A brief yet erudite and compellingly original survey that will provoke both personal thought and lively group discussion.
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A unique dialectic on the contentious phenomenon of suicide from a noted British philosopher and academic.
Critchley’s (Infinitely Demanding: Ethics of Commitment, Politics of Resistance, 2014, etc.) refreshingly nonjudgmental dissection of suicide begins with his assertion that the act—a dark taboo for many—is neither an offense nor something to be taken lightly. The author seeks to demystify suicide with literary “introspection and empathy,” potential reasoning behind the act, and what is left to be emotionally processed by survivors. When seen through the moral lens of Christian theology, suicide is a sin, he writes, but it is nevertheless a gruesome reality begging to be understood. Critchley’s outlook has roots in his own life: he admits to experiencing his own unmooring depression; “This essay,” Critchley says, “is an attempt to get over it.” He lucidly examines the stigma surrounding the act throughout the ages, referencing the principles of radical freethinkers like 18th-century Italian philosopher Alberto Radicati and poet John Donne alongside viewpoints associated with a belief in God, wherein suicide represents a flagrant disrespect for the gift of life. Fascinating as well is Critchley’s exploration of secular opinions on suicide. With an inquisitive, critical eye, he moves on to scrutinize the nature and enigmatic functionality of suicide notes, with their “mixture of depression and exhibitionism.” Readers will see the final words of Kurt Cobain, Elliot Rodger, and the Sandy Hook shooter, among others. The book’s brevity assists in tempering its often heavy, ponderous discussion. Readers touched by suicide and the unanswered questions left behind will appreciate Critchley’s scholarly perspective and intelligent, well-rounded analysis.
A brief yet erudite and compellingly original survey that will provoke both personal thought and lively group discussion.Pub Date: June 23, 2015
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 50
Publisher: Thought Catalog Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 13, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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Not an easy read but an essential one.
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Title notwithstanding, this latest from the National Book Award–winning author is no guidebook to getting woke.
In fact, the word “woke” appears nowhere within its pages. Rather, it is a combination memoir and extension of Atlantic columnist Kendi’s towering Stamped From the Beginning (2016) that leads readers through a taxonomy of racist thought to anti-racist action. Never wavering from the thesis introduced in his previous book, that “racism is a powerful collection of racist policies that lead to racial inequity and are substantiated by racist ideas,” the author posits a seemingly simple binary: “Antiracism is a powerful collection of antiracist policies that lead to racial equity and are substantiated by antiracist ideas.” The author, founding director of American University’s Antiracist Research and Policy Center, chronicles how he grew from a childhood steeped in black liberation Christianity to his doctoral studies, identifying and dispelling the layers of racist thought under which he had operated. “Internalized racism,” he writes, “is the real Black on Black Crime.” Kendi methodically examines racism through numerous lenses: power, biology, ethnicity, body, culture, and so forth, all the way to the intersectional constructs of gender racism and queer racism (the only section of the book that feels rushed). Each chapter examines one facet of racism, the authorial camera alternately zooming in on an episode from Kendi’s life that exemplifies it—e.g., as a teen, he wore light-colored contact lenses, wanting “to be Black but…not…to look Black”—and then panning to the history that informs it (the antebellum hierarchy that valued light skin over dark). The author then reframes those received ideas with inexorable logic: “Either racist policy or Black inferiority explains why White people are wealthier, healthier, and more powerful than Black people today.” If Kendi is justifiably hard on America, he’s just as hard on himself. When he began college, “anti-Black racist ideas covered my freshman eyes like my orange contacts.” This unsparing honesty helps readers, both white and people of color, navigate this difficult intellectual territory.
Not an easy read but an essential one.Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-525-50928-8
Page Count: 320
Publisher: One World/Random House
Review Posted Online: April 28, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2019
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SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
A psychologist and Nobel Prize winner summarizes and synthesizes the recent decades of research on intuition and systematic thinking.
The author of several scholarly texts, Kahneman (Emeritus Psychology and Public Affairs/Princeton Univ.) now offers general readers not just the findings of psychological research but also a better understanding of how research questions arise and how scholars systematically frame and answer them. He begins with the distinction between System 1 and System 2 mental operations, the former referring to quick, automatic thought, the latter to more effortful, overt thinking. We rely heavily, writes, on System 1, resorting to the higher-energy System 2 only when we need or want to. Kahneman continually refers to System 2 as “lazy”: We don’t want to think rigorously about something. The author then explores the nuances of our two-system minds, showing how they perform in various situations. Psychological experiments have repeatedly revealed that our intuitions are generally wrong, that our assessments are based on biases and that our System 1 hates doubt and despises ambiguity. Kahneman largely avoids jargon; when he does use some (“heuristics,” for example), he argues that such terms really ought to join our everyday vocabulary. He reviews many fundamental concepts in psychology and statistics (regression to the mean, the narrative fallacy, the optimistic bias), showing how they relate to his overall concerns about how we think and why we make the decisions that we do. Some of the later chapters (dealing with risk-taking and statistics and probabilities) are denser than others (some readers may resent such demands on System 2!), but the passages that deal with the economic and political implications of the research are gripping.
Striking research showing the immense complexity of ordinary thought and revealing the identities of the gatekeepers in our minds.Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-374-27563-1
Page Count: 512
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Sept. 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2011
Categories: BUSINESS | LEADERSHIP, MANAGEMENT & COMMUNICATION | PSYCHOLOGY
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