Books!

So, here's the list of books that I'm actually expecting from Easton Press over the next 22 Months:

Democracy in America - Volumes I & II              Alexis de Tocqueville
The Meaning of Relativity                                    Albert Einstein
Principia                                                               Isaac Newton
On the Origin of Species                                      Charles Darwin
Revolutionibus                                                     Nicolaus Copernicus
Common Sense                                                    Thomas Paine
Resistance to Civil Government                          Henry David Thoreau
Beyond Good and Evil                                         Friedrich Nietzsche
On Liberty                                                            John Stuart Mill
Two Treatises of Government                             John Locke
Magna Carta
The Wealth of Nations                                         Adam Smith
Uncle Tom's Cabin                                              Harriet Beecher Stowe
The Journals of Columbus                                  Christopher Columbus
The Travels of Marco Polo                                 Marco Polo
Utopia                                                                 Sir Thomas More
Writings of Saint Thomas Aquinas                     Saint Thomas Aquinas
The Prince                                                          Niccolo Machiavelli
The Federalist Papers                                        Hamilton, Madison, and Jay
The Art of War                                                   Sun Tzu
Leviathan                                                           Thomas Hobbes
While England Slept                                           Winston Churchill
The Genuine Works of Hippocrates
Politics & Poetics                                              Aristotle

All are part of the Easton Press "Books that Changed the World" collection. So far we've received Common Sense and On the Origin of Species. I'll post pictures of the books, which are beautiful, along with my analysis and thoughts.

Book Collection

Just got done ordering the Easton Press "Books That Changed the World" Series. I'm very much looking forward to enjoying them for years to come. As a consequence of this, I'll be adjusting the articles/treatises I read in the meanwhile to focus on those works not included in the series, which are detailed below. Although I love the convenience of a digital copy, the austerity and tradition of a quality leather-bound book collection is simply not to be underestimated.

Reading in Style

I'm giving serious thought to subscribing to the Easton Press "Books That Changed the World" series in order to receive a leather-bound copy of one of the following in sequence monthly:

• The Affluent Society by John Kenneth Galbraith
• Basic Writings ofThomas Aquinas
• Das Kapital by Karl Marx
• Discourse on Method and Related Writings by René Descartes
• An Essay on the Principle of Population by Thomas Malthus
• Euclid’s Elements by Euclid
• Federalist Papers by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, John Jay
• Common Sense by Thomas Paine
• The Journal of Christopher Columbus by Christopher Columbus
• Magna Carta
• Writings of Saint Thomas Aquinas, Saint Thomas Aquinas
• Leviathan, Thomas Hobbes
• While England Slept, Winston Churchill
• The Meaning of Relativity by Albert Einstein
• Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave by Frederick Douglass
• New Testament
• The Art of War by Sun Tzu
• The 95 Theses by Martin Luther
• Non-Violent Resistance by Mahatma Gandhi
• On Liberty by John Stuart Mill
• Two Treatises of Government by John Locke
• Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
• On the Duty of Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau
• The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin
• Psychology of the Unconscious by Carl Jung
• The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli
• Principia by Isaac Newton
• Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-Tung by Mao Zedong
• The Republic by Plato
• Silent Spring by Rachel Carson
• The Social Contract by Jean-Jacques Rousseau
• Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville
• Revolutionibus by Nicolaus Copernicus
• The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
• The Theory of the Leisure Class by Thorstein Veblen
• Torah
• The Travels of Marco Polo by Marco Polo
• Utopia by Thomas More
• The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money by John Maynard Keynes
• The Interpretation of Dreams by Sigmund Freud
• The Principles of Scientific Management by Frederick Winslow Taylor
• The Jewish State by Theodor Herzl
• Beyond Good and Evil by Friedrich Nietzsche
• A Vindication of the Rights of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft
• Walden by Henry David Thoreau
• The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith
• State and Revolution by Vladimir Lenin
• Tao Te Ching by Laozi
• Politics & Poetics, Aristotle
• The Genuine Works of Hippocrates, Hippocrates

I'm currently inquiring into the specifics of the subscription, but this seems like an ideal way to further my goals and build a quality book collection. It will also provide something of value to pass on to my daughter in years to come.

An interesting observation from Carl Sagan

I found Sagan's words very applicable to a phenomenon I've observed in social media, whereby the stunned masses ask, "How could this happen?" or "Why is this being allowed to happen?" When the answer is always a painfully obvious, "Because you asked for something that you did not even remotely understand."

Locke-d in

Having started my journey towards an erudite ascension, I thought it appropriate to post my first read, and my impressions thereon. I've begun by reading an oft-referenced, rarely cited work of classical liberalism, namely Locke's Two Treatises of Government. Having read them, several passages stand out prodigiously in terms of their relevance for our current reality. The first is most poignant:

TO understand political power right, and derive it from its original, we must consider, what state all men are naturally in, and that is, a state of perfect freedom to order their actions, and dispose of their possessions and persons, as they think fit, within the bounds of the law of nature, without asking leave, or depending upon the will of any other man.

 When did modern political thought assume that we are all not in this state? Why does the modern state so seek to hinder the existence of such a condition? The second passage is also rather relevant, and should be rather familiar to anyone familiar with the Declaration of Independence.

Every one, as he is bound to preserve himself, and not to quit his station wilfully, so by the like reason, when his own preservation comes not in competition, ought he, as much as he can, to preserve the rest of mankind, and may not, unless it be to do justice on an offender, take away, or impair the life, or what tends to the preservation of the life, the liberty, health, limb, or goods of another.

The phrase seems to be fairly in favor of man having a natural right to defend himself, and of the means to do so being a natural right. Rather interesting.

And hence it is, that he who attempts to get another man into his absolute power, does thereby put himself into a state of war with him; it being to be understood as a declaration of a design upon his life: for I have reason to conclude, that he who would get me into his power without my consent, would use me as he pleased when he had got me there, and destroy me too when he had a fancy to it; for no body can desire to have me in his absolute power, unless it be to compel me by force to that which is against the right of my freedom, i.e. make me a slave. To be free from such force is the only security of my preservation; and reason bids me look on him, as an enemy to my preservation, who would take away that freedom which is the fence to it; so that he who makes an attempt to enslave me, thereby puts himself into a state of war with me. He that, in the state of nature, would take away the freedom that belongs to any one in that state, must necessarily be supposed to have a design to take away everything else, that freedom being the foundation of all the rest; as he that, in the state of society, would take away the freedom belonging to those of that society or commonwealth, must be supposed to design to take away from them every thing else, and so be looked on as in a state of war.

A certainly eloquent argument for the enumeration and preservation of rights, in order to define freedom, lest we be unaware that it is taken away. Locke also took an extremely unexpected turn in the realm of property, to the effect that one could argue a cap or limit for the accumulation of wealth or at a minimum, for claims to property!

It will perhaps be objected to this, that if gathering the acorns, or other fruits of the earth, &c; makes a right to them, then any one may ingross as much as he will. To which I answer, Not so. The same law of nature, that does by this means give us property, does also bound that property too. God has given us all things richly, 1 Tim. vi. 12. is the voice of reason confirmed by inspiration. But how far has he given it us? To enjoy. As much as any one can make use of to any advantage of life before it spoils, so much he may by his labour fix a property in: whatever is beyond this, is more than his share, and belongs to others. Nothing was made by God for man to spoil or destroy. And thus, considering the plenty of natural provisions there was a long time in the world, and the few spenders; and to how small a part of that provision the industry of one man could extend itself, and ingross it to the prejudice of others; especially keeping within the bounds, set by reason, of what might serve for his use; there could be then little room for quarrels or contentions about property so established.

Locke, after much elaboration, continues:

The greatest part of things really useful to the life of man, and such as the necessity of subsisting made the first commoners of the world look after, as it cloth the Americans now, are generally things of short duration; such as, if they are not consumed by use, will decay and perish of themselves: gold, silver and diamonds, are things that fancy or agreement hath put the value on, more than real use, and the necessary support of life. Now of those good things which nature hath provided in common, every one had a right (as hath been said) to as much as he could use, and property in all that he could effect with his labour; all that his industry could extend to, to alter from the state nature had put it in, was his. He that gathered a hundred bushels of acorns or apples, had thereby a property in them, they were his goods as soon as gathered. He was only to look, that he used them before they spoiled, else he took more than his share, and robbed others. And indeed it was a foolish thing, as well as dishonest, to hoard up more than he could make use of. If he gave away a part to any body else, so that it perished not uselesly in his possession, these he also made use of. And if he also bartered away plums, that would have rotted in a week, for nuts that would last good for his eating a whole year, he did no injury; he wasted not the common stock; destroyed no part of the portion of goods that belonged to others, so long as nothing perished uselesly in his hands. Again, if he would give his nuts for a piece of metal, pleased with its colour; or exchange his sheep for shells, or wool for a sparkling pebble or a diamond, and keep those by him all his life he invaded not the right of others, he might heap up as much of these durable things as he pleased; the exceeding of the bounds of his just property not lying in the largeness of his possession, but the perishing of any thing uselesly in it.

Which of course begs the question, in a day and age when the ability to grow a fortune far exceeds the ability to enjoy or use it, can there be a limit on "durable possession" according to Locke's morality and definition of "just property"?

I feel as though I started out with an excellent choice for my journey in Locke's work. Though the barrier of time made the reading somewhat arduous, the pleasure of discovery and the soundness of his arguments well-exceeded the tedium of the temporal language barrier.

First

Too frequently we abandon the frightening prospect of thinking for ourselves for the ease of simply acquiescing to the designs and opinions of others. In essence, this blog will serve as a history of development, and a catalog of illumination. Our worldviews have degenerated into whatever can be said in 140 characters, and those hardly with the eloquence of a Haiku. I do not fear a larger template, nor the opportunities for criticism that brush strokes writ large invite. Hopefully this blog will serve not simply to broadcast the results of my own introspection, but also to stimulate that same introspection in any who choose to follow it.