<<<	articles
Best books ... chosen by Samuel Brittan Samuel Brittan The Week 02/04/05 Samuel Brittan, the author and Financial Times columnist, chooses six books that have influenced him. His book of essays, Against the Flow, is published by Atlantic Books at £25. The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann (June 2005: Everyman £14.99). Two characters battle in an alpine sanatorium for the soul of a young engineer. One, a would-be Jesuit named Naphta, believes in discipline, the renunciation of the ego, the curbing of the personality. His antagonist is an Italian liberal named Settembrini, who favours beauty, freedom, gaiety, the enjoyment of life. Essays: Moral and Political by David Hume (OUP, first published 1741). Much the best contemporary introduction to the subjects covered, as well as a model of how to write good, concise English without dumbing down. On Liberty by John Stuart Mill (Penguin £4.99). This is the classic statement of the case for personal freedom so long as it does not interfere with that of other people, as revolutionary today as it was in 1859. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (Vintage £7.99). This is a dystopia which should cure anyone who is tempted by Blairite advisers who want to base policy on inducing happiness. In Brave New World people are conditioned by a selective breeding system and are made to take a drug, soma, at any sign of waning happiness; and there are some horrible consequences. A History of Western Philosophy by Bertrand Russell (Routledge £12.99). This came out when Russell's reputation among fellow philosophers was plummeting. It is a witty bird's-eye view of the main figures in Western thought enlivened by references to the personalities and quirks of the thinkers themselves. The Poverty of Historicism by Karl Popper (Routledge £9.99). This is the theoretical companion to the better-known Open Society and Its Enemies. It puts paid to all attempts at futurology by pointing out that the future depends on new knowledge.
<<<	articles
Site designed and managed by Andrew Heavens - andrewheavens@ftnetwork.com