March & April 2008 Non-Fiction Suggestions

bradams · Unread post Fri Jan 04, 2008 5:10 pm

I'd be interested in Ten Theories of Human Nature. It's actually used as a text at my university for the subject "Philosophy of the Human Person" but I never actually took that subject. The lecturer who runs the unit is brilliant so if he's using the book I'd say it's very useful and interesting.

FannieB · Unread post Sat Jan 05, 2008 9:01 pm

I'm so excited about the cerebral selections suggested now and in the past I can't come up with anything myself...I just want to get everything mentioned and stop time so I can sit and do nothing but read...and maybe enjoy some bread, wine and cheese. I ramble...

Of those mentioned here, I have listed my preferences below based on the short blurbs about each:

1. Lust in Translation (keep us warm for the winter, perhaps? teehee)

2. Ten Theories...Human Nature

3. Mistakes Were Made But Not By Me (are we sure that wasn't written by "W".? teehee)

4. Forgiveness...

It occurs to me I'll have to try and post more often so folks get a feel for my sense of humor

jales4 · Unread post Sat Jan 05, 2008 11:39 pm

My vote is 100% for Ten Theories of Human Nature. In fact, I'm sure I will read it even if it isn't picked. I think a book of this topic is exactly what I need right now.

Jan.

Theomanic · Unread post Mon Jan 07, 2008 12:13 pm

As I said when I signed up, I'm not big into non-fiction. I'm going to make an effort to read all fiction books, regardless of if they seem like something I'd like, but in non-fiction I'll probably only read what I specifically find interesting.

I think Mistakes Were Made (But Not By Me) sounds very intriguing. Also, Ten Theories of Human Nature sounds like it's very informative, though I get a "textbooky" vibe which means I may never finish it.

bradams · Unread post Mon Jan 07, 2008 4:25 pm

It is probably a bit textbooky, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. It covers the theory of human nature as outlined by Confucianism, Hinduism, the Bible, Plato, Kant, Marx, Freud, Sartre, Behaviorism and Evolutionary Psychology.

It seems a slight pity that the publishers recycled comments from the original book Seven Theories of Human Nature for the back cover!

bradams · Unread post Thu Jan 10, 2008 11:44 pm

Towards the Light - Another plug.

I started reading this one yesterday and I am thoroughly enjoying it. Grayling has just taken me from the Inquisition and Torquemada, to the Renaissance and Erasmus to Calvin and the execution of Michael Servetus and the response of Sebastian Castellio and the campaign for freedom of religious belief. I had never heard of Castellio before but he seems like an admirable and sensible man.

Dissident Heart · Unread post Mon Jan 14, 2008 3:19 pm

I ran across David Graeber's Possibilities: Essays on Hierarchy, Rebellion, and Desire at the bookstore this weekend and was able to sample some of its treasures. I think it would be an excellent book for our non-fiction discussion: global in reach, radical in application, down to earth in presentation, and a rich summary and synthesis of the leading anthropologists and sociologists of the last century in pragmatic debate with activists from around the world. I think it will be a fruitful invitation for us to describe the kind of world we want to live in: if we are demanding change, then what will it look like, where will we turn for models, who will provide leadership, how will we organize ourselves, how will we confront the status quo?

Here is the table of contents:

Introduction

PART I: SOME THOUGHTS ON THE ORIGINS OF OUR CURRENT PREDICAMENT
1 Manners, Deference, and Private Property: Or, Elements for a General Theory of Hierarchy
2 The Very Idea of Consumption: Desire, Phantasms, and the Aesthetics of Destruction from Medieval Times to the Present
3 Turning Modes of Production Inside-Out: Or, Why Capitalism Is a Transformation of Slavery (short version)
4 Fetishism as Social Creativity: Or, Fetishes Are Gods in the Process of Construction

PART II: PROVISIONAL AUTONOMOUS ZONE: DILEMMAS OF AUTHORITY IN RURAL MADAGASCAR
5 Provisional Autonomous Zone: Or, The Ghost-State in Madagascar
6 Dancing with Corpses Reconsidered: An Interpretation of Famadihana (in Arivonimamo, Madagascar)
7 Love Magic and Political Morality in Central Madagascar, 1875-1990
8 Oppression

PART III: DIRECT ACTION, DIRECT DEMOCRACY, AND SOCIAL THEORY
9 The Twilight of Vanguardism
10 Social Theory as Science and Utopia: Or, Does the Prospect of a General Sociological Theory Still Mean Anything in an Age of Globalization?
11 There Never Was a West: Or, Democracy Emerges From the Spaces in Between
12 On the Phenomenology of Giant Puppets: Broken Windows, Imaginary Jars of Urine, and the Cosmological Role of the Police in American Culture

Ophelia · Unread post Mon Jan 14, 2008 3:42 pm

Possibilities, by David Graeber: I've read what is written at amazon, and I'd like to read the book.

http://www.amazon.com/Possibilities-Ess ... 982&sr=1-1

Unread post Sat Jan 19, 2008 2:30 am

How about we narrow it down now and try to select the next non-fiction book within the next week or two. Look over all the suggestions made so far and make some comments on what you've read about each book.

Would you read and discuss the books suggested?

Do any stand out as poor discussion books in your opinion?

Do you think any of them would be ideal for our group?

Unread post Sat Jan 19, 2008 7:08 pm

"Ten Theories of Human Nature" is about the only one that really interests me, but it doesn't much matter to me whether or not it's chosen as a BookTalk selection. I plan on reading it either way.

March & April 2008 Non-Fiction Suggestions

Two cents on non-fiction selections

Login • Register

Quick Links