On Kindness
By Adam Phillips and Barbara Taylor
3.5/5
()
About this ebook
In this brilliant, epigrammatic book, the eminent psychoanalyst Adam Phillips and the social historian Barbara Taylor examine the terrors of kindness and return to the reader the intense satisfactions of generosity and compassion.
Kindness is the foundation of the world's great religions and most-enduring philosophies. Why, then, does being kind feel so dangerous? If we crave kindness with such intensity, why is it often the last pleasure we permit ourselves? And why—despite our longing—are we often suspicious when we are on the receiving end of it?
Drawing on intellectual history, literature, psychoanalysis, and contemporary social theory, this brief and essential book will return to its readers what Marcus Aurelius declared was mankind's "greatest delight": the intense satisfactions of generosity and compassion.
Adam Phillips
Adam Phillips is one of the foremost psychoanalysts practicing in the world today, and a visiting professor in the English department at the University of York. He is the author of many books, including On Kissing, Tickling, and Being Bored; and On Balance. He is also coauthor, with the historian Barbara Taylor, of On Kindness.
Read more from Adam Phillips
Missing Out: In Praise of the Unlived Life Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5On Balance Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5On Getting Better Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5On Wanting to Change Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Cure for Psychoanalysis Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGoing Sane Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Attention Seeking Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Side Effects Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Intimacies Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Something Like My Name Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to On Kindness
Related ebooks
On Not Being Able to Sleep: Psychoanalysis and the Modern World Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMirror, Mirror: The Uses and Abuses of Self-Love Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Side Effects Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Something Like My Name Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOn Not Knowing: How to Love and Other Essays Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Therapy of Desire: Theory and Practice in Hellenistic Ethics Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nietzsche Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Call of Character: Living a Life Worth Living Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The School of Life: An Emotional Education: An Emotional Education Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Attention Seeking Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5In Defense of Secrets Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIn Praise of Love Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hiding from Humanity: Disgust, Shame, and the Law Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Intimacies Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Against Interpretation: And Other Essays Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Be Bored Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Chairs Are Where the People Go: How to Live, Work, and Play in the City Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5A Therapeutic Journey: Lessons from The School of Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5300 Arguments Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Philosophy for Life and Other Dangerous Situations: Ancient Philosophy for Modern Problems Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Case for Falling in Love: Why We Can't Master the Madness of Love -- and Why That's the Best Part Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sick Souls, Healthy Minds: How William James Can Save Your Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Philosophy of Walking Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mourning Diary Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5American Philosophy: A Love Story Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Passing Time: An Essay on Waiting Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Meaning in Life and Why It Matters Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5On the Pleasure Principle in Culture: Illusions Without Owners Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPhilosopher of the Heart: The Restless Life of Søren Kierkegaard Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5After Montaigne: Contemporary Essayists Cover the Essays Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Philosophy For You
Sun Tzu's The Art of War: Bilingual Edition Complete Chinese and English Text Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Meditations: Complete and Unabridged Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Beyond Good and Evil Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Republic by Plato Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Courage to Be Happy: Discover the Power of Positive Psychology and Choose Happiness Every Day Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Four Loves Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Denial of Death Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Art of War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Course in Miracles: Text, Workbook for Students, Manual for Teachers Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Art of Loving Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Plato and a Platypus Walk Into a Bar...: Understanding Philosophy Through Jokes Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Inward Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tao Te Ching: A New English Version Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Be Here Now Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Egyptian Book of the Dead: The Complete Papyrus of Ani Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Experiencing God (2021 Edition): Knowing and Doing the Will of God Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The City of God Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Daily Stoic: A Daily Journal On Meditation, Stoicism, Wisdom and Philosophy to Improve Your Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Human Condition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lying Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Questions for Deep Thinkers: 200+ of the Most Challenging Questions You (Probably) Never Thought to Ask Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Metaphors We Live By Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bhagavad Gita (in English): The Authentic English Translation for Accurate and Unbiased Understanding Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5History of Western Philosophy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Be Perfect: The Correct Answer to Every Moral Question Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for On Kindness
28 ratings2 reviews
- Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5I dislike this book. When I first started reading it I noticed that there was absolutely no mention of Eastern conceptions of compassion and kindness. That's fine, I thought, it's a short book. I really enjoyed the section titled A Short History of Kindness. But everything that follows is steeped in Freudian claptrap. And it just goes on and on and on. The book is only 114 pages long and I stopped at 60. Instinctually, I think Freud is horseshit. The man's theories in no way correspond to how I view my life. My kindness for others, sorry Mr. Phillips, is in no way part of my sexuality. It is Eastern in its basic nature, it abjures the ego, and is at the heart of all that makes my life wonderful. I refuse to bemerde it with psychoanalytic pettifoggery. One final note: in all of the blurbage, or paratext as Dr. Eco would call it, for this book not once does the word Freud occur. Now, why is that, do you think?
NOT recommended.2 people found this helpful
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I 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.
1 person found this helpful