On What Matters: Volume Three

On What Matters: Volume Three by Derek Parfit

The philosophy in the book is interesting, but the writing is tedious. There is a huge summary at the start that goes into great detail. The actual work is only slightly more in depth than the summary. Much of it is in response to responses of other philosophers. I felt like I was eavesdropping on some private conversations. Much of the work discusses ethical situations and the practical applications. People are reluctant to cause harm to somebody even if it reduces harm to more people. However, people tend to be ok performing an action that has a side effect of harm. These ethics can lead to greater overall harm. (As an example, nuking 100,000 people would be considered worse than a demonstration of a powerful nuclear bomb - even if that bomb would result in 300,000 people dying of nuclear fallout.) Similarly a longer episode of military bombing is preferable to direct civilian bombing - even if more civilians die in the military bombing. People end up not being fully rational. 

Other arguments get into the weeds of philosophy, such as what it means to refer to something. There is also discussions of effective altruism and efficient desire to donate to charities. Philosophy proves out some of the strange contradictions in humans.

The Joyful Wisdom

The Joyful Wisdom (The Gay Science) by Friedrich Nietzsche, translated by Thomas Common

This is an early brain dump of Nietzsche's thoughts. He brings up concepts such as "god is dead" and "Zarathustra spoke" for which he would be known. The thoughts are all over the place, with thoughts of disadvantages of men being like women.  He even includes some of his poetry in there. Some parts aged well. A lot didn't.

Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysics of Morals

Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysics of Morals by Immanuel Kant, translated by Thomas Kingsmill Abbott

Kant can be dense. He explores metaphysics and morals. Where do morals come from? What about animals? Can they be moral? The discussion can be quite difficult to follow.

This was originally Grundlegung zur Metaphysik der Sitten in German, and has some alternate English translations, such as Foundations of the Metaphysics of Morals, Grounding of the Metaphysics of Morals, and the Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals.

An Answer to the Question: What is Enlightenment

An Answer to the Question: What is Enlightenment by Immanuel Kant

In this very short essay, Kant defines enlightenment. To him it is the freedom and the willingness to challenge one's thoughts. It is the emergence from one's immaturity and the willing to think for oneself as opposed to having others tell you what should be thought. 

I listened to the version from librivox which was from a translated source. However, I cannot seem to find who the original translator was.

A Vindication of the Rights of Woman

A Vindication of the Rights of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft

This is an early feminist essay. The discussions include topics which seem almost foreign to us, such as joint education for boys and girls. It advocates greater respect for women and less treating of them as appendages of men. It is a little longer than I expected and does go around a lot of topics regarding women's right.

Kant's Prolegomena and Metaphysical Foundations of Natural Science

Kant's Prolegomena and Metaphysical Foundations of Natural Science by Immanuel Kant, translated by Ernest Belfort Bax

This book includes a discussion of Kant's life and career and then two of his shorter works.

Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics That Will Be Able to Present Itself as a Science (1783)

A brief introduction to metaphysics and defense of Kant's writings. This is written as more of a discussion of philosophy and Kant's thought and metaphysics.

Metaphysical Foundations of Natural Science (1786)

This shorter work reads more as a math and science book. There are discussions about gravity and other similar physical phenomena and how these are built on metaphysics

Fear and Trembling

Fear and Trembling by Søren Kierkegaard

Kierkegaard spends much of this work exploring Abraham and the attempted sacrifice of Isaac. How do faith and logic work together to explain this. What on earth was Abraham doing? He does a deep dive into the situation and comes up with some interesting conclusions. 

The Sickness Unto Death

The Sickness Unto Death: A New Translation by Søren Kierkegaard, translated by Bruce H. Kirmmse

The paper book I have is a different translation than the ebook from the library one I have. Kierkegaard explores some concepts of Christianity. The Sickness Unto Death starts with the miracle of Jesus raising a person from the dead. That talks about sickness unto death. Kierkegaard then explores Christianity and despair. Death is part of our journey. However despair is a a more true "sickness unto death" that leads towards a worse end. He originally wrote this as "Anti-Climacus" Why the pseudonym? I have had this sitting around for a few decades, but felt the need to avoid it. Maybe I just needed to wait for this new translation? It seemed to be an interesting look at Christian existentialism, 

Walden; or, Life in the Woods

Walden; or, Life in the Woods by Henry David Thoreau

As a short book Walden would have been great. However, it goes on for much too long. Thoreau goes "back to nature" and enjoys the experience. He likes the slower pace of life and finds way to live and feed himself there. It is a nice thought. Alas, these days it is difficult to find this type of nature close to home, let alone a place where you could self-sufficiently live. However, it was nice while it was there.

The Communist Manifesto and Other Writings

The Communist Manifesto and Other Writings by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, some translated by H. J. Stenning and Samuel Moore

Translations appear to have come from KARL MARX: SELECTED ESSAYS

"Communist Manifesto" (1888 translation by Samuel Moore )

"A Criticism of the Hegelian Philosophy of Right" -1843, intro published in 1844

"On the King of Prussia and Social Reform" 1844

"Moralizing Criticism and Critical Morality: A Polemic Against Karl Heinzen" 1847

"Proudhon" (from Holy Family, 1844)

"French Materialism" (from Holy Family, 1844)

"The English Revolution" (1850)

This collection has the real Communist Manifesto and some additional essays by Marx. The topics do not quite seem so revolutionary today. Neither do they sound hugely Marxist in the modern view. The communism of these writings expects a more gradual change that will be inevitable. Classes of people have found themselves as mere cogs and want to assert general rights. What is the best way to go about doing it?

The Tao of Pooh

The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff

The characters from Winnie the Pooh help explain the philosophy of Taoism. The philosophy encourages one to take life as it comes. The anticipation of something can be better than the actual experience. Looking for too much can cause one to be miserable. I need to dig up some details that I wrote about it when I read it a long time ago.

Theory of Moral Sentiments

The Theory of Moral Sentiments by Adam Smith

Adam Smith explores morals and the reason we feel and act different ways. Do we need to empathise with others? How do intent and outcome work together? If somebody is dropping rocks, they are not likely to receive any punishment. However, if another person walks underneath, the dropper may be punished for hurting them. Is this just? The same action with the same intent had different outcomes and different results. We see that commonly in society today. There is a desire to get retribution and assign blame when something "goes wrong", even if similar behavior has been fine before. Then this is taken another step to declare that similar behavior bad. These are age old questions. Smith does a good job of exploring morality and our understanding of it.

Sophie's World: A Novel About the History of Philosophy

Sophie's World: A Novel About the History of Philosophy by Jostein Gaarder, translated by Paulette Møller

Sophie is a Norwegian girl who gets mysterious messages from somebody providing information about philosophy. She loves the opportunity to learn and explore, starting from the big questions of what existence is. There is another girl and a father working as a UN observer in the middle east. At times it goes to the supernatural with them doing things such as going back to view the ancient philosophers. It is an interesting exploration of philosophy and some of the rational and scientific-based influences. It felt that it went on for a little too long as the story got a bit "weird".

Reasons and Persons

Reasons and Persons by Derek Parfit

This is a long book that explores ethics and morals. What makes something ethical? Sometimes there appear to be simple situations. Then there are complex situations. The temporal dimension adds many challenges. Would you do something now that negatively impacted you of the future? Can you complain about those of the past since you would not be there without them? What should you do for the future? How does this differ from impacts of other people? There are challenges with many different philosophical theories.

A big section of the book explores science fiction topics. What entails your identity? If you have a device that transfers you to a different place by reading your body and reassembling it elsewhere, is that new person you? What if both the old and new are maintained? What if there are small changes made to you?  There are challenges for multiple definitions of "sameness"

There are a number of interesting arguments here, though it does go on for a long time.

Exhalation

Exhalation: Stories by Ted Chiang

Exhalation explores a number of philosophical topics in Science Fiction short stories. Each story also provides a short "why I wrote it" section. (This can be one of the best part.) The first story was an "Arabian nights" type setting that explores a door that lets you go see time in the future. People can explore the future, but can't really make any changes in their life. (As an example, one man goes to see his future self and discovers that he is a frugal miser with huge amounts of hidden wealth. He feels it would be better to spend money and takes all of that money. Alas, his life of wealth is short lived and leads to him hoarding money due to getting robbed and accused of not "earning" it.

A few stories look at different approaches of freewill. One person analyzes their own brain. In another story, people can "fork" their lives in alternate ways. 

One story looks at "virtual people". These AI beings are allowed to grow on their own and are held somewhat like pets and live in virtual worlds. They want additional freedoms and rights, but are they mature enough?

There is one story that looks at communication. It combines a thread of adding written language to an oral communications tribe with a technology that allows people to replay at will any previous event. Is the "real truth" better than the way that we remember things? We may remember a great experience from childhood. However, if we replayed it, we may see that other participants were reluctantly participating. Does this make it worse? Do we really want the "real truth"?

The stories include:

"The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate" 

"Exhalation" 

"What's Expected of Us" 

"The Lifecycle of Software Objects" 

"Dacey's Patent Automatic Nanny" 

"The Truth of Fact, the Truth of Feeling"

"The Great Silence" 

"Omphalos"

"Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom" 

The Way to Love

The Way to Love: Meditations for Life by Anthony de Mello

"Attachments" help prevent us from achieving love. The short book talks of the importance of not having too much attachment to people or things. We can help enjoy the events and activities. However, the praise of men will not provide us long term joy. If we do something just for others to enjoy we are dependent on them for our happiness. If we do it internally, we can have the joy internalized that cannot be taken from us.

de Mello was an Indian-born Jesuit priest. This book is a quick look at some of his philosophy. It provides some key points for discipline and seeking of happiness. It also cautions that even our "personal" happiness can be overcome as we seek and produce for others.,

Knowing What We Know: The Transmission of Knowledge: From Ancient Wisdom to Modern Magic

Knowing What We Know: The Transmission of Knowledge: From Ancient Wisdom to Modern Magic by Simon Winchester

I have enjoyed almost all of Simon Winchester's books. However, I could just not get into this one. He explores the history of "what we know". There are people that improved on processes and helped provide the knowledge that we have. It seemed like it could be interesting, but just didn't register in my brain.

Refugees, Terror and Other Troubles with the Neighbors: Against the Double Blackmail

Refugees, Terror and Other Troubles with the Neighbors: Against the Double Blackmail by Slavoj Zizek

This book was written in response to the French nightclub terrorist attacks. Many of the refugee populations are fleeing an area where terror is a "normal" activity. They may seek out the benefits of a culture like Norway. However, they can never find it. It is an ideal that doesn't exist in the world. They also likely only want parts of it. 

The terrorists and the anti-immigrants have some in common. The end result of the activities is similar. It is our duty to work together to help others rather than isolate. We can try to hide from other problems, but they will still exist until they can be resolved.

Pandemic! & Pandemic! 2: COVID-19 Shakes the World & Chronicles of a Time Lost

Pandemic! & Pandemic! 2: COVID-19 Shakes the World & Chronicles of a Time Lost by Slavoj Žižek

This book already feels incredibly dated just a few years after publication. There were things that we cared about during the covid-19 pandemic that do not feel relevant at all today. At the onset, it was supposed to be only a brief lockdown until infection rates fell. Then it was extended and extended. Some people working in "essential" industries kept working - and suffered from significant infection rates. The professional class was able to work from home. The working class lost their livelihood. The pandemic also occurred during a US election year. And we had various riots worldwide. 

Many parts of the response and actions analyzed in this book feel largely irrelevant today. Perhaps the only conclusion that can be drawn in retrospect is that world did a horrible job of responding (or even understanding how to respond.) Our society is so tightly independent that a full lockdown is just not possible. The porous lockdowns likely did more harm than good. What seemed to be obvious benefits during the pandemic now need to be re-evaluated. This book, written during the pandemic is now a historical artifact.

Nuts and Bolts for the Social Sciences

Nuts and Bolts for the Social Sciences by Jon Elster

How do people act and why do they act that way? This is at the core of social science, and not something easy to answer. People may say they would behave one way, but behave differently. They may also change their behavior based on how other people act. Each person may have different desires. (though some researchers attempt to say that everyone has the same desires, but different abilities to achieve them.) 

Thing get more complex with groups. There are many cases where the collective and individual good are not in sync. Society would be better if everyone rode the bus, but an individual would be better if they drove. Benefit also changes as new people participate. The first driver has a significant speed advantage. The last driver adds to already bad congestion. On the other hand, the first social media participant can't really do anything. Those that join later get more benefit. 

Other key concepts discussed in the book include rational choice, reinforcement, emotions, equilibrium, and many more. It is a short, concise introduction to the nuts and bolts of social science.