Freedom to Live: The Robert Hartman Story, Second Edition, 2013 Paperback – December 1, 2013

I first encountered Hartman's work when I met Mitch Axelrod in 2002. He was at a seminar and the foremost thing on his mind was to figure out how to publicize Hartman's Axiology test. As he described the test, I recognize what is known in mathematics as Orthogonal thinking. A small number of well-worded questions can map a HUGE space of possibilities and accurately characterize one's values.I took Hartman's Values Profile some time later. I read the results to my wife and she said, "Has this guy been spying on us? He described you perfectly." I've since re-taken the test twice and gone over the results with Mitch.Hartman's categories are "Intrinsic - Extrinsic - Systemic." These terms are meaningful to philosophers, but Axelrod summarizes them as "Soul - Role - Goal." Soul speaks to the inherent nature and being of the person, which is infinite; Role speaks to the external manifestation of the person's self, their gifts and skills; Goal speaks to the tactics and structures and specific behaviors of the person in a particular circumstance.By clearly seeing the difference between these things, and the way in which they produce conflicts, Hartman is able to reduce the conflict and re-align our efforts. The book shows Hartman's life experience and how some of the thorniest events in all of history (the World Wars) forced him to think about the intrinsic value of human beings in relation to our jobs and achievements.Before I read this book I had no idea Hartman was a Christian. (I did suspect he was Jewish.) However in retrospect this does not surprise me, since it is impossible to assign infinite intrinsic value to anyone or anything apart from a grounding value system based on a Higher Truth.Axiology is deeply needed in our digital age, where everything is measurable, but is so often REDUCED to crass measurement in a soul-crushing way. It's one thing to throw numbers into a spreadsheet; it's quite another to CHOOSE which column you're going to sort everything by. The fact that you can measure stuff doesn't tell you anything about which "column" you should value. Axiology is necessary in a world that's deluged with data but lacking in wisdom.Just because an article or clickbait headline gets a million views, a million clicks or even a million likes and shares, doesn't mean it's true, worthwhile, helpful or valuable. Axiology actually gives you tools for judging the true worth of things in a world where measurement often only creates more ambiguity.

Classic book which adds depth to the understanding of Axiology. The book is a must have for an axiologist and provides the structure of the science.

One of the more thoughtful and deep books that I’ve ever read!

Robert Hartman was a fascinating individual who seemed to have lived several lives over his 63 years. Born in Berlin in 1910, he fled Germany in 1933 with the rise of the Nazis. He represented the Walt Disney company in Scandinavia and Latin America in the 30's and 40's before doing his doctorate in the US. He was searching for nothing less than the answer to the question "What is Good?" As a university professor of philosophy he pioneered the field of value science or what he called formal axiology. As an internationally renowned philosopher he spent the rest of his days living in the US and Mexico advocating and writing on great ethical issues of the day.This is a really good book and provocative. Hartman was greatly influential in the middle of the twentieth century and it is sad that his thought and the field he pioneered has not gotten more attention in the world at large. We certainly need to develop better ways to think about ethics. Bob's doctoral dissertation at Northwestern University in 1946 was "Can Field Theory Be Applied to Ethics?" We also need a better financial system at the macro (international/global) level and the micro (corporate/family/personal) level. Bob helped influence the popularity of profit sharing plans for employees. We also need a way to think about, address and resolve conflict and wars. In Hartman's day the key threat was the nuclear arms race and brinksmanship, and his work to resolve this won him a nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1973, just two weeks before his untimely death.This is the only available memoir of Robert Hartman, written in his fifties ten years before his death. It's not a full autobiography, though Hartman did keep a detailed journal that has not yet been published. Bob Hartman wrote and re-wrote the manuscript that is here published as Freedom to Live over a good part of his professional life. I have seen the earlier drafts of it in his extensive papers at the library of the University of Tennessee and this accurately reflects Bob's reflections on his own life experience over several decades.Art Ellis knew Dr. Hartman personally as a mentor, teacher and friend and has done a very able job as the editor of this volume. You may not agree with everything you read, but instead of dismissing this book it's worth your time to read Robert Hartman's thoughts and reflections for yourself and decide if they challenge you personally to live a better life and to think deeper about the great human conversation that continues today.

Merece inmensamente su compra. Lo recomiendo.

This is the 'start here' book (I think) if you're new to the work of Dr Robert S. Hartman or formal axiology. I had read it many years ago and picked it up again during the pandemic and felt the key themes and messages were just so relevant to today.The first half of the book is Hartman's story and the second half feels almost like a personal development book. I really absorbed the words and even had my highlighter pen out to mark key passages (always a sign of a good book!).Even if you are not familiar with Hartman or his work, I think this book could be read and appreciated by anyone - especially coaches, consultants or someone of a self-growth journey.

this is a deeply interesting and engaging book. I study Axiology and this book has vastly expanded my understanding while deepening my curiousity. I'm recommending this book to dozens of colleges!