Ayn Rand’s centenary – celebrated here and here – set me thinking. What books have changed my life?
Like most Englishmen, I don’t number Rand’s work among them. Maybe her dogmatism and enthusiasm for self-improvement jar with English readers more than American ones. And personally, I’m wary of regarding works of fiction as philosophical or political texts. Once we start doing that, we’re on the slippery slope to thinking Harold Pinter is an intellectual.
So, here are five books that have deeply influenced me.
1. George Sabine – History of Political Theory.
I was given this to read during my politics A level; as Oliver Kamm will attest, and often demonstrates, we got an education in Leicester in the early 1980s. And it opened my eyes to the universe of ideas. Politics, I learned, was about something much more interesting than the platitudes and personalities of politicians. The book also inspired me to get to Oxford, which changed my life, though not wholly for the better.
2. Robert Nozick – Anarchy, State and Utopia.
Most of us of a certain age will have read this at the same time as Rawls’ Theory of Justice. What a contrast. Whereas Rawls is dull, ponderous and unimaginative, Nozick is great fun. Whatever else, it’s surely one of the most readable books of philosophy. And Nozick is the acceptable face of libertarianism: whom would you rather have a drink with – him, Rand or Hayek? (In England, this question is important.)
Granted, his attempts to justify property rights are deeply inadequate. But his critique of patterned conceptions of justice – the Wilt Chamberlain story –is powerful, as is his defence of rights.
Personally, though, I got something else from Anarchy, State and Utopia. It led me to Nozick’s The Nature of Rationality and to Newcomb’s problem, which should undermine all our ideas about what rationality is.
3. John Roemer – Free to Lose.
You don’t have to believe in nonsense like the labour theory of value to be a Marxist. And you can combine radicalism with clarity of thought and expression and economic literacy. That’s what I learned. Sometimes I feel like the only one who did.
4. Jon Elster – Solomonic Judgments.
Elster, more than anyone else, introduced me to the importance of bounded rationality as a political issue. He led me to Kahneman and Tversky, and prepared me for Hayek; you need to be in the right frame of mind to appreciate Hayek. He also showed that critiques of rationalism shouldn’t be the monopoly of the right.
5. Alasdair Macintyre – After Virtue.
The incoherence of our moral thinking is rooted in the nature of modern western societies. A critique of modernism and emotivism, this is surely a more reflective and appealing defence of virtue ethics than anything by Rand.
Among the runners-up, I’d put: Mill’s On Liberty, Feyerabend’s Against Method and Shiller’s Macro Markets.
I stress that these aren’t necessarily the best books I’ve read, nor those I’d most recommend, or even those that articulate what passes for my thinking. They’re just those that have influenced me most. It’s a personal choice.
So, what have I missed? What will this list look like in 10 years’ time? What should it look like? Suggestions welcome.
Russell, The History of Western Philosophy - in which it is shown that not only the square root of two is irrational.
James Hogg, The Confessions of a Justified Sinner - dear God, is that what we are like?
Gibbon - Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire - is that what we were like?
Darwin, The Origin of Species - how we got to be like that.
Jim Watson, The Double Helix - the scientist as spiv (so don't look there for moral guidance) explains Darwin's details.
Smith, Wealth of Nations; Hayek, "Serfdom" and some of his later ones - how to organise ourselves to do least harm to each other.
W Shakespeare, Collected Works - an account of why we never will.
Posted by: dearieme | February 05, 2005 at 12:48 PM
You're not telling me Oliver Kamm went to a State school ? A comprehensive ?
I'll eat my copy of 'Adventures With Aeneas' if that's the case.
Posted by: Laban Tall | February 05, 2005 at 02:34 PM
The list was going well until you got to Feyerabend. Oh dear.
Posted by: Segment Fraud | February 05, 2005 at 03:01 PM
If Kamm went to a State school in Leicester, it was definitely a comp - although I get the feeling he might be from the better part of town.
Leicester schools must have gone downhill over the next 10 years: I certainly didn't get exposed to George Sabine! It all started with history books for me (a Kenneth O. Morgan, so I don't how I ended up where I am politically), and degenerated thereafter. You're exactly right about Ayn Rand not fitting the English temper though - all a bit full-on and not accomodating of tea breaks.
Posted by: Blimpish | February 05, 2005 at 03:18 PM
Better work up an appetite, Laban. I'm probably breaking a code of Omerta here, but I can confirm that Oliver Kamm definitely went to a state school - albeit a grammar; he was a year or two above me and Leicester scrapped the 11-plus the year I took it. It was the Wyggeston Boys school (aka the Wyggy). Simon Hoggart also went there, and Colin Dexter (creator of Inspector Morse was a teacher there in the 50s. The Attenborough brothers also went there - which is completely true and completely unbelievable.
Posted by: chris | February 06, 2005 at 03:26 PM
To clarify - I think you'll find that Leicester must've scrapped the 11-plus as an option that year, but it had been phased out as compulsory in the mid-60s. My mum's 48 and she didn't have to take it. And isn't Wyggeston just a sixth form college these days (QE?)?
Either way, far better than my school.
Posted by: Blimpish | February 06, 2005 at 08:32 PM
Well, chaps, does that mean that you all speak funny?
Posted by: dearieme | February 07, 2005 at 09:23 PM
I doubt Kamm does, and if Chris went to Oxford probably not... One of my friends forced me to shed most of the accent as a condition of speaking to her, but it still comes through on occasion. It doesn't help that the local paper is the Leicester Mercury - pronounced Lestarh Murkreh.
The other hallmark of a proper Leicester child is holidays to Skeggy... and I'd love to know if Kamm ever did that.
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