Books by Josef Pieper

A knowledgeable and respected philosopher here supplies the interested with a precise analysis of the meaning of faith in belief, in theory and in practice - making distinctions which sharpen his argument. He cites varied authorities. For example, in the case of a proposition- "No one believes except of his own free will" - Dr. Pieper manages to rally such diversified names as Augustine, Thomas, Newman, Kierkegaard and Andre Gide to his side. The crucial factor in belief, Professor Pieper insists, does not consist in the matter which is believed but rests in the authority of the witness. In developing his case for rational validity of religious faith he makes it clear that since the Witness is God the assent should be clear. All who wish to wrestle with such philosophical distinctions will find this short course in epistemology, with a variant in demonstrating the rightfulness of religious faith, lucid and challenging. But their number is limited. (Kirkus Reviews)

In The Four Cardinal Virtues, Joseph Pieper delivers a stimulating quartet of essays on the four cardinal virtues. He demonstrates the unsound overvaluation of moderation that has made contemporary morality a hollow convention and points out the true significance of the Christian virtues.

In this elegantly written (and produced) work, Josef Pieper introduces the reader to an understanding that leisure is nothing less than "an attitude of mind and a condition of the soul that fosters a capacity to perceive the reality of the world." Beginning with the Greeks, and through a series of philosophic, religious, and historical examples, Pieper demonstrates that "Leisure has been, and always will be, the first foundation of any culture." Of the frenetic contemporary clamor for things, entertainment, and distraction, Pieper observes, "in our bourgeois Western world total labor has vanquished leisure. Unless we regain the art of silence and insight, the ability for non-activity, unless we substitute true leisure for our hectic amusements, we will destroy our culture -- and ourselves." For, to Pieper, slavery is a state of mind and soul into which entire peoples descend when mental, moral, spiritual, and political independence is corrupted by a preoccupation with material well-being. Long unavailable, this reprint of the original edition of 1952 includes an introduction by T. S. Eliot.