- Peterson’s Great Books list features classics by Orwell, Jung, Huxley, and Dostoevsky.
- Categories include literature, neuroscience, religion, and systems analysis.
- Having recently left Patreon for “freedom of speech” reasons, Peterson is taking direct donations through Paypal (and Bitcoin).
We like to know what informed thinkers we respect, to better understand what shaped their worldview. On his website, Jordan Peterson offers his Great Books list, granting insight into the turning of his own mind. I’ve discovered a few that I’ll pick up from the numerous titles that he offers. The following ten also resonated with me.
Island — Aldous Huxley
Everyone loves dystopia. There’s a reason we all have to read Inferno in high school yet most people don’t even realize Paradiso exists—it was a terrible ending to the trilogy. Island was Aldous Huxley’s utopian counterpart to Brave New World, yet unlike Dante, he concluded this series (and his life; it was his last novel) quite well. This is a more reflective, psychedelic-loving Huxley sharing his profound connection to Buddhist philosophy in the guise of the disbelieving writer, Will Farnaby. The myna birds screaming “Attention!” throughout the book serve as an important reminder to everyone walking around with their head glued to a screen today.
The Grapes of Wrath — John Steinbeck
This is simply one of the greatest novels of 20th-century America. I think of it often, reading about Amazon caravans traveling around the country in RVs seeking the next factory to try to work at. Not much has changed in the nearly 70 years since Steinbeck published this masterpiece. Too many Americans are still clawing at the imagined dream. This book is the poet and patriot in his finest moment.
The Denial of Death — Ernest Becker
This book was my introduction to philosophy and psychology, given to me by my brother-in-law’s brother while I was in high school. It opened my eyes to the reality of fear and death, and the reality that most of our fears are rooted in the existential threat of biology. It’s also Becker wrestling with his own questioning and validation of Freudian psychology. I also recommend the posthumous follow-up, Escape From Evil.
Answer to Job — Carl Jung
Jung saw this book as describing the unmentioned fourth face of God: evil. It’s hard to read the biblical book any other way (though many have tried). Jung doesn’t mince mythologies, however. Unlike the “ultimate perfection” of God as espoused by many religious, Jung sees his treatment of one of his most faithful as the deity’s own development—a sharp rebuke to anyone believing in an ultimate good, but also a valuable lesson that we’re all works in progress.
Affective Neuroscience — Jaak Panksepp
You have to love any man that tickled rats for a living. The Estonian neuroscientist did much more during his illustrious career, but discovering that rats laugh is certainly a highlight. It’s part of the mammalian PLAY system, one of seven primary affective systems included in our neurological hardware. The recently deceased Panksepp knew what separated humans from the other animals, but perhaps more importantly, he devoted his career to what united us all.
Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy — Mircea Eliade
Everyone in America (and beyond) who calls themselves a “shaman” because they’re certified in yoga and have tried ayahuasca needs an actual education, and that starts with this book. Eliade was one of the greatest religious thinkers of the 20th century, also penning one of the best scholarly books on yoga. Just as Joseph Campbell discovered links between archaic religions, Eliade sought out common occurrences in shamanic practices across the planet, writing them down in this exquisite work.
The World’s Religions — Huston Smith
Originally titled The Religions of Man, Smith’s publisher was early in the #metoo movement, realizing it didn’t reflect the religious inclinations of an entire gender. Not the case for Smith, however, who discovered mysticism after a Methodist upbringing. He was a lovely man and beautiful writer, appealing to our highest angels in his lifelong pursuit of comparative religion. While he produced many important books over his 97 years, his debut remains a class in the field.
Animal Farm — George Orwell
Whenever I see an animal tackle a social cause in a Pixar movie, I credit George Orwell. Of course, we’ve been anthropomorphizing other species for millennia, projecting our fears and strengths onto them. Orwell worked as a police officer in Burma, a political journalist in Paris, and a teacher in England before settling into his novelist career. He put a history of experiential knowledge into Animal Farm, an overt critique of Stalinist Russia. Too bad he’s not around today to serialize the current state of affairs on his old beat.
The Origins and History of Consciousness — Erich Neumann
Two Jungians seriously evolved their teacher’s knowledge. James Hillman dove deep into archetypal psychology, while psychologist Erich Neumann wrote a number of important works, including this opus. In it he explores the mythical ouroboros as the catalyst for unconscious urges stretching into conscious awareness. There is plenty that doesn’t hold up in this work—he believed that homosexuality was the result of underdevelopment and that even in women, consciousness has a masculine bent. But his exploration of creation and hero mythology makes this a fascinating read.
The Emotional Brain — Joseph LeDoux
Few neuroscientists have taken anxiety as seriously as LeDoux. While his last book, Anxious, is the book on the topic of anxiety and the human nervous system, he laid the groundwork in this 1996 classic. Even though we don’t face the types of threats we endured for hundreds of thousands of years, our brain’s threat detection system is what relates us to the rest of the animal kingdom. We like to think we’ve scaled to the top of that pyramid, but from a neurological perspective, we’re still running through the proverbial forest seeking shelter at every turn.
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Mostly books from people who see themselves as the primary agent, seeking to explain away God and therefore their responsibility to Him. Since the Garden, it is all about rebellion and seeking to be God. The pride & grandiosity of fallen man… sigh…
It never turns out well. It never has and it never will.
Doc you are 100% correct. Man would much rather read a thousand human authored books about “god” rather than go directly to the Source book given to us of God.
Galaxy Brainset: How to Be Like Me, An Intellectual
http://www.amazon.com/Galaxy-Brainset-How-Like-Intellectual/dp/1983138495
Jordanetics: A Journey Into the Mind of Humanity’s Greatest Thinker
http://www.amazon.com/Jordanetics-Journey-Humanitys-Greatest-Thinker/dp/9527065690
I think I was in 7th grade when I read The Good Earth by Pearl Buck. It opened my eyes to things beyond my adolescent understanding. Like concubines. And hiding gold coins in the walls of your hut. And giving birth and work in the fields the same day. And children who squander.
Starving and cannibalism (the uncle), it has happened about everywhere.
Truly a great book written in such a simple yet profound manner. Also opens one’s eyes to the meaning of real love, devotion, hard work, and sacrifice. One of the best.
“This book [The Denial of Death]. … given to me … while I was in high school. It opened my eyes to the reality of fear and death,”
I’ll cut him some slack cuz he was in high school when he read it.
But, by the time most of us reach 60+ we are PERSONALLY and intimately familiar with the “reality of death”. Don’t need a fucken book for that.
About half those books sound like real Y-A-W-N-E-R-S …… imho.
Herodotus “The Histories”
Cormac McCarthy “Blood Meridian and No Country For Old Men”
Rochefoucauld “Maxims”
Kilcullen “The Accidental Guerilla”
Heinlen “Starship Troopers”
Anything by Philip K Dick
Bertrand Russell “The Conquest of Happines”
FM 21-76
And Hooked On Phonics.
If Swank were still a mag I would recommend that for visual acuity.
I could add a hundred other things, but hopefully we get the idea.
Anything by Jack Vance…Anything by George Orwell…Desolation Island by Patrick O’Brien..Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut…
Here is a documentary from Resurrection Europa (published on Jan 24, 2019) that proves Jordan Peterson is controlled opposition whose agenda to subvert and destroy the rising political right wing, and neutralize European nationalism.
This video completely exposes Peterson’s anti-White agenda and his strategy for
implementing it.
Any Peterson fans who are not beyond saving will be deprogrammed by watching this video.
Jordan Peterson’s primary goal is to neutralize the political right and White identity. He does not care about the Marxist take over of our nations, in fact he was hired by the United Nations to help usher it along. Peterson’s only reason for stepping into the limelight was because he saw a massive right wing backlash fomenting, and realized it was going to destroy the left.
His job is to implement “plan B”, to steer the rising tide of nationalism into an impotent cul-de-sac of centrist individualism, giving our enemies just enough time to tip the demographic balance of our countries so that our destruction is sealed.
I can’t believe you honestly think a 30 minute video which barely includes any of JP’s words… and is narrated by what sounds like a dude in his bedroom whispering to his laptop…. is any kind of ‘proof’ or ‘deprogramming’
you clearly don’t know shit about JP
Notice how you skip over all over all of Jordan Peterson’s anti-white statements at the beginning of the video.
I followed Jordan Peterson until I learned and observed several things that made me stop following him altogether.
1. He charges $100 to $400 for tickets and meet and greets at his speaking events.
2. He signed with the talent agency CAA. The same agency that created the #metoo movement while also repping Harvey Weinstein.
3. He began strategically associating himself with any individual, group, or movement, that could potentially gain him more money, power, audience, and influence.
4. His Kavanaugh tweet. The tweet that single handedly contradicted every ethical, moral, and spiritual principle he had endlessly preached. Rules for thee, but not for me indeed.
In his book “Jordanetics”, author Vox Day confirmed my suspicions and adds far more to the growing case against one of the most successful and widely lauded charlatans of modern times.
The book is very well researched and builds a very strong case against Peterson’s slippery debate tactics, dishonest character, occult religiosity, and cultish power seeking.
In conclusion: whether you’re an avid follower of Jordan Peterson or an individual casually familiar with his work, you owe it to yourself to read Jordanetics.
You will close it’s final chapter feeling clear headed about Peterson’s intentionally cloudy teachings, and develop your ability to discern in a meaningful way.
“1. He charges $100 to $400 for tickets and meet and greets at his speaking events.
2. He signed with the talent agency CAA. The same agency that created the #metoo movement while also repping Harvey Weinstein.”
you DO realize that all his initial lectures are available for free on youtube. and you can download them all without generating additional views.
the people who pay to see him live are purely luxury seekers.
the initial body of knowledge he’s worked on is already out there, and unchanged. there’s literally no reason to see him live other than pure luxury.
if you think JP’s teachings are “intentionally cloudy” you might just be an idiot. JP’s ability to distill complex things down to laymans terms is rarely matched.
“3. He began strategically associating himself with any individual, group, or movement, that could potentially gain him more money, power, audience, and influence.”
what a fkin joke of a point. maybe you should actually keep up on who he’s talking to. https://www.youtube.com/user/JordanPetersonVideos/videos
sure looks like the same old stream of a smattering of intellectual types. nothing crazy or outside the norm of who he was talking to years ago.
you know.. “”3. He began strategically associating himself with any individual, group, or movement, that could potentially gain him more money, power, audience, and influence.””
could be attributed to literally any person in the world who has realized that their old career was in a rotting system, and they have decided to attempt to branch out into the world in a new way.
You’re either one of Jordan’s victims, or an employee of a publicity firm.
^^ you’re just an idiot, there’s no either/or about it.
in the age of the internet, anyone can sit around and bang out a “hit piece” on anyone. that doesn’t give it any credibility.
tell me more about how cherry-picking roughly 7 minutes of non-congruous statements from a man who has over 100 solid hours of solo lecture material is a sign that you understand anything.
it is also of interest to note how you’re parroting a far radical-left notion by declaring me a ‘victim’
I’m a victim of nothing and ill kick your ass in any debate
Like Kryptonite to mainstream science…
JP has a great following of young men whose fathers have failed them by not teaching or understanding the the 12 rules of life. This is basic stuff, but many of us don’t know how to pass this stuff to our kids., This list of books is very interesting but I’m not going to read them, JP did and interpreted them for me.
Why do many of you waste your time posting pathetic opinions about this stuff? Go read a book or do something to make a difference.