The Wisdom of Pleasures

The Wisdom of Pleasures
Author: Julien Offray de la Mettrie
Publisher: Independently Published
Total Pages: 69
Release: 2018-11-05
Genre:
ISBN: 9781730916687

He's known for his audacious claim in 'Man a Machine' that humans can be reduced to their mechanism: but La Mettrie wrote other books too. In these hidden gems, the most radical of all Enlightenment thinkers lays bare his hedonistic ideas. In a godless universe that seems to be engineered only around pleasure and pain, how should we act? Should we just give in to all-out debauchery as our destiny, or is there a nobler path?This is the first-ever English translation of these books, which were originally published in 1747 and 1751.

The Hidden Pleasures of Life

The Hidden Pleasures of Life
Author: Theodore Zeldin
Publisher: Hachette UK
Total Pages: 297
Release: 2015-05-21
Genre: Family & Relationships
ISBN: 0857053671

The story of a search for a new art of living. How can one escape from work colleagues who are bores and from organisations that thrive on stress? What new priorities can people give to their private lives? When the romantic ideal is disappointing, how else can affections be cultivated? If only a few can become rich, what substitute is there for dropping out? If religions and nations disagree, what other outcomes are possible beyond strife or doubt? Where there is too little freedom, what is the alternative to rebellion? When so much is unpredictable, what can replace ambition? Questions include: What is the great adventure of our time? What is a wasted life? How can people lose their illusions about themselves? What alternatives are there to being a rebel? What can the poor tell the rich? What could the rich tell the poor? How many ways of committing suicide are there? How can an unbeliever understand a believer? How can a religion change? How can prejudices be overcome? How can one think about the future, without trying to predict it or worrying about it? Is ridicule the most effective form of non-violent protest? How does one acquire a sense of humour? What stops people feeling completely at home in their own country? How many nations can one love at the same time? Why do so many people feel unappreciated, unloved and not fully alive? How else might women and men treat one another? What can replace the shortage of soul-mates? Is another kind of sexual revolution achievable? What can artists aim for beyond self-expression? What is more interesting than becoming a leader? What is the point of working so hard? Are there more amusing ways of earning a living? What else can one do in a hotel? What more can the young ask of their elders? Is remaining young at heart enough to avoid becoming old? What is worth knowing? What does it mean to be alive? Where can one find nourishment for the mind?

The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction

The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction
Author: Alan Jacobs
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 172
Release: 2011-05-26
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 019983167X

In recent years, cultural commentators have sounded the alarm about the dire state of reading in America. Americans are not reading enough, they say, or reading the right books, in the right way. In this book, Alan Jacobs argues that, contrary to the doomsayers, reading is alive and well in America. There are millions of devoted readers supporting hundreds of enormous bookstores and online booksellers. Oprah's Book Club is hugely influential, and a recent NEA survey reveals an actual uptick in the reading of literary fiction. Jacobs's interactions with his students and the readers of his own books, however, suggest that many readers lack confidence; they wonder whether they are reading well, with proper focus and attentiveness, with due discretion and discernment. Many have absorbed the puritanical message that reading is, first and foremost, good for you--the intellectual equivalent of eating your Brussels sprouts. For such people, indeed for all readers, Jacobs offers some simple, powerful, and much needed advice: read at whim, read what gives you delight, and do so without shame, whether it be Stephen King or the King James Version of the Bible. In contrast to the more methodical approach of Mortimer Adler's classic How to Read a Book (1940), Jacobs offers an insightful, accessible, and playfully irreverent guide for aspiring readers. Each chapter focuses on one aspect of approaching literary fiction, poetry, or nonfiction, and the book explores everything from the invention of silent reading, reading responsively, rereading, and reading on electronic devices. Invitingly written, with equal measures of wit and erudition, The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction will appeal to all readers, whether they be novices looking for direction or old hands seeking to recapture the pleasures of reading they first experienced as children.

The Tiny Book of Tiny Pleasures

The Tiny Book of Tiny Pleasures
Author: Irene Smit
Publisher: Workman Publishing Company
Total Pages: 401
Release: 2017-04-04
Genre: Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN: 1523502142

A perfect gift book filled with whimsical, colorful illustrations, short lists, cheerful prompts, recipes, and fun facts, The Tiny Book of Tiny Pleasures is the sweetest reminder imaginable that it’s the little things in life that make us happy. Little things like sharing tea with a friend. An ice cream cone with sprinkles. Finding a forgotten item of clothing in the closet. The smell in the air right after a summer rain. Created by the editors of Flow magazine, The Tiny Book of Tiny Pleasures is a celebration of slowing down and appreciating the simple moments of life—all you have to do is take notice.

The Wisdom of Bertrand Russell

The Wisdom of Bertrand Russell
Author: Bertrand Russell
Publisher: Citadel Press
Total Pages: 180
Release: 2002
Genre: Philosophy, British
ISBN: 9780806523286

Citadel Press is proud to announce the newest titles in the Wisdom Library, a collection of books showcasing the thoughts and writings of diverse literary, philosophical, political, and scientific immortals. These books deserve a place on every home bookshelf and in every student's basic library. This Nobelist's contributions to mathematics, politics, history, science, and religion make him one of the most widely read intellectuals of the twentieth century. Here, some of his fundamental principles are conveniently extracted from a broad range of his writings.

Pleasure Activism

Pleasure Activism
Author: adrienne maree brown
Publisher: AK Press
Total Pages: 294
Release: 2019-03-19
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1849353271

How do we make social justice the most pleasurable human experience? How can we awaken within ourselves desires that make it impossible to settle for anything less than a fulfilling life? Editor adrienne maree brown finds the answer in something she calls "Pleasure Activism," a politics of healing and happiness that explodes the dour myth that changing the world is just another form of work. Drawing on the black feminist tradition, including Audre Lourde's invitation to use the erotic as power and Toni Cade Bambara's exhortation that we make the revolution irresistible, the contributors to this volume take up the challenge to rethink the ground rules of activism. Writers including Cara Page of the Astraea Lesbian Foundation For Justice, Sonya Renee Taylor, founder of This Body Is Not an Apology, and author Alexis Pauline Gumbs cover a wide array of subjects—from sex work to climate change, from race and gender to sex and drugs—they create new narratives about how politics can feel good and how what feels good always has a complex politics of its own. Building on the success of her popular Emergent Strategy, brown launches a new series of the same name with this volume, bringing readers books that explore experimental, expansive, and innovative ways to meet the challenges that face our world today. Books that find the opportunity in every crisis!

Ideas to Save Your Life

Ideas to Save Your Life
Author: Michael McGirr
Publisher: Text Publishing
Total Pages: 320
Release: 2021-11-02
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1922459321

A profound, uplifting and accessible introduction to key philosophical ideas and their relevance to everyday life.