From the sex-free paradise of the Shakers to the worker's paradise of Marx, utopian ideas seem to have two things in common--they all are wonderfully plausible at the start and they all end up as disasters. In Visions of Utopia, three leading cultural critics--Edward Rothstein, Martin Marty, and Herbert Muschamp--look at the history of utopian thinking, exploring why they fail and why they are still worth pursuing. Edward Rothstein, New York Times cultural critic, contends that every utopia is really a dystopia--a disaster in the making--one that overlooks the nature of humanity and the impossibilities of paradise. He traces the ideal in politics and technology and suggests that only in art--and especially in music--does the desire for utopia find satisfaction. Martin Marty examines several models of utopia--from Thomas More's to a 1960s experimental city that he helped to plan--to show that, even though utopias can never be realized, we should not be too quick to condemn them. They can express dimensions of the human spirit that might otherwise be stifled and can plant ideas that may germinate in more realistic and practical soil. And Herbert Muschamp, the New York Times architectural critic, looks at Utopianism as exemplified in two different ways: the Buddhist tradition and the work of visionary Viennese architect Adolph Loos. Utopian thinking embodies humanity's noblest impulses, yet it can lead to horrors such as Nazi Germany and the Soviet Regime. In Visions of Utopia, these leading thinkers offer an intriguing look at the paradoxes of paradise.

Visions of Utopia (New York Public Library Lectures in Humanities)

History

Rothstein, Edward

Marty, Martin

Muschamp, Herbert

World

Oxford University Press

From the sex-free paradise of the Shakers to the worker's paradise of Marx, utopian ideas seem to have two things in common-they all are wonderfully plausible at the start and they all end up as disasters. In Visions of Utopia, three leading cultural critics-Edward Rothstein, Martin Marty, and Herbert Muschamp-look at the history of utopian thinking, exploring why they fail and why they are still worth pursuing. Rothstein contends that every utopia is really a dystopia- one that overlooks the nature of humanity and the impossibilities of paradise. He traces the ideal in politics and technology and suggests that only in art-and especially in music-does the desire for utopia find satisfaction. Marty examines several models of utopia-from Thomas More's to a 1960s experimental city that he helped to plan-to show that, even though utopias can never be realized, we should not be too quick to condemn them. They can express dimensions of the human spirit that might otherwise be stifled and can plant ideas that may germinate in more realistic and practical soil. Muschamp looks at Utopianism as exemplified in two different ways: the Buddhist tradition and the work of visionary Viennese architect Adolph Loos. Utopian thinking embodies humanity's noblest impulses, yet it can lead to horrors such as Nazi Germany and the Soviet Regime. In Visions of Utopia, these leading thinkers of Feran intriguing look at the paradoxes of paradise.

Emblems of mind: The inner life of music and mathematics

One is a science, the other an art; one useful, the other seemingly decorative, but mathematics and music share common origins in cult and mystery and have been linked throughout history. Emblems of Mind is Edward Rothstein’s classic exploration of their profound similarities, a journey into their “inner life.” Along the way, Rothstein explains how mathematics makes sense of space, how music tells a story, how theories are constructed, how melody is shaped. He invokes the poetry of Wordsworth, the anthropology of Lévi-Strauss, the imagery of Plato, and the philosophy of Kant. Math and music, Rothstein shows, apply comparable methods as they create their abstractions, display similar concerns with ratio and proportion, and depend on metaphors and analogies to create their meanings. Ultimately, Rothstein argues, they reveal the ways in which we come to understand the world. They are images of the mind at work and play; indeed, they are emblems of Mind itself. Jacques Barzun called this book “splendid.” Martin Gardner said it was “beautifully written, marvelous and entertaining.” It will provoke all serious readers to think in new ways about the grand patterns in art and life. “Lovely, wistful. . . . Rothstein is a wonderful guide to the architecture of musical space, its tensions and relations, its resonances and proportions. . . . His account of what is going on in the music is unfailingly felicitous.”—New Yorker “Provocative and exciting. . . . Rothstein writes this book as a foreign correspondent, sending dispatches from a remote and mysterious locale as a guide for the intellectually adventurous. The remarkable fact about his work is not that it is profound, as much of the writing is, but that it is so accessible.”—Christian Science Monitor

Emblems of Mind: The Inner Life of Music and Mathematics

Arts & Photography

Music

University of Chicago Press

Unravels the mystery of the relationship between music and mathematics, discussing their differences and their surprising similarities--including their origins and historical links

Emblems of the Mind

Harper-perennial

Unravels the mystery of the relationship between music and  mathematics, discussing their differences and their surprising  similarities--including their origins in cult and mystery. 20,000 first  printing.

Times Books/Random House

The chief music critic of The New York Times explores the mysterious relationship between music and mathematics, detailing their common origins, their historical interconnections, and the similarities in their stated goals. 20,000 first printing.

Crown

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Rothstein, Edward. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Rothstein, Edward

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Rothstein, Edward. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Visions of Utopia (New York Public Library Lectures in Humanities)

Visions of Utopia (New York Public Library Lectures in Humanities)

Emblems of Mind: The Inner Life of Music and Mathematics

Emblems of the Mind

Emblems of mind: The inner life of music and mathematics

Emblems of Mind: The Inner Life of Music and Mathematics