Describe Epithetical Books Kuinka Proust voi muuttaa elämäsi
| Title | : | Kuinka Proust voi muuttaa elämäsi |
| Author | : | Alain de Botton |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | First Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 223 pages |
| Published | : | 2008 by Otava (first published April 18th 1997) |
| Categories | : | Philosophy. Nonfiction. Self Help. Biography. Literature |
Alain de Botton
Paperback | Pages: 223 pages Rating: 3.76 | 13337 Users | 1260 Reviews
Relation In Pursuance Of Books Kuinka Proust voi muuttaa elämäsi
Words Are Your HomelandOne of the most important deficiencies in the philosophy of science (and business, which prides itself as a practical science) is the idea of efficiency of inquiry in scientific method - how to get an answer to a question at hand with the least possible effort. Efficiency is predicated on the idea that it is possible to pare down the world to some essential core - somewhat like finding the right principle in law - such that the matter seems to resolve itself through compelling factual evidence.
Efficiency of inquiry is a false friend however. One is reminded, for example, that over the last few decades things like eggs, meat, and dairy products have been classified as healthy, dangerously unhealthy and definitively life-invigorating by successive scientific studies. Or consider the pharmaceutical industry which makes a living by conducting efficient inquiry under government supervision for whole classes of drugs from amphetamines to minor tranquilizers, to opioids. Each of these has been shown to be dangerously biased and incomplete by yet more efficient inquiry. Efficiency, it would seem, is not all it’s cracked up to be.
The problem of course is that the efficiency of inquiry - or of economic production, or of medical treatment or, for that matter, of reading - is crucially dependent upon the definition one uses for what constitutes a successful result. What constitutes a relevant fact is determined by what success means in human terms. Eating red meat, for example, may be correlated with an increased incidence of heart disease. So the dietary advice is ‘eat less red meat’. On the other hand, red meat may improve, say, liver function. So the contradictory advice to ‘eat more meat’ is appropriate. Or as obvious with a drug like the Sackler family’s OxyContin, it is very efficient in relieving chronic pain; it is however even more efficient in creating mass opioid dependency.
It should be obvious therefore that the issue of which criterion to choose as a measure of success, of value, is logically and practically prior to any issue of efficiency. This implies an inescapable paradox: if inquiry about the correct criterion of ‘good’ action is subject to the demands of efficiency, the inquiry will fail. Without an enormous amount of apparently senseless chat about ‘why’ it is simply not possible to give an efficient answer about ‘how’. This applies to all aspects of human life: scientific, commercial, personal and moral. There is no way to discover or articulate what philosophers call the Good, without seemingly pointless, and endless, discourse with oneself as well as others.
This I think is the central thesis of de Botton’s little book: method is rational; value is political. The discussion and choice of method is necessarily a matter of politics, that is of resolving the conflict about what is important. This is simultaneously obvious and unpalatable. In brief (and therefore with entirely inappropriate efficiency): Wasting time in political argument is a necessary condition for saving time, as well as one’s life. Cutting short the argument compromises the result of inquiry. De Botton is much more elegant: “The more an account is compressed, the more it seems that it deserves no more space than it has been allocated.” Efficiency of expression, that is, can trivialize what is expressed - joy, sorrow, death, deprivation and, most important, life. One only need observe the quality of feelings expressed on Twitter for example to appreciate the depth of the problem.
De Botton presents this problem as profoundly present and fundamental for human existence and marvels “how vulnerable much of human experience is to abbreviation.” When we abbreviate the experience of others - either through ‘scientific’ inquiry or merely the way we read the newspaper - we condition ourselves to abbreviating our own experience as well as everyone else’s. The Twittersphere, as it were, is a consequence not a cause of inadequate appreciation of what might constitute the Good, and therefore the criteria of right action - that is to say, ethics.
So de Botton is keen that we recognize the therapeutic value not only of Proust’s technically rather inefficient memoir, In Search of Lost Time, but also of Proust’s life itself, which he devoted to finding as many words possible that might help others to appreciate their own experiences: “Far from a memoir tracing the passage of a more lyrical age, it was a practical, universally applicable story about how to stop wasting time and start to appreciate life.” It takes a long period of concentrated effort to discover a vocabulary for describing one’s experience of something like wine. Inexplicably, the vocabulary comes before the experience. Appreciation of life also leads with the words necessary to describe its experiences. Many more words and much more time is required to collect the words for living - one’s internal politics - than for wine-tasting. De Botton suggests a Proustian slogan for increasing one’s life’s vocabulary. In its linguistic brevity it is apt but rather un-Proustian: “n’allez pas trop vite.” Don’t rush it!
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| Original Title: | How Proust Can Change your Life ISBN13 9789511226345 |
| Edition Language: | Finnish |
Rating Epithetical Books Kuinka Proust voi muuttaa elämäsi
Ratings: 3.76 From 13337 Users | 1260 ReviewsDiscuss Epithetical Books Kuinka Proust voi muuttaa elämäsi
If you're into stuff like this, you can read the full review.A Strangely Claustrophobic Experience: How Proust Can Change Your Life by Alain de Botton "To make [reading] into a discipline is to give too large a role to what is only an incitement. Reading is on the threshold of the spiritual life; it can introduce us to it: it does not constitute it."Quote from one of Prousts books, In How Proust Can Change Your Life by Alain de Botton Even the finest books deserve to be thrown aside.In HowAn interesting book, with a misleading title. It is NOT about how Proust will change your life. Rather, it is a book exploring various themes in Proust's life and writings, some of which may parallel your own experiences, and some of which might explain some types of behavior. The book is often insightful and clever, but ultimately I was a little disappointed, as the author often opted for superficiality to make his point. This book could have been so much better if it had not been hampered by
I am disappointed. I give de Boton credit for for being so much a genius and talented as a writer but his writing style is enormously disorienting for me and I can't keep up with him. I can't help but sense a nihilistic, atheistic spirit reeking from every page penned by him, thus feeling empty. Having read thirty pages or so in the book, I just could not keep going. I still can't see any practical value to what he was writing even though the book is supposed to be about "changing" my life. If
I would sincerely recommend the chapter "How to be a good friend" of this book to those troubled by the feelings of lacking in authentic soulmate type of friendships in life.First, the author wittily structured the book's title and table of contents in the cliche fashion of self-help book to make jokes of the bad quality of many superficial self-help books with How to and Changing life promises on the market. Obviously, I think Alan does not believe in reading a book to change one's course of
My wife and I fell in love reading this book together (way back in September/October 2002). I don't know what anyone else will think of this book, but I'll never enjoy reading a book more. B and I left a note on Proust's grave when we visited Paris on our honeymoon. He is the (gay) patron saint of our marital union. Here's my best advice: read this book with a loved one.
Marcel Proust was not built for speed. His health was poor due in large part to a severe asthmatic condition he developed as a child and struggled with throughout his maturity. While this did not prevent him from serving a year in the French army and, later, pursuing an active social life among a wide circle of friends, his physical exertions were few and his constitution so fearfully unreliable that he judged himself unable to engage in the practice of a standard profession. A brilliant mind,
Ive not read any Proust beyond whats excerpted in this book, and I dont expect I ever will, but that didnt stop me from finding this utterly delightful. Proust is perhaps an unlikely role model: a snobbish, indolent hypochondriac who rarely followed through on his big ideas. Yet de Botton draws many useful lessons from his published work as well as his letters, as expressed in the chapter titles, e.g. How to Take Your Time, How to Suffer Successfully, How to Be a Good Friend and How to Open Your
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