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interpretation of the suggested rating system, or any validation data to support the
instrument. However, the survey (and, most importantly, the sources from which it is
drawn) could be of use for other researchers, interested in exploring this field.
I predict that there will be an increased interest in corporate cults in the years ahead. As
people work longer hours, move around more frequently, feel the impact of globalization
and gain exposure to the transformational efforts of people in suits who have convinced
themselves that they are charismatic visionaries, critical questions will be asked.
It is to be hoped that we will soon see the publication of books which are serious about the
topic, rather than ones which are just seriously bad.
Dennis Tourish, Ph.D.
University of Aberdeen
United Kingdom
The Socratic Universe: Interviews With California Philosophers. (1995)
Walnut, CA: Mt. San Antonio College Philosophy Group. 93-page paperback.
This book is the result of student interviews with 39 California college and university
philosophers. The philosophers were asked standardized questions about their favorite and
least favorite theoretical orientation, philosophers they most admire, and questions about
ethics, science vs. religion, free will vs. determinism, life after death, and which philosophy
book(s) they would take if stuck alone on a deserted island. The book begins with the usual
scholarly disclaimer that ―the selection is a small one and not necessarily indicative of the
majority of professional philosophers in California‖ (ix). It is but a sampling of California
philosophers, not representative of all philosophers within the state, or nation. It then
devotes a short chapter to answers, by respondent name and in direct quotes, to each of
the standard questions. The answers are almost always fascinating and thought-provoking.
As to favorite orientation, respondents ranged from the scientific to the speculative,
Aristotle to Wittgenstein, analytic to phenomenological. Listed among the most disliked:
materialism, utilitarianism, relativism, the mystical, post-modernism, and anti-realism.
There was an interesting range of past and present thinkers most admired, from Aristotle
and Aquinas to Descartes, Bertrand Russell and John Rawls. Aristotle, Kant, and Spinoza
were mentioned the most relative to ethics.
Answers to the question ―does God exist?‖ elicited a wide range of interesting ideas. Many
answered with a simple ―yes‖ or ―no‖ or ―I don‘t know.‖: One answered ―Why do you ask?
Why do you need to ask?‖ Another considered the construct of ―God‖ to be a ―gross
oversimplification.‖ Other interesting answers: ―Yes, but what kind?‖ ―Yes, but not at all
what people think.‖ ―Depends on what you mean by God.‖ The vast majority answered
with a firm and final ―no‖ to the question of a life after death. Many saw no conflict between
science and religion as long as both openly sought the truth, a kind of scientific religion or
religious science. Interesting.
As for free will vs determinism, besides yes and some no answers, some were typically
philosophical: ―Even if there is conflict, not all of us use free will anyway.‖ ―We‘re machines
that may or may not be deterministic.‖ ―Both are involved in emergent evolution.‖ Books
they would take if stranded alone on a deserted island varied quite a bit, but four were
reported most: Descartes, Plato, Spinoza and Kant.
For so few pages, this little book manages to give full-time heavy-duty philosophers‘
answers to basic questions many of us ask ourselves. It is refreshing to hear them say
much of what we think and feel, and to express the same uncertainties and tentative

Cultic Studies Journal, Volume 17, 2000, Page 130
hypotheses. For that reason, this little thought-sampler is a useful book.
Frank MacHovec, Ph.D.
Christopher Newport University
Newport News, VA
The Tenth Insight: Holding the Vision. James Redfield. Warner Books, Inc.
(1271 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020), April, 1996, 236 pages,
$19.95 US).
If you read this book you will discover that the author plans to write a sequel about angels.
The Tenth Insight is itself a sequel to James Redfield's smash bestseller, The Celestine
Prophecy, now on top ten lists for over a year. In this spiritual adventure Celestine fans are
treated to a continuing revelation of their favorite New Age notions (reincarnation,
paranormal powers, spiritual healing, the divine self) through some familiar characters who
survived harrowing adventures in South America. The narrator remains nameless again, but
clearly ―he‖ represents an alter ego of the author who shares and promotes the same
beliefs. The anonymous ―I‖ teases the reader into identifying more closely with the
adventure --not a bad device if your intent is to trigger sympathy for the Insights.
In these further adventures, we learn more about the meaning of the first nine Insights and
how the Tenth works. The first nine were written on an ancient manuscript secreted by a
―Gnostic‖ order called the Spirituals since the 1600s in a monastery in Peru. The Tenth, we
discover, cannot be written down because it exists only in the ―Afterlife,‖ that heavenly
realm in which spirits of saints and angels dwell. It seems that Wil, a character from the
first story, has somehow achieved the Afterlife consciousness and helps the narrator to
―raise his energy‖ enough to glimpse it as well. A new character, David Lone Eagle, appears
as a stereotypical Native American in the first chapter. David is somehow aware of all ten
Insights. He tells the narrator to note any animals that come his way because they will be
telling him something on his journey to find his lost soul mate, Charlene.
The story begins in the southern Appalachian territory of, possibly, the Blue Ridge
Mountains. Redfield dedicates his book to his ―friends‖ from there. He discovers that
Charlene has been missing from work for a month. All she left him is a cryptic note and a
crudely sketched map. The remaining guidance to find her comes from the same
synchronistic coincidences and applications of Insight energy introduced in Celestine. We
soon discover that something mysterious and sinister is about to happen in the wilderness
before us. It involves a secret energy experiment led by a power hungry scientist, a Mr.
Feyman, who has used Charlene's higher consciousness and tricked her into revealing
invisible ―vortexes‖ of energy in the earth that he wants to exploit.
A strange but ominous ―hum‖ appears to the sensitive ears of the Insight characters, a hum
that comes from the supersensible energy field that Feyman manipulates. (Is this a take-off
on the Taos hum heard by some New Mexicans since the late 1980s?)
We meet Joel, another hiker who wants to get out of the area. He does not like the feel of
the mysterious experiment. He launches into a lecture about the shrinking middle class, the
international misuse of religion, our corrupt lawyers, and the doomsday prophets of
fundamentalism. We are introduced to the ―Fear,‖ an important theme in Insight doctrine.
The Fear perception of reality is what Insight practitioners combat by ―Holding the Vision,‖
but we are getting ahead of ourselves. Celestine fans are treated to many more didactic
digressions, like Joel's, with New Age spins on history, medicine, spirituality and science. To
critics these inane lectures and visions can be amusing if not irritating.
After Joel moves on the narrator tumbles down a cliff and injures his ankle. Maya Ponder, a
black doctor, happens to meet him during a hike. Maya, not surprisingly, is also hooked into