books on human condition

[KaneKungFu123]

im looking for some profound psychology writings that analyze the human condition and mind and all of that, as i am trying to figure out what will make me more happy/content in life. im looking for scholarly work from respected doctors - not your clcihe hippies or doctor phill's, but not too boring, wordy, complicated that it makes your eyes bleed and has you referencing a dictionary every five minutes.

that guy posted that psychologoists beliefs about self actualization. i thought it was pretty lame.

im looking for work that focuses on our lust for power and the way we manipluate the world around us and judge everything from our human perspective. im already fairly well versed in buddhist beleifs and would perfer something western - probally the right book by jung or something, im boring nietzsche.

[Jordan Olsommer]

I mentioned this in your other thread, but I can't recommend Man's Search for Meaning highly enough. In my opinion, you've got nothing to lose by reading it because even if you end up absolutely hating it, it's a short read [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img].

The Conquest of Happiness by Bertrand Russell

Learned Optimism and Authentic Happiness by Martin Seligman

The Road Less Traveled by M. Scott Peck

also, a good bit off-topic but still related to psychology and the pursuit of happiness, another one I can't recommend strongly enough is Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. Great great book.

[A_C_Slater]

Journey to Ixtlan

Carlos Castaneda (UCLA anthropologist)


EDIT: And stop masturbating or I'll be forced to cut it off.

[Jordan Olsommer]

[ QUOTE ]
Journey to Ixtlan

Carlos Castaneda (UCLA anthropologist)

[/ QUOTE ]

If you're going to read his books, approach them as fiction, because that's pretty much what they are - Castaneda claimed to have been mentored by this Yaqui shaman who taught him incredible things about the nature of the universe, blah blah blah, but when pressed he provided no evidence of any of it ever occurring (and still hasn't). So if Castaneda is your speed, fine, but don't be fooled into believing that it's non-fiction.

[ QUOTE ]

EDIT: And stop masturbating or I'll be forced to cut it off.

[/ QUOTE ]

Huh?

[A_C_Slater]

No one knows for sure. No one has any evidence that there was no Yaqui. But that doesn't even really matter. What is improtant is that it is a remarkable work explaining the human condition better than any other work fiction or non-fiction that I have ever seen. Do you not agree?

Castaneda may have created the Don Juan charachter simply as a vessel to get his message across, but the meassage is still valid even if Don Juan isn't real, which is really impossible to specualte about anyway.

[Jordan Olsommer]

[ QUOTE ]

No one knows for sure. No one has any evidence that there was no Yaqui. But that doesn't even really matter. What is improtant is that it is a remarkable work explaining the human condition better than any other work fiction or non-fiction that I have ever seen. Do you not agree?

[/ QUOTE ]

Can't agree or disagree here; I never read it. I read about a chapter of "Don Juan" but then I found out that Castaneda apparently made up all of his Yaqui tutelage, so I stopped reading it and sold it on amazon.

But that certainly doesn't mean they can't be enjoyed - like a fellow on the Everything2 page put it, "I love the books (at least the early ones) but prefer to view them as major literary works rather than straightforward anthropology"

[KaneKungFu123]

[ QUOTE ]
Journey to Ixtlan

Carlos Castaneda (UCLA anthropologist)

should i read that one first or the previous ones?


EDIT: And stop masturbating or I'll be forced to cut it off.

[/ QUOTE ]

[MtDon]

I highly recommend "The Importance of Living" by Lin Yutang.

[noggindoc]

[ QUOTE ]
im looking for some profound psychology writings that analyze the human condition and mind and all of that, as i am trying to figure out what will make me more happy/content in life....
im looking for work that focuses on our lust for power and the way we manipluate the world around us and judge everything from our human perspective.

[/ QUOTE ]

While I'm not sure there is a work that can fit both of these critieria, I'd recommend Das Ich und Das Es (literally translating to "The I and the It" but you'll find it under The Ego and the Id on Amazon most likely)

Freud seemed to have a pretty good handle on our lust for power and manipulation and things of that nature. That book is a classic. I wouldn't call it an easy read but it has a lot of great ideas.

[BruinEric]

A reading of "Mere Christianity" by CS Lewis would be worthwhile. This is a concise book made from a compilation of three or so booklets he wrote in an ongoing debate with post-enlightenment/early relativist thinkers in the Western World.

For a non-Christian, this thin and inexpensive book will be one of the best (meaning concise and highly "readable") summaries of what I'll call the "Christian Worldview" -- which certainly includes a discussion of the "human condition" and/or "state of man."

IMHO, people in the Western World who like to think about sociology and the nature of man should read this book to understand the Christian Worldview at its most basic level.

For example, I would venture to say a reading of this would be helpful before anyone dives into something like Max Weber's "The Protestant Ethic and Spirit of Capitalism."

This will almost assuredly not overlap any works you read coming from Psychologists or University research departments. These books will likely start with a materialist worldview and will almost univerally assume a rejection of dualism as a starting point.

I doubt that my suggestion was in the ballpark of what you were looking for, but it'll be worth the $3.99 and couple of days to become exposed to the basic Christian worldview at its core without all the distraction of many of the modern caricatures who are well-known.