VoidPhil

The Book of Why is a book on probability and causality by the American computer scientist Judea Pearl, with science writer Dana Mackenzie. In The Book of Why, Pearl elucidates the recent shift in statistics and science towards the use of causal thinking. Most anyone who takes a class in statistics is taught very early on the mantra “correlation does not equal causation.” This simple formula drilled into our heads is supposed to prevent spurious associations between parallel trends.

In All Things Shining, philosophers Hubert Dreyfus and Sean Kelly discuss the search for meaning in our secular world. While they do a decent job of cataloging earlier belief systems and explaining their current disuse, they do a poor job of finding modern alternatives. Hubert Dreyfus was a fairly well-known and influential philosopher. His primary areas of expertise were the philosophy of Martin Heidegger, as well as 20th century French and German philosophy, particularly existentialism.

Thomas Ligotti's two short-story collections, Songs of a Dead Dreamer and Grimscribe, are indispensable reading for fans of weird fiction. Ligotti's work is not only influential in fiction, but also in philosophy, where the speculative realism and accelerationist communities frequently quote his works. I chose to read Ligotti after seeing his work referenced in a work by Ray Brassier, one of the key members of the speculative realist movement. Ligotti is one of (as of 2015) only ten living authors to have his works collected in a Penguin Classics volume.

In Why You Should Be a Socialist, Current Affairs magazine founder and editor Nathan Robinson discusses the merits of socialism and its solutions for the problems of the modern world. Robinson is a persuasive writer, and this book not only does a good job of explaining the benefits of socialism but also of explaining the causes of some of our current social ailments. Why You Should Be a Socialist is cleverly considered in its method of attack and arguments.

John Kenneth Galbraith's The Affluent Society is a classic work of economics. Written in 1958, it discusses the changes in American society precipitated by the evolution of capitalism in the post-WWII growth years. Galbraith discusses the effects of the development of advertising, the military-industrial complex, and the increasing affluence of the average American. Galbraith begins the book with a discussion of what he means by the term “affluent society”. The affluent society is one in which the basic needs of the majority of citizens are met, allowing most people to focus their productive energies on something other than bare subsistence.

J. G. Ballard's 1975 novel about an apartment building and its inhabitants is as disturbing as it is iconic. The particular aesthetic crafted by Ballard has found a receptive audience among the far-right and neo-reactionary sorts, who seem particularly drawn to Ballard's dark imagery. Ballard's works, and High-Rise in particular, are referenced in the writings of Nick Land and Mark Fisher, and Reza Negarestani has referenced his work on his blog.

Larry Niven's 1970 science fiction novel Ringworld is a mixed bag. On the one hand, Niven manages to spin a good story out of a fairly simple premise. The story's pacing and narrative structure are good, and its scientific grounding is excellent. On the other hand, it suffers from overt sexism and an utter lack of believable or enjoyable female characters. Ringworld is one of the classics of hard science fiction, and rightly so.

2019 was a good year for my reading development. I read a lot of books, and I managed to balance reading with my work and personal life. I even managed to keep up this blog reasonably well, at least far better than I anticipated. I didn't always get reviews written as soon as I would have liked, but I'm quite happy with my progress. Writing frequently has been excellent for my development both as a writer and as a reader, as I think I'm spending more time actively engaging with the texts and finding key insights, with the goal of being able to later write those down for long-term retention.

John Mackie's seminal 1977 work is essential reading for any student of ethics. In this work, Mackie explicates an argument from queerness against the existence of objective moral facts. Mackie also examines the effects of this revelation on the status of some established moral systems and makes recommendations for proceeding with moral investigation. Mackie opens the book bluntly with the statement “There are no objective values.” This first sentence is indicative of Mackie's style throughout the book.

In The Shock Doctrine, Naomi Klein offers a deep exploration of the effects of the neoliberal agenda and metastasized global capitalism. Drawing on years of experience as a journalist and foreign correspondent, and incorporating years of research, The Shock Doctrine is a devastating indictment of globalized capitalism. The best thing about this book is its breadth. Klein manages to give a summary of the neoliberal agenda from its opening acts in South America up to its mature tours de force in the Middle East.