Nominate books to be a philosophy book of the month

"The Reality of Life & Death" by Stuart Mason (TvSuat), will amaze you! A little-known true story... 9/10

I nominate 'A Theory of Justice' by John Rawls. Not read it yet but I am fascinated by the study of justice and its implications in the modern world.

I would like to nominate Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. In addition to being a great story, it is full of philosophical discussions market mentality vs. humanity. Set in the Great Depression, hundreds of thousands of people lost their homes, and were led to believe California was the promised land for work. Unlike our current situation, Steinbeck tells more how greed and profit is killing people.

I nominate Who's in Charge?: Free Will and the Science of the Brain by Michael S. Gazzaniga. It sure has made me re-think what is automatic or free will.
The Amazon description is; 'The father of cognitive neuroscience and author of Human offers a provocative argument against the common belief that our lives are wholly determined by physical processes and we are therefore not responsible for our actions. A powerful orthodoxy in the study of the brain has taken hold in recent years: Since physical laws govern the physical world and our own brains are part of that world, physical laws therefore govern our behavior and even our conscious selves. Free will is meaningless, goes the mantra; we live in a “determined” world. Not so, argues the renowned neuroscientist Michael S. Gazzaniga in this thoughtful, provocative book based on his Gifford Lectures——one of the foremost lecture series in the world dealing with religion, science, and philosophy. Who’s in Charge? proposes that the mind, which is somehow generated by the physical processes of the brain, “constrains” the brain just as cars are constrained by the traffic they create. Writing with what Steven Pinker has called “his trademark wit and lack of pretension,” Gazzaniga shows how determinism immeasurably weakens our views of human responsibility; it allows a murderer to argue, in effect, “It wasn’t me who did it——it was my brain.” Gazzaniga convincingly argues that even given the latest insights into the physical mechanisms of the mind, there is an undeniable human reality: We are responsible agents who should be held accountable for our actions, because responsibility is found in how people interact, not in brains. An extraordinary book that ranges across neuroscience, psychology, ethics, and the law with a light touch but profound implications, Who’s in Charge? is a lasting contribution from one of the leading thinkers of our time.'

Anthem by Ayn Rand. Her best work in my opinion, it will not waste your time with brown leafs and grey walls. Straight to the point. I wish every book was like this. ta

[Scott]

I have posted the topic to discuss the February book of the month. And I have posted the topic to vote for the March book of the month. Please continue posting new nominations here.

I would like to nominate God Is An Illusion: To Live Is To Experience, by Forest Grace. This thin book is definitely philosophical. It talks about each person being a duality (Yin and Yang). It also illustrates all forms of existence through some kind of interdependence of opposites. Furthermore, it puts God and gods in proper perpectives: illusions. Combining all of the above, plus some other similar concepts, it shows that one's ultimate purpose of life is to genuinely experience it. The biggest obstacle that can prevent us from having a "genuine" experience is human ego. And the book also shows us ways to control our egos. I found it very refreshing. Would like to know what you all think of it. By the way, don't get its Kindle version where the type setting is messy. The paperback is a lot better.

I nominate "Reflections from the Rocking Chair", by Lawrence Elliott.

This short book is based on a true story about an old man sharing the basic principles of sound reasoning and logic to a young man who is searching for wisdom. The old man has a unique perspective on reasoning that has served him well during his life. I would be interested to know everyone's thoughts on this man's thinking.

Available as ebook on amazon for $2.99

Is there anywhere a list of all the past books of the month?

I would like to discuss Robinson Crusoe.

I think a good book to discuss would be 'Impersonal Life' by Anonymous from 1940's but now 'The Impersonal Life'
by Joseph Benner (same book) which can be reviewed on amazon. (about why mankind is here in relationship to
God)

Not sure that it produced much benefit to either this site or the Partially Examined Life that we had some overlap re. our covering Foucault and that being the book of the month here for Feb., but for the record, in case we want to try to synchronize further, here are some upcoming episode topics over there that maybe folks would like to read about and discuss here:

1. Owen Flanagan's "The Bodhisattva's Brain"
2. Henri Bergson's "On Laughter"
3. Wittgenstein's "Philosophical Investigations"
4. Nozick's "Anarchy, State and Utopia"
5. "After Virtue" by Alisdair McIntyre

I nominate 1984 by George Orwell.

As well as the relevance to political philosophy, I think it is relevant to other areas. For example, discussions between O'Brien and Winston Smith in the Ministry of Love in which O'Brien asserts that the Party creates reality and defines history are interesting comments on the nature of reality. O'Brien's assertion that it's perfectly possible for a stable society to be based on fear and hatred is interesting with regard to the relativist/absolutist views of morality.

An excellent book to consider is, The Sunflower - by Simon Wiesenthal. The nature and extent of forgiveness is explored and discussed by numerous "experts" in the field.

Edward Livingston Seagull. It is one of the only books that I have read more than once and I think about it atleast once a day.