How Do I Save My Honor?: War, Moral Integrity, and Principled Redignation

By William F. Felice

Book Overview

Books on Einstein and his theories abound. However, this book is uniquely different. It presents key concepts in Special and General Relativity, in verse form. The aim is to make Einstein's insights more "fun" to learn. It uses rhyme and rhythm to render reading memorable and thus pleasurable. Moreover, what is pleasurable may foster a better understanding, as well as retention, of ideas. Use of verse apparently worked effectively in ancient times: in the Iliad and Odyssey of Homer among the Greeks; in the Vedas and Upanishads of ancient India; both rhyme, in the form of alliteration, and rhythm in Beowulf among the Anglo-Saxons, etc. The target reader is college-educated, or college student in third year, or anyone willing to "puzzle" it out, who desires to understand why time slows down and lengths contract when objects are in relative motion; how Science, Einstein's theories in particular, can contribute to answering the perennial question: what it is to be human; how to time travel to the future by staying "young"; etc. Relativity has a reputation of being "difficult." For example, "curvature of spacetime" seems so abstruse, so forbidding a concept. But, do not disarm yourself prematurely. Do not be intimidated. As it turns out, curvature of spacetime is tidal gravity, the cause of familiar ocean tides. You may even have a "gut" feel for it. This book will not teach you how to solve problems in Relativity. Nor will it teach you how to prove "The shortest distance takes the longest time." No, we will spend our time grasping Einstein's insights, their implications on Reality and on mind; and amid our quest, on what it means to be human. More "fun" to learn does not mean that verse form is the "lazy" road to learning. It does not mean that verse form makes the difficult easy, or, the rough, plain. No, the difficult remains difficult; the rough remains rough. And to grasp it, you have to exert a determined, sustained effort and be willing to stretch your mind to accommodate the "wild" notions in Relativity. The idea motivating this book is to make the "stretching" more enjoyable relative to prose by using the rhyme-rhythm features of verse. But, "stretch" your mind, you have to. There is no "royal, poetic" road to learning There is a feature in our history, that stands out in view of our concerns in conveying knowledge-a feature that the ancients aptly used. It is the oral tradition. Since the first humans appeared, oral tradition was the sole means in transmitting knowledge for a very long time, indeed. If we fit the whole time since the first humans lived into a year, then writing started only about the morning of 30th of December. That is a huge time in which oral tradition operated, i.e. about 99.5% of our time as humans. What does this imply? We transmitted information orally; and we received information aurally This "oral-aural" conveyance was the way for all information, including that of knowledge. In addition, during the five hundred thousand years or so, oral tradition honed our brains to receive knowledge "aurally." To me, this implies that our brains have a natural "deep resonance" to features of language in the oral tradition. The key language features in the oral tradition are the rhymes and rhythms of verse. I wrote this book in verse, inspired by this thought: to make the most out of the "resonant structures" in our brains engendered by oral tradition, to convey the deep insights of Einstein on Reality. It is my sincere wish that Einstein's ideas will find recognition in the public understanding and thus inform the public outlook. I invite you, everyone: Hop in with me, a time machine we ride, Intent on chasing space-time concepts wild; To fathom Einstein's insights into Reality, In his Special and General Relativity. Like Wordsworth, a lonely cloud wandering, Through space and time we will be winging, Not to appreciate the "daffodils" of Nature; But to understand Nature's Architecture

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0742566668
• ISBN13: 9780742566668
• Release Date: April 2009
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.1" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

Everything old is new again

It's amazing how the same moral questions continue to crop up throughout history. William Felice has writen an insightful treatise that puts the decisions surrounding the invansion of Iraq into a well researched historic perspective. Drawing on similar examples of moral and ethical dilemmas, he sheds new light on the actions and reactions of several individuals who found themselves conflicted between their duty to country and their duty to humanity. Highly recommended.

An excellent study of a perennial political issue

William Felice has written a smart, engaging study of a continually recurring political-moral problem: when someone serves in office and deeply believes that his/her government is embarked upon a deeply troubling course of action, what is the best response? Felice argues for what he calls "an ethic of principled resignation." He gives a survey of several classic positions in moral philosophy to help sort out some of the issues, but in many ways the most engaging parts of the book come out of the interviews he conducted with various American and British officials who resigned in protest of policies their governments embarked on after 9-11. This book is not another "Iraq book," although it does use debates (and resignations) coming out of that conflict as a lens through which to view the larger dilemma that Felice is engaging. No review can capture the way the author does such a good job of weighing the difficult moral questions involved, at the same time that he recognizes (and surveys) the relevant practical considerations. For instance, if someone stays in office, even if he/she thinks the government has launched an aggressive, unjustified war, might not that person be able to affect subsequent policy discussions? If many of the internal opponents of a war resign in protest, won't the government simply become more hardline in both its internal delibrations and actual policies? It is a credit to the author that he seriously considers these objections, shows keen attention to bureaucratic and policy-making detail (again largely in the context of the run-up to the invasion of Iraq), and yet shows good reasons for the importance of principled resignation and the need for a strong moral element to the conduct of public policy, especially in foreign relations. This really is an excellent book at the intersection of moral philosophy and international affairs.