My Book Reviews: Pt4
I wanted to publish some book reviews.
I have so many book reviews on my Instagram page: @jakubreads
So, I thought I’d publish some on my Medium … cause why not?
My previous post in this series:
Intellectuals and Society, Thomas Sowell
I have never read anything by Thomas Sowell before this. Because of Jonathan Haidt’s work, I’ve realized that I should be challenging my political biases, hence I wanted to introduce more reasonable conservative voices and their opinions to my vocab.
I was sincerely impressed with most of the things Sowell had to say in this large volume.
Sowell discussed the influence liberal academics (“intellectuals”) have had on academia and society as a whole. Whether that is on free speech, socialist economical leanings, pacifism, the Cold War, taxation, etc., Sowell backs up his opinion with lengthy discussions, citations, and surprising research.
Indeed a very interesting book, one that I will return to again during my time studying. I need to also say that Sowell has almost singlehandedly made me want to study Economics and Political Science. Some of his conclusions in this book I disagree with due to personal biases. But that should be expected. That is what makes me want to study, to discover whether his conclusions are warranted.
Great book.
The Age of American Unreason, Susan Jacoby
Quite honestly, it was difficult putting this book down, even though the scholarly work Susan Jacoby displays would normally be more difficult to decipher. I randomly picked this book up from the library and was as far from disappointed as humanly possible.
Jacoby is an ambassador for atheism. I could not agree with her political notions more. She writes with such clarity & obvious depth of knowledge, that one would have a hard time arguing against her claims.
A Very Short Introduction to Karl Marx, Peter Singer
I love @peter__singer. He has been ranked as one of the most influential thinkers of this century and also as the most important philosopher (I believe). It comes at no surprise since his book “Animal Liberation” literally sparked the movement. He has also primarily influenced Bill Gates’ decision to donate 90% of his wealth to effective charities, including “GiveWell” and others. He is known for coining the term Effective Altruism which aims at informing mainly westerners of their own affluence in order to
force the eradication of extreme poverty.
He is mainly known for his work in moral philosophy, popularizing consequentialism, specifically utilitarianism (the belief that the most moral action is the one that benefits the most ppl). This comes at no surprise since his major influencers include Jeremy Bentham & John Stuart Mill.
Among his major influencers, however, is also Karl Marx, who is most known for his Communist Manifesto and claims against extremely competitive forms of Capitalism.
Far too often I read books on political theory that are overtly complex. So, when I picked this book up, I was surprised by its approachable style. Singer knows what he is doing. Describing Hegels’s theories in relation to Marx is no easy task and he does it wonderfully.
I highly recommend this book. Even for those who are not interested in Marx.
Before you go…
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I write to keep you thinking and to keep me thankful and reflective. Cheers and until next time,
keep reflecting.
