Josef Pieper: An Anthology

Pieper's Anthology a must-read for modern Christians in particular and modern people in general

Pieper's Anthology, by employing a cut-and-paste assortment of passages from a lifetime of writings, presents an alternative to the materialistic/nihilistic ways of viewing reality and the human person. His use of Thomistic theology and Aristotelian philosophy enables the reader to begin to view the world as sacramental, not as a mere means of human self-aggrandizement. Whether this premise sounds old-fashioned, overly romantic, or too conservative is made irrelevant if the reader agrees simply to think about the arguments themselves. Pieper suggests to us that philosophy is a free activity in which one opens oneself to the truth of the created world -- this book is an introduction to that kind of activity. (One note of warning: although a series of excerpts, much of the book is difficult to understand if the reader does not start from the beginning.)