The Nichomachean ethics
The Oxford Classical Texts, or Scriptorum Classicorum Bibliotheca Oxoniensis, are renowned for their reliability and presentation. The series consists of a text without commentary but with a brief apparatus criticus at the foot of each page.
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- Actually reading Aristotle's Nichomachean Ethics is worth it. Not because he's right about everything (he has some pretty messed up and weird views), but because it's challenging and good to think on, and chances are you'll take something away for yourself that you wouldn't have gotten from some webpage that took one-liners out of context, some of which aren't even by Aristotle.
- Penguin Classics edition of Nichomachean Ethics has a great introduction and is very readable.
- - Conquest: Cortes, Montezuma, and the Fall of Old Mexico by Hugh Thomas , because he brings history to life and the story of the Spanish and the Mexica is stranger than fiction, more subtle and terrible than you might think, and has many lessons on human behavior applicable to today.
- Ecclesiastes by Qoheleth: In my opinion, superior to Marcus Aurelius' Meditations. "Go, eat your bread with enjoyment, and drink your wine with a merry heart; for God has already approved what you do. Let your garments be always white; let not oil be lacking on your head. Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of your vain life which he has given you under the sun, because that is your portion in life and in your toil at which you toil under the sun. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going." (Eccles 9:11)
- Amusing ourselves to death by Neil Postman: We thought we had to worry about 1984 and big brother. We were wrong. We are living in Huxley's Brave New World where digital media has made us dumber, distracted and cut our connections with one other. Our smartphones substitute rosaries and entertainment becomes the dogma.
- Structure and Intepretation of Computer Programs by Hal Abelson and Gerlad J. Sussman: Need I say more? This books makes me fall in love all over again with programming every time I pick it up.
- Nichomachean Ethics by Aristotle: What does it mean to live well? How can we be happy? Aristotle makes the striking claim that everyone knows how to be happy, but we have to create the habits that are in accord with reason and right judgement in order to get there. Also, happiness is not a state but rather the result of our active will and right ordering of desire. Required reading for any political leader.
- Theory of Computation by Michael Sipser: Javascript frameworks come and go, language standards change, Computer platforms rise and fall, but math and the underling concepts of computation stay the same. Knowing what computation is, what its properties are, etc. will not only make you a better programmer but a better thinker. Church-Turing Thesis essential reading for anyone serious about algorithm design and analysis.
- This is basically Aristotle 101. If you like this sentiment, grandpa A should be on your reading list. Not that he’s objectively correct, but Nichomachean Ethics is the foundation on top of which the European ideas of “good” and “evil” are built.
- Nichomachean Ethics, by Aristotle. Plain and simple search for the meaning of “happiness” and “full life”.
- try aristotle's treatment on the subject in The Nichomachean Ethics. very relatable by modern standards
