Reviewed
by: BigAl
Genre: Philosophy/Religion
Approximate
word count: 35-40,000
words
Availability
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go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords store
Author:
“Enrico
Degiuli lives in Verona, Italy. He studied theoretical physics at the
University of Trento and holds a master's degree in applied mathematics from
the University of Milano-Bicocca.
He likes
volleyball, snowboarding, hiking and enjoys playing mind sports like chess, go
and poker.”
Description:
“Why are
there so many subjects people hold different, and often conflicting, opinions
about? If we were to address every issue rationally, wouldn't we always agree?
These
questions trigger a discussion between Andrew, Bob, and Charles, friends and
physics students. They believe that sharing information that everyone can use
in reasoning plays a key role in reaching understanding, and that different
starting information may explain different results.
The three
friends carry out an experiment: find a topic about which their opinions
differ, share information they consider important, and see if they are able to
come to an agreement.
One a
Christian, another agnostic and the third a deist, they decide to compare their
religious views, exposing the main reasons that led each to their conclusion.
Drawing on
such sources as Augustine, Kant and Plato, Sapere Aude! addresses important
topics in simple and direct language, explaining interesting facts, well known
to scholars, but almost entirely ignored by the public.
The three
young friends accompany the reader on a journey full of unexpected discoveries
and surprises, and like all journeys to an unexplored land, Sapere Aude! will
fascinate and enrich all those who undertake to find out where it leads.”
Appraisal:
Sapere
Aude is the fictional
dialogue of three friends who theorize that if they choose a topic on which
they disagree and explore all the facts they’ll be able to come to an
agreement. The first subjects (where agreement is reached) are a prelude to the
biggie, religion.
The format
of the “story” feels forced, at least as a story, and I’m not sure it works,
but as method of exploring the questions, facts, philosophy, and other factors
considered, it makes the discussion more palatable and easier to relate to than
a dry recitation of the various viewpoints would.
Sapere
Aude is Latin that
translates as “dare to know.” The idea of this book, as I see it, is that if
you’ve blindly followed the beliefs of your parents or others without exploring
and understanding the arguments for all sides, you can’t really know. When I
finished Sapere Aude I wasn’t sure where the author
stood on the subject. This is good. I’ve read other books that purported to be
a fictional exploration on the subject and each ended with clear position that,
in my opinion, wasn’t always justified by the facts presented. Here, things are
left open, allowing you to make your own decision, which is how it should be.
Format/Typo
Issues:
No
significant issues.
Rating: ***
Three stars
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