NovelUniversity: in libris libertas
r/NovelUniversity
I started this because I was on the toilet and I didn't have any book on me to read, but it was on my phone as I'd bought it for an essay I was writing. It's for the read a book with a unique genre: Sociology requirement.
A fresh take on social class from the experts behind the BBC's 'Great British Class Survey'.
Why does social class matter more than ever in Britain today? How has the meaning of class changed? What does this mean for social mobility and inequality?
In this book Mike Savage and the team of sociologists responsible for the Great British Class Survey look beyond the labels to explore how and why our society is changing and what this means for the people who find themselves in the margins as well as in the centre.
Their new conceptualization of class is based on the distribution of three kinds of capital - economic (inequalities in income and wealth), social (the different kinds of people we know) and cultural (the ways in which our leisure and cultural preferences are exclusive) - and provides incontrovertible evidence that class is as powerful and relevant today as it's ever been.
14 Jun 16 (10% complete) - So far this book has given an overview of the history of class in the UK and talked about the ideas of Pierre Bourdieu, who posited that our culture - our qualifications, networks, and such - are passed on much like money as inheritance. For example, while actual qualifications can't be passed from father to son, the circumstances that lead to the qualifications (having a library, parents who studied in a particular place) can be passed on. I'm enjoying it so far and looking forward to more.
I'm reading this book because I've recently developed an interest in philosophy through the Philosophy series on Crash Course. I'm reading it for Extra credit.
The tradition of ancient philosophy is a long, rich and varied one, in which the notes of discussion and argument constantly resound. This book aims to introduce readers to some ancient debates and to get them to engage with the ancient developments of some themes. Getting away from the presentation of ancient philosophy as a succession of Great Thinkers, the book aims to give readers a sense of the freshness and liveliness of ancient philosophy, and of its wide variety of themes and styles.
16 May 16 (12% complete) - I'm enjoying this so far. Annas introduces the concept of philosophy using arguments for the nature of the soul: Plato's tripartite soul (which I already read about) and the Stoic split between reason and emotion, Looking forward to the next chapter on Plato's Republic.
03 June 16 (100% complete) - I really enjoyed this - a good overview of philosophical ideas. I'll mention that Annas finished with a story about a personification of philosophy, who was sent by Zeus to help Man become better as a species. I think that we can all learn a thing or two from the past, and reasoned argument.
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