Books criticizing modern society

[Anonymous No.11711132]

What are books critical of scientism, materialism, or otherwise provide insight into the western mode of being?

I sense something is really off in the world today (yes I know this is cliche, yes I know everyone has the same thought) and want to gain insight into what is going on.

Not interested in communist or feminist viewpoints but other than that nothing is off the table: philosophy, architecture, politics, sociology, whatever speaks true I want to read it.

Yesterday someone recommended "The Conspiracy Against the Human Race" which I found to be a fascinating perspective. Despite the nihilist perspective it was a breath of fresh air.

What other books can /lit/ recommend me?

[Anonymous No.11711172]

[Anonymous No.11711184]

The Reign of Quantity and the Signs of the Times

[Anonymous No.11711190]

>>11711132
>we live in a society

[Anonymous No.11711192]

[Anonymous No.11711193]

>>11711172
>>11711184

Exactly what I meant. Both look great, thank you for your suggestions.

In my several hours of googling I did not come across either of these books.

[Anonymous No.11711198]

>>11711190
Any good books about how glib repetition defuses concepts and replaces any possibility of broaching them sincerely with pure signs designed to elicit social mockery? In other words, how effective memes irreversibly RUIN their source.

[Anonymous No.11711200]

>>11711198
Woah... you're very smart!

[Anonymous No.11711210]

>>11711200
*puts you in my lice torture facility*
Don't run your smart mouth again or I'll activate sexual assault.

[Anonymous No.11711215]

>>11711192

Reading reviews now, appears to be right up my alley. Thank you for another good suggestion Anon.

[Anonymous No.11711500]

>>11711132
A lot of people have already read them, but if you are after some pessimistic fiction dealing with the modern world:
Houellebecq - Atomised + Whatever

or if you want an older view of things:
Huysmans - Against Nature

[Anonymous No.11711514]

>>11711198
>so mad over a mouthy teen zinger you ad lib a semiology

[Anonymous No.11711583]

Industrial Society and its Future

[Anonymous No.11711833]

Instead of this >>11711583 read 'The Technological Society' by Ellul

[Anonymous No.11712613]

>>11711583
go away, moron

[Anonymous No.11712969]

>>11711132
that's an old picture of the denver museum, OP. picrelated is the cherry on top which now resides in front of the building.

>Claes Oldenburg [Swedish] and Coosje van Bruggen [Netherlands] are a husband-and-wife team whose monumental sculptures celebrate the significance and beauty of everyday things—often making subjects larger than life. This 40-foot-tall sculpture was inspired by the vast prairies and mountains of Colorado, the bright light and scouring winds. The artists devised a graceful broom and dustpan that seem to dance in the dazzling Western sun.

What are these northern europeans doing to my city

[Anonymous No.11712986]

>>11712969
Look at this cancer by the same "sculptor"

[Anonymous No.11712991]

>>11711184
This, but don't start there. Guenon wrote three critiques of modernity. Read them in this order: East and West, The Crisis of the Modern World, and then read The Reign of Quantity and the Signs of the Times.

[Anonymous No.11712998]

>>11712986
Imagine being paid hundreds of thousands drawn from taxpayers and thinking that you have made an important and significant addition to the city aesthetic

[Anonymous No.11713021]

>>11712998
What sort of sickening travesty is this. Look at this poor thinker

[Anonymous No.11713030]

>>11713021
aw shit Dimensions of Dialogue is GOAT

[Anonymous No.11713032]

>>11712969
it's the royal ontario museum retard

https://www.google.com/search?q=royal+ontario+museum&client=firefox-b&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjjsbix3pfdAhUi5YMKHcfLDHAQ_AUICygC&biw=1366&bih=613

[Anonymous No.11713044]

>>11711132
>scientism
there is no such thing, science is correct and there is no other organizing principle for intellectual endeavors, epistemology or politics in the 21st century.

[Anonymous No.11713045]

>>11713032
Huh, you're right. But picrelated is the Denver Museum...

[Anonymous No.11713046]

https://www.johnstuartarchitecture.com/Spring_2009_Video_Readings_files/Koolhaas%20Junkspace.pdf

"Junk Space" by Rem Koolhaas

[Anonymous No.11713047]

[Anonymous No.11713052]

>>11713044
Imagine having this little self-awareness

[Anonymous No.11713056]

>>11711132
Jacques Ellul

[Anonymous No.11713058]

>>11713052
he's just baiting surely

[Anonymous No.11713161]

[Anonymous No.11713174]

>>11712969
>not liking based oldenburg
it doesn't have to be sturm and drang all the time

[Anonymous No.11713191]

>>11712991
Yeah, anon who made the Guenon chart here. Do this. Start with East and West.

[Anonymous No.11713237]

bottom text

[Anonymous No.11713726]

>>11711583
>Industrial Society and its Future

I have read this (after watching the Netflix series, I must sadly admit). It was good, but I do think his view is incomplete. He states everything matter-of-factly. He discusses the problem and the solution at once as if they were the same. I want to ask him: why does he think humanity is worth saving? Does he believe humans have intrinsic value? If so, doesn't that contradict several of his own premises? What is his ethic? How does he go from "is" to "ought"?

Still a good work by a smart man. Certainly worthy of more than a passing paragraph of anonymous criticism.

>>11711500
>Houellebecq - Atomised + Whatever
>Huysmans - Against Nature

Thank you Anon.

>>11711833
>'The Technological Society' by Ellul

>>11712991
>Read them in this order: East and West, The Crisis of the Modern World, and then read The Reign of Quantity and the Signs of the Times.

Good stuff, added to list.

>>11713047
>After Virtue - Alasdair MacIntyre

Thank you for the suggestion Anon, though I am having difficulty seeing the relevance of this book. Judging by descriptions it appears to exist fully within the realm of academic moral philosophy. But isn't the endless cycle of academic moral argumentation itself part of the problem? What does Alasdair offer? What does he see of the spirit of our times? What am I missing here?

>>11712969
>>11713032
Yes it's the royal ontario museum. The addition is a cancer growth on what was a beautiful building. A symbol of our times.

Maybe I am wrong. Maybe I am calling cancer what is actually progress. Well teach me. How can I think more accurately about this building? Why does it repulse me?

------------------

Here is my updated reading list for anyone else who may be on this journey. Feel free to critique.

From a personal perspective:

- A Confession - Tolstoy, Leo
- The Courage to Be: Paul Tillich
- On the Heights of Despair Cioran, E. M.
- The Temptation to Exist by Cioran, E. M.
- The Conspiracy Against the Human Race: A Contrivance of Horror
- Existentialism Is a Humanism by Jean-Paul Satre

Understanding society, the larger perspective:

- East and West by Rene Guenon
- The Crisis of the Modern World by Rene Guenon
- The Reign of Quantity and the Signs of the Times by Rene Guenon

- The Fate of Man by Crane Brinton (anthology with a good selection of essays)
- The Dispossessed Majority by Wilmot Robertson
- Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman
- The Singularity is Near by Ray Kurzweil
- The Revolt of the Masses by Ortega y Gasset, José
- The Human Condition by 2nd Edition Arendt, Hannah
- Junk Space by Rem Koolhaas

[Anonymous No.11713775]

>>11713726
>But isn't the endless cycle of academic moral argumentation itself part of the problem? What does Alasdair offer?
He shows why the endless cycle of academic moral argumentation is pointless and provides a way out.

[Anonymous No.11713851]

>>11711198
Mein Kampf

[Anonymous No.11713867]

Every single one of them but if you want something TANGIBLE read Kazcynski.

Before yall hit me with moronic replies, I'm familiar with Ellul, guénon, heidegger, land, deleuze... I'm a fucking genius neet alright I've read everything under the sun

[Anonymous No.11713890]

>>11713867
Kazcynski's a moron with no original thought

[Anonymous No.11713899]

>>11711132
The beginning quote is taken from C.S. Lewis' 'The Abolition of Man'.

This book discusses and dismantles scientism, and is a must-read:
https://www.amazon.com/Last-Superstition-Refutation-New-Atheism/dp/1587314525

[Anonymous No.11713924]

>>11713899
Also great:
https://www.amazon.com/Amusing-Ourselves-Death-Discourse-Business/dp/014303653X

[Anonymous No.11713927]

>>11713726
Yuga: An Anatomy of Our Fate by Marty Glass. I got the vibe that he is a burned out hippie who hates modernity and progress, however. He is well read, and speaks passionately from the heart, and in plain English. What I found most interesting was he managed to synthesize the societal critiques of Jean Baudrillard, Karl Marx, Jaques Ellul, and Neil Postman with that of Rene Guenon and Mircea Eliade among others.

[Anonymous No.11714765]

>>11713890
The poster even foresaw moronic replies lol.
t. actual moron with no original thought

[Anonymous No.11714842]

I love this book.

[Anonymous No.11715681]

>>11713775
> He shows why the endless cycle of academic moral argumentation is pointless and provides a way out.

After reading some more I see I missed the point. Ordered it. Thank you Anon.

>>11713924
>Amusing Ourselves to Death

Incredible book and what originally got me on this path.

>>11713927
> Yuga: An Anatomy of Our Fate by Marty Glass

"YUGA describes five falls—the Fall into Time, the Reign of Quantity, the Mutation into Machinery, the End of Nature, and the Prison of Unreality. Taken together, these comprise the fate of historical humanity and are, the author is convinced, one-way trips. And the urban-industrial-vehicular-commercial-technological-pharmaccutical-electronic-information-spectator secular society they have produced has ripped the human world to shreds… The book is hard-hitting, but readers who find it disturbing overlook the invincible beatitude that undergirds its every line. When we awaken from our modern nightmare—as sooner or later we shall—this book will help us remember what nightmare was."

Now there's a punchy synopsis if I ever saw one. Love it.

Unfortunately cannot find for sale anywhere, which seems odd for a book from 2005. And why does amazon.com sell books for $250? Who buys at that price?

>>11713899
>The Last Superstition

Does this rely heavily on ideas of Aquinas, etc? Don't get me wrong - we all hate the new atheists - but I've read enough "fist cause" and "prime mover" type arguments to last a lifetime.

The Catholics can have their greatest-island-for-which-no-island-is-greater. I don't live there. I live in a fucking madhouse that is western civilization in 2018 and I want to know what the fuck is going on.

Don't mean to be rude. Like all /lit/ fags (do we say fag here?) I like to hear myself talk. I do appreciate all suggestions, though I will soon be broke if I keep ordering more books.

>>11714842
> After The Natural Law by John Lawrence Hill

Would you mind elaborating on what you like about this book? I can't help but be wary of pastors (also book covers with the christian font-type scare me).

It's not that pastors cannot write good books, but almost always I find their writing dumbed down, too accessible, too mainstream. Too few ideas spread over not enough bread. Ever so gently they assuage and guide their flock, always careful not to startle. ie. not something for serious readers (or readers pretending to be serious).

[Anonymous No.11715809]

>>11711132
Well anon, if you really wants to understand modern society, you need to start with the classics.
Coursera have a good course about classical sociology: https://www.coursera.org/learn/classical-sociological-theory
It's free.

If you just want to read the basics, you can read: https://openstax.org/details/introduction-sociology-2e
Also free.

Now if you just want to jump into some aociologists books, you can start with The Sociological Imagination from C. Wright Mill or The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life from Erving Goffman.

And finally, Yale have an open course called Foundations of Modern Social Theory that you can see here: https://oyc.yale.edu/sociology/socy-151

Good reading anon!

[Anonymous No.11715817]

>>11715809
Just remember that there's not "one book to explain everything", especially something so complex as society, that keeps changing every day.
It's a difficult task.

[Anonymous No.11715835]

>>11713927
seconding this.

[Anonymous No.11715843]

>>11711198
q=kdM/dx

q=flow of meaning

k=meme efficiency coefficient, near 0 for ideas considered inherently distasteful in recipients worldview, higher for those that fit in well

dM/dx=gradient between coherence of idea within the meme and coherence of idea in recipients mind, when it is negative memes no longer strengthen a concept in the recipients mind but actually weaken it

a meme becomes stale when dM/dx dips below 0 for the majority of users in a particular network. Like any process of this sort you can get process overshoot and subsequent oscillations back and forwards until equilibrium.

>t. chem e

[Anonymous No.11715867]

>books critical of scientism, materialism, or otherwise provide insight into the western mode of being
>ctrl + f being and time
>0 results

[Anonymous No.11715899]

>>11715681
>Unfortunately cannot find for sale anywhere, which seems odd for a book from 2005. And why does amazon.com sell books for $250? Who buys at that price?
There are other places to shop besides Amazon, you know. I got my copy through B&N online for $20.

[Anonymous No.11715998]

>>11715867
Miss me with that nazi shit

[Anonymous No.11716245]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endgame_(Derrick_Jensen_books)

he is a bit kooky but i found it very interesting when i was a young lad