The Philosophical Writings of Edgar Saltus: The Philosophy of Disenchantment & The Anatomy of Negation Paperback – April 21, 2017

First off, I want to say thank you to Underworld Amusements for making the writings of Saltus available in a well published and affordable volume.Saltus quite frankly is a wonderful writer, the man’s mastery of the English language and the ability to commit it to the written word is quite amazing. If you have spent any time with philosophy, I don't care the flavor, you have noticed that some philosophers are verbose, obtuse and unclear, let’s face it, quite a large number are. But Saltus is one of those rare philosophers that because of his command of English, and his understanding of what he was writing about, is able to purvey his thoughts in clear, and understandable English that quite frankly most should be able to understand.Now, this text is very much needed, especially now-a-days, as Chip Smith points out beautifully in his introduction to these writings. In our culture now, the "New Atheism" movement is running full steam, and the number of Non-Theist and Secularist is at an all-time high, thanks to such popular writers as Dawkins, Harris et cetera. But what is sorely missing is a document, such as The Philosophy of Disenchantment, that really gets to the other side of the matter. The modern writers of Atheism after tearing down your walls, are good at quickly stating "now go forth and see the wonder in Evolution and Physics and your life will be happy and fulfilled, that's all you need."Sadly, this isn't the case, and I believe that this most likely isn't the case for more than are willing to admit it, it’s not all rainbows, butterflies and rainbow defecating unicorns, once you become a non-believer, especially if you were raised in it, it can be a tremendous blow to ones view of existence and overall outlook on life, no matter if you happen to find evolution, the planet and whatever else gorgeously fulfilling. I know it was for me at first, but it was writings such as this, that when we learn to see both sides of the coin, and admit such things to ourselves I think it brings clarity and allows people that maybe are atheists, but don't give two s***s about understanding evolution, physics and astronomy beyond the layman’s knowledge, something more than just, the go out and let the pretty flower be your lives inspiration. I believe it works for you Dawkins, but not everybody has your passion, or very few have made Evolutionary Biology their lives work. (Don’t get me wrong I like several of Dawkins Books)In closing, if you want to read some honest writing, especially in the stream of Atheism and philosophical Pessimism. You really need this book. It will provide much needed perspective, at the very least some good ol’ catharsis!

The content of this book deserves five stars. Saltus' presentation of Schopenhauer makes it worth buying alone. The publishers spared no expense in a nice cover, thick pages, and large print but for some reason neglected to translate the many quotes Saltus makes in French, Italian, German, and Latin. It's a shame and there is no excuse for it no matter what twisted rationalization they obviously made in order to not do it. Shame on them.

Edgar Saltus is the bitter antidote to the cloy optimism of "New Atheism". "The Anatomy of Negation" traces antitheism back to the Hindu Vedic period and early Orient ("it is in India that the first denying voice was raised") and chronologically follows such thinkers through the pre-Enlightenment. Dawkins and his ilk would claim a mere belief in God as a delusion and looks at nature and evolution with rose colored glasses. Saltus pushes inward with "The Philosophy of Disenchantment", laying waste the ultimate delusion of life as a gift and that it is of any significance to the void. His articulate prose and grim outlook insured his obscurity until now. Now is the time to challenge bright eyed humanism, to bring back the ultimate skepticism and ask, "is life an affliction?"

Llegó una semana antes de lo previsto, en un estado impecable