[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":3,"doc-seo-430071-105":59,"doc-detail-430071-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,13,18,23,28,33,38,43,48,51,55],{"id":8,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":10,"show_sort_weight":11,"slug":12},1,"Document","Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":14,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":15,"show_sort_weight":16,"slug":17},2,"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":19,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":20,"show_sort_weight":21,"slug":22},4,"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":24,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":25,"show_sort_weight":26,"slug":27},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":29,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":30,"show_sort_weight":31,"slug":32},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":34,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":35,"show_sort_weight":36,"slug":37},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":39,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":40,"show_sort_weight":41,"slug":42},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":44,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":45,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":47},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":49,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":50},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":53,"show_sort_weight":52,"slug":54},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":56,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":57,"show_sort_weight":24,"slug":58},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":60,"data":61},"ok",{"site_id":62,"language":63,"slug":64,"title":65,"keywords":66,"description":67,"schema_data":68,"social_meta":123,"head_meta":125,"extra_data":127,"updated_unix":129},105,"en","critic-entropy-reviewed-by-richard-woods-op","CRITIC - ENTROPY - Reviewed by RICHARD WOODS, O.P.","","A critical review of Jeremy Rifkin’s book ENTROPY, coauthored with Ted Howard and featuring an afterword by Dr. Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen. The reviewer discusses how Rifkin frames entropy as a driver of global crises, the book’s use of statistics on Western decline, and its philosophical treatment of progress. Criticisms focus on misplaced emphasis, insufficient logical proof, and tempering historical and theoretical missteps in the afterword.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":15,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/literature/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/critic-entropy-reviewed-by-richard-woods-op/430071/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/critic-entropy-reviewed-by-richard-woods-op/430071.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Rhys","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-23","2026-09-29",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":29},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"What is the main subject of the document?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"It is a critical review of Jeremy Rifkin’s book ENTROPY, addressing its interpretation of entropy and its arguments about global problems and progress.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"How does the reviewer evaluate Rifkin’s use of entropy and progress?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"The reviewer says Rifkin’s framework helps discuss world problems and offers proposals, but also calls the progress concept a philosophical “whipping boy” and questions the book’s emphasis.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"What criticisms are made about Rifkin’s reasoning?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"The reviewer argues that Rifkin relies too much on assertion and illustration where logically strict proof is needed, and suggests the entropy-centered explanation may be misplaced.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},430071,1791291294,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":14,"category_name":15,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":29,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":34,"language":139,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":143,"read_time":144},687207024643,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_3d24733baf745e90a7e4bdd5f77d97b2","# CRITIC\n\n\"I used to read your books when I was a child.Are you sure you're not deceased?\"  \n\n| ENTROPY,by Jeremy Rifkin,with  \u003Cbr>Ted Howard.Afterword by Dr.  \u003Cbr>Nicholas Georgesu-Roegen.(Viking,  \u003Cbr>$10.95)  \u003Cbr>Reviewed by RICHARD WOODS,  \u003Cbr>O.P.,whose latest book,Mysterion:  \u003Cbr>An Approach to Mystical Spirituality  \u003Cbr>will be published in March.   | everyday crisis.He does so,moreover,  \u003Cbr>with the sometimes strident enthusiasm  \u003Cbr>of a seminary graduate out to convert  \u003Cbr>the world.Breathlessly he catalogues  \u003Cbr>the progressive domination of entropy  \u003Cbr>über alles as if he had successfully  \u003Cbr>unlocked the mystery of the Great  \u003Cbr>Pyramid and had only moments to get  \u003Cbr>his message across before we are all  \u003Cbr>deep-frozen in the heat death of the  \u003Cbr>universe.The story of Chicken Little  \u003Cbr>comes to mind.  \u003Cbr>Fortunately,Rifkin's major ambi-  \u003Cbr>tion is not to account for the origin of  \u003Cbr>the idea of entropy nor even to critique  \u003Cbr>the concept of progress which he  \u003Cbr>detects as the source of our errors  \u003Cbr>Nevertheless,his attempt to do both  \u003Cbr>occupies too large a portion of his  \u003Cbr>book for their merit to escape mention.  \u003Cbr>The lengthy discussion of entropy  \u003Cbr>serves mainly to create a frame of  \u003Cbr>reference in which to discuss major  \u003Cbr>world problems and set forth some  \u003Cbr>lucid proposals for their solution.The  \u003Cbr>concept of progress is introduced as a  \u003Cbr>philosophical whipping boy.A more  \u003Cbr>modest,penetrating and concise after-  \u003Cbr>word by Dr.Nicholas Georgescu-  \u003Cbr>Roegen succeeds in tempering many of  \u003Cbr>Rifkin's philosophical and historical  \u003Cbr>misprisions regarding entropic theory  \u003Cbr>and application.For a thorough  \u003Cbr>criticism of the ancient and modern  \u003Cbr>concepts of progress,I still prefer E.R.   | Dodds'\"The Ancient Concept of  \u003Cbr>Progress\"in his book of the same title,  \u003Cbr>and Robert Nisbet's History of the  \u003Cbr>Idea of Progress,neither of which ap-  \u003Cbr>pear in Rifkin's ample references.  \u003Cbr>Rifkin provides a wealth of statistics  \u003Cbr>and inferences concerning the decline  \u003Cbr>of the West which is both important  \u003Cbr>and useful information for a candid  \u003Cbr>appraisal of future possibilities for  \u003Cbr>civilized life on this planet.His effort  \u003Cbr>to use this information to show the ubi-  \u003Cbr>quitous tyranny of entropy,\"the  \u003Cbr>supreme law of nature,\"is somewhat  \u003Cbr>misplaced,since it is unnecessary to his  \u003Cbr>case.It also fails insofar as he relies on  \u003Cbr>assertion and illustration precisely  \u003Cbr>where he should have provided logi-  \u003Cbr>cally strict proof.  \u003Cbr>For Rifkin,entropy,like God,seems  \u003Cbr>to be the cause of everything,the  \u003Cbr>Prime Remover,if you will.A guess  \u003Cbr>can be hazarded that lesser,secondary  \u003Cbr>causes are most satisfying explanations  \u003Cbr>in this case as well,and they also per-  \u003Cbr>mit a measure of redress.It could also  \u003Cbr>be the case that parallel,non-entropic  \u003Cbr>forces also produce specific effects  \u003Cbr>distinguishable but not separate from  \u003Cbr>those effected by the god Entropy.  \u003Cbr>Even more theologically curious is  \u003Cbr>Rifkin's tendency to stupefaction in  \u003Cbr>the presence of his numinous Law,  \u003Cbr>\"this ultimate truth,\"this\"supreme  \u003Cbr>reality,\"this \"ultimate scientific law   |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| BUTTONS come off,spark plugs need  \u003Cbr>replacing,knives lose their edge,the  \u003Cbr>house needs repainting and batteries in  \u003Cbr>the Christmas toys run down.Thus  \u003Cbr>dictates the Second Law of Thermo-  \u003Cbr>dynamics,sometimes known as the  \u003Cbr>principle of entropy.The First Law,as  \u003Cbr>articulated late in the nineteenth cen-  \u003Cbr>tury,states that the amount of matter  \u003Cbr>and energy in the universe is constant;  \u003Cbr>they can be neither created nor des-  \u003Cbr>troyed,although they can be trans-  \u003Cbr>formed.The Second Law adds that  \u003Cbr>whenever such transformations occur,  \u003Cbr>some energy is inevitably lost to further  \u003Cbr>use.An implication of this “law”is  \u003Cbr>that eventually all closed systems,in-  \u003Cbr>cluding the universe i","cbCaiiwAMk01JRpF","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiiwAMk01JRpF","pdf",2604135,"English","# Critical Review\n## Thermodynamics and the Concept of Entropy\n## Progress as a Philosophical Focus\n## Appraisal, Critiques, and Afterword","[{\"question\":\"What is the main subject of the document?\",\"answer\":\"It is a critical review of Jeremy Rifkin’s book ENTROPY, addressing its interpretation of entropy and its arguments about global problems and progress.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the reviewer evaluate Rifkin’s use of entropy and progress?\",\"answer\":\"The reviewer says Rifkin’s framework helps discuss world problems and offers proposals, but also calls the progress concept a philosophical “whipping boy” and questions the book’s emphasis.\"},{\"question\":\"What criticisms are made about Rifkin’s reasoning?\",\"answer\":\"The reviewer argues that Rifkin relies too much on assertion and illustration where logically strict proof is needed, and suggests the entropy-centered explanation may be misplaced.\"}]","CRITIC - ENTROPY - Reviewed by RICHARD WOODS, O.P. | PDF",1790651855,11]