‘The Meaning of Life (A Very Short Introduction)’ by Terry Eagleton, Oxford University Press
A philosophical and humorous inquiry for the meaning of human life. Eagleton conclude giving a case of a jazz band as an example of good life. ‘There is no conflict here between freedom and the ‘good of the whole’.’ ‘Though each performer contributes to ‘the greater good of the whole’.’
‘Continental Philosophy (A Very Short Introduction)’ by Simon Critchley, Oxford University Press
This guide book is not a standard straightforward chronological account on the Continental philosophy. The characteristic of this book is seeking of roots, values and problems of some historical movements of the Continental philosophy with criticisms by analytic philosophers from a view point of English researcher. (In this book, the particular Continental philosophy was begin with Kant) Critchley treat the Continental philosophy as an object of study. Therefore this is also a comparative study the gap between the Anglo-American and the European Continent in philosophy.
He mainly argues the problems of way of thinking, methodology and intellectual self-description system of the Continental philosophy, introducing contrast some movements of the Continental philosophy with Anglo-American empiricism, analytic philosophy and philosophy of science. The Continental philosophers ‘metaphysical questions’, philosophers of analytic philosophy search theorize ‘practical scientific truth’. Both tend to be far from our ordinary life and meaningless. Even so author emphasize the worth and reason d’être of the Continental philosophy. In his opinion, the Continental philosophy is more practical and progressive than analytic philosophy.
This book is not easy but also it is only an introduction. He briefly introduces theory of phenomenology and hermeneutics and so on. Although the significances of this book are the author aroused readers’ interests in Kantian philosophy, German Idealism, nihilism of Nietzsche, phenomenology of Husserl, existentialism of Heidegger and critical theory of the Frankfurt School, and a proposal to critical reading to the Continental philosophy which also includes a critical reading to analytic philosophy and philosophy of science. Author concludes the present situation of philosophy in the world and its problems, but he doesn’t bring up how we settle the problems. Settlements to solve gaps between knowledge and wisdom, practice and theory, philosophy and life, the Continental philosophy and Anglo-American analytic philosophy would be sought by ourselves.
I wouldn’t recommend this book as a primer, recommend people who want to know a whole sketch of situation of the present entire situation of philosophy. This book will help you to critically, valuable and productive read the masterpieces of the Continental philosophy.
‘Marx (A Very Short Introduction)’ by Peter Singer, Oxford University Press
This book is a today’s usual balanced neutral introduction to philosophy, economics and thought of Marx. Comparatively Singer concentrate on philosophical problems of human liberty and human nature in society treated by Marx. Also author introduces the essence of ‘Marxist economic theory’ sufficiently. Author don’t conclude whether Marx’s theory is correct or not. Author raises a question of how we think about true liberty and proper society by reconsidering of Marx. Important matters are human nature in production, alienation from labour and commodities, labour theory of value, relation between individual and collective interests, and political domination in capitalism society. Thus Marx’s optimistic view to flexibility of human nature is disfunction in actual socialism societies in the twenties century. But even today, Marxist theory is valuable to rethink and reform present free capitalism nations. We should applicate achievements of Marx. So I recommend this little good introduction to beginners who start to study Marxist theory.
‘Marx’s Das Capital For Beginners’ by Michael Wayne & Sungyoon Choi, For Beginners
This is a elementary introduction to ‘Das Capital’, not Marx’s entire life and thought. Author concentrates on comments on useful essences of ‘Das Kapital’ by making use of the fundamental economic key concepts of ‘Marx’s political economy’ such as capital, commodity, surplus value, fetishism and ideology. And he explains the theory of ‘Das Kapital’ by examples of economic cases, social affairs and social problems on contemporary society. Also he quotes statements to Marx and capitalism problems of many thinkers. Author comments a reasonable and neutral view point to Marx, neither criticise nor applause. In each chapters, he mainly states ‘how Marx thought’ in ‘Das Kapital’ and other works, then he applied Marx theory to today’s actual economic scene in modern and contemporary times. the system of capitalism By this book you can grasp and make out Marx’s economics or political economy. I think today’s significance of Marxist theory is in his consideration on relations among human beings, money, labor (or work), objects (or commodities) and some values (include capitals), not like numerical value on accounts or finance in the contemporary economics. But Marx himself was swayed by and couldn’t overcome the historical ideology and historical limit. I think we need criticise, extent and apply Marx’s economic theory. This book is only a easy commentary to theories in ‘Das Kapital’, and author states a few his own answer and conclusion. So yet this book is an excellent first-step primer on Karl Marx or his voluminous great work ‘Das Kapital’.
‘Roland Barthes (Routledge Critical Thinkers)’ by Graham Allen, Routledge
The feature of this books is a concentrate on commentaries on Barthes’s text theory and literary analysis such as narrative analysis, zero degree writing, ‘myth’, intertextuality, neutral writing, hedonism, stadium/punctum and pheno-text/geno-text. Another feature is a commentary on “Camera Lucida” of Barthes’s later life (Chapter 8 and 9), in which Barthes writing about music, photography and him life. Allen mentions Barthes’s last investigation reached the concept of ‘impossible’ practise of text. And Allen explains that ‘In “Camera Lucida” Barthes mixes theoretical writing with intense mourning for his mother in oder to present a text which exemplifies what is unrepeatable in his later writing. Barthes’s “Camera Lucida”, in pursuing an ‘impossible’ of practice of writing attempts to resist and defy the violence of language, which would turn his own mother into an archetype of the Mother. In performing such a personal act of writing, “Camera Lucida” offers to its readers many illuminating, if not immediately usable, insight into the nature of photography and representation generally’. Then Allen’s conclusion for Barthes’s activity is this. ’Writing for Barthes, is a meaning of perhaps, a meaning or perhaps, a disturbance of meaning rather than a production of meaning.’ This book is a basic, usual and total introduction to Roland Barthes and his theory, so it is the most useful book for beginners want to know about Roland Barthes especially his literally theory and text analysis.
‘Barthes (A Very Short Introduction)’ by Jonathan Culler, Oxford University Press
In this small book, Culler summarises Barthes’s thoughts and pick out their essences. Culler divided Barthes and his works into many various periods and aspects such as a Literary Historian, Mythologist, Semiologist, Hedonist and Writer. He don’t describe Barthes’s career as 4 periods usually mentioned (literary critic – semiologist or social mythologist – text theorist – romanesque author). And he describes clearly in each chapters but not surely chronologically. A feature of this book is philosophical analysis of Barthes’s ‘pleasure’, in the French tradition, from Descartes to structuralism. The Cartesian consciousness to mind and subject is contrary to Barthes’s pleasure and emphasises of social codes and cultural skills. But ‘The notion of the body permits Barthes to avoid the problem of the subject: appealing to “the given that separates my body from other bodies and appropriates suffering or pleasure to it“, he emphasizes that he is not talking about subjectivity.’ Then Culler explains that ‘replacement of “mind” by “body” accords with Barthes’s emphasis on the materiality of the signifier as a source of pleasure. When listening to singing he prefers the corporeal “grain of voice” to expressiveness, meaning, or articulation’. In this book Culler describes Barthes as a fixed figure or an intentionally thinker. Barthes wrote the society as the myth, in the same way Barthes and his works are myth constructed and consumed by people, society and Barthes himself.
‘Love: A Very Short Introduction’ by Ronald de Sousa, Oxford University Press
This book is one of good guide to love and philosophy of love. The author covers many fields of study for love. Especially he critically introduces a viewpoint of classical aesthetics and ethics for love and many auguments of analytic and systematic approach to love including psychological, psycho analytic, brain anatomic, sociological and anthropological studies. You can comprehend the mechanism and social and psychological system of love for possitiveness such as goodness, purity, beauty, eternality and superiority, or love of lovers or in monogamy. But this book should not really explain love for children or love for tiny, shabby, ugly and evil objests, in spite of the author suggests diversity of love.
By this book, I comprehend the system and mechanism of love of good and beauty, or of lovers and monogamy. I can’t really understand justice and advantage of diversity of love, and benefits of the utopia of erotic love that Sousa suggests.
This book will be a help for you to understand and think about the mechanism, mean and aim of love in some degree.