnation of Christ. For instance, in a section entitled "The Intellectual Does Not Stand Alone", the author says "Jesus Christ needs our minds for his work, as on earth He needed His own human mind; we have that measureless honor. We are His members, therefore have a share in His spirit, are therefore His cooperators" (pp.13-14). If you aren't Christian and/or you refuse to listen to any arguments which assume the tenets of the Christian faith are true, then this may not be the book for you.
The little sample above gives an idea of Sertillanges' charming prose, and this entire book is full of captivating writing just like it. For some this book will be an edifying one-time read, but for others it can become the cornerstone for a truly fulfilling intellectual life. | | The Intellectual Life: Its Spirit, Conditions, Methods by Catholic University of America Press A decent overview of an intellectual life... | I enjoyed this book immensely and have just finished it. I must note that I am 21 and an undergraduate History/German major planning on pursuing a PhD. This book provides a general path to organizing one's life in the pursuit of "Truth." I recommend it as a read just because it adds valuable information to one's life.
But why the three stars? If you are looking for a guidebook to being an incredibly well-read and well-versed individual, this is not the book. Sure, it divides the chapters into different themes that help one get started, but it is not a laid-out diagram to achieving that "intellectual" status that is so sought after by so many. That last statement was not necessarily a qualm, but the overly-Christian theme is a bit much for a modern Humanist. Probably one-third of this book is Sertillanges espousing his spiritual beliefs. His view that one cannot achieve "Truth" without the help of "God" is, in my opinion, a bit trite and outdated. Another redundant aspect of this book is how one should live one's life. His suggestions are good, but seem a bit innate. If one has come to the point in one's life where one is searching for a book on how to achieve that "intellectual" status, one probably knows that one should read quality material, establish good sleep and hygienic routines and avoid late-night revelries. If you, reader, have not figured out that binge drinking is not conducive to an intellectual life, maybe try reassessing your values and goals in life. Though this book was written originally 88 years ago and beliefs and ideals have changed since Sertillanges's day, I sitll have a problem reading 260 pages, 90 of which are ideals on leading a Christian life, and finishing the book with a feeling that this was more a rant than a guide. I feel that this book would do many-a high school kid good. Sertillanges seems to assume that the reader has finished his/her formal studies and is preparing for a career in an intellectual field. If kids could learn at an earlier age that partying and late nights do not equate with doing well in college, our society would be generally better off. Unfortunately, most of us had to learn the hard way that going out to the pubs the night before an exam is not an efficient use of time.
So in closing, get this book for your 15 year old that has been told by the media that college is about partying, lots of naked girls and boys, lying for hours in parks with friends and all the other misconceptions that I grew up with. Well, on second thought, that IS what college is for some people, but these are generally unsuccessful in achieving anything noteworthy. Freshman year in high school is the time to introduce the ideologies of intellectualism, not after they have spent four semesters figuring it out the hard way (not that I have wasted my last three years). | | The Intellectual Life: Its Spirit, Conditions, Methods by Catholic University of America Press A classic text having lost none of its relevance for modern day seekers of Truth | | Indispensable for anyone desiring to become a genuine and disciplined scholar; it provides an outstanding roadmap for anyone aspiring to the intellectual life and its mastery. A few of Sertillanges' suggestions are antiquated due to the date of the book's publication. This, however, poses no difficulties for the reader as these patches of "elderly wisdom" are easily updated - substituting the era of the typewriter with the age of digital scholarship. The principles taught in this text remain unchanged over time. After all, it is the task of "one who would know" to refashion the specific, temporal elements of "BEING & DOING" in accordance with the essence and ideals which form the timeless core, indeed the heart, of a life lived in pursuit of the highest things. It is the journey that captivates and grips both spirit and mind with a particular awe; overwhelmingly humbling and dazzling the soul of those who bide the perils of such a life and are rewarded, if they do not succumb to their own pride, with the unexpected, dumbfounding flash of perceiving (or more accurately SEEING) an image, a fleeting shadow of "that which IS" - the act of knowing something for the first time which was not taught to you by another, nor derived as the end product of a line of reasoning. | | The Intellectual Life: Its Spirit, Conditions, Methods by Catholic University of America Press Contact with Genius | 1998 reprint of 1987 edition, Catholic University of America Press, 296 pages (of which 260 pages form the main body of the book)
Translated from the French (1934 2nd edition) by Mary Ryan
I came across this unusual book when discussing with my most well read friend the problem of deciding how much to read. He told me this topic was covered in Sertillanges' book and suggested I read it.
The title makes it sound as if the book might be pretentious, but it is not. In the same way that Peter Drucker's superb The Effective Executive is a book for any knowledge worker rather than just for managers, Sertillanges' book should be helpful for anyone who wishes to work using their intellect, rather than just for rarefied intellectuals.
The 1998 reissue (the 1992 date listed on Amazon.co.uk is incorrect) of the 1987 edition has a new forward by James Schall. I think he captures the essence of Sertillanges' book very well:
"At first sight...this is a quaint book. At second sight it is an utterly demanding book."
The subtitle of The Intellectual Life describes its contents well: "Its Spirit, Conditions, Methods". For Sertillanges, intellectual work is not something done in isolation of the rest of a person's life. He believes strongly that in order to do intellectual work to one's capacity, one must order the whole of one's life with this goal in mind. And further, that this requires habits of simplicity, detachment, note taking, memory, writing and more. His book is thus a step-by-step manual that sets out these requirements from the general (virtues, character) to the specific (note-taking, writing).
For most people who are not already members of religious orders (Sertillanges was a Dominican friar) it would be terrifically demanding to follow all of Sertillanges' prescriptions - and involve major changes to one's life. Sertillanges does believe, however, that if one takes care with the rest of one's life then intellectual work can be done satisfactorily using only a couple of hours a day. His book is thus a mixture of the extremely demanding and eminently practical - particularly as much of his advice involves cutting out and eliminating habits that waste time and disturb thought (e.g. pointless correspondence and interactions with people, reading of novels and newspapers).
After reading Ben Franklin's autobiography and Charlie Munger's Poor Charlie's Almanack at the beginning of the year, I have become increasingly aware of the crucial role of habits in determining the outcome of peoples' lives. I was stupid enough to have spent a good proportion of my life testing out the truth of Franklin's maxim: "Experience keeps a dear school, yet Fools will learn in no other." I no longer have any doubt that forming good habits - and most especially avoiding forming bad ones - is terribly important. After all, reliability - which Munger considers the single most important determining characteristic for a person's life - is really just another habit.
Sertillanges understood this very well and the importance of habits that facilitate intellectual work is a topic that he brings up repeatedly - and in my view very wisely - in his book:
"One acquires facility in thinking just as one acquires facility in playing the piano, in riding, or painting.... The mind gets into the way of doing what is often demanded of it."
This is not the only resemblance between the advice in Sertillanges' book and that given by Charlie Munger (the best source for his ideas and the most useful book I have ever read is Poor Charlie's Almanack). The importance of a broad base of knowledge, the danger of over-specialisation and the critical importance of only a few ideas in each subject are all covered in this book.
Another striking similarity is Sertillanges' view of the importance of 'contact with genius' and how one goes about acquiring wisdom:
"...the principal profit from reading, at least from reading great works, is not the acquisition of scattered truths, it is the increase of our wisdom."
I was left with somewhat mixed feelings as I progressed through The Intellectual Life. At times Sertillanges' overt religiosity became a little much for me (I am not a religious person) and I found his prescriptions rather daunting.
As I neared the end of the book, however, my view changed and I found myself extremely grateful that Sertillanges' had written this book for us. It was partly because his section on writing answered with great clarity some problems that I had been wrestling with, and partly because I realised that one could simply take what one needed from his book - rather than the whole package.
My difficulty in deciding how much to read remains somewhat unresolved: there is a tension between Sertillanges' advice on reading and that of people like Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger on investment (my own profession/hobby). Sertillanges advises cutting down on excess (particularly undirected) reading, including, for example, newspapers:
"As to newspapers, defend yourself against them with the energy that the continuity and the indiscretion of their assault make indispensable. You must know what the papers contain, but they contain so little..."
Buffett, on the other hand, claims to read five newspapers a day and urges us to read everything in sight!
I suspect the different advice is due to the type of work. Firstly, I am not sure that investing is an inherently intellectual pursuit (Buffett has often said that after an average level of intelligence the right temperament is more important). Secondly, intelligent investment is just applied opportunism - and in order to take advantage of opportunities we must first be aware of their existence.
I did not find this an easy review to write. I have had to leave out various topics that I would like to have discussed more fully (such as Sertillanges' excellent advice on writing) and still feel this review may be overlong. However, I believe a review that does not attempt to set its subject firmly in context is of limited use. I'll leave the final word to Sertillanges:
"There are books everywhere and only a few are necessary."
I commend this unusual book to you as one of the necessary ones. | | The Intellectual Life: Its Spirit, Conditions, Methods by Catholic University of America Press Absolutely gorgeous book! | Still a very good book about:
Why (a lot) and how (a little bit) to become a
good thinker. Very inspiring.The original French version is available for free online
(among others at www.inquisition.ca). Cheers!
Stefan | | The Intellectual Life: Its Spirit, Conditions, Methods by Catholic University of America Press Product Description | | This edition includes a new foreword by James V. Schall, S.J. Sertillanges asks in the preface of the 1934 edition of The Intellectual Life: "Do you want to do intellectual work?" He follows with the prescription: "Begin by creating within you a zone of silence, a habit of recollection, a will of renunciation and detachment which puts you entirely at the disposal of work; acquire that state of soul unburdened by desire and self-will which is the state of grace of the intellectual worker. Without that you will do nothing, at least nothing worth while." First published in 1920, this classic has been repeatedly reprinted and continues to inspire and instruct young scholars. |
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