Reddit reviews The Politics of Experience

Ever read any R.D. Laing?

>With guidance from the department, I became quite prominent in linguistic, ethnographic, and ritual studies with an inclination towards utilizing Marx/Bell and Geertz as my models for interpreting religious concepts and behaviors.

Got any books/papers you would recommend?

> ...I sometimes see others, especially those who are stressed or defeated, as suffering in a similar way to the way in which I suffered when I was under the delusion of being helpless.

It's amazing how these thoughts come with such weight. Do you have any strategies for casting the weight off or does it just come with practice? What kind of practice? Do you investigate individual thoughts to see if they hold up? Do you try to understand all phenomena as illusory? Are there setbacks to this approach? Do you sometimes emphasize the reality and 'apparentness' of phenomena?

Check out R.D. Laing's "The Politics of Experience" for an exploration on mental-illness-as-rebellion in an insane world or hopeless living situation - it's specifically focused on schizophrenia.

Ranciere is easy if you actually read it, i.e., read each word until you understand the sentence, before continuing to the next sentence, without skimming. His prose is so beautiful and clear that I had trouble reading it at first, because I was trying to read things into it when it actually just says exactly what it means. The "How to Read a Book" is also written to be easy to read.

A couple other lovely books that are easy reading is The Politics of Experience and The Politics of the Family by R. D. Laing.

But, you should be suspicious of philosophers who don't critique your question when you ask for "easy reading." Maybe they (unintentionally) want to keep you pliable and dumb, easy to instruct (which is the etymology of "docile").

The Politics of Experience by R.D. Laing

Sure thing:

Gestalt Therapy Verbatim: http://www.amazon.com/Gestalt-Therapy-Verbatim-Frederick-Perls/dp/0939266164/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1322174708&sr=1-1

Toward a Psychology of Being: http://www.amazon.com/Toward-Psychology-Being-Abraham-Maslow/dp/0471293091/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1322174747&sr=1-3

The Mass Psychology of Fascism: http://www.amazon.com/Mass-Psychology-Fascism-Wilhelm-Reich/dp/0374508844/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1322174790&sr=1-2

Politics of Experience: http://www.amazon.com/Politics-Experience-R-D-Laing/dp/039471475X/ref=pd_sim_b_23


These will definitely enhance your perception of other people and yourself.

'The Politics of Experience", by R. D. Laing

An oldie but goodie that speaks to exactly what you're experiencing.