In Beyond Good and Evil, Nietzsche makes a powerful argument against the moral philosophers, the utilitarians, and the “pure” souls. There is no such thing as virtue, there is only the strong and the weak. Exploitation is not wrong, it is the essence of being alive. Being trampled on, being placid, being foolish – those … Read more
On Becoming a Person is a book by Carl Rogers about the third psychological paradigm. There were two psychological worldviews that dominated the way the human mind was understood. The first was Freud’s idea of the unconscious and the view that human beings were by nature impulsive and aggressive, and that their behavior has their … Read more
“Art is the kind of marathon where you cross the finish line and instead of getting a medal placed around your neck, the volunteers roughly grab you by the shoulders and walk you over to the starting line of another marathon.” Perennial Seller is a book by Ryan Holiday that tries to teach you how … Read more
Carl Rogers advances many concepts in A Way of Being that today are more widely accepted. He advocates for openness, self determination, being skeptical of tradition and authority, and of anything that seeks to dominate and control. He urges his readers to seek a balanced life that includes the body and spirit instead of being constrained by only the intellectual. … Read more
In 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, Harari writes about globalism, nationalism, religion, technology, meditation and economics but the book is more philosophical than historical although many interesting historical references are made. Harari’s thesis is that the source of the development of society is the fictions we have created, but when these fictions are taken … Read more
The price we pay for the advancement of civilization is the heightening sense of guilt that we experience. In Civilization and its Discontents, Freud explains why we feel guilt, where it came from, and what consequences it has had on the individual. Religion Freud starts his inquiry by alluding to a shared reality among religious … Read more
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky is a novel about what unfolds when morality submits to rationality. Raskolnikov was an ambitious and intelligent student who wanted to become a professor and has already published his first article at the age of 23, but his depraved financial condition has led him to depression. To make things … Read more
The premise of Games People Play by Eric Berne is that human beings as children are imbued with certain rituals, needs, desires, and thoughts by their parents and by their society. As they become adults, they do not fully transition from child to adult. Their relationships with others, characterized by the scripts they are willing … Read more
Free Will by Sam Harris is a book devoted to the philosophical debate about what agency is. His argument is that free will is nothing more than illusion. The reason why this is important is that if he is correct, we would need to think of reality and people very differently. If the scientific community … Read more
The Technological Society was written in 1954 by French philosopher Jacques Ellul. The book traces humanity’s historical discovery of technology, and how technique has come to dominate every aspect of our lives. Ellul writes in an academic style that is not always very accessible, but often presents his arguments in a wonderfully lucid way. Ellul’s … Read more