For June, we reached out to İletişim Publishing research and analysis series editor Tanıl Bora. He prepared the following reading list for young readers.
It’s a difficult decision to choose books and when you have to choose only five… To pave the way for myself, I will choose five books from the publishing company I work for, hoping you would understand.
1. André Comte-Sponville / A Small Treatise on the Great Virtues
“A moral and philosophical guide. From courage to justice, the book talks about eighteen basic virtues. This bright book makes you feel the challenges, responsibilities, struggles and royalness of being human. Both in coincidences with evil intentions and good, I re-read this book as guidance.”
In this graceful, incisive book, writer-philosopher André Comte-Sponville reexamines the classical virtues to help us understand “what we should do, who we should be, and how we should live.” In the process, he gives us an entirely new perspective on the value, relevance, and charm of the Western ethical tradition. Drawing on thinkers from Aristotle to Simone Weil, by way of Aquinas, Kant, Rilke, Nietzsche, Spinoza, and Rawls, among others, Comte-Sponville elaborates on the qualities that constitute the essence and excellence of humankind. Starting with politeness-almost a virtue-and ending with love-which transcends all morality-A Small Treatise takes us on a tour of the eighteen essential virtues: fidelity, prudence, temperance, courage, justice, generosity, compassion, mercy, gratitude, humility, simplicity, tolerance, purity, gentleness, good faith, and even, surprisingly, humor.
Sophisticated, lucid, and full of wit, this modestly titled yet immensely important work provides an indispensable guide to finding what is right and good in everyday life.
2.Barış Bıçakçı: Bizim Büyük Çaresizliğimiz. (İletişim Yayınları).
*English translation isn’t available.
3.Sezen Ünlüönen: Kıymetli Şeylerin Tanzimi (İletişim Yayınları).
*English translation isn’t available.
4. Levent Cantek: Kuş Eppeği. (İletişim Yayınları).
*English translation isn’t available.
5. Gaye Boralıoğlu: Dünyadan Aşağı. (İletişim Yayınları).
*English translation isn’t available.
Photo: T24
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