Thank you so much for this Jeremy. Really struggling this week but am working through it. And I'm grateful for "Meditations For Mortals", wow, did you pick a good book for this particular time. Bless you, Jeremy. X
What unifies works like these is the authors' belief that there is something transcendent that binds their wills, constrains their choices, and gives shape and definition to their moral obligations to others. I increasingly wonder to what degree such constraint is even coherent to an American audience that has been steeped for so long in the waters of liberal individualism, under which there are no 'valid' constraints if they do not maximize personal autonomy - an autonomy that we also have very little vocabulary for expressing beyond consumption and aesthetics.
Thank you, this is a great list, and my final nudge to prioritize these works I had on my shelf, picked up a few times but never finished! I love those quotes, and also how Thoreau’s quote on opportunity costs!
What a beautiful list, Jeremy, and timely! I haven’t read the Tolstoy yet - I’ll have to acquire it soon.
It’s certainly well worth it!
Thanks for the recommendations. I'd suggest "The choice" by Edit Eger, another incredibly hopeful Holocaust survivor memoir.
It’s on my shelf!
Man's Search for Meaning is brilliant and deeply meaningful. I love Tolstoy but haven't read that one yet.
Thank you so much for this Jeremy. Really struggling this week but am working through it. And I'm grateful for "Meditations For Mortals", wow, did you pick a good book for this particular time. Bless you, Jeremy. X
Don't forget the female philosopher authors like Simone de Beauvoir, Hannah Arendt, and bell hooks.
Yes yes, they're high on my list!
What unifies works like these is the authors' belief that there is something transcendent that binds their wills, constrains their choices, and gives shape and definition to their moral obligations to others. I increasingly wonder to what degree such constraint is even coherent to an American audience that has been steeped for so long in the waters of liberal individualism, under which there are no 'valid' constraints if they do not maximize personal autonomy - an autonomy that we also have very little vocabulary for expressing beyond consumption and aesthetics.
Great word, my friend. 🙌
Thank you, this is a great list, and my final nudge to prioritize these works I had on my shelf, picked up a few times but never finished! I love those quotes, and also how Thoreau’s quote on opportunity costs!
Brilliant essay on Thoreau - thanks for sharing!