Description

A brilliant distillation of the key ideas behind successful self-improvement practices throughout history, showing us how they remain relevant today

“Schaffner finds more in contemporary self-improvement literature to admire than criticize. . . . [A] revelatory book.”—Kathryn Hughes, Times Literary Supplement

Self-help today is a multi-billion-dollar global industry, one often seen as a by-product of neoliberalism and capitalism. Far from being a recent phenomenon, however, the practice of self-improvement has a long and rich history, extending all the way back to ancient China. For millennia, philosophers, sages, and theologians have reflected on the good life and devised strategies on how to achieve it.

Focusing on ten core ideas of self-improvement that run through the world’s advice literature, Anna Katharina Schaffner reveals the ways they have evolved across cultures and historical eras, and why they continue to resonate with us today. Reminding us that there is much to learn from looking at time-honed models, Schaffner also examines the ways that self-improvement practices provide powerful barometers of the values, anxieties, and aspirations that preoccupy us at particular moments in time and expose basic assumptions about our purpose and nature.

The Art of Self-Improvement: Ten Timeless Truths

Product form

£19.99

Includes FREE delivery
Usually despatched within days
Hardback by Anna Katharina Schaffner

1 in stock

Short Description:

A brilliant distillation of the key ideas behind successful self-improvement practices throughout history, showing us how they remain relevant today... Read more

    Publisher: Yale University Press
    Publication Date: 09/11/2021
    ISBN13: 9780300247718, 978-0300247718
    ISBN10: 0300247710

    Number of Pages: 280

    Non Fiction , Religion

    Description

    A brilliant distillation of the key ideas behind successful self-improvement practices throughout history, showing us how they remain relevant today

    “Schaffner finds more in contemporary self-improvement literature to admire than criticize. . . . [A] revelatory book.”—Kathryn Hughes, Times Literary Supplement

    Self-help today is a multi-billion-dollar global industry, one often seen as a by-product of neoliberalism and capitalism. Far from being a recent phenomenon, however, the practice of self-improvement has a long and rich history, extending all the way back to ancient China. For millennia, philosophers, sages, and theologians have reflected on the good life and devised strategies on how to achieve it.

    Focusing on ten core ideas of self-improvement that run through the world’s advice literature, Anna Katharina Schaffner reveals the ways they have evolved across cultures and historical eras, and why they continue to resonate with us today. Reminding us that there is much to learn from looking at time-honed models, Schaffner also examines the ways that self-improvement practices provide powerful barometers of the values, anxieties, and aspirations that preoccupy us at particular moments in time and expose basic assumptions about our purpose and nature.

    Customer Reviews

    Be the first to write a review
    0%
    (0)
    0%
    (0)
    0%
    (0)
    0%
    (0)
    0%
    (0)

    Recently viewed products

    © 2024 Book Curl,

      • American Express
      • Apple Pay
      • Diners Club
      • Discover
      • Google Pay
      • Maestro
      • Mastercard
      • PayPal
      • Shop Pay
      • Union Pay
      • Visa

      Login

      Forgot your password?

      Don't have an account yet?
      Create account