Living as a human being is a problem
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Description
Book Introduction
- A word from MD
-
Political Animals, Thinking of HumansProfessor Kim Young-min, who has been diagnosing life and society with sharp and piercing sentences, has focused on politics this time.
For humans, who are social animals, politics is like air.
Inequality, real estate, central and local governments, etc., everything is politics.
So, how does Professor Kim Young-min view our society today? What should we do?November 12, 2021. Humanities PD Son Min-gyu
Professor Kim Young-min of Seoul National University talks about the nature of human beings as political animals.
Professor Kim Young-min, who has shown novel and free thinking that transcends the banality of everyday life in books such as “It’s Good to Think About Death in the Morning” and “What We Can Barely Hope For,” poses sharp and weighty questions that penetrate humanity and politics in his new book, “Living as a Human is a Problem.”
The author says that politics begins when what once seemed obvious no longer seems obvious, when those who exist precariously in the shadow of a reality that seems obvious at any moment appear to be on the verge of disappearing.
The book covers the beginning and end of politics, the cruelty and baseness of politics, power, participation, daily life and politics, and even the meaning of the republic.
It deals with the various political discussions that humans, as political animals who must live with others, must face.
Professor Kim Young-min, who has shown novel and free thinking that transcends the banality of everyday life in books such as “It’s Good to Think About Death in the Morning” and “What We Can Barely Hope For,” poses sharp and weighty questions that penetrate humanity and politics in his new book, “Living as a Human is a Problem.”
The author says that politics begins when what once seemed obvious no longer seems obvious, when those who exist precariously in the shadow of a reality that seems obvious at any moment appear to be on the verge of disappearing.
The book covers the beginning and end of politics, the cruelty and baseness of politics, power, participation, daily life and politics, and even the meaning of the republic.
It deals with the various political discussions that humans, as political animals who must live with others, must face.
- You can preview some of the book's contents.
Preview
index
Prologue - Life isn't easy for anyone.
Part 1: What is Politics?
Where is politics? - The whereabouts of politics
Humans are capable of living quite 'well' - Humans as political animals
Imagine a state of nature - a pre-political state
Annoyance is the foundation - the necessity of politics
What Happened to the Children Who Crash-landed on a Deserted Island? - The Beginning and End of Politics
Power exists when there is a desire and a goal - power
Hard Power and Soft Power - The Dream of the Powerful
See the perfect watermelon field - Nation
How to Live with Fiction - National Sovereignty
Without even knowing my heart - public sentiment
Part 2 Between Enthusiasm and Cynicism
Between Political Enthusiasm and Cynicism - The Spectrum of Political Engagement
Balls and Representative Politics - Elections
What Happens When You Vote - Voting
There is no original - representative government
Great leaders don't follow, they look - Political Leadership
And the people's mental landscape changed - political speech
The politics of some prosecutors - law
If you look at monster movies seriously - international relations
Third-party politics is not there, it's everywhere.
Places make us imagine - space
If someone were to compare this country to a body - a political metaphor
Where do we come from and where do we go? - The path of the times, the era of paths.
Two Surfing Movies - Escapism
Cross-cutting with gangster films - In the midst of success
The pain and glory of the wounded - empathy
Plants Run - Ordinary People
Part 4: The Best Is Yet to Come
Monster or Vitality - A Multiethnic Society
Where is love - homosexuality
Do you think I'm a puppy out on a picnic? - Woman
To give birth or not to give birth - population
21st Century Seoul Landscape - Apartments
If I could wake up from this dirty sleep someday - ethics
Beyond the World of Brothers and Sisters - A Society of Families
The State in the Pandemic Era - Epidemics and the State
Politics of the Ugly - Central and Local
Rainy landscapes of two cities - Status
Part 5: Republic of Thought
How to solve the problem - Korean society
In Search of a New Narrative - The 1980s Activist Generation
When Do Humans Change? - Artistic Politics
Politicians should wash well - Aesthetic politics
Watching stand-up comedy is more than just a controlled success story.
In Search of a New Social Contract - The Social Contract
Beyond the Illusion of the Advanced Nation - A Community of Thought
Epilogue - Humans are political animals.
Part 1: What is Politics?
Where is politics? - The whereabouts of politics
Humans are capable of living quite 'well' - Humans as political animals
Imagine a state of nature - a pre-political state
Annoyance is the foundation - the necessity of politics
What Happened to the Children Who Crash-landed on a Deserted Island? - The Beginning and End of Politics
Power exists when there is a desire and a goal - power
Hard Power and Soft Power - The Dream of the Powerful
See the perfect watermelon field - Nation
How to Live with Fiction - National Sovereignty
Without even knowing my heart - public sentiment
Part 2 Between Enthusiasm and Cynicism
Between Political Enthusiasm and Cynicism - The Spectrum of Political Engagement
Balls and Representative Politics - Elections
What Happens When You Vote - Voting
There is no original - representative government
Great leaders don't follow, they look - Political Leadership
And the people's mental landscape changed - political speech
The politics of some prosecutors - law
If you look at monster movies seriously - international relations
Third-party politics is not there, it's everywhere.
Places make us imagine - space
If someone were to compare this country to a body - a political metaphor
Where do we come from and where do we go? - The path of the times, the era of paths.
Two Surfing Movies - Escapism
Cross-cutting with gangster films - In the midst of success
The pain and glory of the wounded - empathy
Plants Run - Ordinary People
Part 4: The Best Is Yet to Come
Monster or Vitality - A Multiethnic Society
Where is love - homosexuality
Do you think I'm a puppy out on a picnic? - Woman
To give birth or not to give birth - population
21st Century Seoul Landscape - Apartments
If I could wake up from this dirty sleep someday - ethics
Beyond the World of Brothers and Sisters - A Society of Families
The State in the Pandemic Era - Epidemics and the State
Politics of the Ugly - Central and Local
Rainy landscapes of two cities - Status
Part 5: Republic of Thought
How to solve the problem - Korean society
In Search of a New Narrative - The 1980s Activist Generation
When Do Humans Change? - Artistic Politics
Politicians should wash well - Aesthetic politics
Watching stand-up comedy is more than just a controlled success story.
In Search of a New Social Contract - The Social Contract
Beyond the Illusion of the Advanced Nation - A Community of Thought
Epilogue - Humans are political animals.
Into the book
Do you take everything for granted? If so, there's no politics there.
Nothing in this world is taken for granted.
Politics is when what once seemed obvious no longer seems obvious.
There are people who exist precariously, as if they could disappear at any moment, in the shadow of a reality that seems so natural.
Politics lies in making what appears obvious seem strange.
--- p.22
Where is politics? One day, you open your eyes and you are born into this world. Since you were born, you want to live righteously. You consider this and that and try hard, but you can't do anything on your own. To work with others, you need agreement. To agree, you need to know each other. Even when you agree, the agreement isn't kept. To enforce the agreement, you need regulations. To enforce the regulations, you need power. To prevent the abuse of power, you need freedom. To guarantee freedom, you need property. To accumulate property, the gap between the rich and the poor appears. To eliminate the gap between the rich and the poor, you need resources. To carry out reform, you need persuasion. To persuade, you need discussion. To discuss, you need logic. To convince, you need rhetoric. To learn logic and rhetoric, you need school. To maintain the school, you need to hire people. People in the workplace need to work. To avoid dying from work, you need a humane environment.
While we are pondering all of this, a natural disaster may suddenly occur, an epidemic may spread, or a foreign country may invade.
There is much that is needed for a communal life, and nothing is easy.
It's too long to talk about all of this, so I'll just lump it all together and call it politics.
Politics is in Seoul, in the provinces, at home, abroad, on the streets, in your homes, and even in your tiny capillaries.
Politics is everywhere, like body fat.
--- p.23~24
Through that very act of voting, something incredible happens.
This act of voting brings about a 'metamorphosis', as seen in Ovid's Metamorphoses.
People who were only concerned with their own survival and comfort realized that they could not survive that way, and decided to create a state with public power.
The moment they went to the polls to create state power, the private entities that had been struggling to survive scattered around transformed into proper political entities.
--- p.109
By becoming aware of a black woman looking at the same object in a different way than oneself, the viewer is forced to question one's own act of looking.
If there is a light of ethics in Balton's paintings, it is at this point.
If this society ever finally awakens from its "dirty slumber," it will likely be through the light of this ethics, rather than through a festival of mutually defiling revenge.
--- p.222
Humans are not gods and the world is not heaven.
The world is full of problems, and life is not perfect.
Nothing is natural and perfect.
So, we must be able to reconstruct the world into problems and answers.
I have to ask.
If this situation is the problem, what's the answer? If this situation is the answer, what's the problem? Only then can we understand the situation and seek improvement.
--- p.253
There is no easy or definitive answer here.
Rather, you should be wary of people who talk as if there are easy answers or that they can solve everything.
Be wary of people who talk as if there's some grand conspiracy behind the problem and all you have to do is get rid of it, people who talk as if the cause of the problem can be easily eliminated, people who say other people are irrelevant, people who vaguely say this is a problem for all of us, and people who sell medicines that they can solve everything.
We need to listen to those who recognize that every alternative has its own side effects, who understand that work has costs, who consider opportunity costs, who say we can't solve all our problems at once, and who, therefore, are committed to providing quality options for the next generation to solve their problems.
Nothing in this world is taken for granted.
Politics is when what once seemed obvious no longer seems obvious.
There are people who exist precariously, as if they could disappear at any moment, in the shadow of a reality that seems so natural.
Politics lies in making what appears obvious seem strange.
--- p.22
Where is politics? One day, you open your eyes and you are born into this world. Since you were born, you want to live righteously. You consider this and that and try hard, but you can't do anything on your own. To work with others, you need agreement. To agree, you need to know each other. Even when you agree, the agreement isn't kept. To enforce the agreement, you need regulations. To enforce the regulations, you need power. To prevent the abuse of power, you need freedom. To guarantee freedom, you need property. To accumulate property, the gap between the rich and the poor appears. To eliminate the gap between the rich and the poor, you need resources. To carry out reform, you need persuasion. To persuade, you need discussion. To discuss, you need logic. To convince, you need rhetoric. To learn logic and rhetoric, you need school. To maintain the school, you need to hire people. People in the workplace need to work. To avoid dying from work, you need a humane environment.
While we are pondering all of this, a natural disaster may suddenly occur, an epidemic may spread, or a foreign country may invade.
There is much that is needed for a communal life, and nothing is easy.
It's too long to talk about all of this, so I'll just lump it all together and call it politics.
Politics is in Seoul, in the provinces, at home, abroad, on the streets, in your homes, and even in your tiny capillaries.
Politics is everywhere, like body fat.
--- p.23~24
Through that very act of voting, something incredible happens.
This act of voting brings about a 'metamorphosis', as seen in Ovid's Metamorphoses.
People who were only concerned with their own survival and comfort realized that they could not survive that way, and decided to create a state with public power.
The moment they went to the polls to create state power, the private entities that had been struggling to survive scattered around transformed into proper political entities.
--- p.109
By becoming aware of a black woman looking at the same object in a different way than oneself, the viewer is forced to question one's own act of looking.
If there is a light of ethics in Balton's paintings, it is at this point.
If this society ever finally awakens from its "dirty slumber," it will likely be through the light of this ethics, rather than through a festival of mutually defiling revenge.
--- p.222
Humans are not gods and the world is not heaven.
The world is full of problems, and life is not perfect.
Nothing is natural and perfect.
So, we must be able to reconstruct the world into problems and answers.
I have to ask.
If this situation is the problem, what's the answer? If this situation is the answer, what's the problem? Only then can we understand the situation and seek improvement.
--- p.253
There is no easy or definitive answer here.
Rather, you should be wary of people who talk as if there are easy answers or that they can solve everything.
Be wary of people who talk as if there's some grand conspiracy behind the problem and all you have to do is get rid of it, people who talk as if the cause of the problem can be easily eliminated, people who say other people are irrelevant, people who vaguely say this is a problem for all of us, and people who sell medicines that they can solve everything.
We need to listen to those who recognize that every alternative has its own side effects, who understand that work has costs, who consider opportunity costs, who say we can't solve all our problems at once, and who, therefore, are committed to providing quality options for the next generation to solve their problems.
--- p.259
Publisher's Review
“Living as a human being is a problem, and politics is about dealing with that problem.”
Professor Kim Young-min of Seoul National University's intellectual reflections on the essence of humanity and politics.
“Through this book, my enthusiasm for a certain politician has cooled down,
“I hope that the mind that thinks about politics itself will become warmer” (Professor Kim Young-min)
Professor Kim Young-min of Seoul National University talks about the nature of human beings as political animals.
Professor Kim Young-min, who has demonstrated novel and free thinking that transcends the banality of everyday life in books such as "It's Good to Think About Death in the Morning" and "What We Can Barely Hope For," poses sharp and weighty questions that permeate humanity and politics in his new book, "Living as a Human is a Problem."
“What we need is not a life of mere existence or a politics of mere power, but a life of reflection and a politics of reflection.
“Living as a human being is a problem” is a small gesture inviting us to such a life and politics.”
Politics begins when it becomes impossible for humans to simply be happy.
Whether we like it or not, living with others is an inevitable fate given to humans.
Because only in it can humans realize their potential.
Politics means learning to love that very fate.
Professor Kim Young-min says that politics exists because the world is not simple, good and evil are not clear, and problems that can be solved by rewarding good and punishing evil are rare.
“The reason life is not easy is because we have to live with others.
Neither food, clothing, nor shelter can be properly solved without being with others.
“Living as a responsible human being in this society means ensuring your survival without being a free rider as much as possible.”
Where is politics? Politics is everywhere.
Throughout the book, Professor Kim Young-min poses questions from various perspectives about what politics is, where it exists, and what politics can accomplish, and seriously discusses the potential of politics to fundamentally transform our lives.
"Where is politics? One day, I open my eyes and realize I'm born into this world. Since I was born, I want to live righteously. I consider this and that and try to do it, but I can't do anything on my own. To work with others, I need consensus. To reach agreement, I need to understand each other. (...) To enforce regulations, I need power. To prevent abuse of power, I need freedom. (...) It's too long to explain all of this, so I'll just lump it all together and call it politics."
Politics begins when what once seemed obvious no longer seems obvious.
The author says that politics begins when what once seemed obvious no longer seems obvious, when those who exist precariously in the shadow of a reality that seems obvious at any moment appear to be on the verge of disappearing.
The book covers the beginning and end of politics, the cruelty and baseness of politics, power, participation, daily life and politics, and even the meaning of the republic.
It deals with the various political discussions that humans, as political animals who must live with others, must face.
“How fascinating it is to walk alone along a deserted path, smelling the thick scent of grass.
How tempting it is to spend one's life in quiet seclusion, seeking only one's own comfort and pleasure.
However, the politician Pericles, who was proud of being a citizen of the polis, said firmly:
“We Athenians do not respect as detached people those who do not participate in public affairs, but rather consider them useless.”
For those who believe that realizing political aspirations through the event of elections is the beginning and end of politics, and therefore, for those who thought politics was a story distant from our daily lives, and for those who viewed politics only as an object of ridicule or cynicism, this book will provide an opportunity to think about the usefulness of politics and its place.
Through this book, you will be able to define for yourself what politics is, what you can hope for from politics, how politics can change your life, and what standards you should use to approach politics to achieve this.
A Republic of Thinking and Questioning Citizens
Professor Kim Young-min says the following at the end of the book:
He hopes that enthusiasm for a particular politician will cool down and that the desire to think about politics will become more fervent. He hopes that instead of going to a fortune teller to find out who the next president will be, people will visit a bookstore or library.
I hope that we will become citizens who think and ask questions before passively reacting to the evils and regrets of real-world politics.
“Thinking is not a state of immersion, but an adventure, and it is the human privilege of leaping from baseness.
“The Republic of Thought is a place built by those who refuse to be enlisted as instruments of others, who go beyond mere reaction to stimuli, and who willingly embark on the adventure of thought without being swayed by inertia.”
Professor Kim Young-min of Seoul National University's intellectual reflections on the essence of humanity and politics.
“Through this book, my enthusiasm for a certain politician has cooled down,
“I hope that the mind that thinks about politics itself will become warmer” (Professor Kim Young-min)
Professor Kim Young-min of Seoul National University talks about the nature of human beings as political animals.
Professor Kim Young-min, who has demonstrated novel and free thinking that transcends the banality of everyday life in books such as "It's Good to Think About Death in the Morning" and "What We Can Barely Hope For," poses sharp and weighty questions that permeate humanity and politics in his new book, "Living as a Human is a Problem."
“What we need is not a life of mere existence or a politics of mere power, but a life of reflection and a politics of reflection.
“Living as a human being is a problem” is a small gesture inviting us to such a life and politics.”
Politics begins when it becomes impossible for humans to simply be happy.
Whether we like it or not, living with others is an inevitable fate given to humans.
Because only in it can humans realize their potential.
Politics means learning to love that very fate.
Professor Kim Young-min says that politics exists because the world is not simple, good and evil are not clear, and problems that can be solved by rewarding good and punishing evil are rare.
“The reason life is not easy is because we have to live with others.
Neither food, clothing, nor shelter can be properly solved without being with others.
“Living as a responsible human being in this society means ensuring your survival without being a free rider as much as possible.”
Where is politics? Politics is everywhere.
Throughout the book, Professor Kim Young-min poses questions from various perspectives about what politics is, where it exists, and what politics can accomplish, and seriously discusses the potential of politics to fundamentally transform our lives.
"Where is politics? One day, I open my eyes and realize I'm born into this world. Since I was born, I want to live righteously. I consider this and that and try to do it, but I can't do anything on my own. To work with others, I need consensus. To reach agreement, I need to understand each other. (...) To enforce regulations, I need power. To prevent abuse of power, I need freedom. (...) It's too long to explain all of this, so I'll just lump it all together and call it politics."
Politics begins when what once seemed obvious no longer seems obvious.
The author says that politics begins when what once seemed obvious no longer seems obvious, when those who exist precariously in the shadow of a reality that seems obvious at any moment appear to be on the verge of disappearing.
The book covers the beginning and end of politics, the cruelty and baseness of politics, power, participation, daily life and politics, and even the meaning of the republic.
It deals with the various political discussions that humans, as political animals who must live with others, must face.
“How fascinating it is to walk alone along a deserted path, smelling the thick scent of grass.
How tempting it is to spend one's life in quiet seclusion, seeking only one's own comfort and pleasure.
However, the politician Pericles, who was proud of being a citizen of the polis, said firmly:
“We Athenians do not respect as detached people those who do not participate in public affairs, but rather consider them useless.”
For those who believe that realizing political aspirations through the event of elections is the beginning and end of politics, and therefore, for those who thought politics was a story distant from our daily lives, and for those who viewed politics only as an object of ridicule or cynicism, this book will provide an opportunity to think about the usefulness of politics and its place.
Through this book, you will be able to define for yourself what politics is, what you can hope for from politics, how politics can change your life, and what standards you should use to approach politics to achieve this.
A Republic of Thinking and Questioning Citizens
Professor Kim Young-min says the following at the end of the book:
He hopes that enthusiasm for a particular politician will cool down and that the desire to think about politics will become more fervent. He hopes that instead of going to a fortune teller to find out who the next president will be, people will visit a bookstore or library.
I hope that we will become citizens who think and ask questions before passively reacting to the evils and regrets of real-world politics.
“Thinking is not a state of immersion, but an adventure, and it is the human privilege of leaping from baseness.
“The Republic of Thought is a place built by those who refuse to be enlisted as instruments of others, who go beyond mere reaction to stimuli, and who willingly embark on the adventure of thought without being swayed by inertia.”
GOODS SPECIFICS
- Publication date: November 10, 2021
- Page count, weight, size: 304 pages | 456g | 135*210*30mm
- ISBN13: 9791167740175
- ISBN10: 1167740173
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