In Defense of Chaos:The Chaology of Politics, Economics and Human Action - by L. K. Samuels (2013)

Finally, someone has tied Chaos Theory to the human experience. I've been waiting for a book like this ever since I first read a book on Chaos Theory and saw clearly for myself that science was finally starting to break free from its cause and effect mentality and realize that even the most random events give rise to order.

This book is well researched but unfortunately poorly thought out and written. It contains a lot of information that is only roughly catagorized and dumped into several uncoordinated chapters. Then it ends without any conclusions or suggestion for further exploration. I suspect that maybe the author wanted to avoid a controversial stance. The evidence and studies in this book seem to me to point to only one conclusion: that the science of cause and effect is limited, and that any attempt by man to understand his own purpose and reason in this world by using his ability to reason and control (manipulate) his environment will - and already has - consistently result in more disorder and chaos (i.e. destruction of the very things we seek to protect). The only solution is to trust the process that somehow brings order out of chaos when we don't try to interfere; to trust the "invisible hand".

No Exit: And Three Other Plays - by Jean-Paul Sartre (1946, translations by Gilbert and Abel, Vintage Ed. 1989)

This book was recommended and purchased for me by a friend in Germany. I read not only the plays in this book, but also some other writings on Sartre's existentialism. It was extremely enlightening and well worth the read. I had not realized how complete the philosophy of existentialism was. I enjoyed it very much.

Selected quotes:

"Once freedom lights its beacon in a man's heart, the gods are powerless against him." - The Flies

"Today I have one path only, and heaven knows where it leads. But it is my path..." - The Flies

"The most cowardly of murderers is he who feels remorse." - The Flies

"... human life begins on the far side of despair."

"We shall not abolish lying by refusing to tell lies, but by using every means at hand to abolish classes." - Dirty Hands

"There is no heaven. There's work to be done, that's all." - Dirty Hands