Complaint: From Minor Moans to Principled Protests

by Julian Baggini

'Popular philosophy of the best kind' Financial Times

All major social advances started with a Emmeline Pankhurst, Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela each brought about change by protesting that the status quo was wrong and needed to be rethought. Complaint has revolutionised society - yet it is now associated primarily with trivial moans and frivolous litigation.

Renowned popular philosopher Julian Baggini shows that in order to reclaim complaint as a positive force, we need to know what we wrongly complain about, and why. He explores every kind of complaint, from the contradictory to the paranoid and the Luddite, and presents a unique and revealing survey into whether Britons complain more than Americans, men more than women, the old more than the young.

This fascinating, witty insight into an essential part of the human condition will help you find the best way to bridge the gap between how things are and how we think they ought to be.

Genres: Nonfiction, Philosophy

160 pages, Paperback

First published June 19, 2008

About the author

Julian Baggini is a British philosopher and the author of several books about philosophy written for a general audience. He is the author of The Pig that Wants to be Eaten and 99 other thought experiments (2005) and is co-founder and editor of The Philosophers' Magazine. He was awarded his Ph.D. in 1996 from University College London for a thesis on the philosophy of personal identity. In addition to his popular philosophy books, Baggini contributes to The Guardian, The Independent, The Observer, and the BBC. He has been a regular guest on BBC Radio 4's In Our Time.

Reviews

[Keith · Rating 1 out of 5]

Horrid, idiotic defense of neo-conservative policy disguised as a philosophical inquiry into protest. I have liked all Julian Baggini's other books, but here he stepped out of the realm of philosophical abstraction which he can speak of intelligibly into the world of politics where he is no more intelligent than an average Fox news watching moron. I should have taken this book from the library and burnt it in my campfire.

[James Dalziel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Baggini is a philosopher by training and his expertise in this discipline is evident within his carefully planned and executed examination of "complaints". Those who have read his earlier works (The Pig Who Wants To Be Eaten among the very best) will appreciate and enjoy the difference between Baggini's disciplined, detailed, and exact examination of a topic compared with the shallow and superficial pop-psychology offerings that we have come to expect in the vast majority of books examining similar topics. Baggini operates with precision where others hack with dull and comparatively amateur intellect. In light of the modern landscape, where entertainment tends to be incongruent to deep thinking, it is easy to see why "Complaints" is not a popular work. It demands effort on the part of the reader in the way that reading for understanding is very different than reading for superficial enjoyment. Baggini has a message and it is worth the intellectual investment, if only to remind ourselves that precise and careful thinking still exists and has considerable value.

"Complaints" provides a typology for our objections and statements of dissatisfactions. Important, in that by separating the obstructive moans from the principled protests we can direct our energies and focus on valid and valuable insights into injustices in an effort to make them right. By the same measure, we can avoid being emotionally drawn into wrongful complaint that may be distracting at best, all consuming at its extreme. We must be able to artfully distinguish between the various forms of complaint if we are to use them as a viable motor for social reform.



The author also includes an enjoyable section on modern litigation and its creation of an unappealing mixture of inflamed individualism and collectivist conformism. The doctrine of legal rights, while it can prevent certain abuses, also gives rise two extremes of personal entitlement and a sense that we feel ingratitude if we receive what we believe we are entitled to, or are outraged with if we do not. Litigation has lowered complaint to an unfortunate state of privatised petulance.

As an educator I feel an obligation to highlight Baggini's believe that students, thanks to having been taught at school to think critically, will be able to make the necessary distinctions between constructive, empty and damaging complaints. It is the first step toward prioritising our limited resources and focusing our efforts toward societal improvements that stick. Our related ability to develop an appropriate and carefully considered sense of proportion is one of the critical elements demanded for modern activism.

Not within the scope of this work but certainly a possible next step, would be a compendium edition highlighting with the same intellectual rigour a model for acting on viable complaints. As with many complex issues, identifying the high leverage nodes is a critical first step, but the planned actions in response demand a truly sophisticated skill set. I would welcome Baggini's philosophical insights regarding such an important and timely topic.

[Laurence · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting read. Not about complaining as such, but about the ethics of complaint. What makes a complaint worthwhile? Is there any point in moaning about the weather? Is whinging about how hot our soup is legitimate when people are dying from cholera in Zimbabwe? Do people complain more as they get older? (Apparently not, although that's one of my complaints about old people....).

[severyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh.

[Thersya]

No suelo valorar con estrellas aquellas lecturas que son ensayos u opiniones, pues parece que con mi “puntuación” indicó como de cerca o de lejos está mi pensamiento con la opinión del autor.
En este caso concreto Las reflexiones del autor me parecen muy válidas. Podremos estar a favor o en contra, pero si es claro que hay un desplazamiento hacia la legalidad en muchas cuestiones que tradicionalmente han sido éticas. ¿De que soy responsable, qué derechos tengo, quién está obligado a garantizarme los…? Son muchas e interesantes cuestiones sobre las que el libro nos apunta.
Con respecto a la queja en sí misma. ¡Que verdad que muchas quejas no son mas que quejarse por quejarse! Esas quejas improductivas, inútiles para cambiar nada, canalizado ras de nuestra ira o enfado social…

[Craig Langon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Brief (130 pages) yet unfocused and makes many unsubstantiated claims that seem a little dubious. The argumentation is far from convincing. The prose style is clear but tends to ramble at times. This started off well and I have heard good things about the author's other works but this was uninspiring. The author claims that you shouldn't complain about things you can't change, so expect to see nothing but 5-star reviews here given that advice.

[Eva Busquets · Rating 4 out of 5]

la veritat que no m’esperava tant d’un assaig tan concret sobre un tema tan aparentment sesgat. M’ha canviat molt la visió que tenia sobre la queixa i el victimisme, a través d’un repàs històric dels grans canvis socials i la narrativa que els propiciaven. Molt divertit i no tant de dretes com esperava d’un llibre sobre victimisme

[Grim-Anal King · Rating 2 out of 5]

Docked a star for the ill-advised pseudoscientific survey which was a complete waste of space. I could complain more but would it be worthwhile?

[Manish · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm on a pop-psychology binge. This should have been avoided as all Baggini does is to portray different 'complaints' with examples and a few contrarian takes.

[Steele Dimmock · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't mind this book at all.

I find the following points interesting:
* To be a Stoic, it's important to accept the imperfection of the world and not to complain about them but rather describe them
* Religion fosters a slave morality
* The meek would have no world to inherit if the more petulant did not set about building one that would last
* The West has progressed in to a Grievance culture and moral responsibility has been replaced with legal responsibility
* Freedom is tightly linked to responsibility
* 50% of people die before the average lifespan in order for it to be the average

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed the audio book. Even better a bit thought provoking in I like the idea that those who make the most noise be the ones who deserve to be listened to, on the basis the lesser noise makes may care less about an issue

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just superb. Reasoned and thorough, a discussion of the culture of complaint that avoids cheap arguments and makes an intellectual case for dissent.

[Erica · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tassonomico e presuntuoso per lo più. Qualche considerazione interessante verso la fine, ma niente di esaltante.

[R · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not what I expected, but not bad either. An almost philosophical treatise on the topic of complaint.

[Zac Scy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent enough effort to talk about the pros and cons with complaining. Not terribly exciting but can make one think how and why we complain about stuff. Still, worth a read!

[Tai Odunsi · Rating 4 out of 5]

historical, social, spiritual; reads like an insightful though entertaining non-fiction, self-help

[Matt Hunt · Rating 4 out of 5]

complaining is essential.
quite interesting