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Georges-Etienne Legendre - Projects & Articles

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Tags: qdiigo, firefox, extensiosn, search on 2008-07-21 -All Annotations (0) -About

in list: Firefox

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12 Byzantine Rulers: The History of The Byzantine Empire - Anders.com

Tags: ksm, qdiigo, byzantine, history on 2008-04-30 and saved by16 people -All Annotations (0) -About

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Unfortunately good books on Byzantine history are few and far between. There are several good general
histories: History of the Byzantine Empire Vol 1-2 by Alexander Vasiliev; History of the Byzantine State
by Georgije Ostrogorski; The massive A History of the Byzantine State and Society (tends to be a bit
dry, but very informative- focuses on economic issues); but by far my favorite- the most accessible, and
interesting account is John Julius Norwich's 3 volume Byzantium. Its also published as an abridged
single volume. The single volume is good, but the 3 volumes are definately worth it! You are more likely
to get a good book on certain periods of Byzantine history- For the 1st Crusade time period, for example,
check out Steven Runciman's History of the First Crusade - my favorite author.
Gibbon's Decline and Fall has often been heralded as the "most significant history ever written in the
English language", and there is an elegance and scope to him that is immensely rewarding. It is also monumental -
the unabridged version is well over 3,000 pages - historians simply don't write on this scale any more. As a
scholar, Gibbon is above reproach. He wrote before there was a science of archaeology, and yet his careful
attention to detail and use of primary sources wherever available remain remarkably accurate.

For all his attentiveness, however, Gibbon was very much a child of the Enlightenment - and as such took a rather
dim view of religion. He viewed Christianity in particular as a dark, corrupting religion, the bitter enemy of
progress and free-thinking, and a major contributor to the fall of the Western Empire. This inevitably colored his
view of Byzantine history, and led him to dismiss the empire as a "degenerate race of princes" mired in constant
intrigue and corruption. This is not to say, however, that Gibbon is not a worthwhile source. Once you are aware
of this bias (it is most explicitly apparent in volume 2 and 3 which deal with the Byzantines), the work becomes
much more rewarding. As you read, keep in mind that his general position on Rome and Byzantium was that the empire
reached its peak during the reign of the Antonines, and then declined - a rather simplistic position that can be
seriously challenged in any number of areas. Other more modern works are better balanced - certainly Runciman or
Norwich are more accessible, but Gibbon remains a colossus. Vast, expensive, time consuming, and needing to be
carefully considered - but indisputably one of the worlds great works.

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Geek to Live: Top Firefox 2 config tweaks

Tags: firefox, lifehack, ksm, qdiigo, tweaks on 2008-04-20 and saved by12 people -All Annotations (0) -About

in list: Firefox, gmail

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6 Signs the U.S. May Be Headed for War in Iran

Tags: ksm, qdiigo on 2008-03-14 -All Annotations (0) -About

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The Mahablog » The Wisdom of Doubt, Part I

Tags: mahablog, ksm, qdiigo on 2008-01-28 -All Annotations (0) -About

in list: Doubt - Spirituality

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One who believes himself to be leading a supreme war against Evil on behalf of Good will be incapable of understanding any claims that he himself is acting immorally.
These days religious people want to be called “people of faith.” But I object to the practice of using the word faith as a synonym for religion. Faith is a component of religion, to one degree or another, but not religion itself.
Zen students are told that the path of Zen takes “great faith, great doubt, and great determination.”
Great Faith and Great Doubt are two ends of a spiritual walking stick. We grip one end with the grasp given to us by our Great Determination. We poke into the underbrush in the dark on our spiritual journey. This act is real spiritual practice - gripping the Faith end and poking ahead with the Doubt end of the stick. If we have no Faith, we have no Doubt. If we have no Determination, we never pick up the stick in the first place.
true faith requires true doubt; without doubt, faith is not faith
in the histories of the major monotheistic religions — Judaism, Christianity, and Islam — you can find many great theologians, scholars, rabbis, contemplatives, and mystics whose religious understanding came from wrestling with their doubts.
To religious seekers and mystics, “A state in which the mind is suspended between two contradictory propositions and unable to assent to either of them” is a fertile place from which profound understanding may grow. Certainty, on other hand, is a sterile rock that grows nothing.
Unfortunately, religious institutions tend to be run by dogmatists, not seekers.