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Commercially available books by Thomas Yaeger
The discipline of philosophy was not invented by the Greeks, but was in existence elsewhere, an... more The discipline of philosophy was not invented by the Greeks, but was in existence elsewhere, and as far back as the middle of the second millennium BCE. It has its origin in ancient divine cult. The detail of its presence can be traced in the civilizations around the ancient Near East, and particularly in Assyria and Babylonia.
The Sacred History of Being collects the key evidence together, and examines the idea of the divine as a philosophical concept in Greece, Israel, and ancient Assyria.
Published as an eBook by the Anshar Press, November 2, 2015. 113k words. Available from Barnes & Noble, Itunes, Kobo, Blio, Inktera, Smashwords, etc. More information available at: https://shrineinthesea.blogspot.co.uk/p/the-sacred-history-of-being-as-its.html
When he was only twenty-four years old, James Frazer won a Cambridge fellowship with an essay on ... more When he was only twenty-four years old, James Frazer won a Cambridge fellowship with an essay on the development of Plato's theory of the Forms or Ideas (eidos). In this essay he argued that there was no overarching theory of Being in Plato's mind before he embarked on the writing of his dialogues, and that consequently differences in approach and discussion apparent in his work are the result of the development of his thought. He also argued that the very idea of Being is a barren notion, in that nothing can be predicated of Being. As a result Plato made a mistake, effectively conflating an epistemology with an ontology.
Though the essay was written in 1879, it was not published until 1930, after much of his later work was done.
Frazer became famous for his monumental study The Golden Bough, which explored a vast range of ancient and primitive myth and ritual. Here too he found intellectual processes founded in error.
What was Frazer's intention in re-interpreting Plato against what Plato himself said, and his wholesale restructuring of ancient thought by reducing much of it to a pattern of error?
Over 23 thousand words, a preface, select bibliography, and extensive notes. Published by the Anshar Press, April 4, 2016.
http://shrineinthesea.blogspot.co.uk/p/j.html
'Understanding Ancient Thought' is the third in a series of books which examines how we assess ev... more 'Understanding Ancient Thought' is the third in a series of books which examines how we assess evidence from antiquity, and frame models to make sense of that evidence.
The book consists of eighteen essays, which cover a number of subject areas which are in thrall to what Foucault described as an ‘episteme’. In other words, the way the subject areas are understood within the academy is in terms of what our cultural models, language and assumptions will allow us to understand. The actual evidence may suggest an alternative view, but it is not possible to see it, or to think it. At least until the paradigmatic frame shifts to another ‘episteme’.The main thrust of the book is that two hundred years of modern scholarship concerning the past has, for the most part, assembled a fictive and tendentious version of the ancient world.
51 thousand words. Published by the Anshar Press, August 20, 2017. Available via Smashwords, Itunes, Barnes and Noble, Blio, Kobo, etc.
http://shrineinthesea.blogspot.co.uk/2017/06/nineteen-meditations.html
A collection of essays on philosophy, ancient cultic thought, and the problems of addressing and ... more A collection of essays on philosophy, ancient cultic thought, and the problems of addressing and interpreting ancient evidence. The book also examines the nature of esoteric thought in antiquity, and the transcendentalist nature of ancient religion. Published by The Anshar Press, Aug. 12, 2018.
https://shrineinthesea.blogspot.com/2018/06/man-and-divine.html
Much of the cultural production of the ancient world, east and west, was based on the idea of ref... more Much of the cultural production of the ancient world, east and west, was based on the idea of reflecting aspects of the divine in human life and thought. Many social structures and institutions were based on this approach. The model for these things was was astronomy and the heavens, and the heavens were conceived of as a moving image of eternity, and eternity was understood to be coterminous with the Divine. Since it moved, it contained life and thought, and repaid the attention of man. We still live, work and think inside what is a scarcely changed neolithic temple, which is the sky.
A record of the seminar series on the issues raised by Martin Bernal's book 'Black Athena', held ... more A record of the seminar series on the issues raised by Martin Bernal's book 'Black Athena', held at UCL, London, in the Spring term, 1990.
Papers by Thomas Yaeger
This is a chapter from Part 3 of 'The Sacred History of Being' (forthcoming 2015). It loo... more This is a chapter from Part 3 of 'The Sacred History of Being' (forthcoming 2015). It looks at the names of the gods listed as aspects of Marduk in the Enuma Elish (the liturgy of the Babylonian New Year Festival), and their associated properties and attributes, as an aggregation of the characteristics understood to be necessary for the proper exercise of Mesopotamian kingship.
The discipline of philosophy was not invented by the Greeks, but was in existence elsewhere, an... more The discipline of philosophy was not invented by the Greeks, but was in existence elsewhere, and as far back as the middle of the second millennium BCE. It has its origin in ancient divine cult. The detail of its presence can be traced in the civilizations around the ancient Near East, and particularly in Assyria and Babylonia.
The Sacred History of Being collects the key evidence together, and examines the idea of the divine as a philosophical concept in Greece, Israel, and ancient Assyria.
Published as an eBook by the Anshar Press, November 2, 2015. 113k words. Available from Barnes & Noble, Itunes, Kobo, Blio, Inktera, Smashwords, etc. More information available at: https://shrineinthesea.blogspot.co.uk/p/the-sacred-history-of-being-as-its.html
When he was only twenty-four years old, James Frazer won a Cambridge fellowship with an essay on ... more When he was only twenty-four years old, James Frazer won a Cambridge fellowship with an essay on the development of Plato's theory of the Forms or Ideas (eidos). In this essay he argued that there was no overarching theory of Being in Plato's mind before he embarked on the writing of his dialogues, and that consequently differences in approach and discussion apparent in his work are the result of the development of his thought. He also argued that the very idea of Being is a barren notion, in that nothing can be predicated of Being. As a result Plato made a mistake, effectively conflating an epistemology with an ontology.
Though the essay was written in 1879, it was not published until 1930, after much of his later work was done.
Frazer became famous for his monumental study The Golden Bough, which explored a vast range of ancient and primitive myth and ritual. Here too he found intellectual processes founded in error.
What was Frazer's intention in re-interpreting Plato against what Plato himself said, and his wholesale restructuring of ancient thought by reducing much of it to a pattern of error?
Over 23 thousand words, a preface, select bibliography, and extensive notes. Published by the Anshar Press, April 4, 2016.
http://shrineinthesea.blogspot.co.uk/p/j.html
'Understanding Ancient Thought' is the third in a series of books which examines how we assess ev... more 'Understanding Ancient Thought' is the third in a series of books which examines how we assess evidence from antiquity, and frame models to make sense of that evidence.
The book consists of eighteen essays, which cover a number of subject areas which are in thrall to what Foucault described as an ‘episteme’. In other words, the way the subject areas are understood within the academy is in terms of what our cultural models, language and assumptions will allow us to understand. The actual evidence may suggest an alternative view, but it is not possible to see it, or to think it. At least until the paradigmatic frame shifts to another ‘episteme’.The main thrust of the book is that two hundred years of modern scholarship concerning the past has, for the most part, assembled a fictive and tendentious version of the ancient world.
51 thousand words. Published by the Anshar Press, August 20, 2017. Available via Smashwords, Itunes, Barnes and Noble, Blio, Kobo, etc.
http://shrineinthesea.blogspot.co.uk/2017/06/nineteen-meditations.html
A collection of essays on philosophy, ancient cultic thought, and the problems of addressing and ... more A collection of essays on philosophy, ancient cultic thought, and the problems of addressing and interpreting ancient evidence. The book also examines the nature of esoteric thought in antiquity, and the transcendentalist nature of ancient religion. Published by The Anshar Press, Aug. 12, 2018.
https://shrineinthesea.blogspot.com/2018/06/man-and-divine.html
Much of the cultural production of the ancient world, east and west, was based on the idea of ref... more Much of the cultural production of the ancient world, east and west, was based on the idea of reflecting aspects of the divine in human life and thought. Many social structures and institutions were based on this approach. The model for these things was was astronomy and the heavens, and the heavens were conceived of as a moving image of eternity, and eternity was understood to be coterminous with the Divine. Since it moved, it contained life and thought, and repaid the attention of man. We still live, work and think inside what is a scarcely changed neolithic temple, which is the sky.
A record of the seminar series on the issues raised by Martin Bernal's book 'Black Athena', held ... more A record of the seminar series on the issues raised by Martin Bernal's book 'Black Athena', held at UCL, London, in the Spring term, 1990.
This is a chapter from Part 3 of 'The Sacred History of Being' (forthcoming 2015). It loo... more This is a chapter from Part 3 of 'The Sacred History of Being' (forthcoming 2015). It looks at the names of the gods listed as aspects of Marduk in the Enuma Elish (the liturgy of the Babylonian New Year Festival), and their associated properties and attributes, as an aggregation of the characteristics understood to be necessary for the proper exercise of Mesopotamian kingship.