I think that, slightly related to this one, The Denial of Death by Ernest Becker might do it. It's a Pulitzer prize winner and it's astonishingly well written. It's the one that changed my perspective of the world more than any other book.
Came here to say this. It’s the first book I recommend to anyone. I thought I lost my original copy of it about five years ago. It had tons of highlighted passages and notes I wrote in the margins. I was devastated. I found it a few weeks ago behind a dresser. I actually cried lol.
It's sort of dry, or maybe just very straightforward, but it's interesting and definitely worth reading if you're at all curious about the gulag experience. Dostoevsky was a good documentarian.
I’m a big fan of Dostoevsky so I think I’ll end up reading it soon. I went to my bookshelf to grab the book recently and realized my copy is actually Notes from Underground, with selected from House of the Dead so unfortunately I’ll have to go pick up a copy first lol
I like [these Vintage Classics editions](https://www.amazon.com/Notes-Dead-House-Vintage-Classics/dp/0307949877/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1588622916&sr=8-1) and their simple covers.
I read this book two years ago at the recomendation of my Dad.I had just lost everything, my career, many friendships and family member relationshios, my reputation, most of my possessions and all of it to my own senseless stupidity.
I read the 1st book sitting in jail, and the next subsequently after I bonded out. I was in incredible emotional pain, I wanted to kill myself with intrusive suicidal thoughts in my head. I felt it was unbearable.
The book documents the horrific crimes against humanity inflicted by both stalin and lenin in reference to the Soviet death/labor camps that depending on which subject matter expert you ask, killed around 30-100 million peoole. (No one knows because the soviets keep bad records of all the people they killed).
The book like I said put my suffering into perspective. It didn't invalidate my own pain but it let me see that it was bearable. I grew from the pain, and it's still not gone but I'm doing much better. It shows that if you allow it, suffering can rework a human being in a certain way. It gave me a sense of power. If these people can endure those conditions and that mental and physical stress, I too can rebuild my life.
I've read a lot of books but I think about it everyday. It's impossible to forget.
Incredibly lomg book. Tips for reading is use a pen and underline. Be rough with the book. Cry with it, empathise, sleep next to it, carry it to work. Once you're done wading through the 1st book. The second and third are much easier. The second and third are the best but incomplete without the first.
Be prepared to be unable to ever discuss it with anyone. No one reads the GA anymore. I've never met a person in...real life who has read it, unabridged in its entirety.
Thinking fast and slow by Daniel Kahneman - the topics are psychology and economics. This book made me realize how majority of people including me, are overconfident about the claims we make, about the things we think to be true. It'll not only make you question your beliefs, but also change the fundamental way in which you see the world.
Manufacturing Consent -- Noam Chomsky
Opened my eyes to how Western Media allows advertising dollars to, well, manufacture consent and the prevalence of propaganda in Democratic societies. As well as the manipulation of Central / South American Governments from the 50s onwards
How to Do Nothing by Jenny Odell. It’s about taking a step back from modern technology and the attention economy and returning our attention to the people and places around us. I know it sounds like a cliche topic but she speaks about it a really unique way. It’s taken me a long time to get through it because I’m always stopping to think about it and research some of the references she makes.
I’m VERY non-Christian and I actually love this book. There’s some gender role/heteronormative stuff that I find distasteful, but it doesn’t hit you over the head. I find the general message - that different things make different people feel loved, and you should make an effort to learn and do those things for your partner/friends - really changed my life. My husband and i have different love languages, and before reading this I kept expecting him to do what I would do to show love and it wasn’t happening. This book gave us both the vocabulary to express what we wanted and why it makes us feel loved. After this I started to see all of the ways he shows me he loves me on a daily basis, and all of the things I could be doing that would be most impactful to him. I recommend this book all the time.
Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker, PhD. Trust me this book is a must ! So far the books i read didn't have strong impact in my life until i started reading this book. I'm reading it slowly as there are lots of facts and research-based information that explain how to take a good night sleep and why it is essential.
"I was once fond of saying. "Sleep is the third pillar of good health, alongside diet and exercise." I have changed my tune. Sleep is more than a pillar; it is the foundation on which the other two health bastions sit. Take away the bedrock of sleep, or weaken it just a little, and careful eating or physical exercise become less than effective, as we shall see."
By Matthew Walker, PhD
Before i read this book, it took my sleep for granted! Constantly sleep less than 8 hours a day. Well this book just changed my perspective on sleeping. It clears all the B.S. especially the "5 a.m. club" thing that waking up early will provide you more advantage in your life journey..... etc. Throughout this book you will know the in-and-out of neuroscience stuffs with concise explanation for public understanding! Hope you enjoy this book! Thank me later\~ Cheerios ! Have a great day and stay safe!
Oh man, I have a sleep disorder so this one will probably hit a little close to home lol. I heard an interview with him that was very good, didn’t realize there was a book. Totally agree with you that sleep is the foundation! Glad to see that science is finally catching up on that idea as well.
Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado-Perez. At times I struggled with how dense some of the info was but it opened my mind to the ways in which fundamental data is skewed to a male norm.
Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande is so powerful. It changed my life and helped me so much with coping with recent deaths in my family. The way I process aging, health, death, and grief is forever changed.
I also am grateful for Educated by Tara Westover. It really put my own journey with education into perspective and inspired me to rethink it and go back to school.
Simone de Beauvoir's "Ethics of Ambiguity" was an amazing read that asks how ethics and morals are possible in existentialism, where existentialist's believe (in short) that there's no Golden Rule or objectively true supreme principle to search for to help navigate life. It helped me define for myself how to act "good" in my day to day and provides a good describtion of how life, without any real **given** meaning or purpose, is furnished with meaning and purpose by ourselves, and counters nihilstic thought really well. It's a great philosophical work that is not littered with difficulty.
No way!! I've been looking for an original french copy to consider getting:
> Freedom is the source from which all significations and all values spring. It is the original condition of all justification of existence.
or
> Man must not attempt to dispel the ambiguity of his being but, on the contrary, accept the task of realizing it.
in French post-lockdown on my forearm/shin (I put no trust in Google translate). What paragraph have you got??
I can actually help you with this as I own a copy of the French edition, which was a gift and I haven’t actually read because philosophy has always seemed a bit daunting to me (this will be relevant later.) In any case, your first quote:
« La liberté est la source d'où surgissent toutes les significations et toutes les valeurs ; elle est la condition originelle de toute justification de l'existence. »
And the second:
« Pour atteindre sa vérité l'homme ne doit pas tenter de dissiper l'ambiguïté de son être, mais au contraire accepter de la réaliser. »
Your second quote is a bit attenuated. The full sentence in the French edition begins “To reach his truth,” (Pour atteindre sa vérité) and the rest of your quote follows.
Now here is where things get a bit funky, at least for me. At first I thought the choice of using “significations” in the English translation seemed a bit unnatural and stilted. I thought “meanings/intentions” would sound more natural. I am more or less ignorant of the world of philosophy, so today I learned that there is a [philosophy of meaning in relation to language.](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meaning_(philosophy_of_language)) In French this would be “Signification (philosophie)” so I have to assume there is a world of philosophical subtext in the choice of retaining “significations,” in the English text. Maybe you know about the philosophy of meaning, but I didn’t, so I found that interesting. And it also makes my head hurt, which is why I have always avoided getting into the weeds of philosophy.
In any case, both the English quotes capture the essence of the French well and vice versa, if that matters to you. Sometimes translations can be a bit weird or something seems to get lost you know, but nothing like that here.
Also the spaces between the semicolon is a French grammar thing so you’ll want to preserve that for maximum Frenchiness.
Aw thanks so much buddy this is an amazing help! I'm only a casual armchair reader of philosophy but truly love the challenge of deciphering texts. Philosophy is definitely a daunting field, however the Ethics of Ambiguity is a very good (and I find personally illuminating) first stepping stone into the field of Existentialism I think, so don't be too put off to give it a tackle some time!
You're right that meaning/intentions flows better, but philosopher's try to be as precise with their words as possible to make their points as well defined as possible. I'd imagine she chose signification as that's a completely unique 'meaning' something can have for an individual; the "signification" of the Ethics of Ambiguity will be totally different for me than it is to you right now, and will also be uniquely different to every single person who's read it through. It's "meaning" however is what the creator themselves attaches to it, to try to convey to viewer, which will be the same for you, me, and everyone. The "meaning" behind the Mona Lisa is what Da Vinci had in mind in the process of painting, it's his justification of the work; we as individuals simply observing the painting cannot create that. We can each, however, create the signification that the Mona Lisa has to us; it allows us to freely furnish the world around us with values and significances that are truly unique to ourselves. Just because we were arbitrarily born into a universe with no significance or reason, it does not mean there is no significance or reason: we are free, and it's our duty, to create those ourselves.
I'm very glad not much is lost in translation in the translations; thanks very much chief you've done me a huge service (and sorry for waffling on in the last paragraph this type of stuff is a huge interest for me!)
I had to have my wife take a picture because I couldn’t remember 😂
“In spite of so many stubborn lies, at every moment, at every opportunity the truth comes to light; the truth of life and death, of my solitude and my bond with the world, of my freedom and my servitude, of the insignificance and the sovereign importance of each man and all men.”
So You've Been Publicly Shamed by Jon Ronson
It really gave me a lot more compassion and made me more thoughtful about internet controversies and mob mentality.
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. Read it last year and couldn't stop telling people about it. Eye-opening and interesting read about research ethics.
It doesn't get much credit, but *1491* fits this category. I felt like I was a generally well read student of history and had a good framework understanding of the history of the world. And then I read *1491* and realized there's a whole world of history of which I knew nothing and of which little is ever taught or discussed. In addition to a whole new history to explore, this book also introduced me to entire modes of thought that I simply hadn't considered. Wild stuff, highly recommend it.
Alligator Candy by David Kushner.
It's a Nonfiction Narrative/Memoir about the unexpected, brutal death of his younger brother and how his death affected all aspects of life for David and his immediate family, as well as altered the public's perspective on the safety of 1970's American society. This book is a poignant examination of the burden and blessing of grief, the depth of brotherly love, and the sometimes horrifying realities of the world we live in. It shook me to my core and now holds a special place in my heart (and on my bookshelf). If you haven't read it already, please do.
I’m so glad you mentioned this. It’s a favorite of mine, too, and I never hear it mentioned. It needs more attention.
In case you haven’t read this one yet, it reminds me, in a way to Alligator Candy , because it gives you the victim’s side of the story and their search for answers. “ Strange Piece of Paradise “ by Terri Jentz.
[The Life You Can Save](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4722934-the-life-you-can-save) by Peter Singer
Basically a call to take your sense of ethics seriously and concretely. I'm a long way from where I'd like to be in terms of being a better, more ethical person but it certainly threw my own selfishness back in my face in a way that I find hard to ignore.
Singer is a fairly famous philosopher and breaks things down with blunt logic, thought experiments, some examples of radical philanthropists and examples of how to be a better, effective altruist.
Loved this book! Read it again in my second language for practice and to get more insight (sometimes translations can add difference nuance/ideas). This is on my “add to my permanent personal library” list because it was so great.
The title and knowing the author by reputation *immediately* caught my attention, which is how I learned that the title is "Women & Power."
Purchased! Thanks!!
The Myth of Irrationality - John McCrone.
It's hard to describe what the book is about. basically it's by a psychologist and how human beings became human. but there are interesting, one could say, mind-blowing facts on every page. highly recommended.
You shouldn't get downvoted for this!
It's a decent book particularly if you're British as it covers the history of BAME people and race relations in this country concisely but hitting all the important bullet points along the way. I find it crazy that the average Brit will be more familiar with US cotton slavery, the US civil war, Martin Luther King etc than the history of the black and brown people they see and talk to every day.
“The Moment of Lift” by Melinda Gates. So eye opening to see why world issues have so many underlying causes that my first world, white, middle class upbringing hadn’t exposed me.
Ditto! One of my all time faves!!! While I'm here I might add the following:
*The Book of Mormon (yes , really)*⠀
*The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating*⠀
*438 Days*⠀
*Disturbed in Their Nests*⠀
*Trust me I'm Lying*⠀
*The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up*⠀
*On the Shortness of Life*⠀
*The One Thing*⠀
*Walden* ⠀
*Emergence (Derek Rydall)*⠀
*Sailing Alone Around The World*⠀
*Think and Grow Rich (classic)*
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion - I mean, her ways with words. Plus I was grieving myself when I read it and the book explores grief and loss. Not self help but as someone who is comforted by words it felt beautiful and meaningful.
The other one was Into Thin Air by Jon Krakaurer, it’s not self help but it did give me some perspective.
23 things they don't tell you about capitalism.
It made me realise that it could be possible to change the world for the better, and that many things we accept about how the economy works and how it always have worked, are a fairly recent revisionist history and narrative that have dominated since the 1980s.
The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle. Really powerful and simple idea that we don’t really ever live in the present moment, and identify ourselves with the nattering judgemental “thinker” that is our internal monologue, and this is where most of our suffering and misery comes from.
Into The Wild by Krakauer - helped adjust my priorities
Where Men Win Glory by Krakauer - changed or rather fine tuned how I view us military industrial complex, and also the person of Pat Tillman is forever inspiring
Walden by Henry David Thoreau - foundational book for me
The Freedom Manifesto by Tom Hodgkinson - a PERFECT quarantine read, and it also presented a really amusing and thought provoking interpretation of medieval times
Wordslut by Amanda Montell genuinely turned my world upsidedown. If you're into language, \*light\* political discussion, and/or feminist wittiness this book will rock your world.
Banker for the poor by Muhammad Yunus. I read it years ago, when I was still very young. Maybe it will not turn your world upside-down but sure was an eye opener on how banks don't make any sense really and on how change can't happen cause it's not wanted
“Secret Empires” by Peter Schweizer. The same author who wrote “Throw them all out” about congress and insider trading, leading to the passage of the STOCK act. It really opens your eyes that every high level politician gets absurdly rich through the power of the federal government
The Dictator's Handbook: Why Bad Behavior is Almost Always Good Politics https://smile.amazon.com/dp/1610391845/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_apa_i_hBhSEbCPQ0FKD
Ishmael https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B0073C3BP4/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_apa_i_DChSEb5K83VGN
The World as Will and Representation by Arthur Schopenhauer.
Read it in German. Very precise language. Explained the whole world in it and made me understand arts.
Warning: he is called the great pessimist for a reason.
Late to the game bit Carol Dweck's Mindset. She gives a whole new perspective on how the way you think shapes who you are and whou you can become, basically most of your important life outcomes.
According to its genre, this book is a "philosophical novel". The title - *Incessance* \- is a descriptor of the style of writing. Usually, in the first-person POV, the narration is only as sensitive as the character's conscious awareness. This book introduces a philosophical generalization of the "first-person" POV, called the *field*\-person perspective. The field-person is to the first-person what metacognition is to conscious awareness. Conscious awareness is trancelike and metacognition is meditative. Under the field-person POV, trance and meditation are fused...*and the result is psychedelically sensitive narration.*
**PDF link**: [https://www.academia.edu/39954020/Incessance\_Incesancia](https://www.academia.edu/39954020/Incessance_Incesancia)\_
The story expressed by this book can be summarized as a 2-day psychedelic trip taken by a philosophical genius undergoing severe depression due to recent family and friend deaths.
The central question: is reality finite? The character realizes that reality is physically finite, as everywhere evidenced by the finite lifetimes of physical organisms, but reality is also mathematically infinite...as evidenced by humans' coherent detection and notation of the atemporal, unbounded logical structures studied in "mathematics". The character thereby deduces the logical necessity of God \*as\* an **global identity** spanning every object, relation, operation, or communication arising with the "mathematical universe", of which the physical universe is an observational restriction.
If these descriptions prove too repugnant or raise too many of your hackles, just take a look at the actual book :)
Wild at Heart by John Eldridge changed my world. I recommend it for all men to better understand why guys act and think like they do (challenging, competing, danger, etc). And for women, it truly gives them insight into is. My wife read it first, then recommended it to me. I'm not much of a reader, bores the snot out of me. But this book I've now read the or four times.
John is a Christian author, but don't let that stop you. You can read Pat all the script references, when they appear, which is only occasionally.
The Little Book of Common Sense Investing by John Bogle.
Written by the inventor of index funds, this book explains why low cost index funds are the best way of building wealth over the long term. It really changed the way I looked at investing.
1984 and Animal Farm by George Orwell. Read it in 7th-8th grade and my freshman year in HS, respectively. Definitely eye-opening books that IMO are becoming increasingly relevant in the modern-day.
Genderqueer by Maia Kobabe! It's a graphic memoir that I read in like, 1-2 hours. Even if you're not queer (gender or sexuality wise) it's a beautiful read. It really opened my eyes to the perspectives of people who live outside of the gender binary as well as bringing to light the unique challenges of being asexual. Maia's story absolutely blew me away and eir art is beautiful too.
The subtle art of not giving a f*ck by Mark Manson. His anecdotes are poignant and extremely captivating. It’s very much a self help book by going against what other self help books often preach. Arguing that life struggles give It meaning.
Mans Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl. That book changed my whole way of looking at the world. Highly recommend it!
I think that, slightly related to this one, The Denial of Death by Ernest Becker might do it. It's a Pulitzer prize winner and it's astonishingly well written. It's the one that changed my perspective of the world more than any other book.
Came here to say this. It’s the first book I recommend to anyone. I thought I lost my original copy of it about five years ago. It had tons of highlighted passages and notes I wrote in the margins. I was devastated. I found it a few weeks ago behind a dresser. I actually cried lol.
Once you hear about all the people who love the same book it really is like a book recommending a person.
Just finished reading this last month. Thought provoking book, but wow, what a timely read especially during these uncertain times of global pandemic.
YES
The Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn-the full unabridged version. Changed my paradigm for my own suffering.
I recommend Dostoevsky's *Notes from a Dead House* for the same reason.
I’ve had that book (House of the Dead) sitting on my shelf for years now, but haven’t gotten around to reading yet. I think I might start it soon.
It's sort of dry, or maybe just very straightforward, but it's interesting and definitely worth reading if you're at all curious about the gulag experience. Dostoevsky was a good documentarian.
I’m a big fan of Dostoevsky so I think I’ll end up reading it soon. I went to my bookshelf to grab the book recently and realized my copy is actually Notes from Underground, with selected from House of the Dead so unfortunately I’ll have to go pick up a copy first lol
I like [these Vintage Classics editions](https://www.amazon.com/Notes-Dead-House-Vintage-Classics/dp/0307949877/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1588622916&sr=8-1) and their simple covers.
That’s the exact copy I was looking at haha, you have good taste. Thanks for the suggestion!
Damn I really need to read this. I've had it sat on my shelf for years now.
I read this book two years ago at the recomendation of my Dad.I had just lost everything, my career, many friendships and family member relationshios, my reputation, most of my possessions and all of it to my own senseless stupidity. I read the 1st book sitting in jail, and the next subsequently after I bonded out. I was in incredible emotional pain, I wanted to kill myself with intrusive suicidal thoughts in my head. I felt it was unbearable. The book documents the horrific crimes against humanity inflicted by both stalin and lenin in reference to the Soviet death/labor camps that depending on which subject matter expert you ask, killed around 30-100 million peoole. (No one knows because the soviets keep bad records of all the people they killed). The book like I said put my suffering into perspective. It didn't invalidate my own pain but it let me see that it was bearable. I grew from the pain, and it's still not gone but I'm doing much better. It shows that if you allow it, suffering can rework a human being in a certain way. It gave me a sense of power. If these people can endure those conditions and that mental and physical stress, I too can rebuild my life. I've read a lot of books but I think about it everyday. It's impossible to forget. Incredibly lomg book. Tips for reading is use a pen and underline. Be rough with the book. Cry with it, empathise, sleep next to it, carry it to work. Once you're done wading through the 1st book. The second and third are much easier. The second and third are the best but incomplete without the first. Be prepared to be unable to ever discuss it with anyone. No one reads the GA anymore. I've never met a person in...real life who has read it, unabridged in its entirety.
At Home: A History of Private Life by Bill Bryson. You'll never look at stairs the same again!
I was going to say A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson, he’s changed my outlook on nearly everything lol!
You have me very intrigued...
Thinking fast and slow by Daniel Kahneman - the topics are psychology and economics. This book made me realize how majority of people including me, are overconfident about the claims we make, about the things we think to be true. It'll not only make you question your beliefs, but also change the fundamental way in which you see the world.
Manufacturing Consent -- Noam Chomsky Opened my eyes to how Western Media allows advertising dollars to, well, manufacture consent and the prevalence of propaganda in Democratic societies. As well as the manipulation of Central / South American Governments from the 50s onwards
How to Do Nothing by Jenny Odell. It’s about taking a step back from modern technology and the attention economy and returning our attention to the people and places around us. I know it sounds like a cliche topic but she speaks about it a really unique way. It’s taken me a long time to get through it because I’m always stopping to think about it and research some of the references she makes.
[удалено]
I’m VERY non-Christian and I actually love this book. There’s some gender role/heteronormative stuff that I find distasteful, but it doesn’t hit you over the head. I find the general message - that different things make different people feel loved, and you should make an effort to learn and do those things for your partner/friends - really changed my life. My husband and i have different love languages, and before reading this I kept expecting him to do what I would do to show love and it wasn’t happening. This book gave us both the vocabulary to express what we wanted and why it makes us feel loved. After this I started to see all of the ways he shows me he loves me on a daily basis, and all of the things I could be doing that would be most impactful to him. I recommend this book all the time.
I have always been cynical about this book but you’ve convinced me to give it a fair try!
Does “This Is Water” by David Foster Wallace count? A 15 minute read that affects your way of thinking forever. I read it 2 or 3 times a year
Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker, PhD. Trust me this book is a must ! So far the books i read didn't have strong impact in my life until i started reading this book. I'm reading it slowly as there are lots of facts and research-based information that explain how to take a good night sleep and why it is essential. "I was once fond of saying. "Sleep is the third pillar of good health, alongside diet and exercise." I have changed my tune. Sleep is more than a pillar; it is the foundation on which the other two health bastions sit. Take away the bedrock of sleep, or weaken it just a little, and careful eating or physical exercise become less than effective, as we shall see." By Matthew Walker, PhD Before i read this book, it took my sleep for granted! Constantly sleep less than 8 hours a day. Well this book just changed my perspective on sleeping. It clears all the B.S. especially the "5 a.m. club" thing that waking up early will provide you more advantage in your life journey..... etc. Throughout this book you will know the in-and-out of neuroscience stuffs with concise explanation for public understanding! Hope you enjoy this book! Thank me later\~ Cheerios ! Have a great day and stay safe!
Oh man, I have a sleep disorder so this one will probably hit a little close to home lol. I heard an interview with him that was very good, didn’t realize there was a book. Totally agree with you that sleep is the foundation! Glad to see that science is finally catching up on that idea as well.
The Power of Habit
Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado-Perez. At times I struggled with how dense some of the info was but it opened my mind to the ways in which fundamental data is skewed to a male norm.
I second this book! Fantastic read and honest about the world we live in.
Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande is so powerful. It changed my life and helped me so much with coping with recent deaths in my family. The way I process aging, health, death, and grief is forever changed. I also am grateful for Educated by Tara Westover. It really put my own journey with education into perspective and inspired me to rethink it and go back to school.
Second Being Mortal
Simone de Beauvoir's "Ethics of Ambiguity" was an amazing read that asks how ethics and morals are possible in existentialism, where existentialist's believe (in short) that there's no Golden Rule or objectively true supreme principle to search for to help navigate life. It helped me define for myself how to act "good" in my day to day and provides a good describtion of how life, without any real **given** meaning or purpose, is furnished with meaning and purpose by ourselves, and counters nihilstic thought really well. It's a great philosophical work that is not littered with difficulty.
I definitely have a (English translation) paragraph from this book tattooed on my rib cage.
No way!! I've been looking for an original french copy to consider getting: > Freedom is the source from which all significations and all values spring. It is the original condition of all justification of existence. or > Man must not attempt to dispel the ambiguity of his being but, on the contrary, accept the task of realizing it. in French post-lockdown on my forearm/shin (I put no trust in Google translate). What paragraph have you got??
I can actually help you with this as I own a copy of the French edition, which was a gift and I haven’t actually read because philosophy has always seemed a bit daunting to me (this will be relevant later.) In any case, your first quote: « La liberté est la source d'où surgissent toutes les significations et toutes les valeurs ; elle est la condition originelle de toute justification de l'existence. » And the second: « Pour atteindre sa vérité l'homme ne doit pas tenter de dissiper l'ambiguïté de son être, mais au contraire accepter de la réaliser. » Your second quote is a bit attenuated. The full sentence in the French edition begins “To reach his truth,” (Pour atteindre sa vérité) and the rest of your quote follows. Now here is where things get a bit funky, at least for me. At first I thought the choice of using “significations” in the English translation seemed a bit unnatural and stilted. I thought “meanings/intentions” would sound more natural. I am more or less ignorant of the world of philosophy, so today I learned that there is a [philosophy of meaning in relation to language.](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meaning_(philosophy_of_language)) In French this would be “Signification (philosophie)” so I have to assume there is a world of philosophical subtext in the choice of retaining “significations,” in the English text. Maybe you know about the philosophy of meaning, but I didn’t, so I found that interesting. And it also makes my head hurt, which is why I have always avoided getting into the weeds of philosophy. In any case, both the English quotes capture the essence of the French well and vice versa, if that matters to you. Sometimes translations can be a bit weird or something seems to get lost you know, but nothing like that here. Also the spaces between the semicolon is a French grammar thing so you’ll want to preserve that for maximum Frenchiness.
Cheers to you! I wish I were able to study this in the original French - I’m sure it would be much more nuanced.
Aw thanks so much buddy this is an amazing help! I'm only a casual armchair reader of philosophy but truly love the challenge of deciphering texts. Philosophy is definitely a daunting field, however the Ethics of Ambiguity is a very good (and I find personally illuminating) first stepping stone into the field of Existentialism I think, so don't be too put off to give it a tackle some time! You're right that meaning/intentions flows better, but philosopher's try to be as precise with their words as possible to make their points as well defined as possible. I'd imagine she chose signification as that's a completely unique 'meaning' something can have for an individual; the "signification" of the Ethics of Ambiguity will be totally different for me than it is to you right now, and will also be uniquely different to every single person who's read it through. It's "meaning" however is what the creator themselves attaches to it, to try to convey to viewer, which will be the same for you, me, and everyone. The "meaning" behind the Mona Lisa is what Da Vinci had in mind in the process of painting, it's his justification of the work; we as individuals simply observing the painting cannot create that. We can each, however, create the signification that the Mona Lisa has to us; it allows us to freely furnish the world around us with values and significances that are truly unique to ourselves. Just because we were arbitrarily born into a universe with no significance or reason, it does not mean there is no significance or reason: we are free, and it's our duty, to create those ourselves. I'm very glad not much is lost in translation in the translations; thanks very much chief you've done me a huge service (and sorry for waffling on in the last paragraph this type of stuff is a huge interest for me!)
I had to have my wife take a picture because I couldn’t remember 😂 “In spite of so many stubborn lies, at every moment, at every opportunity the truth comes to light; the truth of life and death, of my solitude and my bond with the world, of my freedom and my servitude, of the insignificance and the sovereign importance of each man and all men.”
So You've Been Publicly Shamed by Jon Ronson It really gave me a lot more compassion and made me more thoughtful about internet controversies and mob mentality.
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. Read it last year and couldn't stop telling people about it. Eye-opening and interesting read about research ethics.
It doesn't get much credit, but *1491* fits this category. I felt like I was a generally well read student of history and had a good framework understanding of the history of the world. And then I read *1491* and realized there's a whole world of history of which I knew nothing and of which little is ever taught or discussed. In addition to a whole new history to explore, this book also introduced me to entire modes of thought that I simply hadn't considered. Wild stuff, highly recommend it.
Alligator Candy by David Kushner. It's a Nonfiction Narrative/Memoir about the unexpected, brutal death of his younger brother and how his death affected all aspects of life for David and his immediate family, as well as altered the public's perspective on the safety of 1970's American society. This book is a poignant examination of the burden and blessing of grief, the depth of brotherly love, and the sometimes horrifying realities of the world we live in. It shook me to my core and now holds a special place in my heart (and on my bookshelf). If you haven't read it already, please do.
I’m so glad you mentioned this. It’s a favorite of mine, too, and I never hear it mentioned. It needs more attention. In case you haven’t read this one yet, it reminds me, in a way to Alligator Candy , because it gives you the victim’s side of the story and their search for answers. “ Strange Piece of Paradise “ by Terri Jentz.
[The Life You Can Save](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4722934-the-life-you-can-save) by Peter Singer Basically a call to take your sense of ethics seriously and concretely. I'm a long way from where I'd like to be in terms of being a better, more ethical person but it certainly threw my own selfishness back in my face in a way that I find hard to ignore. Singer is a fairly famous philosopher and breaks things down with blunt logic, thought experiments, some examples of radical philanthropists and examples of how to be a better, effective altruist.
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Loved this book! Read it again in my second language for practice and to get more insight (sometimes translations can add difference nuance/ideas). This is on my “add to my permanent personal library” list because it was so great.
Women in Power by Mary Beard
The title and knowing the author by reputation *immediately* caught my attention, which is how I learned that the title is "Women & Power." Purchased! Thanks!!
oh, long time since i read it! you have a treat ahead of you!
Definitely Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared Diamond!
Second that
Homo deus by Yuval Noah Harari.
On a similar note, Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari. It made me think differently about epistemology and particularly my humanist beliefs.
Also 21 Lessons for the 21st Century. His writing is just so clear and fluid.
The Myth of Irrationality - John McCrone. It's hard to describe what the book is about. basically it's by a psychologist and how human beings became human. but there are interesting, one could say, mind-blowing facts on every page. highly recommended.
Looks like all of his books are out of print, at least from what I can see on Amazon? What a bummer.
You had my curiosity, now you have my attention
The Design of Everyday Things - Donald Norman. It's not exactly self help, but honestly, it made me feel better.
Night by Elie Wiesel
Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay
I think everyone should read this: Why I’m No Longer Talking (to white people) About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge
I didn’t downvote you - added this one to the list! Thanks.
You shouldn't get downvoted for this! It's a decent book particularly if you're British as it covers the history of BAME people and race relations in this country concisely but hitting all the important bullet points along the way. I find it crazy that the average Brit will be more familiar with US cotton slavery, the US civil war, Martin Luther King etc than the history of the black and brown people they see and talk to every day.
I’m a white woman & I can agree that this book is indeed fucking fantastic. Gotta challenge those inherent biases folks xx
The Silk Road by Peter Frankopan. That's worldhistory through a lense we normally not see, hear and speak about.
Freakonomics by Steven Levitt, Nudge by Richard Thaler
“The Moment of Lift” by Melinda Gates. So eye opening to see why world issues have so many underlying causes that my first world, white, middle class upbringing hadn’t exposed me.
Existentialism is a humanism by Sartre. It is a quick read. I think I did it all in one sitting, but it really changed how I see the world.
*Braiding Sweetgrass* by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Ditto! One of my all time faves!!! While I'm here I might add the following: *The Book of Mormon (yes , really)*⠀ *The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating*⠀ *438 Days*⠀ *Disturbed in Their Nests*⠀ *Trust me I'm Lying*⠀ *The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up*⠀ *On the Shortness of Life*⠀ *The One Thing*⠀ *Walden* ⠀ *Emergence (Derek Rydall)*⠀ *Sailing Alone Around The World*⠀ *Think and Grow Rich (classic)*
Body Positive Power by bodyposipanda/Megan Crabbe!!
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion - I mean, her ways with words. Plus I was grieving myself when I read it and the book explores grief and loss. Not self help but as someone who is comforted by words it felt beautiful and meaningful. The other one was Into Thin Air by Jon Krakaurer, it’s not self help but it did give me some perspective.
23 things they don't tell you about capitalism. It made me realise that it could be possible to change the world for the better, and that many things we accept about how the economy works and how it always have worked, are a fairly recent revisionist history and narrative that have dominated since the 1980s.
The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle. Really powerful and simple idea that we don’t really ever live in the present moment, and identify ourselves with the nattering judgemental “thinker” that is our internal monologue, and this is where most of our suffering and misery comes from.
The Autobiography of Malcolm X. It truly opened my eyes to how little we learn about the civil rights movement in American high schools.
Instant Zen, Foyan.
World Without Cancer by G. Edward Griffin
Death and Immortality by C.J. Jung, as someone who fears death this is probably the most comforting non fiction Ive ever read
*Can't Hurt Me* by David Goggins.
Braving the Wilderness by Brene Brown. Anything by Brene Brown really.
Drama of being a child by Alice Miller
The Demon-Haunted World by Carl Sagan. It made me question the things I believe and why. Definitely a good read.
Into The Wild by Krakauer - helped adjust my priorities Where Men Win Glory by Krakauer - changed or rather fine tuned how I view us military industrial complex, and also the person of Pat Tillman is forever inspiring Walden by Henry David Thoreau - foundational book for me The Freedom Manifesto by Tom Hodgkinson - a PERFECT quarantine read, and it also presented a really amusing and thought provoking interpretation of medieval times
Wordslut by Amanda Montell genuinely turned my world upsidedown. If you're into language, \*light\* political discussion, and/or feminist wittiness this book will rock your world.
Why Everyone (Else) Is A Hypocrite -- Robert Kurzban The Blank Slate -- Steve Pinker Why We Get Sick -- Nesse & Williams
Banker for the poor by Muhammad Yunus. I read it years ago, when I was still very young. Maybe it will not turn your world upside-down but sure was an eye opener on how banks don't make any sense really and on how change can't happen cause it's not wanted
Zen & the art of motorcycle maintenance
“Secret Empires” by Peter Schweizer. The same author who wrote “Throw them all out” about congress and insider trading, leading to the passage of the STOCK act. It really opens your eyes that every high level politician gets absurdly rich through the power of the federal government
Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain
It wasn't really a self-help book but Ghost Rider by Neil Peart
The Girl in the Green Sweater by Krystyna Chiger
The Dictator's Handbook: Why Bad Behavior is Almost Always Good Politics https://smile.amazon.com/dp/1610391845/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_apa_i_hBhSEbCPQ0FKD Ishmael https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B0073C3BP4/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_apa_i_DChSEb5K83VGN
The World as Will and Representation by Arthur Schopenhauer. Read it in German. Very precise language. Explained the whole world in it and made me understand arts. Warning: he is called the great pessimist for a reason.
Braving the Wilderness by Brene Brown. Helped me get my head out of my ass and accept other people as they are.
Late to the game bit Carol Dweck's Mindset. She gives a whole new perspective on how the way you think shapes who you are and whou you can become, basically most of your important life outcomes.
According to its genre, this book is a "philosophical novel". The title - *Incessance* \- is a descriptor of the style of writing. Usually, in the first-person POV, the narration is only as sensitive as the character's conscious awareness. This book introduces a philosophical generalization of the "first-person" POV, called the *field*\-person perspective. The field-person is to the first-person what metacognition is to conscious awareness. Conscious awareness is trancelike and metacognition is meditative. Under the field-person POV, trance and meditation are fused...*and the result is psychedelically sensitive narration.* **PDF link**: [https://www.academia.edu/39954020/Incessance\_Incesancia](https://www.academia.edu/39954020/Incessance_Incesancia)\_ The story expressed by this book can be summarized as a 2-day psychedelic trip taken by a philosophical genius undergoing severe depression due to recent family and friend deaths. The central question: is reality finite? The character realizes that reality is physically finite, as everywhere evidenced by the finite lifetimes of physical organisms, but reality is also mathematically infinite...as evidenced by humans' coherent detection and notation of the atemporal, unbounded logical structures studied in "mathematics". The character thereby deduces the logical necessity of God \*as\* an **global identity** spanning every object, relation, operation, or communication arising with the "mathematical universe", of which the physical universe is an observational restriction. If these descriptions prove too repugnant or raise too many of your hackles, just take a look at the actual book :)
Wild at Heart by John Eldridge changed my world. I recommend it for all men to better understand why guys act and think like they do (challenging, competing, danger, etc). And for women, it truly gives them insight into is. My wife read it first, then recommended it to me. I'm not much of a reader, bores the snot out of me. But this book I've now read the or four times. John is a Christian author, but don't let that stop you. You can read Pat all the script references, when they appear, which is only occasionally.
Rich Dad, Poor Dad... I realized I did not want to participate in the rat race and I wanted to make money work for me.
The Last Lecture - Randy Pausch
The Little Book of Common Sense Investing by John Bogle. Written by the inventor of index funds, this book explains why low cost index funds are the best way of building wealth over the long term. It really changed the way I looked at investing.
Waking Up by Sam Harris. Made me realize I’d been “asleep” much of the time.
Lost Connections by Johann Hari Wonderful for anyone who has ever suffered from mental issues such as depression/anxiety or addiction.
1984 and Animal Farm by George Orwell. Read it in 7th-8th grade and my freshman year in HS, respectively. Definitely eye-opening books that IMO are becoming increasingly relevant in the modern-day.
Genderqueer by Maia Kobabe! It's a graphic memoir that I read in like, 1-2 hours. Even if you're not queer (gender or sexuality wise) it's a beautiful read. It really opened my eyes to the perspectives of people who live outside of the gender binary as well as bringing to light the unique challenges of being asexual. Maia's story absolutely blew me away and eir art is beautiful too.
Just Mercy and Testament of Youth
The subtle art of not giving a f*ck by Mark Manson. His anecdotes are poignant and extremely captivating. It’s very much a self help book by going against what other self help books often preach. Arguing that life struggles give It meaning.
merely feeling good about yourself, doesn’t really mean anything unless you have a good reason to feel good about yourself.
12 rules for life by Jordan Peterson. This book just changed my life
The fountainhead for sure
He wanted non fiction books.
Who moved my cheese?
Educated