And with that, those are the books that I read last year, took me forever to update this blog about them #slacker gang gang. Just finished my first book of the new year:

Animal Liberation Now: The Definitive Classic Renewed
by Peter Singer




I'm actually in the middle of reading a different book by this author, but I picked this one up as an audiobook on a library app.

The moral argument of the book is basically summed up here in this quote:


The book spent a lot of time on famous animal experiments and factory farming, both of which are pretty terrible to hear in detail. I think most people know (but would rather maintain a certain level of ignorance) about how awful factory farming is in regard to animal welfare. I don't know if I could give up meat because it's so tasty, but perhaps I'll try to eat less - or at least be more selective. At the very least I NEED my cheese. Either way I thought the book was a great read, both in describing the current affairs of animal suffering today and different philosophical approaches to it.

Hegel
By Peter Singer



Last year I wanted to learn more about specific philosophers, but I never got around to it because I found so many other books I wanted to read. It turns out though that Peter Singer did a book on Hegel for a series and it was available on my library app so I checked it out.

Some of the previous books I've read have drawn on Hegel's philosophy, so I knew some of his ideas going into this book. His concept of the philosophy of history and the master-servant dialectic I knew of. Other important ideas such as his idea of freedom and community were very fascinating, and his whole idea of the mind was quite out there. My one pal asked why I decided to check this book out instead of picking up Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit and it's 100% because that book is like 700 pages and apparently very difficult to decipher. Really enjoyed this short book, I'm definitely going to look into picking up more from this series as a good way to learn more about famous philosophers.

Even though I've been on vacation I've been somewhat slacking when it comes to my books and such. However I did just finish this lecture series:
Plato's Republic
David Roochnik, Ph.D. Professor, Boston University


A lot of modern philosophers have referenced Plato and his ideas, so I wanted to check out a lecture series that delved into his work. My favorite parts were by far the ship of state, the different political systems, and his essentialism ideas. I did listen to some of the audiobook of his actual work, but not too much yet. Overall though really cool lecture series.

Poststructuralism
By Catherine Belsey



A bizarre combination of psychoanalysis, Nietzsche's conception of power, and obsession with word-play; probably how I would describe poststructuralism. I've been familiar with most of the famous postmodern authors, but I did enjoy the history and the more explained detail that this book presented. Some of the ideas are rather interesting, some just come off as incredibly schizo, and some just make my brain melt because it just seems so boring, nonsensical, pointless etc. (Derrida)

Two particular parts that I really found fascinating in the book:
1) The author details how she and other teachers were "thrilled to learn that the education system were the main ideological apparatus. And this meant that, as radicals, we had work to do on our own doorstep" and "education institutions inculcate discipline... which allows individuals to go out into society and work for themselves."
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At this point I think this is a rather unsurprising fact that 'activist professors' exist, and it's most certainly the reason why colleges have recently been rated so poorly by the public. Especially with all the new schizo-tier postmodern inspired 'x studies' that have come about.

2) In the beginning of the book the author details how changing\undermining the meaning of words and sometimes creating new words is a direct goal of the philosophy itself.
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I recall a friend of mine sending me some text that was detailing how leftists today are seeking to change the meaning of words and how its some insidious subversion. I suppose this is a shock to people who aren't familiar with the philosophy, but in my experience philosophers belonging to this field are quite open about this fact...

This post was edited by Jupe on Feb 12 2024 04:08pm