21 levels of Self-Deception: THIRD EDITION by Tom Wallace - HTML preview

T W E N T Y - O N E L E V E L S

Preface to the Third Edition

In this third edition of the book I have tried to simplify the text somewhat and removed complications where possible. I’ve also added some paragraphs about how the ideas of the book might play out in our everyday lives.

Also, I have removed most references to the terms, ‘image’, ‘sign’ and ‘symbol’. I have to confess to having been somewhat enamoured by the magic of these words in the past, but now recognise that this personal fetish doesn’t serve readers too well! Sometimes these words can be useful. But unfortunately they often get used in different ways by different authors. Some will say — it’s only a sign, not a proper symbol. Whilst others might say — we need a proper symbol, not simply an image — and so on! In each case, we’d have to know precisely what such authors mean in their use of these words before we can decide whether we agree with them or not.

I’ve also removed the division of the book into two parts and most references to Eros and Agapé.

Finally, I have added references to what I describe as the ‘Aristotelian soul’ — a term I’ve started to adopt as a more relevant view of ‘soul’ than the purely religious conception.

Other than what I’ve described above, the spirit of the book is hopefully intact, and I hope that you’ll enjoy reading this new edition.

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