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Loading... On Kindness (original 2009; edition 2009)by Adam Phillips, Barbara Taylor
Work InformationOn Kindness by Adam Phillips (2009)
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. I got this book after reading an article on happiness in the Guardian last week. I found that very interesting and this book - this little book which fits the hand so nicely - is also interesting. Makes the point that kindness is related to the words 'kin' and 'kind' in the sense of the same sort. Suggests that fellow feeling is a natural feeling which we have sort of denied in recent times and that kindness is something we like to do, it is good for us and makes us feel good. I am now reading the history behind it and there is a lot of stuff about Rousseau and his thoughts on this - he was a kindness superstar in his time though he farmed out all his children. Another reviewer here got lost in the psychoanalytic material which I have hardly hit yet. no reviews | add a review
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The pleasures of kindness have been well known since the dawn of Western thought. Kindness, declared Marcus Aurelius, was mankind's 'greatest delight' - and centuries-worth of thinkers and writers have echoed him. But today many people seem to find these pleasures literally incredible. Instead of embracing the benefits of altruism, as a species we seem to be becoming deeply and fundamentally antagonistic to each other, with motives that are generally self-seeking. This book explains how and why this has come about and argues that the affectionate life - a life lived in instinctive sympathetic identification with the vulnerabilities and attractions of others - is the one we should all be inclined to live. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)177.7Philosophy and Psychology Ethics Social Ethics Philanthropy - HumanityLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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NOT recommended. ( )