Aleksander

Amazing book

An interesting, if uneven, read. Its premise—a surreal, nightmarish world—has all the makings of a Kafkaesque tale, and indeed, Kubin's imagery and themes do evoke Kafka's absurdity and existential dread. However, the execution felt overly long, and I found myself losing interest about halfway through. The pacing drags in places, and the plot meanders more than it compels.

That said, Kubin's work is worth exploring for its cultural and historical significance. As a little-known artist and writer, his vision offers a unique glimpse into early 20th-century surrealism, expressionism and anxiety. While it may not be the most engaging read for modern tastes, its importance as a precursor to the psychological and dystopian literature and art that followed makes it worthwhile, especially for fans of Kafka or anyone interested in surreal art and literature.

“Metaphysical Horror” by Leszek Kolakowski, one of Poland's most renowned philosophers, explores philosophy's perpetual, unsolvable problems - problems that are fundamentally intertwined with life itself.
While acknowledging anti-philosophical arguments that claim philosophizing is pointless, Kolakowski demonstrates that the value lies not in finding definitive answers, but in the intellectual journey itself. He examines and critiques various philosophical traditions, from Neoplatonists to Christian mystics and Enlightenment thinkers, revealing the limitations in each approach.
The book culminates by showing how this very philosophical uncertainty - our inability to reach absolute truth - is itself what opens up the infinite possibilities of human thought and existence. The “horror” of having no final answers becomes paradoxically liberating, creating space for endless exploration and meaning-making.

Evola's critique of Rudolf Steiner, Helena Blavatsky and Freud along with some other neo-spiritual currents. Interesting but not as dense and information packed as normal Evola books. Recommended for anyone interested on Evola's views on these matters

This book does a quick roundup on postmodern philosophy and how thoughts presented by it slowly turned into the world we are all living now. Then deconstructs theories like queer theory, postcolonialism and disability studies.
Have you ever wondered why does the LGBT community is often portrayed as something associated with paedophilia?
How what happened that suddenly an abomination like fat studies came to existence?
Why feminism no longer seems as a movement promoting equality, just hate?
These topics are tackled in this book. From Gale Rubin advocating for the acceptance of paedophilia, and rejecting the idea of diagnosing disabilities because it discriminates disabled people, and other absurd things...
Highly recommended and a good book for a crazy times of today
And, for everyone saying that the roundup on postmodernism and philosophy is inaccurate and the French postmodernists actually deconstructed structures in search of the authenticity not just for the sake of it. Yes, thats true. But the book also mentions that it is focused on the modern, American interpretation of these ideas. What is important, is that - they morphed into these issues, and the world is not even close when it comes to solving them.

One of the most, if not the most accurate and relatable criticisms of the XXI century. Extremely lucid and direct, reader can feel the force of the arguments drawn in this book. Every one of them backed by significant and intelligent logic

Great book. Fit for anyone interested in mythology and its symbolism. Reserch is in depth and amazingly detailed. Evola shows his huge commitment and respect for the topic he is working on. Variety of texts is covered from a lot of diffrent cultures, that lets the reader grasp connections between them. Myth as a universal story and life as an ethernal reenactment.

Redemption of Evola - for me.
A great book, still typical Evola style so when its wrong its really wrong and when its right it is really right, here, in this book - he is more times right then wrong.
It has many interesting chapters for example topics like : critique of existentialism and phenomenology (including an interesting critique of Heidegger - and I'm saying this as a Heideggerian myself). Hits the spot when talking about the modern family and values, neospiritualism, Catholicism but misses the mark with music, and sometimes he says stuff that he could just keep for himself - but thats Evola at the end of the day.
Not as good as Guenon of course...
Still, worth a read. Great book for the times we are living in. Recommended

I doubt I'll finish this book. The first chapter on mythopoesis is excellent, especially the in-depth exploration of Deleuze and Guattari's philosophy and the discussion of neomedievalism, which I found fascinating. However, after that, the book starts to lose focus. It feels like the authors gradually drift away from their central ideas, and by the end, the point they're trying to make becomes completely unclear.

While I understand that fictioning is meant to be a fluid, hard-to-define concept, the book doesn't make it any easier to grasp. Instead of offering a coherent explanation, it gets bogged down in constant analysis of different cultural texts, many of which are heavily America-centric. As a European, I couldn't relate to or even understand some of these references.

After about 190 pages, the book seems to fall apart, turning into a confusing, disjointed analysis of cultural texts. The writing becomes increasingly convoluted, with long, spiraling sentences that bury any meaningful points. Rather than feeling enlightened, I ended up feeling tired and alienated, like I was being led through a maze with no clear destination.

You are better of just reading DNG, Gunther Anders, Jung or Eric Vogelin and thinking on your own than reading this.

Great

Not a controversial book (in my book) easy and reasonable argument made.

Carl Schmitt argues that politics is defined by the friend-enemy distinction, where existential threats, not moral differences, shape political life. Unlike morality or economics, the political revolves around survival and identity, and conflict is inevitable when these differences become irreconcilable. Schmitt critiques liberalism for attempting to depoliticize life by hiding political motives behind legal, moral, or economic rhetoric, weakening the state's ability to defend itself. Liberalism's belief in world peace and international harmony ignores the inherent conflict in human nature, leading to misguided interventions framed as moral causes.

Great book, helped me with overcoming my fear in general. Little too spiritual but that does not matter if helped me get better

In an era dominated by reductionist materialism, the ground-breaking work “The Phenomenon of Man” by French palaeontologist and cosmologist Teilhard de Chardin emerges as a compelling counter-argument. Written against the intellectual backdrop where the concepts of ‘Mental Structure,' ‘Efficient Telos,' and ‘Material Telos' held sway, this book challenges the core assumptions that have shaped the modern scientific worldview.

Materialism of the time led to a sharp separation between teleology and causality, reflecting the divide between mind and matter. Such a view led to the stripping away of purposefulness and meaning from the natural world. Modern science leaned heavily into describing natural phenomena as products of blind, meaningless, and random processes. By the early 20th century, this anti-teleological stance had almost attained the status of dogma, narrowing the avenues for meaningful dialogue around the subject.

In this intellectually rigid landscape, Teilhard de Chardin's “The Phenomenon of Man” comes as a breath of fresh air. Chardin argues not only for the inclusion of ‘Formal Telos' and ‘Final Telos' in our understanding of the universe but goes a step further to intertwine them seamlessly with material and efficient causes. He attempts to bridge the gulf between teleology and causality, mind and matter, thereby shaking the very foundations of reductionist materialism.

What is most striking about this book is its the combining of insights from palaeontology, cosmology, and philosophy. Chardin does not merely challenge the existing scientific paradigms but offers an alternative, one that is harmonious and integrative, respecting both the spiritual and the material aspects of existence.

For those who find themselves disconcerted by the bleak and purposeless universe painted by reductionist materialism, “The Phenomenon of Man” provides an alternative lens through which to view reality. It reinstates the lost dialogue between science and spirituality, offering a vision of the world where both can coexist and enrich each other.

One of the best books representing the idea of panentheism, integral theory and also one of the best books of all time.

This is the kind of literature I like. I recommend to everyone who likes surrealism, absurdism and modernism.

Great introduction to the philosophy of Jakob Bohme. The concepts are, at first explained really generally, so the reader can grasp them easily in “normal language”. Once they are explained we dive in the fragments of Bohme's writing so we can see how these ideas actually were presented.

Recommended for everyone who want to get to know Bohme

Excellent book, as always - Baudrillard - one of the most controversial and complex thinkers I know. He tackles topics of death and the way it is used and repressed in our society in order to control individuals contained within the social fabric. I think this book serves as a great entry point to the works of Baudrillard because the concept of symbolic exchange can be quite hard to grasp at first, and it's not really explained in his later, more well-known and popular work, “Simulation and Simulacra.”
The book takes quite some time to get going, however, when the topic of death is introduced in the second half of the book, it quickly gains momentum and snowballs into a huge, complicated, and satisfying argument. Baudrillard provides a lot of food for thought, making this a fundamental work for understanding his later ideas.
In “Symbolic Exchange and Death,” Baudrillard argues that modern society has lost touch with the true nature of death and its role in the symbolic exchange that underlies social relations. Instead, death has been repressed, sanitized, and used as a tool for social control. By denying the reality of death and trying to master it through various technological and ideological means, we have created a world of artificial scarcity and alienation.
Baudrillard suggests that the only way to break free from this oppressive system is to reintegrate death into the social fabric, to recognize its symbolic power and embrace it as a necessary part of life. This means moving beyond the narrow confines of political economy and rediscovering a more authentic mode of existence based on reciprocity, cyclicality, and the acceptance of ambivalence.

Great essay on art, or rather lack of art in todays world. Just as hard to review as reading it with proper understanding. This slim book offers a little dose of baudrillardianism for everyone who wanting a little mental gymnastics. But remember that something is gone only when it is everywhere around us, so much it becomes transparent. Death as a an opposition to true nothingness .

Excellent introduction to the thought of Carl G. Jung.
Lucid, clear writing with lots and lots of sources backing up the examples. Amazing book leveraging alchemy, kabbalah, religion, Gnosticism and various thoughts of philosophy to show the complexity of the human psyche and the function of religion.

Well, it was a little too esoteric for my taste and had a ton of references to historical events and ancient culture, that I dont really know nor have the ability to check for myself so most of the book was pretty hit or miss in my case.
Some of the ideas in here are, weird some of them i agree with, and with some dont. I have to say that when he is right he really has a point and if he is not - he is just completely off, sounds kind of mad and insane. This can really easy be seen in the book - these two extremes.
I find the beginning of the book quite strong though... Part one is great in my opinion... part two not so much...Diched it form there because I felt lost and didn't really know what he was going for.

Just as I wrote in my review of the VOL. 1 of the book. This is one of the most important, impactful, insightful and unapologetic books I will ever read. And you should too.
Its challenging, requires tons of context and I highly recommend making notes while reading. This part includes some of the best and the worst of Spengler. Thoughts about religion and the transition into puritanism and rationality. Then concludes with ideas about the final phases of a civilization. This part is more relatable than the first volume of the book but focuses more on politics and theology, we can also find a bit of Spengler'a mini attempts at media studies.

Okay so this book is a bit of a mixed bag, plethora of ideas presented in the book.
Some, like adoption of the Dasein philosophy as a social philosophy, multipolarity and the critique of liberalism and globalisation, and unipolarity and sympathy towards Guenonian traditionalism, and remarks about metaphysics of gender - resonate with me.
Interesting points made about the concept of the reversibility of time. Certainly interesting.
However, we have to remember that while brilliant, Heidegger's philosophy is directed inward, towards itself, which makes it solipsistic in nature, and that runs the risk of the unity closing on its self to anything outward, and that would lead proabably to homogenization.
But reading a book with a stance like this is certainly not something common these days....
Insanely relevant. Recommended with a grain of salt.

Mircea Eliade is an amazing writer and scholar. His encyclopaedical knowlage of history, religion and ancient culture and civilization is unparalleled - for context I can say its rivalling individuals like Oswald Spengler and Evola.
Book provides extremally comprehensive view of what was alchemy, and the philosophical view that stood behind it. How it relates to modern times ect...
** spoiler alert ** We can learn for example that alchemy, even though its often portrayed as a precursor of chemistry, had a completely reversed idea of the significance of matter in the world. (chemistry bases on division and extraction while alchemy unites and bonds together - they are vertically opposite to each other)

Worthless, authors have no idea about the philosophy and lack the understanding that the philosophers role is not to obey and strictly use some terms in a certain way. They should be able to tackle modern problems and tackle them on their own way. Diffrent uses of some terms wants to shed a new light on somehing on show a diffrent viewpoint or ask a question. None of them act like scientist just as authors dont act like a philosophers.
Just unfair.

Great continuation of the previous book. soo ill paste in the previous review and add some more stuff.
One of the most important books i will proabably have red in my entire life. Topics tackled in them are universal and will influence your thinking 100%.
Every chapter introduces some new concept that challenges your train of thought.
Tough book to understand and personaly it took me more time to understand it than actually reading it. I recommend sitting with this one down and slowly create some kind of a map and notes from this.
Thats the only way to get this book and I mean - truly, understand it. It will be a challenge but the reward from it will proabably impact you forever.
People who say that its gibberish aren't 100% wrong. Sometimes it is - but thats also one of the points the book is trying to make. Its hard to read, unclear, repetitive and convoluted. But give it a chance and if you have the patience. the reward will be immeasurable.
True Genius