Bullshit
| Nick Davies - Flat Earth News - a journalist exposes the reasons why we can't rely on what we get from the press, particularly in the UK | Francis Wheen - How Mumbo-Jumbo Conquered the World - a journalist highlights quotes and ourageous claims made by big names of the 1990s and early 'noughties' | Richard Wilson - Don't Get Fooled Again - a human rights worker discusses how people become fooled and lists some of the most damaging falsehoods of recent history, some of which led to mass deaths | David Southwell - Secrets and Lies (mini essay) - an ex journalist and writer about conspiracy theories considers why people - and institutions - prefer to tell lies to speaking the truth |
| Hans Rosling - Factfulness - a Swedish professor of health encourages us to look for independent evidence and factual material rather than relying on the media |
Bullshit - Tricks of the trade
| Schopenhauer's 38 Tricks - a 19th century German philosopher offers, in a mock serious manner, his thoughts on how to win arguments | Richard Thouless's 38 Tricks - an English psychologist, who wrote 'Straight and Crooked Thinking', gives his updated list - in a more serious warning to students | Madsen Pirie - How to Win Every Argument - a British free-marketeer gives a more modern and much fuller list of tactics |
General Philosophy
| Hannah Arendt - The Life of Mind - a refugee from Nazi Germany who became a political philosopher, she takes us through history of philosophy to try to determine what 'Mind' is all about | Alain de Botton - Consolations of Philosophy - a Swiss/British philosophy writer highlights the key thinking of 6 famous philosophers of history - from Socrates to Nietzsche | Alexander George - I Am, Therefore I Think - a US professor of philosophy collected readers' questions and the book is a series of responses from various fellow philosophers | Stephen Law - The Philosophy 'Files' and 'Gym' - a proponent of teaching philosophy to school children examines some key questions of life, and sets a series of exercises for students to discuss |
| Adam Morton - Philosophy in Practice - a Canadian philosopher offers a text book for students, leading through history to the main modern 'isms' | Bryan Magee - The Great Philosophers - edited transcript of a UK TV series where the author chats to experts on particular philosophers and isms | Anthony Hatzimoysis (ed) - Philosophy and the Emotions - based on presentations at a conference in 2001, where the close links between Belief, Desire and Emotions are addressed |
Philosophy - Existentialism
| Gary Cox - How to be an Existentialist - a very readable view of what it takes to be an Existentialist, from someone who did his PhD on Sartre | Michael Allen Fox - The Remarkable Existentialists - an examination of the main names in Existentionalism and a review of where this all leads | David Cooper - Existentialism - discussion of what makes an Existentionalist, written after a time when the ideas had gone temporarily out of fashion | Dave Robinson - Introducing Kirkegaard - a short but easy to read introduction, with cartoons, on the philosopher who started the idea |
| Laurie Spurling - Phenomenology and the Social World - the author looks to apply a type of moderate Existentialism (based on Merleau-Ponty) to a social world view | Samuel Todes - Body and World - also following the Merleau Ponty thinking towards the social dimension, but a lot of comment on older ideas and psychology |
Philosophy - Epistemology (i.e. what can we know?, what is reality?, and what is truth?)
| Adam Morton - Theory of Knowledge - another text book for students, on this fundamental sub-topic of philosophy | WV Quine - The Pursuit of Truth - a classic but concise approach to the theory of knowledge, based on the concept of 'observational sentences'. | Richard Rorty - Truth and Progress - a series of essays from a modern pragmatist, preferring an "inter-subjective" rather than a "correspondence" theory of truth | John Searle - The Construction of Social Reality - an approach somewhat similar to Rorty's, based on 'Speech Acts" and "Institutional Reality" |
Philosophy - A couple of recommended introductory books, but without Roger's highlights
| Richard Osborne - Philosophy for Beginners - a best-selling introduction to philosophy, with a historical structure; it is lighthearted and has lots of illustrative cartoons. The author has produced a dozen or more such 'Beginners' books. | Richard Osborne - Introducing Eastern Philosophy - the same author here looks at Hindu, Buddhist and Chinese (Confucianism, Dao) philosophies, again with cartoons - by a different artist |
Language - Critical Reading and Rhetoric
| Denys Thompson - Between the Lines - the book that started me off on all this! It gives alternative writings about the same situations, and invites the reader to detect the writers' motives and tactics | Denys Thompson - Reading & Discrimination - an earlier and more formal book on the same subject; his complaint is that the average person "reads uncritically ... he will live at second-hand" | Jennifer Richards - Rhetoric - the author attempts to define rhetoric (i.e. the art of speaking or writing persuasively) and distinguish it from bullshit (although the two may overlap) | Judith Williamson - Decoding Advertisements - the author looks at the use of 'signs' - i.e. images which don't immediately represent what is being advertised, but which make some psychological appeal to the targeted audience or readership |
| Anton Zijderveld - On Clichés - an ex-Theology student offers an explanation of why our discourse these days is so cliché-ridden, although he is no fan of modernity | Fraser & Davidson - Analyze Anything - this is a student text book about how to analyze a topic and then present a good argument on it with a defined purpose. The use of 'signs' is encouraged. | Kenneth Burke (to come later - he was a well-respected writer on rhetoric) |
Language - Narrative and Stories - my old school contemporary and correspondent Peter Armitage was keen on this approach
| Anthony Paul Kerby - The Narrative of Self - before he quit philosophy and became a muso, this author wrote this provocative book based on the starting point "I am what can be told" | Cristopher Nash (ed) - Narrative in Culture - this is a series of papers from a 1987 conference, showing a wide range of opinions about narrative in Philosophy and Psychology. Like Kerby, Nash later quit philosophy! | Alex Callinicos - Theories and Narratives - disappointed by the non-happening of world revolution, the author looks to a number of writers who have commented on the importance of narrative in modern society | Grant, Keenoy & Oswick - Discourse and Organization - a mixed bag of interesting views about discourse, narrative and sense-making in organizations |
Language - Popular Culture
| Marcel Danesi - Popular Culture - this Canadian academic sees popular culture as a necessary counterwieght to the 'serious stuff' we have to face in life. But he is concerned that commercialism has hi-jacked pop culture. It may also be under threat by the internet getting clogged up by individual contributions. But that is at least 'bottom up' | Daniel Harris - Cute, Quaint, Hungry and Romantic - this is a fun essay about various forms of kitsch, especially in relation to advertisements. Rather than blame the advertisers, he says that "the kitsch is in our minds" |
Meaning - what do people intend when they utter something, and what do the readers/listeners take from it?
| Ogden & Richards - The Meaning of Meaning - two Cambridge academics, in 1923, wrote this classic which points out that words are just symbols which 'refer' to some thing (material or conceptual) | Michael Polanyi & Harry Prosch - Meaning - this addresses the 'Meaning of Life' sort of meaning - suggesting there should be some idea of 'where things are heading'; see also Evolution below | Roger's essay "What Did They Mean?" - a rather long but hopefully entertaining summary of my own thoughts about 'meaning' as they stood in late 2011 | Ron Stamper's Semiotic Ladder - an idea deriving from organisational semiotics showing the layers between 'meaning' in organizations and societies and the computer systems that support those structures of meaning |
Ontologies in Practice
| Beginners' Guide from Stanford Uni (not highlighted) - a web page describing what ontologies are, and how one would set about building one. | What is Ontology in AI? (not highlighted) - a web page introducing the use of ontolgies in AI | Bunge-Wand-Weber Ontology - a mini essay discussing an attempt to find some common structure for ontologies instead of a 'Tower of Babel' | Roger's FROLIO idea - a structure for an ontology oriented to 'meaning' in the sense above, and based on the view that most meaning lies in the relationships betweween things, rather than things themselves |
Quality
| Robert Pirsig - Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance - in this 1970s classic the author, on a long journey, in between accounts of his earlier life struggles, finds that (good) Quality lies in 'taking care' and being fully involved in the job at hand | Robert Pirsig - Lila - an Enquiry into Morals - on another journey the author enlarges on types of Quality, with Dynamic Quality representing the immediate, pre-rationalizing aspect | Howard Gardner - The Disciplined Mind - the proposer of the 'Theory of Multiple Intelligences' points out the need for 'respect' and 'ethics' as well as rational thinking | My page on Value also relates to this topic |
Ethics
| Dave Robinson - Ethics for Beginners - this is a book with cartoons in the style of Richard Osborne's Philosophy for Beginners(see above) | Richard Holloway - Between the Monster and the Saint - this former church leader looks at how mankind gets caught in so many destructive and misery-causing practices, in spite of so many calls to be the opposite | Joseph Badaracco - Questions of Character - intended as a guide to good management, the book looks at 8 characters from fiction and talks about how their character failings led to problems | Stephen Law - The Philosophy Files/Gym - these 2 books include a discussion on where morality comes from, as well as the ethics of eating meat |
Evolution of Society
| Dongdong Du - The Evolutionary Road - a Chinese academic takes a look at how human society has evolved, what dangers it is facing, and where it is going. Apart from 'having a go' at 'conservative' Buddhism, it is an interesting analysis | Beck, Giddens & Lash - Reflexive Modernization - 3 European sociologists give their views on where modern society is heading - and then each author comments on what the other two have said | Teilhard de Chardin - The Phenomenon of Man - A French Jesuit and Archaeologist gives his ideas about the evolution not just of man but the whole cosmos, and suggests that its ultimate direction is towards "Omega" - a unity of all 'mind' |
Evolution - Leadership and Management - another hot topic for my late correspondent Peter Armitage
| Barbara Kellerman - Followership - a Harvard professor asks how so many of us prefer to stick with the 'mindless herd' rather than actively contribute to resolving situations where there is bad leadership | Tom Atchison - Followership - a consultant in Health Service management points out that achieving any change requires committed followers, which is difficult when their bosses are 'Titled Executives' rather than leaders | Mark Gerzon - Leading Through Conflict - an experienced mediator talks about how leaders can help evolve things from conflict to constructive dialogue | Daniel Kahneman - Thinking Fast and Slow - a long but notable treatment of the two sides of human thinking and action and the ways in which people come to make wrong decisions |
Religion - Philosophical Ideas
| Aldous Huxley - The Perennial Philosophy - this successful 20th century novelist looks for the common threads that underlie the world's major religions | Flew, MacIntyre (eds) - New Essays in Philosophical Theology - a motley collection of interesting essays involving a philosophical look at the tenets of religions | DZ Phillips (ed) - Religion and Understanding - another interesting collection, including a supposed 4-way discussion between two theologians, an agnostic and an atheist | Anthony Kenny - Ch 12 (God) of Philosophy in the Modern World - a former Catholic priest discusses the arguments for existence of 'God' and the meaning of religion |
| Loyal Rue - Religion is not about God - a theology professor at a US Lutheran college takes a wide look at the evolution of religious ideas and concludes that religion is really about 'educating our emotions' | Slide show based on Loyal Rue's book - this is a 7 slide Powerpoint show presenting my personal take on Rue's book, which will probably arrive as a download |
Religion - Recent critiques
| Sigmund Freud - The Future of an Illusion - Freud wrote this essay in 1927, looking at religion as a psychological issue; he is not against 'the Good', but sees fundamentalism as an emotional retreat | John Humphrys - In God We Doubt - this UK radio host reports on a survey of people's attitudes to religion and concludes that not many Brits really go along with any orthodox line. He also interviews leaders of 3 religions for their comments | Alistair Kee - The Way of Transcendence - this Scottish theologian analyses the problems that prevent religious belief today and looks for a 'way' that is more in line with today's world | Karen Armstrong - Myth - an ex-nun charts the history of myth over the ages, and wonders what we can now find to satisfy us 'meaning seeking creatures'; can art provide something? |
| Robert Park - Superstition - a former science professor relates a series of issues in which people have preferred to rely on superstition rather than available established knowledge; he names and shames some offenders | Richard Holloway - A Little History of Religion - this former senior churchman discusses what religions have come to offer, but also the problems they face in the modern world, and whether there is any solution | Richard Holloway - Leaving Alexandria - the same author looks back at his thinking before, during and after his time as a minister; Alexandria is a Scottish town near Loch Lomond |
Religion - Future of Christianity
| John AT Robinson - Honest to God - Robinson was Bishop of Woolwich (SE London) when he wrote this 'different' view of God that upset many in the English churches. His view derived much from Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Letters and Papers from Prison | John Shelby Spong - A New Christianity for a New World - Like Robinson, Spong was an Anglican bishop - in the USA, and stirred up similar debate. He feels that "we must leave the God of miracle and magic" |
Religion - Islam
| Holy Koran - I assembled this set of paraphrased quotes from my copy of a traslation of the Koran, and sorted them by topic rather than chapter number. I feel this gives a better idea of what the Koran actually says | Jonathan AC Brown - Misquoting Muhammad - an American convert to Islam explores the subject of the many - often conflicting - hadiths - things the prophet is claimed to have said, separately from the Koran | Wafa Sultan - A God Who Hates - the author is a US-based (female) Moslem psychiatrist, who points out that a God that inspires so much hate and whose followers use religion to degrade women cannot be worth following |
Religion - Other traditions
| Thai Information Service - About Buddhism - a useful summary of Buddhism published by the Thai information service in London; Karma is claimed as a "necessary concept" | Mojan Momen - The Baha'i Faith - a readable introduction to a very reasonable sounding religious tradition - a possible way forward for Islam which was stamped on by traditionalists |
Para-religious thinking
| Kahlil Gibran - The Prophet - a classic in poetic style in which an imaginary prophet offers non-theocentric advice on many topics of human life, although not in a modern world | Eric Fromm - The Art of Loving - a member of the old Frankfurt school of disappointed communists looks at many aspects of 'Love' as a key concept for better human society | M Scott Peck - The Road Less Traveled - a US psychotherapist looks at four aspects of a healthy mind in modern times: Discipline, Love, Growth & Religion and Grace ("the force that drives improvement in all life") | |
| Edward De Bono - The Happiness Purpose - like the Dalai Lama, de Bono sees happiness as a measure of value and quality in human life.He lists many ways that a human can improve without requiring 'God' | Owe Wikström - The Icon in My Pocket - this Swedish professor of Psychology of Religion suggests that a little more mysticism might actually be good for us; he instances taking a journey |
Psychology and Science
| Bill Bryson - Seeing Further - claims to be stories about Britain's 'Royal Society', but is rather a medley of essays about various aspects of science, including lamentations about the eclipsing of what some people "feel from the inside" | Stephen Hall - Wisdom: from Philosophy to Neuroscience - a New York science writer follows a wide range of recent efforts to back up things which were solely the realm of philosophy or psyhcology through a more scientific narrative using neuroscience and brain experiments | Michael Losier - The Law of Connection - a NLP (neuro linguistic programming) consultant talks about the importance of recognizing the style of person one is dealing with | William James - Talks to Teachers on Psychology - these, from the famous pragmatist and psychology professor are from 1899 but still make a lot of sense today |
| Aldous Huxley's "Drugs Trilogy" - the novelist writes about his experiments with Mescalin in the 1930s and how they opened up his perception (in certain directions)beyond normal | Paul Davies' Goldilocks Options - a mini essay I wrote after reading the book, which is about whether the universe that we live in and observe has happened by chance, according to some unifying physical law, or by design |
Society and Human Relationships
| Richard Layard - Happiness - as Tony Blair's Minister for Happiness, the author explores what contributes to happiness and what explains the lack of it in so many people and societies | Bernard Guerin - Social Strategies of Everyday Life a mini-essay based on a book which looks at society as a system where 'populations' compete for 'resources'. It also looks at the language used as we act through these competitive situations | Axel Honneth & Nancy Fraser - Redistribution or Recognition? - this is about the struggle between the 'politics of equality' (redistribution) and the 'politics of difference' (recognition). | Karl Popper - The Open Society and its Enemies - an Austrian emigré from the Nazis in the 1940s, Popper wrote this long tirade against authoritarianism, historicism and excessive rationalism |
| Michael Sandel - Liberalism and the Limits of Justice - this is largely a critique of Rawls' Theory of Justice. It mentions the difficulties that arise in a pluralist (multicultural) society | John Sitton - Habermas and Contemporary Society - this is a critique of Habermas's The Theory of Communicative Action - but there is still a hint of wanting a socialist revolution | Gillian Bendelow & Simon Williams (eds) - Emotions in Social Life - a collection of widely different but mostly interesting papers addressing an important topic. There are some tinges of Habermas and also of 'all cultures are good' | Stephen Law - The War for Childrens Minds - i.e. between Authoritarianism and Liberalism. When should children be allowed to ask questions and think differently? Law thinks Authoritarians have too strong a hold |
| William Davies - Nervous States - about the decline in influence of reason and 'facts' and the ascendancy of 'feelings' - and what can be done to get a better balance in the future. |
Alphabetic List by Author
| Back to Book Highlights index | Index to Roger's essays | Back to Re-think home | Back to tagg.org |
The links below lead to the other components of PLOVER
| Philosophy | Language | Ontology | Value | Evolution | Religion |
| Slide show triggered by reading Samuel Todes's "Body and Mind" | Slide show based on Loyal Rue's "Religion is not about God" |
Some of these links may be under construction – or re-construction.
This version updated on 1st December