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Four Reasonable Men: Marcus Aurelius, John Stuart Mill, Ernest Renan, Henry Sidgwick
Portrays the lives of four influential philosophers and describes that their lives were lived in a quiet and reasonable manner
- GenresPhilosophyBiography
320 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 1984
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 6, 2012
I've read a ton on Marcus Aurelius. Quite a bit on John Stuart Mill. Nothing on Ernest Renan. The back cover has a quote from the New York Time's Book Review describing Blanshard's writing style to the purring of a classic Rolls Royce. I didn't really know what to make of that but it turned out to be eerily descriptive. For the men I already knew about, this was an astute and provocative analysis of their lives and work. For the men I did not, it was an accessible introduction to two extraordinary but obscure philosophers. It would seem weird if you only knew a little to see these four men grouped together--an emperor, a child prodigy, an almost-priest/historian of Jesus, and a college professor. This misses Blanshard's practical but critical criteria. Each of them, throughout their long and illustrious careers, were driven by a profound and truly rare sense of reasonableness. From Aurelius's humility and groundedness to Mill's championing of women's rights nearly a 100 years before feminism. What I like about it is that it is a rather attainable characteristic to write a series of biographies about--there is no lauding of Napoleon's strategic brilliance or Frederick Douglass's inhuman perseverance and fortitude. It is just that these men were thoughtful, open minded, honest and restrained. This is something we can all do a little bit better. And they are examples of the heights of personal and academic success that can accompany making it a life's pursuit. Well-written, well-curated, definitely read.
March 28, 2021
If I knew that disaster would strike tomorrow, and I could choose just ten books to preserve, Blanshard's books would be the ones that I would select first.
Where does 4RM fit within his small canon of astonishing masterpieces?
To begin with, it's his most accessible: anyone could, and everyone should read it. No philosophical background is needed.
As to its origins, it's clear that it was an outgrowth of his earlier book, "Reason and Belief". There he wrote:
"It is true that reasonableness in morals is more difficult and elusive than reasonableness in mathematics; emotions are more deeply engaged and the appraisal of human values calls for richer resources of imagination and sympathy. Reasonableness in the concrete is indeed infinitely and impossibly difficult. Fortunately, it is not one's duty to be infinitely and impossibly rational. It is one's duty only to be as reasonable as one can. If even that were seriously accepted, the world would be strangely different tomorrow morning." [Page 560]
Blanshard's purpose in writing 4RM is to convince us that it is indeed well worth our while to accept seriously the idea that it is our duty to be as reasonable as we can be - and to provide us with four examples of just how strangely different the world could be if only more of us were as reasonable as these four men were.
Where does 4RM fit within his small canon of astonishing masterpieces?
To begin with, it's his most accessible: anyone could, and everyone should read it. No philosophical background is needed.
As to its origins, it's clear that it was an outgrowth of his earlier book, "Reason and Belief". There he wrote:
"It is true that reasonableness in morals is more difficult and elusive than reasonableness in mathematics; emotions are more deeply engaged and the appraisal of human values calls for richer resources of imagination and sympathy. Reasonableness in the concrete is indeed infinitely and impossibly difficult. Fortunately, it is not one's duty to be infinitely and impossibly rational. It is one's duty only to be as reasonable as one can. If even that were seriously accepted, the world would be strangely different tomorrow morning." [Page 560]
Blanshard's purpose in writing 4RM is to convince us that it is indeed well worth our while to accept seriously the idea that it is our duty to be as reasonable as we can be - and to provide us with four examples of just how strangely different the world could be if only more of us were as reasonable as these four men were.
July 1, 2014
Amazing book, and a truly comprehensive defense of the thesis that "reasonableness, so often painted in dull, unattractive gray, is the most desirable of all human virtues," and that the ultimate goal of education is not the ability to regurgitate facts, but to be reasonable in all areas of life.
Blanshard carefully examines the lives of four men (Marcus Aurelius, John Stuart Mill, Ernest Renan, and Henry Sidgwick) who were very different in terms of occupation, education, and class, but who shared a common passion: the balanced search for truth. Blanshard's writing style is admirably clear and entertaining, which makes the book a page-turner (the clarity of his writing is made more amazing by the fact that he wrote the book when he was 92 years old!).
We can all benefit from becoming more reasonable. It seems that nothing but good can come out of objectively considering all sides of a given argument, being gracious to those who hold opposing views, controlling our emotions, and developing a more "rational temper."
"[For these four men] prejudice was close to sin. All of them shared an ethics of belief that made carelessness in conviction or statement, surrender to superstition, fanaticism of any kind, personal attack in argument, dogmatism, the misstatement of an opponent's case or the concealment of weakness in their own seem like stains on their integrity...all of them were 'saints of rationalism.'"
Blanshard carefully examines the lives of four men (Marcus Aurelius, John Stuart Mill, Ernest Renan, and Henry Sidgwick) who were very different in terms of occupation, education, and class, but who shared a common passion: the balanced search for truth. Blanshard's writing style is admirably clear and entertaining, which makes the book a page-turner (the clarity of his writing is made more amazing by the fact that he wrote the book when he was 92 years old!).
We can all benefit from becoming more reasonable. It seems that nothing but good can come out of objectively considering all sides of a given argument, being gracious to those who hold opposing views, controlling our emotions, and developing a more "rational temper."
"[For these four men] prejudice was close to sin. All of them shared an ethics of belief that made carelessness in conviction or statement, surrender to superstition, fanaticism of any kind, personal attack in argument, dogmatism, the misstatement of an opponent's case or the concealment of weakness in their own seem like stains on their integrity...all of them were 'saints of rationalism.'"
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews