An invitation to learn

[Guest guest]

Hello,

 

For anyone interested in reading along with Will and Ariel Durant's " The St=

ory of Civilization " I would invite you to join a forum that has begun a stu=

dy of this eleven volume historical series that was fifty years in the makin=

g and among other awards received a Pulitzer Prize. I am posting to this gro=

up in hopes of attracting a range of people who will read and comment on the=

authors' views as they unfold the societies of the last one hundred and ten=

centuries. Being that written history is subject to the overtones of the au=

thor's experiences I should alert you to Will Durant's non-profession of any=

single religious faith. His view of the divine was stated as follows in " A =

Dual Autobiography " , their last written work:

 

" I am still an agnostic, with pantheistic overtones. The sight of plants an=

d children growing inclines me to define divinity as creative power, and to =

reverence this in all its manifestations … "

 

To me this is a baseline for enjoying the discussions that will be carried =

on within the group; a reverence for life. Express yourself with zeal but if=

the intent is to hurt rather than to be understood then we thank you for yo=

ur time in considering this group.

 

History's magic is to free us from needless mores while at the same time pr=

oviding keys for a stable and enriched life, so this is a challenge worth th=

e effort.

 

During December we are reading " The Lessons of History " (ISBN 1567310249), =

the authors' distillation of what they learned from history in writing " The =

Story of Civilization " , and " A Dual Autobiography " (ISBN 0671229257), the Du=

rant's last work that provides important background to the process and effor=

t that went into writing " The Story of Civilization " . At the start of the Ne=

w Year we will then begin the first volume in the series, " Our Oriental Heri=

tage " (ISBN 1567310125).

 

The forum is located at: StoryofCivilization

 

To join click the " Join this Group! " button at the top of the page and then=

respond to the simple questionnaire that will be automatically emailed to y=

ou. This extra step helps ward off computer marketers as well as providing i=

nput to the moderators for improving the site.

 

 

Thanks, Steve (group moderator).