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24 books with the same feel
Include books by the same authorThe Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature
Steven Pinker · 528 pages
In The Blank Slate, Steven Pinker, one of the world's leading experts on language and the mind, explores the idea of human nature and its moral, emotional, and political colorings. With characteristic wit, lucidity, and insight, Pinker argues that the dogma that the mind has no innate traits-a doctrine held by many intellectuals during the past century-denies our common humanity and our individual
The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion
Jonathan Haidt · 473 pages
A groundbreaking investigation into the origins of morality, which turns out to be the basis for religion and politics. The book explains the American culture wars and refutes the "New Atheists."
The Anatomy of Human Destructiveness
Erich Fromm · 576 pages
Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows: An Introduction to Carnism
Melanie Joy · 224 pages
Black Skin, White Masks
Frantz Fanon · 232 pages
Fanon, born in Martinique and educated in France, is generally regarded as the leading anti-colonial thinker of the 20th century. His first book is an analysis of the impact of colonial subjugation on the black psyche. It is a very personal account of Fanon's experience being black: as a man, an intellectual, and a party to a French education.--Adapted
The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind
Gustave Le Bon · 208 pages
"Gustave LeBon's The Crowd is not only a classic, but one of the best-selling scientific books in social psychology and collective behavior ever written. Here, LeBon analyzes the nature of crowds and their role in political movements. He presents crowd behavior as a problem of science and power, a natural phenomenon with practical implications. Originally published in 1895, LeBon's book was the fi
The Social Animal: The Hidden Sources of Love, Character, and Achievement
David Brooks · 424 pages
From the influential and hugely popular "New York Times" columnist and bestselling author of "Bobos in Paradise" comes a landmark exploration of how human beings and communities succeed.
Some We Love, Some We Hate, Some We Eat: Why It's So Hard to Think Straight About Animals
Hal Herzog · 334 pages
Does living with a pet really make people happier and healthier? What can we learn from biomedical research with mice? Who enjoys a better quality of life -- the chicken destined for your dinner plate or the rooster in a Saturday night cockfight? Why is it wrong to eat the family dog? Drawing on more than two decades of research into the emerging field of anthrozoology, the science of human–animal
Status Anxiety
Alain de Botton · 306 pages
This is a book about an almost universal anxiety that rarely gets mentioned directly: an anxiety about what others think of us; about whether we’re judged a success or a failure, a winner or a loser. This is a book about status anxiety. We care about our status for a simple reason: because most people tend to be nice to us according to the amount of status we have (it is no coincidence that the f
The Mass Psychology of Fascism
Wilhelm Reich · 400 pages
In this classic study, Reich provides insight into the phenomenon of fascism, which continues to ravage the international community in ways great and small. Drawing on his medical experiences with men and women of various classes, races, nations, and religious beliefs, Reich refutes the still generally held notion that fascism is a specific characteristic of certain nationalities or a political p
Civilization and Its Discontents
Sigmund Freud · 116 pages
Originally published in 1930, this book seeks to answer ultimate questions. What influences led to the creation of civilization? How did it come to be? What determines its course? In this classic work, Freud addresses the contest between aggression and eros, and speaks to issues of human creativity and fulfillment, the place of beauty in culture, and the effects of repression.
The Geography of Thought: How Asians and Westerners Think Differently-- And Why
Richard E. Nisbett · 288 pages
A professor of psychology examines the divergent ways in which eastern and western cultures view the world, offering suggestions about how today's interdependent global cultures may be bridged.
The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil
Philip G. Zimbardo · 551 pages
What makes good people do bad things? Where is the line separating good from evil, and who is in danger of crossing it? Social psychologist Philip Zimbardo explains how--and the myriad reasons why--we are all susceptible to the lure of "the dark side." Drawing on examples from history as well as his own research, Zimbardo details how situational forces and group dynamics can work in concert to mak
Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me): Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions, and Hurtful Acts
Carol Tavris, Elliot Aronson · 304 pages
At some point we all make a bad decision, do something that harms another person, or cling to an outdated belief. When we do, we strive to reduce the cognitive dissonance that results from feeling that we, who are smart, moral, and right, just did something that was dumb, immoral, or wrong. Whether the consequences are trivial or tragic, it is difficult, and for some people impossible, to say,
Toward a Psychology of Being
Abraham H. Maslow · 184 pages
First published in 1962, ‘Toward a Psychology of Being’ was written by Abraham H. Maslow, an American psychologist who was best known for creating Maslow's hierarchy of needs, a theory of psychological health predicated on fulfilling innate human needs in priority, culminating in self-actualization.\ This book develops on Maslow’s key theories of motivation and self-actualization, which were firs
Just Babies: The Origins of Good and Evil
Paul Bloom · 273 pages
"From Sigmund Freud to Jean Piaget, psychologists have long believed that we begin life as amoral animals. After all, isn't it the role of society--and especially parents--to transform babies from little psychopaths into civilized beings who can experience empathy and shame, and override selfish impulses? In Just Babies, Paul Bloom argues that humans are in fact hardwired with a sense of morality.
Strangers Drowning: Grappling with Impossible Idealism, Drastic Choices, and the Overpowering Urge to Help
Larissa MacFarquhar · 328 pages
"What does it mean to devote yourself wholly to helping others? In Strangers Drowning, Larissa MacFarquhar seeks out people living lives of extreme ethical commitment and tells their deeply intimate stories; their stubborn integrity and their compromises; their bravery and their recklessness; their joys and defeats and wrenching dilemmas. A couple adopts two children in distress. But then they thi
Enough: Breaking Free from the World of More
John Naish · 320 pages
For millions of years, humankind has used a brilliantly successful survival strategy. If we like something, we chase after more of it: more status, more food, more info, more stuff. Then we chase even more. It's how we survived famine, disease and disaster to colonise the world. But now, thanks to technology, we've suddenly got more of everything than we can ever use, enjoy or afford. That doesn't
The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can't Stand Positive Thinking
Oliver Burkeman · 256 pages
Exploring the dark side of the theories put forth by such icons as Norman Vincent Peale and Eckhart Tolle by looking to both ancient philosophy and current business theory, Burkeman--a feature writer for British newspaper The Guardian--offers up the counterintuitive idea that only by embracing and examining failure and loss and unhappiness will we become free of it.
A Way of Being
Carl R. Rogers · 395 pages
Personal experiences and perspectives: Experiences in communication -- My philosophy of interpersonal relationships and how it grew -- In retrospect: forty-six years -- Growing old: or older and growing? -- Do we need "a" reality? -- Aspects of a person-centered approach: Foundations of a person-centered approach -- Empathic: Unappreciated way of being -- Building person-centered communities:
Ego and Archetype: Individuation and the Religious Function of the Psyche
Edward F. Edinger · 304 pages
The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity
Carlo M. Cipolla · 96 pages
The Road Less Traveled: A New Psychology of Love, Traditional Values, and Spiritual Growth
M. Scott Peck · 316 pages
Confronting and solving problems is a painful process which most of us attempt to avoid. Avoiding resolution results in greater pain and an inability to grow both mentally and spiritually. Drawing heavily on his own professional experience, Dr M. Scott Peck, a psychiatrist, suggests ways in which facing our difficulties - and suffering through the changes - can enable us to reach a higher level of