Product Description
The front pages of our newspapers and the chatter on the blogs bear witness to the divorce of law from justice. Highly paid lawyers mine the law for loopholes to help Fortune 500 corporations legally evade their taxes and spoil the environment. In a world governed by the rule of law, justice, it seems, is a chimera, an abstraction, and thus a distraction from the real world struggle over political interest. Ought we, then, to abandon talk about abstract ideals of ju… More >>
The Gift of Science: Leibniz and the Modern Legal Tradition
Tags: bear witness, fortune 500, front pages, law justice, legal tradition, leibniz, political interest, world struggle
Anyone interested in law, the evolution of legal systems, the great (and relatively recent) bifurcation between law and ethics, will be fascinated by the ideas Leibniz brought to these subjects and by Berkowitz’s astute and acute analysis of those ideas.
Rating: 5 / 5
I did not expect this book to be what it was. Before, I knew Leibniz transformed mathematics and theology but had no idea he forever altered the relation between law and ethics. The subtitle is misleading: the Gift of Science is not only about G.W. Leibniz, it’s about philosophical and cultural upheavals centuries ago that still resonate. And it’s also about the rise of modern law and modern thought. A fascinating read for anyone who cares about intellectual history, the effects of the scientific revolution, and especially, the state of justice. Weaving together different disciplines in a manner I have not seen before, Berkowitz manages to demonstrate both a historical argument and a paradigm shift that rings so true. I will not look at current court cases the same way again — and I am left feeling I know how we arrived where we are today… This is disturbing, illuminating, gripping stuff.
Rating: 5 / 5
I attending Roger Berkowitz’s reading of The Gift of Science and quickly purchased my own copy. While I am certainly not an “academic-type” the concepts in this book really got me thinking. Whenever I listen to a press conference or read anything related to law and justice I can’t help but bounce the information off what I have learned in The Gift of Science. This brilliant book opened my eyes and gave me the tools to look at the American justice system in a whole new light.
Rating: 5 / 5
Wow! I was shopping in a “bricks and mortar” bookstore and saw this book as I was cutting down an aisle. Something on the cover – the picture I think – grabbed me. I decided to see if I could get it on the internet instead. One thing: its not cheap! Fitty bucks! And only 222 pages! But I will tell you, it takes so long to read each page, that you more than get your money’s worth. There are many thoughts in this book, so the thoughts-per-cost ratio is actually quite good…thus making it one of the better book values I have encountered, even for books in the $50 range. And let me add something else: I had to read it three times, to begin to understand it. I think in three more readings I will have a strong grasp of the topic – meaning, that, you really read this book six times – breaking the cost down to eight dollars per reading.
Mr. Berkowitz appears to have a full command of his subject. While the topics in this book may not make you the hero of your office Christmas party if you start to recite them, in certain social settings (for example, if you are having lunch with a group of professors, or if you are playhing tennis with any members of the Leibniz family) you will be pleased with how much you know and can recite.
I would recommend this wholeheartedly. My final thought is that I would like to see this book climb up from 286,000 on the rankings here on Amazon, because I find it hard to believe there are 285,000 better books out there.
Rating: 5 / 5