Book List: 5 Books I Want to Read

Nausea - Jean-Paul Sartre

My main exposure to existential philosophy came through the works of Albert Camus, but I hardly ever had much contact with works of another great existentialist in Jean-Paul Sartre. I have mainly seen The small fragments from the book online, but those fragments were all that were needed for me to want to add this book to my list, better late than never to arrive at Sartre.

Buddha or Karl Marx - Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar

I first heard about Dr. Ambedkar at an international summer school, in which representative from India were present. I was interested to hear that he was a harsh critic of Ghandi and the Indian caste system, and I felt I certainly wanted to hear more on his views. Buddha or Karl Marx definitely peeked my attention further, given the fact that I am very interested in Buddhist philosophy. I can only imagine/hope that it will be a critical examination of the two functionalist traditions and their respective applications and effectiveness .

Soccernomics - Simon Kuper and Stefan Szymanski

As a football fan, I have always been interested in why some nations are better at the game than other and what role the economic landscape plays in a nations success on the pitch. This book, with its title alone, seems to suggest some possible answers. Definitely adding it.

Remaking the Chinese Leviathan - Dali Yang

As someone living in China, I have become very interested in the Chinese political institution and how it operates. I read a paper which referred to China as a consultative Leninist state, which I felt was an apt title. I found the title of this book to be interesting after recently reading a post on The Leviathan State by Thomas Hobbes, and how it can actually be argued that China is an example of such a state. The book centers around the effectiveness of China's authoritarian government, particularly at adapting to the times, and responding to it's societies needs.

Letters on Ethics - Seneca

The only book that I read on Stoicism was the Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, which I would also recommend. The Stoic tradition is an interesting one, and as a student of Ethics, I'm interested in any tradition's prescriptions for living a good life. Seneca's letters are supposedly a series of letters written to an emperor, laying out these prescriptions for being a good leader and living a virtuous life. .