There has been a recent flurry in adaptations of classic novels. Call me Ishmael, a retelling of Moby Dick and Julia, a retelling of 1984, come to mind as two notable examples. However, I would not say they are necessary (an overused word describing and praising books but in this case perhaps justified) in the same way as Percival Everett’s James is. James is a recreation of Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from the point of view of Jim, the slave. In many ways this perspective is far more interesting, the narrative and complications for Jim having much larger and more egregious repercussions than Finn's.
The contrast is captured in the framing of both of their journeys.
For Finn, his journey is an adventure, for Jim it is a terrfying experience of trying to survive. Jim incidentally, is actually called James. His name is deliberately simplified by his white slave owners but also by James himself. Everett introduces one of the novel’s most incisive twists. James and the other Black characters consciously suppress their intelligence in the presence of white people, performing ignorance, mispronunciation, and intellectual limitation as a survival strategy.
This enforced performance captures the outward suppression of Black intellectual life under slavery. Everett makes explicit what history has often left implicit, where many of the stereotypes surrounding Black elocution and pronunciation were not expressions of incapacity, but adaptive disguises produced under white domination. The horrific irony is that these caricatures, fabricated through oppression, were later taken as evidence of the inferiority that oppression had imposed (an insight he explored brilliantly in his earlier book Erasure).
of trying to survive.
James goes through the implications of his being caught once he runs away and in his imaginings you truly feel the full force of entrenched racism in America through his knowledge and fear. The book is interspersed with humour - characteristic of Everett and reminiscent of Twain (Everett reportedly read Huckleberry 13 times to capture Twain's style and wit). This humour is an attempt, a sort of antidote, to live - specifically, on how to live and cope in a world where you are viewed as less than 'other'.
Husserl, the phenomenologist, postulated that experience provides a kind of first-person knowledge that is irreducible and inaccessible from a third-person perspective. Each of our ‘qualia’ is unique to us, and so the best we have at understanding the conditions and experience of another - that is, their epistemology - is through, among other things, great works of literature. James is a book that draws you closer to an understanding
of what it really meant to live as a Black person in 1830s America. However, we must be fully aware that this is an understanding that we can fundamentally never fully grasp. In Nagel's What it is like to be a bat, he brilliantly argues subjective experience cannot be fully captured by objective science. Attempting to bridge this chasm with speculation and misrepresentation only further entrenches existing racial prejudices.
The Idea of the Brain
Sometimes the best way to become informed on a subject is to read its history.
Historicism’s continual pull comes from its ability to provide a great and needed contextual understanding of a topic.
This can partly explain the trend of works received with great receptivity in various disciplines possessing the title ‘a history of’. Take Bertrand Russell’s History of Western Philosophy as just one example.
With this in mind, The Idea of the Brain provides a brilliant understanding of how our concepts of the mind have evolved historically, whilst interweaving modern thinking regarding the brain and where the future for neuroscience research may lie.
A book in modern neuroscience can sometimes become outdated, not in core concepts - these are for the most part fundamentally agreed upon - but in discussions of new research, due to the pace at which neuroscience research occurs.
This book is not one of those, exactly due to its historic approach.
Taking the view of Hegel, our need to understand ourselves comes in part from our history, and so what better way to achieve this than to combine history with the organ that dictates what and who we are.
In some ways the most radical of Nietzsche's works, the alternative title is 'How to philosophise with a Hammer'. Nietzsche hammers at the idols we choose to worship. He argues that the worshipping of the past and the philosophers of the past negates the human life we are living now. He sees the supression of our senses in favour of reason as an error in our human development - we must trust and listen to these senses more. The core message is the need for self-examination of ourselves and society. To do this requires honest and often ruthless questioning.
The last days of Socrates is a cornerstone of Western Philosophy. Plato presents us with four unique dialogues. In these discussions Plato explores the idea of piety, the nature of justice, on not just living but living well and, in the last of the dialogues, 'The Phaedo', the immortality of the soul. Plato demonstrates how such a belief in the souls immortality allowed Socrates to face death with equanimity. We can be assured that if we have not committed evil out of ignorance in the physical world, we can also meet death in the same state of imperturbable tranquillity.
Moby Dick is among the greatest works in American Literature. Melville explores the nature of faith, the need to believe and our fated existence, all symbolised in the epic and calamitous quest to slay the monstrous White Whale. Melville illustrates that our human desires are as great and powerful as they are destructive. Our significance is formed out of the ideas and concepts we create, but it is dwarfed by the nature we are born from and into. The absudity of our existence is fighting this inevitability, of attempting to conquer the unconquerable whale.
Economics is a discipline that desperately wants to be considered a pure science, in the same vein as the natural sciences are. Such an objective has led to the evolution of a more mathematical and rigorous approach to economics, both in the construction of models and modern economic analysis. Yet fundamentally, as Robinson argues in this book, Economics is full of untestable ideas and assumptions - the dogma of economic orthodoxy. Only once this core ideology is challenged can economics be considered a science.
Wittgenstein's Tractatus is one of the core texts of modern analytic philosophy. A notoriously difficult read, the reader must be familiar with formal logic and the history of analytic and metaphysical philosophy to first have a chance at grasping the concepts Wittgenstein is dealing with. Despite this difficulty, it is a rewarding read for those willing to put in the time. Wittgenstein argues that philosophy can never 'get it right' and that the senseful language we use cannot express reality but only partly show it. This line of thinking led to the famous and enigmatic sentence, 'whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent'.
The Sci-Fi short stories Chiang presents in this book are deep and thought provoking. Chiang explores known problems in physics, neuroscience, mathematics and the philosophy of science through unique narratives. We see the consequences of a super-intelligent human being, we are presented with a language that alters our perception of reality, of evangelical deities who walk the earth and perform miracles at the cost of irrevocable damage and a technology that removes our ability to perceive beauty in a bid to end aesthetic discrimination.
Nietzsche's Ecce Homo was the last of his official works before he lost his mind. It is an autobiography that is in some ways like no other. It is arrogant to the point of being distasteful, but for those that have an appreciation for Nietzsche's other ideas you come to understand that what he is driving at is a deep and unapologetic honesty. Ecce Homo defies the insincere modesty society extols and recognises the significance and power of the individual.
Diogenes' ideas formed the basis for the Cynic school of philosophy. The cynics questioned and often scorned the conventions of civilised life. They argued and demonstrated that no amount of property can fulfill the deeper needs of humans. Diogenes believed his ascetic life to be the path for human flourishing and excellence. As great effort is required to maintain such a radical existence, many fall short of achieving this state. Not all the ideas in the cynics philosophy are sustainable, however the questions they raised over what we value are important and well placed in our modern high consumption landscape.
Steven Pinker's thinking is a product of Noam Chomsky's theories of language. Chomsky believed the acquisition of language was achieved through the Language Acquisition Device (LAD), a hypothetical structure within the brain that all humans possess at birth. Pinker builds on this idea in his book by suggesting there to be a universality in language. According to Pinker, all languages are built on a similar grammatical structure and that the language mechanism used to understand this structure is encoded and built into the brain. In a sense, the core argument is that our ability to understand and speak language is a biologically inherited trait.
Pride and Prejudice (1813) is as much a book of psychological insight as it is one of historical and social insight. As Austen demonstrates in the prose and wit which came to characterise that of her other works, such as Emma (1815), we all seem to judge one another, either implicitly or explicitly. Though we might think these judgements of ours are either perceptive or astute, they are often neither. Instead, our judgements are usually inaccurate and only seem to reflect our own innate beliefs and biases.
The use of brain imaging technology has fast become a fundamental technique in the study of neuroscience. Though it is a leap in reasoning to suggest we can infer the inner workings and thoughts of the mind, fMRI is certainly providing a step towards understanding the neural mechanisms of a range of happenings; from the everyday occurrences in our lives, to broader questions regarding decision making and valuation. Sahakian and Gottwald cover topics from the neural correlates of deception to the neuroscience of racial bias, all revealed through fMRI studies.
Emotions are the guiding force behind our actions. From literature to philosophy, the exploration of emotion has often been grounded in the belief that the drive of human nature has its underpinnings in emotions. LeDoux suggests emotions are created through a wide and intricate network of neural systems that evolved as a means to make complex decisions and fundamentally, aid us in survival. LeDoux’s stance implies emotions are embedded in our neural circuitry, rather than being context dependent, as some neuroscientists such as Lisa Feldman Barrett have otherwise argued.
The Tao Te Ching is perhaps one of the most influential works in Chinese thought, both politically and philosophically. It is a text whose authorship is uncertain and is widely believed to have been composed by multiple voices over time, reflecting the wisdom of an ancient society rather than the musings of a single individual. While traditionally attributed to Lao Tzu, his historical existence and sole authorship remain subjects of scholarly debate.
The work is enigmatic to the point of obscurity, yet it offers a kind of cryptic guidance on how to live. Its teachings resist singular answers, precisely because life itself is not something that can be reduced to one correct path or definitive way of being.
Sapolsky sets out in Determined to dismantle the idea that human beings possess free will. He draws on decades of neuroscience and biology, from Benjamin Libet’s famous 1983 experiments on the readiness potential to the complex roles played by neurochemicals, hormones, and brain circuitry in shaping behaviour. Our actions, he argues, are the outcome of forces operating long before conscious awareness ever arises.
Beyond moment-to-moment brain activity, Sapolsky also explores how genes, early childhood environments, stress, culture, and evolutionary history converge to produce each decision we make. When these mechanisms are traced carefully, the notion of an independent, freely choosing self becomes increasingly difficult to sustain. If our biology and experiences continuously shape our behaviour beyond conscious control, the question becomes unavoidable: in what meaningful sense can we still claim to possess free will?
Lonesome Dove is a sweeping, drama-filled novel that immerses the reader in the American frontier. It is gritty and rich with all the elements that define a great Western. Its varied and compelling characters, combined with the dramatic landscape and the sense of an epic journey undertaken, make Lonesome Dove a gripping and deeply enjoyable read.
The Republic is arguably the most influential book in Western philosophy and in Western thought more broadly. Through brilliant Socratic dialogue, Plato outlines an ideal state while exploring enduring questions of goodness, justice, and human nature. It is a text that anyone serious about philosophy should read, not just because of its influence, but for the patterns of thinking it teaches and the timeless lessons it continues to offer.
There have been many histories of Western philosophy, but what sets this one apart is that it was written by a true giant of twentieth-century thought, Bertrand Russell. Although some historians have pointed out inaccuracies in certain accounts, these are more than compensated for by Russell’s clear and precise language, something one would expect from one of the most notable analytic philosophers to have lived. A History of Western Philosophy gives the reader the sense of an incisive philosophical mind reflecting on the major periods and figures of the tradition. If you do not want just a record of history, but also Russell’s opinions and logical arguments about the philosophies he discusses, then this is the history for you, as this is exactly what the book provides.
The Art of War is an ancient text on the strategy of warfare that is still taught and studied today. It is insightful and leaves little room for doubt, and its simplicity of lesson lends it a certain elegance. This helps explain why it remains a timeless book, capable of teaching not only strategy and good judgment, but also something about life itself.
Anyone who wishes to begin understanding themselves should look toward the study of neurobiology. Few books offer the same breadth and depth, written in a manner that is both rigorous and engaging, as Robert Sapolsky’s Behave. The book reveals how much of our behaviour is shaped by biology, tracing human action through developmental stages and showing how each individual both shares a great deal of biology with others but is also biologically unique in ways that profoundly influence who we become.
Sapolsky explains how tribal “us versus them” groups emerge through neurobiological mechanisms and how we inherit social hierarchies from our primate ancestors in the animal kingdom.
Sapolsky also informs the debate surrounding nature and nurture, illustrating that within the context of neurobiology it is meaningless to claim that one plays a greater role than the other.
Biology and environment continuously shape and influence one another. A person who is biologically predisposed to aggression may become more aggressive when experiencing a surge in testosterone, whereas in another individual the same hormonal increase may result in greater generosity.
To claim that behaviours are simply “genetic” is therefore epistemically weak. The book reveals research in epigenetics, which shows that genes and gene expression are deeply dependent on the environments in which they exist. What we inherit biologically is substantial but heritability is not the deciding factor. Our neurobiology can be thought of as a set of conditions that are constantly modified by experience, culture, and circumstance.
Sapolsky discusses not only the broad themes of morality and behaviour, but also the intricate mechanistic layers of endocrinology, hormones, and neurochemicals that underlie them. If there is a modern book that captures the complexity of human behaviour in scientific terms, this stands among the very best.
