Books in Brief: Equilibrium

Equilibrium, by John Cantwell Kiley (Guild of Tutors Press, 167 pp., $6.95). There is an odor of mendacity about many self-help books. One always suspects that the primary beneficiary of their helpfulness is, in fact, the author who expects to turn a fast buck at the expense of lost souls in search of psychic solace. Yet the market grows apace, and, should your taste incline toward something more substantial than hedonistic intimidation, then John Kiley is your man. Apart from his having a practice in clinical philosophy, his academic range extends from study under Jacques Maritain at Princeton to a series of professorial posts at universities across the country. Poetry is his avocation, and NR readers will recognize him as Johannes Eff. Equilibrium is the esoteric extension of his earlier book Self-Rescue, and the second installment of a trilogy. In many respects, he is reworking the same ground as before. His conceptual framework is ontological, with metaphysical mortar applied to erect for the reader a greater sense of cosmic awareness. The manner of his construction bears careful scrutiny. For just when you are about to grasp a particular point, Kiley whisks you to another perspective, from which facile generalizations dissipate with unnerving consistency. Devotees of “pop philosophy” are forewarned that exposure to Kiley may result in their dis-equilibrium.