On Kindness Paperback – June 22, 2010

I needed this book for a class and it arrived on time and in perfect condition. Good deal.

A brief, but enlightening insight into the history of kindness, and how it has been viewed and exercised in Western society. Definitely worth the read.

Not a coffee table book. Not a "be nice" sermon from the land of the bodhisattvas.This book is a rigorous argument, based on the history of European ideas and psychoanalytical doctrine, that we fail to recognize and value intelligently one of life's greatest pleasures: generosity. It goes deep into the the scientific and political sources of our contemporary confusion and unhappiness.The authors explain brilliantly how misunderstanding the paradoxical relation between kindness and hatred contributes to our chronic ambivalence toward other people and hence our inability to choose our actions well.Beautifully written and succinct: the sort of book you finish in an afternoon and will definitely read again.

Adam Phillips knocked the socks off my feet with his Monogamy. This? Not so much. He wrote it with another person so I'm guessing he either toned it down or the odd and wonderful mind of Phillips got stepped on some. That said, who could not learn a few things about kindness. So I will go back to this book and try to like it more.

Excellent historical overview on the world view of "kindness". Very worthwhile for anyone interested in transforming current attitudes towards caring for humanity.

The title would suggest a philosophical or psychological essay - areas of my interest when buying the book - and I did not pay attention to The Washington Post’s recommendation, as “ a pleasure to read “: I would not had bought it for we all know of the quality associated with its editors nowadays. In fact, it is a political essay, preaching the virtues of Rousseau and Socialism with careless regard for neither truth nor well structured and elaborated thought. I would had chosen something else…

As Adam Phillips says, "Kindness is not an expert skill." Reading this, more than once, makes one wonder why it can take so long for many people to discover they have the talent. Andre Breton described beauty as "the impossible that lasts." Mr. Phillips discussion makes you more thoughtful as to why everyday kindness is so often the exception rather than "the possible" that is an enduring, ordinary and unremarkable impulse.

I always get a lot from Adam Phillips's wonderful books. Very interesting and enjoyable.

I don't know anybody else who could explain so well the history and need for kindness as much Adam Phillips

“The self without sympathetic attachments is either a fiction or a lunatic.”― Adam Phillips, On KindnessI've been reading Adam Phillips for a while now. Phillips is incredibly careful with his choices of words. Through his writing we often see expressions like 'I want to suggest', 'I have proposition', 'if', 'it is as though', 'it is as if', and many more instances like these. Why I pointed this out? I want to say that Phillips doesn't simply say something with certainty.In other words, when he says 'the self without sympathetic attachments is either a fiction or a lunatic' without using any words that implies uncertainty, he is 100% certain ― based on 40 years of clinical practices.In this book, Phillips and Taylor, investigate the history and psychology of kindness. They conclude that kindness is an essential element of a healthy life. This book, also, is an attempt to revive the message of the prophet of the kindness, Jean-Jacques Rousseau. In our era of toxic rivalry, kindness is a map that leads us to a life worth living.I finish with another quote from this book:“Everybody is vulnerable at every stage of their lives; everybody is subject to illness, accident, personal tragedy, political and economic reality... This doesn't mean that people aren't resourceful. Bearing other people's vulnerability ―which means sharing in it imaginatively and practically without needing to get rid of it― entails being able to bear one's own.”― Adam Phillips, On Kindness

so far, it is a very interesting read.

Since I'd not checked, I expected this book to be more substantial than it actually is. At only 117 pages that's nearly 8p a page. However the book does have a sturdy hardback binding and a narrow silky bookmark sewn into the spine.I bought this as an antidote to the modern dawkinsian view that we're all selfish and the gainful end always justifies the means, nomatter how machievellean.It was featured in the Guardian's Review supplement, and I was rather attracted to all the allusions to great philosophers. As such I was expecting something slightly more academic and deeper. Instead it skims gently across the surface like a swallow skimming a millpond in summer.In other words this book is not a philosophy or psychology textbook, in spite of the authors' qualifications and background, but ought to suit most readers, especially those who remember more courteous times. And, perhaps, it would provide some food for ethical thought for those who don't.But then, I suppose, the latter type will probably just nick a copy from the library.

Arrived on time and exactly as described. Thank you.