The Myth of the Great Ending: Why We've Been Longing for the End of Days Since the Beginning of Time. by Joseph M. Felser. NY: Hampton Roads, 2011.
I thought this book was awful. The author jumps around all over the place from one idea to the next, quoting from many ancient and modern philosophers. Near death experiences, quantum theory, Ingo Swann, Jane Roberts and Seth, Robert Monroe’s OOBEs, linear versus cyclical time all get a look-in, but everything is reduced to being a cute “soundbite”, and nothing is treated with any degree of critical thinking. The author concludes that fears of an apocalyptic “end-of-time” are like a myth in the sense that Joseph Campbell uses the term – something reflecting how humans make sense of their world and their cultural inheritance, but not something to be taken as literally true. He could have presented that opinion (it is not really a conclusion) in a short paragraph, rather than a 275 page book. Felser graduated from Boston University and is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Kingsborough Community College, City University of New York. Of 6 reviews on Amazon, 5 reviewers gave it 5 stars.
I thought this book was awful. The author jumps around all over the place from one idea to the next, quoting from many ancient and modern philosophers. Near death experiences, quantum theory, Ingo Swann, Jane Roberts and Seth, Robert Monroe’s OOBEs, linear versus cyclical time all get a look-in, but everything is reduced to being a cute “soundbite”, and nothing is treated with any degree of critical thinking. The author concludes that fears of an apocalyptic “end-of-time” are like a myth in the sense that Joseph Campbell uses the term – something reflecting how humans make sense of their world and their cultural inheritance, but not something to be taken as literally true. He could have presented that opinion (it is not really a conclusion) in a short paragraph, rather than a 275 page book. Felser graduated from Boston University and is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Kingsborough Community College, City University of New York. Of 6 reviews on Amazon, 5 reviewers gave it 5 stars.
