Customer Reviews

The Future of the Self

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

As a novice to the world of post-modern philosophy, I found this book helpful in starting the inquiry into the terms, ideas, and metaphors used to explain the post-modern point of view. While obviously not an academic rendering, Anderson's style of writing is informative and journalistic. He may not be accurate in all that he reports, but his book has motivated me seek out more information.

The idea of a solid, centrally located "I" or "self" somewhere in our psyche is fast becoming history. We are all becoming chameleons responding to ever expanding social roles and identities. The "I" is becoming a group of "we" in the post-modern age. Anderson does a good job in exploring the ground of this aspect of psychology. Some chapters are better than others, but all in all a good introduction. I am not a psychologist but a general reader, and this book was pleasant and easy to read, and was filled with lots of others names associated with the field. However I'm sure someone in the field would find it a trifle superficial and old hat. So be it.

I can honestly say that this book has changed my view of myself and the world we live in. Anderson starts off with a great review of the history of "self", the tools we use to construct our definition of self, and then moves on to clearly explain the modern and post-modern ideas of self. For me, the insight provided by this book was a bit of an enlightening experience. At first, as I started to apply these ideas to my own self, I found the myself slightly disoriented. But as I emerge on the other side of my internal monologue I find I feel I have a new level of understanding about who I think I am. There are very few books that I have read that I feel have had the kind of personal impact this book has had on me. Part of me wishes it could be required reading, as a natural consequence of understanding these ideas is a tolerance of the vast variety's of different ways we can define ourselves. Read this with an open mind and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. I highly recommend it.

Anderson describes a world in which the self is endangered, nearing extinction. Though his style is charming, funny, appealing to the masses, his ideas, as innovative as they seem, really have too many loopholes to be accepted in the academic world. It is a glitzy, superficial book making a circular argument about the "liberation" of the human being from the concept of self. The idea is good, but each chapter really needs a lot more explaining to really get to the whys and hows of things, if he's really serious about making a social statement. Otherwise, this book is as souless as the society he describes.

I can honestly say that this book has changed my view of myself and the world we live in. Anderson starts off with a great review of the history of "self", the tools we use to construct our definition of self, and then moves on to clearly explain the modern and post-modern ideas of self. For me, the insight provided by this book was a bit of an enlightening experience. At first, as I started to apply these ideas to my own self, I found the myself slightly disoriented. But as I emerge on the other side of my internal monologue I find I feel I have a new level of understanding about who I think I am. There are very few books that I have read that I feel have had the kind of personal impact this book has had on me. Part of me wishes it could be required reading, as a natural consequence of understanding these ideas is a tolerance of the vast variety's of different ways we can define ourselves. Read this with an open mind and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. I highly recommend it.

I can honestly say that this book has changed my view of myself and the world we live in. Anderson starts off with a great review of the history of "self", the tools we use to construct our definition of self, and then moves on to clearly explain the modern and post-modern ideas of self. For me, the insight provided by this book was a bit of an enlightening experience. At first, as I started to apply these ideas to my own self, I felt slightly disoriented. But as I emerge on the other side of my internal monologue I find I feel I have a new level of understanding about who I think I am. There are very few books that I have read that I feel have had the kind of personal impact this book has had on me. Part of me wishes it could be required reading, as a natural consequence of understanding these ideas is a tolerance of the vast variety's of different ways we can define ourselves. Read this with an open mind and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. I highly recommend it.

Anderson basis his book on an argument that has little to do with analysis and much to do with superficially convincing the reader to accept his position as true. It makes me so upset when writers attempt to manipulate the reader, as if we are stupid and cannot distinguish between real evidence and the general, abstract references he has presented. I hope that this book will not be taken seriously by the readers, and that someday someone will explicate these theories in a REAL analysis.