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Temple of Set Reading List
"Temple of Set Reading List:
Category 16 - Good and Evil" (8/13/89CE)
Reprinted from: _The Crystal Tablet of Set_
© Temple of Set 1989 CE
Weirdbase file version by TS permission
by Michael A. Aquino, Ipsissimus VI* Temple of Set
Electronic mail: MCI-Mail 278-4041
Much of human history can be explained, if not excused by the conflict
between those of low intelligence (who consider good/evil objective) and
those of high intelligence (who consider good/evil subjective). Certainly it
begs the question to use those very terms to distinguish one extreme from
the other! The Church of Satan sought freedom by attempting to reverse the
good/evil norms of society; the Temple of Set seeks freedom by attempting to
escape those norms - and preexisting ones - and to encourage its Initiates
to construct enlightened, individualistic definitions. This is as much an
art as a science, and the quest must be undertaken and pursued with logic,
caution, common sense ... and apprehension of the Agathon.
16A. _Political Ideas and Ideologies: A History of Political Thought_ by
Mulford Q. Sibley. NY: Harper & Row, 1970. (TS-1) MA: "Until you've read and
digested this material, you really oughtn't to talk about 'political
philosophy' any more than someone who hasn't read an anatomical textbook
should try to hold forth on anatomy. I teach university courses surveying
the history of political theory, and this is far and away the most lucid,
objective, and comprehensive survey text I've yet found. It has two
conspicuous omissions - Nietzsche and ancient Egypt - and it is oriented
towards the political rather than the more abstract or conceptual branches
of philosophy. So you won't find Kant, Schopenhauer, Sartre, etc. here. The
author was a very distinguished and a very controversial Professor of
Political Science at the University of Minnesota. If you wonder why
something like this is TS-1, trust me. After you've absorbed the knowledge
it contains, you'll wonder on what basis you held political opinions before
reading it."
16B. _Nietzsche_ by Karl Jaspers. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1965.
(TS-4) MA: "Trying to get a grip on Nietzsche through either his own
writings or those of others is a bit like trying to get an octopus into a
straitjacket. He thought at a level which the German language did not
anticipate, and so there is bitter controversy concerning the proper
translation of many of his terms and texts into English [to say nothing of
their proper meaning in German]. After going through a number of editions,
translations, texts, analyses, and criticisms, I have come to rest on #16B
as the most useful for the Setian who wants to 'get at' Nietzsche as quickly
and accurately as possible. Jaspers, Professor of Philosophy at the
University of Basel, Switzerland, is one of the acknowledged giants of the
academic community. In this book he sought to make the reader 'think
Nietzsche's thoughts with him', and in my opinion he succeeded. There are
sections on both Nietzsche's life and his philosophy, which must be
considered together for the latter to be meaningful. 500 pages."
16C. _The Annotated Jules Verne: Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea_ by
Walter James Miller. NY: Thomas Y. Crowell, 1976. (TS-4) MA: "English-
language editions of this story prior to this edition have been appallingly
distorted and shortened by incompetent editors and translators. Verne was a
genius far beyond his reputation as a mere yarn-spinner, and his moral
philosophy is sublimely subjective. The annotations in this edition will
help to illustrate Verne's expertise in a variety of arts and sciences. Walt
Disney must be given credit for bringing many direct quotes into his
celebrated film: [Nemo: 'I am not what you call a civilized man! I have done
with society entirely, for reasons which I alone have the right of
appreciating. I do not therefore obey its laws, and I desire you never to
allude to them before me again.']"
16D. _The Lord of the Rings_ by J.R.R. Tolkien. Cambridge: Houghton Mifflin,
1967 (2nd Edition). (TS-4) MA: "_LOTR_ is not on this list just because it
is a stirring adventure tale, but rather because it illustrates a very
significant point about good/evil: that 'evil' can be destroyed only by a
greater 'evil' or by accident. Saruman attempts the former and Gandalf the
latter, and Gandalf succeeds ... to the satisfaction of egalitarian readers
[but who would want to hang around Middle-earth after all the excitement was
gone?]. _LOTR_ is thus an argument for Christian morality, which is
immediately evident from _The Silmarillion_, whose philosophical sections -
the 'Ainulindale' and 'Valaquenta' - are transparently adapted from
_Paradise Lost_."
16E. _The Marquis de Sade_ by Donald Thomas. Boston: New York Graphic
Society, 1976. (TS-3) MA: "The best biographical treatment of this
controversial and notorious libertine. As Thomas assesses him, he was
opposed to the notion of progressive philosophy, holding the supreme power
of the human race to be its self-destructive power; the extinction of the
species is not to be regretted; history is not progress but helpless
drifting. Compare this point of view with that of Satanism, which is
similarly cynical but holds out certain hopes for the individual's
transcending of the mass neurosis."
16F. _Parapolitics_ by Raghavan Iyer. NY: Oxford University Press, 1979.
(TS-4) MA: "An admirable, beautifully orchestrated attempt to apply the
political philosophy of Plato to the modern world. Iyer lays the groundwork
with diagrams explaining the hierarchy of mental activity: Noesis ('pure
vision' - apprehension of the Good [the Agathon]), Dianoia (logical
'thinking'), Pistis ('believing' - dogmatic acceptance of ideology), and
Eikasia ('imagining' - the lowest form of image-simplification and
instinctive behavior). These forms of activity may be applied to society in
a variety of political 'dimensions', governed by various syntheses of logos
(speech), will (strength), and eros (sympathy). The resultant political
forces may be generated towards the attainment of various goals: self-
preservation, power, stability, reason, welfare, perfectability, and
ultimately the parapolitics of transcendence. This book is a pearl of
thought; its sole defect is that it was cast before a world of largely
egalitarian readers [it was allowed to go out of print in 1985]. Do not
attempt it until you have first mastered #12C, #16A, and #16G. Iyer is
Emeritus Professor of Political Science at the University of California,
Santa Barbara."
16G. _Political Thinking_ by Glenn Tinder. Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1986
(4th Edition). (TS-1) MA: "This marvelous little (228 pages) paperback is
composed completely of questions to the reader concerning the great
political/philosophical issues of history, together with information on how
major political philosophers addressed those questions. The questions are
left open-ended, the expectation being that the reader must think his own
answers to them. This book is thus an active mental exercise, not a textbook
for passive memorization or indoctrination. Tinder is Professor of Political
Science at the University of Massachusetts."
16H. _The Social Contract_ by Robert Audrey. NY: Atheneum, 1970. (CS-3) AL:
"The Law of the Jungle as applied to human behavior. How the fallacy of 'all
men are created equal' has created an imbalance - perhaps necessary - in
man's potential. A beautifully written book guaranteed to hurt many whose
only claim to fame is that they are 'higher animals'."
16I. _Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds_ by Charles
Mackay, LL.D. NY: Harmony Books, 1980 [reprint of the 1841 edition]. (TS-3)
MA: "Perhaps the most wonderful book-title since #13C's. A crazy, wonderful,
informative, educational, and non-fictional tour of the major manias of
Western civilization up to the time of the book's publication. As Andrew
Tobias observes in his foreword: 'Once upon a time there was an emperor with
no clothes. For the longest time no one noticed. As you will read in this
marvelous book, there have been many naked emperors since. There will
doubtless be many more.'"
16J. _Collective Search for Identity_ by Orrin E. Klapp. NY: Holt, Rinehart
& Winston, 1969. (CS-3) AL: "A useful key to the understanding and
utilization of Lesser Magic."
16K. _Heroes, Villains, and Fools_ by Orrin E. Klapp. Englewood Cliffs, New
Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1962. (CS-3) AL: "Same comments as applied to
[#16J]."
16L. _World Civilizations_ by Edward McNall Burns, Philip Lee Ralph, Robert
E. Lerner, and Standish Meacham. NY: W.W. Norton, 1982 [6th Edition]. (TS-2)
MA: "I am often concerned to see how little knowledge many aspiring
Initiates have of exoteric human history. Unless you have a reasonably solid
grounding in this subject, anything you derive from this reading list [and
most other sensory-inputs] is going to be distorted in your mind. #16L is
the best single- volume, collegiate-level survey I've yet found: up-to-date,
readable, balanced, and comprehensive. Lavishly accented with color plates,
maps, and many photographs & illustrations. It is a pleasure to read, as
though one were drinking at a fountain of human adventure. 1,384 pages. See
also #16M."
16M. _Western Civilizations_ by Edward McNall Burns, Robert E. Lerner, and
Standish Meacham. NY: W.W. Norton, 1984 [10th Edition]. (TS-2) MA: "This is
an alternative/companion volume to #16L, minus the non-Western sections
[which permits greater emphasis & detail regarding the Western ones]. 1,068
pages. A wonderful literary and intellectual experience."
16N. _Batman: The Dark Knight Returns_ by Frank Miller. NY: Warner Books
#38-505, 1986. (TS-3) MA: "A Setian comic (?) book." Superman: "They'll kill
us if they can, Bruce. Every year they grow smaller; every year they hate us
more. We must not remind them that giants walk the Earth. You were the one
they used against us, Bruce: the one who played it rough. When the noise
started from the parents' groups, and the subcommittee called us in for
questioning, you were the one who laughed - that scary laugh of yours ...
'SURE, we're criminals,' you said, 'We've ALWAYS been criminals. We HAVE to
be criminals.'" Batman: "The world only makes sense when you FORCE it to."
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