Many people have written to me asking what they should read to properly educate themselves. Here is a list of books that I found particularly influential in my intellectual development. I wrote number thirteen, Maps of Meaning: The Architecture of Belief. It was published in 1999. It was heavily influenced by the authors of all the books listed below.
Trigger warning: These are the most terrifying books I have encountered.
In the lecture I included with this post (see below) I discuss the suffering inextricably associated with life, attributing some of it to tragedy, a necessary consequence of human limitation, and the remainder to evil, the conscious and malevolent attempt to worsen Being. I suggest that human beings can tolerate tragedy — even triumph over it, if they are guided by truth — but that evil is a far more insidious, subtle and damaging force.
[…] Jordan Peterson […]
[…] Opvallend is recentelijke populariteit van Jordan Peterson, een psychoanalyticus die zich laat inspireren door o.a. Jung en Nietzsche. Over waarheid schreef […]
[…] “Look Ma! I’m an existentialist!” A fake laugh, such a fake, fake laugh. […]
I have read a lot of these books. I remember my Theology teacher citing Eliade in college, but I skirted reading his stuff. I used to cut a lot of corners, ha ha. Now I am trying to catch up, 50 years later.
“… clustering of political beliefs cries out for explanation. It’s fashionable now to blame tribalism, but Sowell provides a different answer: Individuals hold different visions, ‘constrained’ or ‘unconstrained,’ which entail different views of human nature, different senses of causation — in short, different ideas about the way the world works.”
http://www.aei.org/publication/review-thomas-sowells-a-conflict-of-visions/
Good book. But I like just about everythig he writes.
Nothing in my life has striked my world as harshly and fruitfully as the knowledge Jordan Peterson is manifesting out into the world. I am filled with gratitude towards that brilliant person. I am from Bulgaria and I wanted to say that what he is doing with his work and the way he makes it accessible to the world trully means a lot. I think it’s safe to say that he and his work are vital for a lot of people and they (me included) will support him with what we can. It will be a great honor to meet him one day.
Thank You Dr Peterson..
I have been paying attention to you for quite some time now. Ever since you began speaking upon the free speech issue in Canada. You are honestly one of my favorite humans. Thank you for not wasting your time on Earth. Also helping so many by bring to light the ideas that seem to be hidden from my generation of millennials. My grandest compliments.
RH
Dear Dr. Peterson, I have been following your lectures online for a while now. I would like to thank you for the inspiring perspective you gave to a public debate. Your lecture has helped me to put in place and articulate about “incorrect” discussion of observations and interpretation on mechanisms that drive cultures versus an increasingly polarizing (European) society.
I truly hope your message will be picked up at a scale in which it will break open the discussions at all political level where those who are censuring themselves start to truly speak out and stand up for the believes they once stood for. Best regards from a concerned Dutch citizen.
Simply mind blowing. Sounds like he is describing democrats. Having completed a deep research on the party it is amazing the parallels I could draw (not to say republicans are innocent, the Cain and Ables of today). Purchasing the 12 rules. Can anyone locate the first book for less than prices Amazon is asking $76 Kindle, $81 paperback, $190 hardbound. There is a download for free but that is a pain and to print it???
I don’t know where you are looking, but on Amazon, the book price is 17$ and the Kindle is 13??
Everything by Theodore Dalrymple is good, same with everything by Thomas Sowell.
What books or journals do you recommend for the hierarchies of compentancies and social dominance?
Thank you Dr. Peterson for all that you are! BLOODY BRILLIANT!
Another terrifying, unknown book: Hanna Krall – “Shielding the flame”
>>But on the upper floor of his hospital a mother was giving birth just as the Germans cleared people out of the lower floors, in the “liquidation action”. The doctor handed the newborn baby to the nurse, who immediately smothered it with a pillow. The nurse was nineteen years old. “The doctor didn’t say a thing to her. Not a word. And this woman knew herself what she was supposed to do.” Elsewhere on the upper floor there were several rooms with sick children. As the Germans were entering the ground floor, a woman doctor managed to poison them all. “You see, Hanna,” says Edelman, “You don’t understand anything. She saved those children from the gas chamber. People thought she was a hero.”<<
I’m a student in high school, I’ve recently become a huge fan of Jordan Peterson. His teachings lead me to believe that in order to function in a world were more than 50% of the workforce is powered by AI we must implement a few things into the education system. Jordan Peterson has done an incredible job at taking abstract problems we share on as humans, and providing an objective solution. More specifically, Jordan Peterson has found a way to explain the rules we must follow as humans in order to live a fulfilled life. I think that is amazing, I also think we could take what he has given us and start educating children in a better way. I want to be an activist for this change because the age of automation is coming quickly. How can we work together to make this happen?
Great books. I would add „Another World” by Gustaw Herling Grudziński to the list. Greetings from Poland dr Peterson!
I am about halfway through Age of Anger by Pankaj Mishra. You were talking about how we have gotten away from the social lessons accumulated by thousands of years in your Biblical Series lectures. One of Mishra’s main points is that the rationalism of the Enlightenment replaced traditional roles of community and church, which left a void of moral guidance and overall social direction. The instigators of the Enlightenment were merchants, so their economic value system replaced established social systems. So, as capitalism is an amoral system which has spread worldwide in the time since, societies are left figuring new systems for identity and moral guidance.
The Brothers Karamazov is incredible as well. It’s heart wrenching at times and academically intriguing at others. Anyone who loves Dostoevsky, Turgenev, Gogol, or any of the books on the list above should definitely read it.
are the books on this list in any particular order?
Dr. Peterson, first and foremost, I must say thank you. I just recently listened to your podcast with Jocko Willink which led me to your podcast with Joe Rogan which led me to your podcast with Camille Paglia. I feel like I have a new lease on life. Still attempting to digest all the information I was enlightened with from you and the others. I look forward to listening to more podcast and lectures of yours but really just want to thank you for what you do and the knowledge you freely share. Extremely grateful, Julie K.
must read: Varlam Shalamov “Kolyma tales”. more times better than Solzhenitsyn
Hello professor, out of curriosity, what exactly did you find terrifying in Eliade’s History, what part? I read it as a teenager, as I am from Romania and we studied Eliade at highschool, but I don’t recall a feeling of that sort.
Million thanks for your fight for Truth!
Vlad
Are these books in a recommended reading order? Or are they in an arbitrary order? I would have thought
11. Man’s Search for Meaning – Viktor Frankl
12. Modern Man in Search of A Soul – Carl Jung
… would be among the first to read, as they seem useful in the interpretation and understanding of the rest.
How critical would you say it is to read those two before anything else in the list? My OCD tells me to go through them numerically lol
I am very interested in learning the art of rhetoric and the formulation of logical arguments in order to engage in debates and effectively convey my point in a well articulated manner. Any book recommendations ?!!
I’ve created a Goodreads group for these texts:
https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/253798-jordan-b-peterson-reading-group
We will also be studying the texts in the Jordan B Peterson Study Group:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1H0-rGnidI1sGf3aYYVMvqlAejkb8EpmX2rGwjRcIBnw/
Hi everyone. I’ve created a Goodreads group for these texts:
https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/253798-jordan-b-peterson-reading-group
We will also be studying the texts in the Jordan B Peterson Study Group:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1H0-rGnidI1sGf3aYYVMvqlAejkb8EpmX2rGwjRcIBnw/
I’d love to hear someday what Jordan Peterson thinks about Albert Camus, and specifically his book “The Plague” and his essay “The Myth of Sisyphus”. The second one relates more to his work and how feeling responsible for something can make a life meaning (He who has a why can bear any how), but it would still be interesting to see what he thinks of “The Plague”.
‘Madness and Civilization’ (Michel Foucault)
‘Madness and Modernism’ (Louis Sass)
‘Decline of the West’ (Oswald Spengler)
‘Civilization on Trial’ (Arnold Toynbee)
‘Technics and Civilization’ (Lewis Mumford)
‘Modern Man in Search of a Soul’ (Carl Jung)
‘Geneology of Morals’ (Frederich Nietzsche)
‘Birth of Tragedy’ (Frederich Nietzsche)
‘Fantasia of the Unconscious’ (D.H. Lawerence)
‘Wisdom of the Heart’ (Henry Miller)
‘The New Science of Politics’ (Eric Voegelin)
‘Letters to a Young Poet’ (Rilke)
Intriguing set of questions Christian. I have one for you as you are a Physicist, if you wouldn’t mind… I tweeted this question to JP some months ago but as you alluded in your recent post, he must be very busy indeed.
My question is: Does energy exist anywhere but in the present moment?
I doubt you will see this, but I just wanted to say thank you. Your talks are always enlightening and challenge my previously held beliefs daily. It is unbelievably refreshing in a time of gossip news, echo chamber messaging boards, and tribal political warfare.
On the off chance you do read this, I have just completed my degree in physics. Most people do not know time flows at different rates for different people or that they exist really only probabilistically at the most fundamental level. These revelations are both astounding and terrifying, at least to me, I was wondering if you had any thoughts on how modern physics is affecting our minds, both as a species and the individual? Indeed, do you think it has any effect on our psyche at all in comparison to other scientific or technological advances? I would love to see you do a YouTube lecture on it, if you thought it was important enough to warrant such a response.
Very intriguing set of questions Christian. I have one for you as you are a Physicist, if you wouldn’t mind… I tweeted this question to JP some months ago but as you alluded in your recent post, he must be very busy indeed.
My question is: Does energy exist anywhere but in the present moment?
Could you recommend a book that outlines the history of postmodernist political doctrine? thanks.
JP has recommended Stephen Hicks on postmodernism. Heard it on one of his lectures.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Explaining-Postmodernism-Skepticism-Socialism-Rousseau/dp/0983258406
Hope that helps…
Thanks.
Atlas Shrugged, The Fountainhead, and We The Living……. or Anthem (for a short powerful read). Ayn Rand was my “red pill”, but I have to admit Dr. Peterson has mitigated some of her stridency for me.
Will you be speaking in NYC anytime in the near future? Please consider doing mini- weekend or 1 week course. Where do you list where you will be speaking, do not see it on your website. Best, Jean
Dr. Peterson, I was wondering if your links above happen to also be your preferred editions. I am about to buy my first batch of your recommendations; 5, 6, 7, 10.2, 11, 12, 13, and 15. I prefer books to ebooks, so I am going to grab physical copies and I would like to grab the best versions the first time around. I’ve tried finding this answer already but have been unsuccessful.
Arthur Koestler’s ‘Darkness at Noon’ was, for me, the glaring omission from this list. A fictionalised account of the Soviet show-trials of the early 1930s, it advances a compelling thesis on the psycho-social nature of Marxist totalitarianism and the role and notion of the individual under such a system. Orwell raved about it, and drew heavily from it both for ‘Animal Farm’ and ‘Nineteen Eight-Four’, and was close to Koestler. Much of Prof. Peterson’s thesis seems to orbit this work with out ever mentioning it. The most important novel no-one reads any more. I think its disappearance from reading lists in the Anglosphere over the last few decades may be more than mere happenstance…
Oh, yeah. Darkness at Noon was absolutely nerve-racking for me. But a great book.
Listening to his podcasts is like going to the college I imagined I would be going to 45 years ago. What I found back then was a huge disappointment till I realized i could just go to the library.
CALIFORNIA POLITICIANS WANT YOUR GUNS – In the beginning Hitler was like an American politician. She is not talking about trump.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZYjgicQOJU
Some of these books are on youtube. I am listening to The road to Wigan Pier.
I’m glad we share the opinion on the first two books and in the same order! Only, I’m not so glad because if those two books are the most important books for today, that means we’re in a pretty dismal state, and heading for a much, much worse one.
I want to propose the addition of The Prince, by Niccolo Machiavelli. I’m studying that book right now and, let me tell you, I sure could have benefited from it if I’d read it in high school. Although, I gotta admit, I don’t think I’d have put the time and energy into it then that I am now, and I would have taken less from it, without a doubt.
Crime and Punishment and Beyond Good and Evil are on the shelf, but Solzhenitsyn’s barely gotten started with me, and my notebook’s almost full with my not-yet-completed study of The Prince.
The book list you’ve mentioned a few times is a great idea. The Western canon. Yes. Long overdue, for me.
Thanks for all you’re doing. It’s really impacting people’s lives in a GOOD way. Thank you.
I am trying to purchase a few of these books but I notice the reviews on amazon talking about the paperback copies having poor translations and basically no editing/formatting. For example – all of the one star reviews on Brave New World. Has anyone purchased any of these books from amazon? Where’s the best place to buy the books with the most authentic translations? Thanks.
Jennifer, pay attention to the version of the paperback you’re buying. When you buy something that’s in the public domain, anybody can replicate it and sell it. So somebody with a fifth grade education can throw up a manuscript (with thousands of typographical errors or even pages missing), and then use Amazon’s print-on-demand feature to sell it to you on Amazon. Look at the date of publication and make sure it’s published by a mass-market publisher if you want to be certain that it’s not junk. All of the same rules apply to Kindle. The only way I’ll buy a book independently published through Amazon is if it’s by the author himself/herself. Otherwise, no thanks.
If you want to understand Nazism, you also must read Mein Kampf (Adolf Hitler), Nietzsche (for ethical foundation), and regarding anti-semitism, German books going as far back to the middle ages such as Luther’s “On the Jews & their lies”, Wagner’s “Jewishness in Music”, etc. Also several books are good too, like Oswald Spengler’s “decline of the West”, and Ernst Juenger’s “storm of steel”.
I recently read Hitlerland: American Eyewitnesses to the Nazi Rise to Power Hardcover – March 13, 2012
by Andrew Nagorski (Author). What some very intelligent people wrote as it happened, not 20-20 hindsight. Mesmerizing.
Nice list, but I wouldn’t include “The painted Bird”. Author not only made up whole story (I believe he admitted it in the end), but he was also lacking some very basic human traits.
Dr. Peterson. Don’t know if you ever check this, but have you thought of partnering with Amazon to diversify your funding? With these reading lists you have put together, you may find it worthwhile.
My heart truly bleeds when I see Children worshipping false idols in TV land. Jordan you are a much needed breath of fresh air!
Yes I must be honest it was the Joe Rogan experience that hooked me also. Great speech! I have just purchased the first 3 books on the list and Brave New World arrived yesterday. Half way through it and already pretty amazed at the similarities to modern life. I was just wondering if your list was in any kind of order? Was this the logical progression to introduce people to the subject matter, as I can’t quite think of how else they are ordered. Thanks Jordan, you’ve opened up some new ways of looking at things for me.
I would nominate for your list:
“The True Believer”, Eric Hoffer
Yes, yes, and yes!
Big fan of Peterson but have to disagree with the selection of Chang’s book, a work born of understandable yet overwhelming resentment and desire for a scapegoat. Peterson’s use of the Cain and Abel parable seems to have a lot of relevance to the quagmire of East Asian history.
Dr. Peterson, the thoughts and recommendations you’ve articulated are impressive. As they relate to the cultural shifting sands – I think in terms of polarization in the Western influences and regional actualizing over emerging political spheres, it has a rational tone. Please indulge me, an uneducated man, to put script to my opinion formed over half a century of fraternity in the vanishing working class. There seems to be a connection to resources, resource aggression, and suffering. All have the appearance of currency – with individual time, the life span, being the ultimate worldly currency.
Each of us are trapped, forever alone inside the incarnation we occupy, the subjective experience never fully understanding others, or understood by fellow solo travelers. Try as we do to connect, and we have distinct biological imperatives to do so, we can not burst forth beyond the physical expressions of affection; or sadly for some, aggression. The popularity and incorporation of digital technology by individuals has the appearance of evolution; or perhaps acceptance of this state of being – a reflection of a state of lonely freedom found within where the outside collective can only afford liberty at best, oppression in worse situations, and in the extreme repressive environments incarceration; or death.
amazing work, helping me a lot
Jordan, I love your list and I loved your recent Joe Rogan podcast. I am frustrated that you have not spoken about French Author Rene Girard who has deeply analyzed many things very similar to yours and would love to see a dialogue. Please bring this author to American audiences in some small way!!!
Hi Jordan
I just needed to express my gratitude for all that you are sharing with the world. The words “Thank you” are inadequate but lacking anything that can even start to come close, I THANK YOU.
Be well
Warm wishes
Philippe
Peterson recommends 15 books (above) to better understand your human mind and the world we live in. These books deal with different themes in different genres, from different epochs. Any suggestions where to start, and
in what order?
kermit the frog’s reading list
I could not believe my eyes when on the list of recommended books I saw
“The painted bird”. When I red it, over thirty years ago, I could picture the author, painstakingly looking up words in the Polish-English dictionary,
translating his schlock. Even then (three years after immigrating) I was struck
by paucity of his English, direct translation of polish phrases and ineptness of
expressions. (The boy looked into a narrow hole of the bunker and saw a “sea
of rats”.)
But then came the insane brutality of Jerzy “de Sade” Kosinski, all made up as
a cursory glance at his biography will prove. The real people who cared his
whole family through the war, risking their lives, were nothing like the ogres
described in the book. Autobiography of Roman Polanski, who actually lived the
fate of “the boy” shows quite a different picture.
Are we going to learn about human nature from the ravings of an upstart
grapho-maniac, revelling in fantasies of sadism, thrilling himself with visions of
absurd horrors? Were you you really shaken by the scene where
the platoon of frenzied Kalamuks is copulating with their horses? Did you ever
see a horse? Did you note the height of its orifices? How did you picture that scene?
What a shocking contrast between man’s wisdom and his literary taste.
So you recommend Hollywood’s celebrated pedophile/rapist Roman Polanski instead.
Thanks very much for your reading list. I’ve just begun the Gulag Archipelago, really terrifying and eye opening. Have you considered making an audiobook version of your book? I think it would help spread your message to an even bigger audience. Thanks for your work!
Mr. Peterson, while watching your videos I was thinking, “this guy reminds me of Theodore Dalyrmyple”. Sure enough, he’s on your reading list. I’m a math teacher and am impressed by not only your ideas, but also your energy and strength of will. You, sir, are a force of nature.
Yes I’m with James on this one…you Rock big time! I too discovered your work via Joe Rogan and it blew me away. I’ve since been listening to your lectures and started on the reading list. Such valuable, generous, important work. I’ll be spreading the word and trying to get people to support what you are doing. Once again Thank you.
Dostoevsky: what translators are most easily readable/understood? there is a debate which version is easiest for modern readers to appreciate. Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky are recommended by reviewers on Amazon. thanks
“Revenge against the conditions of existence itself” wow…..!
Thanks Jordan.
Dear Prof. Peterson,
Hi. This is a great list, except that I want to point out that Chang’s The Rape of Nanking has received some criticism from historians. Chang was trained as a journalist but not a historian. So it is a good introductory book but academically may not be the best choice on the topic of Nanking Massacre.
See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rape_of_Nanking_(book)#Criticism
Re: “This is a great list, except that I want to point out that Chang’s The Rape of Nanking has received some criticism from historians. Chang was trained as a journalist but not a historian.”
Can you be more specific? I am asking because I am a professional historian, read the Iris Chang’s book on the terrible atrocities in Nanking – and found it to be superbly done. One does not have to be “professionally trained” as a historian to do effective historical scholarship – although some individuals certainly benefit from such training. Chang’s instincts struck me as being very sound, and she was a careful researcher. Much of the criticism of her book came from certain quarters of Japanese society; relations between Japan and China are still very touchy even all of these years later over the Nanking incident and unfortunately, Ms. Chang received a few death threats.
Wikipedia cited some criticism on this book. In addition, the story I heard is that Chang’s book contains so many factual errors that even Japanese *left-wing* intellectuals who support Chang (in particular Akira Fujiwara) wanted to publish another book pointing out the errors in Chang’s book when they publish it. Chang refused and that’s why her book never gets published in Japan.
Wikipedia is not considered a valid reference by a professional historian. You are going to have to do better than that. Chang’s book isn’t published in Japan for the simple reason that it has been blacklisted. Answer this question: if her book is so inaccurate and poorly done, why are there so many powerful and influential people in the Land of the Rising Sun who do want it read?
It is germane to note that I consider myself a friend of Japan and of Japanese interests for the most part. However, Japan’s stubborn refusal to admit her culpability in this atrocity is both counterproductive and simply wrong.
Wikipedia is not a valid reference you can cite in your paper, but it does not mean you should not use this tool in your research (don’t tell me you never use Google or Wikipedia in your research). It is usually a start that allows you to dig deeper. Some articles in the Wikipedia page I gave above are written by serious researchers. You should actually take a look.
The fact that powerful and influential people recommend it is not a good criterion for whether or not it is inaccurate. Academia has a different criterion, isn’t it? A lot of work professionals find great has little influence outside academia. It’s a different world.
But I never said right-wing Japanese are correct in denying Nanking Massacre, not did I say the book does not have its value in other aspects like popularizing the existence of Nanking Massacre. The idea that Japanese should face its history and that this book has some flaws are not mutually exclusive. And while Japanese right-wingers are definitely wrong in denying Nanking Massacre, you can’t really say they are wrong for some errors they catch in Chang’s book, since they have sound evidence in these cases. That being said, an unfortunate effect of Chang’s book in Japan is that right-wingers are able to use the errors in Chang’s book as examples to convince people the whole thing was made up.
I believe what we here is one of those classic “glass half full/empty” dilemmas. I believe Chang’s book to be a worthwhile work of historical scholarship, regardless of its errors (it should be noted that the “errors” themselves are often debatable, since the historical record is not always conclusive, clear or complete). You apparently believe the opposite. My question then becomes – if you regard Chang’s history of Nanking as inadequate or flawed, whose historical account would you use instead?
And here is an article by Hata Ikuhiko that has some comments on Chang’s book:
https://sites.google.com/a/wellesley.edu/china-politics-links/a-japanese-perspective
What about Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault by Stephen Hicks?
Brave New World and 1984 are good for teenagers. Adults who go back and read them will likely find them a bit empty, boring, and simplistic.
Last night, I listened to the Joe Rogan Podcast with Dr. Peterson… I did not sleep because I listened to it again. Now I’m all over the Youtube vids… When this new book comes out, JUST TAKE MY MONEY. 12 Most Valuable Things Everyone Should Know… I can’t imagine a more enticing title… Hurry up and publish it already!
Dr Peterson,
Is there any books out there that you’d or your community would recommend on Pol Pot? I’ve seen a meme on Facebook with pictures of Mao, Stalin, and a few others. You can google “The experts agree gun control works” to see it. I’ve been going through your list. I just received Ordinary Men. I was just wondering if something on Pol Pot would further in the the depths of what humans can do to other humans.
Thank you for you
Dear Dr. Peterson,
Could you, please, provide the specific translation that you use when quoting from the Tao Te Ching (Daode Jing)?
Many Thanks,
Mihail
How would someone who is simply watching the lectures online purchase a copy of Personality and Its Transformations?
Dr. Peterson: Thank you for your contributions to Western thought, and philosophy. I am very grateful to have discovered you, and your work. As a history major from UC Davis, and former high school history teacher, I particularly appreciate your point about knowing history as the key to knowing one’s self. Your suggested reading list is outstanding. I read the first 4 on your list in high school, and taught 1984, and Brave New World to my 11th graders a few years ago. I’m presently in the middle of Demons. Would you consider adding The Idiot to your list? Thank you for your outstanding contributions to the discussion of morality, virtue, truth, and for your stance against SJW fascists. Please keep up the good fight. Best Regards, Paul Weeks
I listened to the Joe Rogan podcast as well. It was great. The main problem with professors being nice about these issues and trying to reason with SJWs is that the left is insane and can not be reasoned with. The fact is the left is an anti-human, anti-male, anti-woman, anti-family anti-white death cult that must be eradicated from society. We can not coexist or much less survive with these people given any sort of power. It’s time for real action.
I just finished reading Crime and Punishment, it was incredible.
Next up will be Brave New World, then likely another classic.
I have been watching your interviews and lectures for a few weeks now, they have had a serious positive impact on me. Thank you
I would add Master and Margret by Bulgakov. Funny story how the Satan faces off dogmatic Soviet rule over a writer who wrote a story about Jesus
I wonder what views Jordan Peterson has on Veganism.
he thinks that vegans r silly freaks, like any sane person does.
He doesn’t hold us in high regard, but that is probably because he is not immune from cognitive dissonance and stereotyping… I have met many vegans with whom veganism was one of the very few things we had in common – Peterson paints us with a very broad brush – oh well, nobody’s 100 % on the mark – I still respect him and deeply value his insights!
stfu
I’d also like to hear his take on Veganism. It seems to me that the animal agriculture industry is not only highly destructive to the planet but also causes unnecessary pain and suffering on mass. In my experience, most people will acknowledge that the practice of enslaving and killing animals for their benefit makes them feel uncomfortable, and will admit that they don’t support it – yet they continue to consume the products regardless. This cognitive dissonance is fascinating, and I’d like to know what Dr. Peterson’s thoughts are on it.
Or even on the biblical level since Dr.Peterson is so knowledgeable in that topic. Did God love animals? Do animals have free will? In the bible they did not always have free will.
There was a psychology professor in New York who was a vegan advocate (can’t recall his name) but he hasn’t made any videos or articles on the topic..
A christian: Yes God loves animals. He put their care in our hands. We rule over them and they can serve us. What about farming practices from a christian perspective? We do see a higher level of quality in meat from animals cared for respectfully in good conditions. Ask a high end butcher and you’ll find they take this very seriously. The Japanese Kobe steak is so unique in part because of how intensely the animals are cared for. So treating animals with greed will affect their quality even from the point of view of a selfish meat eater. Organic is more highly priced because it’s higher quality and harder to produce at scale. Christians are supposed to do everything for the glory of God. Personally, that means that low quality is unacceptable. Now. For affirmation about vegans check out the Daniel story. They didn’t eat meat and ended up healthier than those who did. There are stories of Jesus eating fish, bread, figs, pom and wine. As far as I recall—no other meat is specified. It doesn’t mean he didn’t eat it, he may have been too poor to. Who knows. Jesus would have likely been kosher as well. So no shellfish, pigs, sick animals etc. Hope that helps!
There is, of course, a middle ground between full-on veganism and a hearty endorsement of factory farms. I’m slightly off-put by factory farms, have essentially no problem with more humane farms (a decent, well-fed life out of the viciousness of nature for a limited lifespan and a humane slaughter, or even just milk, seems like a good deal for an animal), but consider hunting for wild creatures (especially as conducted by the hunters I know) a highly honorable participation in the process of nature. Veganism, in contrast, seems unnatural and unreal.
But, of course, it wasn’t my opinion you wanted to hear. I just wanted to emphasize that there are other practices violating veganism which are not of the factory farm variety.
Actually, animal husbandry (as long as it’s on pasture) is HEALING for the planet since it creates topsoil. It’s agriculture, especially of monocrops, which erodes topsoil. Veganism is destructive to human health AND that of the planet. I suggest reading ‘The vegetarian myth’ by Lierre Keith.
Started to write self authoring stuff yesterday. At 3 a.m. I noticed that it was late. There are patterns I had not seen before that became evident as I progressed. Loose ends were tied up. Now reading the “Maps of Meaning” in parallel I felt that an important journey has started. There is a profound human voice in Jordan Peterson’s writing. I had thought that I had “grown out” of Jung but now at this moment it seems that I only have shifted sideways, not really advanced. After “Maps” I’ll go back to Jung.
The reading list presented here has lots of parallels to what I have in my bookshelf. I feel pieces clicking in new places. My readings get activated as thought tools while I write. I should have met Dr. Peterson long time ago, there have been lots of things “happening” –things that I have done without knowing why or how to do otherwise– that might have gone differently, causing less collateral damage. Time is running out, I am getting old.
us sound completely lost. seek god before its too late.
That’s what this is about, only not in your terms
Today is the birthday of John Milton (b. 9 December 1608), so it seems fit to quote his sentence from Areopagitica (1644) that is the best ever answer to “safe space”: “I cannot praise a fugitive and cloistered virtue that never sallies and sees her adversary, but slinks out of the race for that immortal garland that is to be run for, not without dust and heat”. Professor Jordan Peterson is a John Milton for our times. Bless him.
I personally feel that Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 should be in the list too. I think it’s up there with Orwell and Huxley really, but doesn’t get much of a mention. This passage especially shows the dangerous train of thought behind censorship and ‘offensive’ works:
“Coloured people don’t like Little Black Sambo. Burn it. White people don’t feel good about Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Burn it. Someone’s written a book on tobacco and cancer of the lungs? The cigarette people are weeping? Bum the book. Serenity, Montag. Peace, Montag. Take your fight outside. Better yet, into the incinerator. Funerals are unhappy and pagan? Eliminate them, too. Five minutes after a person is dead he’s on his way to the Big Flue, the Incinerators serviced by helicopters all over the country. Ten minutes after death a man’s a speck of black dust. Let’s not quibble over individuals with memoriams. Forget them. Burn them all, burn everything. Fire is bright and fire is clean.”
I agree. Fahrenheit 451 holds a special place in my heart as the first dystopian novel I ever read and, as a result, the one that sparked (heh heh) my interest in the genre and everything that flowed from that interest, which has had a profound impact on my life.
I love Fahrenheit 451 and just Ray Bradbury in general. If you’ve never read The Martial Chronicles, I recommend that as well. Some people think it seems a bit dated/quaint today, but I love it.
While watching the “Tragedy vs. Evil” lecture, it occurred to me that Jesus was alluding to Cain when he instructed Peter to forgive “seventy time seven” times. Is there a book, by you or another, which discusses Genesis in the manner you did in this lecture? Of the books listed here, I’ve only read Orwell’s.
Two great books, both by the same author (John Milton 1608-1674, and his birthday is tomorrow):
Areopagitica (1644), the noblest defence of free speech ever written
Paradise Lost (1667, and it “discusses Genesis”)
I was due to read Brave New world in the summer, it must be good if it is better than 1984 which is my personal favourite. Nietzsche sounds like more of an exercise in thought itself. Can anyone recommend a good book on Pyscology to do with personality, Jung is the only person ive read that I agree with so far but I know next to nothing about academic (spell it wrong again) Psychology. I need something short I don’t have much time. Cheers.
Does anyone have any recommendations for English translations of Nietzsche?
Also, further non-fiction reading suggestions:
Hans Blumenberg, Work on Myth, the Legitimacy of the Modern Age, and The Genesis of the Copernican World.
In these three works, Blumenberg provides a fairly compact and comprehensive historical and philosophical description and discussion of the development of many of the ideas discussed by Dr. Peterson.
Hans Jonas, Chapter 13: Epilogue: Gnosticism, Existentialism, and Nihilism, in the Gnostic Religion, ISBN 0-8070-5799-1.
In my opinion, this comparative of two seemingly very different movements is incredible.
Friedrich Hayek, The Road to Serfdom.
I’m somewhat surprised that Dr. Peterson doesn’t recommend The Road to Serfdom as one of the most terrifying books.
“Does anyone have any recommendations for English translations of Nietzsche?”
Yes, Walter Kaufmann.
Paul
From your response, I can’t tell if you are endorsing the quality of Kaufmann’s translation or not. Have you compared Nietzsche’s text with Kaufmann’s translation(s)?
For what it’s worth, In my opinion, Kaufmann is an unreliable translator of Nietzsche: There are places where he just leaves Nietzsche’s text and goes off for pages on his own, which is obvious in a page by page comparison–which I did way back when my German was good enough for at least a basic comparison. Even allowing for translation being an inherently creative endeavor and not a simple mechanical matter like encryption/decryption, Kaufmann takes way too free a hand and makes a completely inadequate effort to separate what Kaufmann thinks of Nietzsche and what Nietzsche actually writes. So, Kaufmann is not adequate in my opinion.
Oddly, it is often hard to get a translation of anything that is not obviously twisted by the translator, and that’s even allowing reasonably for the many recognized difficulties of translation. Like everyone else, translators seem overwhelmingly inclined to see what they want to see and nothing else. (Now might be a good time to get into a discussion of cognitive biases for anyone competent in the subject…) Take, for example, Steppenwolf. Steppenwolf, like much of Hesse’s writing, is relatively simple in it’s language, but is nonetheless difficult to translate, especially in it’s poetics. However, until the publication of the Thomas Wayne translation, the most common translation by far was that of Basil Creighton. Unfortunately, the Creighton translation entirely suppresses an entire aspect of the text that makes Hesse seem less modern or “New Age” (regarding Eastern mysticism). For sure, there is an element of Der Steppenwolf that is influenced by and alludes to Eastern mysticism–or even shamanism–but there is a definite strand in the German text where Hesse suggests a far darker interpretation full of magic and monsters of a determinedly pre-modern sort: How much difference does it make to the interpretation of a scene to know that Hermine’s lips were “blutroten” and not merely “bright red” as the translator would have you believe? The translation of “blutroten” as “bright red” is not legitimate; the better translation is the literal “blood red”.
Only very rarely can a translator be trusted, which makes me think that the emphasis on reading in the original is justified whenever you can manage it.
Interesting comment regarding Kaufmann’s translations. In his original works, including the “Existentialism” and “Discovering the Mind” series he takes quite a few individuals to task for poor interpretations and failures to refer to the original German. His attack on Popper’s view of Hegel, in particular, appears devastating.
Brian Leiter, the most heavily-cited Nietzsche scholar in English, condemned Kaufmann’s “Nietzsche: Philosopher, Psychologist, Antichrist” quite strongly, but also recommended his translations on the whole. Sanitized but serviceable has been my impression, but my German isn’t up to a line-by-line comparison at a pace beyond a crawl.
I love assessing translations, but I’m just too slow to work through an appreciable amount of text. So I’d greatly appreciate it if you might point out some examples of the more glaring/difficult passages.
Thank you so much professor! I will be soon talking all your self authoring courses! Also a special thanks to Joe Rogan. You have all my support professor! Best of luck and greetings from Monterrey, México.
I have just listened to your podcast with Joe Rogan – twice. Simply put, it was a few hours that changed the way I view the world. Thank you.
Dude! Listened to it twice as well! It was like a movie. I just got the book oridinary men!
I downloaded it (and nearly every other JP video) on my phone and watch it on the subway instead of a TV show; Education at its core
Same! I’ve been listening to his lectures every day since last Thursday. Incredible information.
Share with your friends and family. His work is cavalry in the culture war.
I am taking his video/podcast to two local churches this weekend. I am very excited to do my own little part of being Peter.
That sounds interesting Shane. I would like to know how that goes down. When you say “local” churches… Whereabouts? Denomination?
I watched the episode and then immediately downloaded the podcast and am listening to it. I am interested if any of you know the title of the Plos One study?
I also listened to it twice!
Top of the list: The Divine Comedy, The Iliad and the Odyssey
Greek Tragedies
Shakespeare’s works, especially Macbeth, King Lear and Hamlet
Pretty much every mighty Russian writer… more specifically The Brothers Karamazov and Notes from the Underground (anything penned by Dostoyevsky), Lev Tolstoy’s A Confession (I take it back: everything from him), everything from Tchekhov
Goethe – Faust
Kafka – The Trial, Metamorphosis, everything
Three Ks: Kundera, Klima and Kadare (Chronicle in stone, Palace of Dreams, The Concert) – Note: Kafka should be classified as one single K category.
Heinrich Boll – The Clown, The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum: Or, How Violence Develops and Where It Can Lead, Group Portrait with Lady
Rainer Werner Fassbinder – Plays
Rainer Maria Rilke – Letters To a Young Poet, Duino Elegies
Thomas Mann – The Magic Mountain
Henri F. Ellenberger – The Discovery of the Unconscious (discovered thanks to JBP)
Erich Neumann – Amor and Psyche, The Origins and History of Consciousness (discovered thanks to JBP)
C. G. Yung – The Red Book
Freud – The Interpretation of Dreams
Maps of Meaning (of course!)
Dear Jordan Peterson:
A few weeks ago I started to follow your videos and lectures on Youtube, and I find your concepts extremely attractive, enlightening and fundamentally brave.
I am not surprised by the popularity you are achieving with your efforts to protect free expression. As you pointed out, this is not only about the use of certain pronouns, but because some fundamental values of our civilization are being affected, and I would say also because a certain spiritual search latent in all of us that feels deeply attracted to your original concepts, in terms of science, religion, and the seek for truth and spiritual identity.
I want to recommend to you, from my modest position as an amateur reader in subjects related to psychology and metaphysics, and especially since you have placed yourself in a religious place (I listened to your almost 3 hour podcast with Joe Rogan and I am still studying it), the reading of the books of Carlos González Pecotche, creator of logosophy (not to be confused with logotherapy; more info in Wikipedia). I think that you will find them extremely stimulating and intellectually challenging.
I especially recommend his work ‘The mechanism of conscious life’ as a starting point. From there ‘Logosophy: Science and Method’ and ‘The spirit’, works comparatively short and simple to read, but which I am sure you will find at least of interest. These books can be downloaded free from logosophy.info.
Thank you for your commitment to truth and freedom of expression. You really have an admirer in South America.
Do you have a preferred order for this reading list? I was able to find 10 of these on Audible. Demons, Maps of Meaning, and Ordinary Men I will have to source elsewhere.
A necessity for your list, Dr. Peterson:
Political Ponerology by Andrew M. Lobaczewski
“During World War II, Łobaczewski worked for the Polish Home Army, an underground Polish resistance organization. After the war, he studied at Jagiellonian University under professor of psychiatry Edward Brzezicki.[2] Łobaczewski’s class was the last to receive an education uninfluenced by Soviet ideology and censorship, after which psychiatry was restricted to Pavlovian concepts. The study of genetics and psychopathy was forbidden.
The original theory and research was conducted by a research group of psychologists and psychiatrists from Poland, Czechoslovakia, and pre-communist Hungary. The group was brought together by Łobaczewski and included Kazimierz Dąbrowski, Stefan Szuman, and Stefan Błachowski, and many other anonymous contributors.”
“The original manuscript of this book went into the furnace minutes before a secret police raid in Communist Poland. The second copy, painfully reassembled by scientists working under impossible conditions of violence and repression, was sent via courier to the Vatican. Its receipt was never acknowledged – the manuscript and all valuable data lost. In 1984, the third and final copy was written from memory by the last survivor of the original researchers: Andrew Lobaczewski. Zbigniew Brzezinski blocked its publication.
After half a century of suppression, this book is finally available.
Political Ponerology is shocking in its clinically spare descriptions of the true nature of evil. It is poignant in its more literary passages revealing the immense suffering experienced by the researchers contaminated or destroyed by the disease they were studying.
Political Ponerology is a study of the founders and supporters of oppressive political regimes. Lobaczewski’s approach analyzes the common factors that lead to the propagation of man’s inhumanity to man. Morality and humanism cannot long withstand the predations of this evil. Knowledge of its nature – and its insidious effect on both individuals and groups – is the only antidote.”
[Best supplemented with ‘Without Conscience’ by Dr. Robert Hare, Phd]
@Marion Frost, thanks for recommending that book, I am interested in reading it, and immediately found a free pdf version available here for anyone interested in reading the book: http://www.serendipity.li/bush/ponerology_preview.pdf
The pdf file in your link only has 58 pages.
heck yes! I got this book recently. It’s a bit tough to get through due to the way it’s written, and i mean that in a technical sense, the wording is uncomfortable and oddly structured. i’m still not done with it. I wish someone would re-translate it.
Re: “In 1984, the third and final copy was written from memory by the last survivor of the original researchers: Andrew Lobaczewski. Zbigniew Brzezinski blocked its publication.”
I hope I do not appear naïve – but I have not read the book, and therefore do not understand why Zbigniew Brzezinski would block the publication of this book – “Political Ponerology” – or how he could block its publication in the first place. It may be germane to say that I am not what one would call a fan of Dr. Brzezinski.
Georgiaboy61, here some extra info on Lobaczewski/Brezezinski:
https://www.sott.net/article/203026-Ponerology-101-Lobaczewski-and-the-origins-of-Political-Ponerology#
Looks interesting – thank you for posting it.
Marlon, I wholly agree about ‘Political Ponerology’ being necessary reading. Dr. Robert Hare’s books are a good addition, as are Martha Stout’s ‘The Sociopath Nextdoor’, ‘The Myth of Sanity’ etc.
Hi Dr Peterson.
I’d like to add two books that are terrifying, in their demonstration of the banality and insidiousness of evil.
The first is – Defying Hitler: A Memoir
It offers some fascinating personal first hand insight into the change in society and how to survive it.
From the blub:
“Sebastian Haffner was a non-Jewish German who emigrated to England in 1938. This memoir (written in 1939 but only published now for the first time) begins in 1914 when the family summer holiday is cut short by the outbreak of war, and ends with Hitler’s assumption of power in 1933. It is a portrait of himself and his own generation in Germany, those born between 1900 and 1910, and brilliantly explains through his own experiences and those of his friends how that generation ca