Archive for the “Books” Category

I saw the above book on Akibablog and instantly wanted to buy it. Published by Daiwa Shobo and retailing for 1400 yen (tax excluded), it contains profiles and illustrations of 54 philosophers paired with diagrams explaining their particular theories and Tetsu-chan (哲ちゃん) chiming in.

Profile on Socrates

It’s split into five chapters that cover ancient philosophers including Thales, Parmenides, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Epicurus, and Marcus Antonius; medieval philosophers such as Jesus (really?), Thomas Aquinas, Augustine, and Machiavelli; early modern philosophers like Luther, Michel de Montaigne, Bacon, Descartes, and Kant; “present-day” philosophers such as Sartre and Foucault; and Eastern philosophers like Confucius and Kitaro Nishida.

I’ve always liked the Ghost in the Shell franchise for investigating philosophy of the mind and human experiences through the use of cybertechnology and digitizing brain functions, things we will eventually have to confront as technology becomes more prevalent and invasive in our daily lives.

This particular work, “The Lost Memory”, focuses on how, due to the advancement of sensory recording technology memories, experiences can spark similar people to be unknowningly influenced into attacking the government. Something that was initially written off as male teenage rebellion turns into something more serious and more complicated when Section 9 investigates cyberbrain data from a captured suspect.
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