Luis’s Comments (group member since Mar 01, 2025)

Luis’s comments from the Pewdiepie Book Review 2025 group.

Nice to see other reviews here! I'm pretty late but wanted to say that although Plato's Republic was also not my cup of tea, I appreciate the classic that it is and am really glad I read it. Especially right now in July since Aristotle will often refute Plato/Socrates, it's helpful to have some inkling of the context. The Republic, though packed with minutiae I likely won't remember, felt especially grand in scope, and I had no idea beforehand that this was the source of groundbreaking ideas like Plato's cave. Very cool!

Halfway through it so far, so I may spend most of August finishing it. I liked the declaration that the ultimate goal in life is flourishing through the lifelong exercising of our goodness! I also enjoyed the explanation of a virtue as being the middle state between two vices; this reminded me of the Buddha's choice of the Middle Way between hedonism and asceticism. Balance is good! Though Aristotle then goes on to deep dive into every possible vice and virtue, which starts to feel a little tedious. :-) Happy reading!

Joe wrote: "Happy April everyone! I was able to get co-mod permissions so we can keep this group alive and well.

How's everyone liking Epictetus so far?"

I'm enjoying it so far! I like how it goes through different scenarios, reiterating that we are only responsible for our actions and not anyone or anything external to them. That might seem obvious, but having it broken down, logically proven and put into words is really satisfying. Also, Socrates was a real G.

Late to this but I spent most of the month finishing In the Buddha’s Words 😅 I’m now reading Brave New World, which Pewds recommended in another one of his videos. So far enjoying it, though it’s not the easiest read. It’s dark and thought provoking!