Not quite philosophy

I have a thing for this kind of books, which are not quite philosophy books. I guess they can be considered to fall under the umbrella of philosophy, but I don't mean stuff like Aristotle's Metaphysics, Kant's Critique of Reason, or Hobbes' Leviathan. These are more like books on advice, often on a specific subject, that elaborate through some general guidelines, yet don't elucidate on the "meaning of life" or any such metaphysical stuff. I mean books like: >Daodejing >Maquiavelo's Prince >Art of War I don't either mean that they be of a sociopolitical focus. And for those who say that daoism is a philosophy, I mean the format of the book, which really just seems to give advice on dealing with affairs. I hope I can see some more works like these. Thanks in advance!

>books on advice ??? Machiavelli is about politics and fight for power, so any book with this subject is what you're looking? Why not just go with philosophy? What kind of school of thought you have about life (not just humans), humans (and it's interactions), free-will, politics, economics, etc? The author Bertrand Russel has some books that may interest you (I've read only the "Marriage and Morals").

You might find Meditations by Marcus Aurelius to somewhat fit into your classification.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirrors_for_princes

>>296 Yes exactly >>297 I didn't know that, thank you.

>>294 > Art of War I used to travel with a copy of this in my backpack. It's mostly just common sense but it's good for affirmations or grounding yourself in an uncertain situation.

>>294 Have you read History Of The Peloponnesian War by Thucydides?

why so edgy OP, you trying to take over the world through manipulation? honestly, throw some mein kampf in there its really about "how im going to make people believe me," more like a practical application of social engineering in the sociopolitical realms (some of these concepts were actually used effectively in the 2016 election) How to win friends and influence people is a good book on dealing with social situations if that's what you want. Siddhartha (hesse) is a good fiction book that deals with how to live you life independently on a theological/philosophical level

>>294 The literary genre that you are evoking is "mirrors for princes", which was popular during the Middle Ages and Renaissance as a mode of outlining the ideal course of education for specific subjects. Most of these works were morally charged and urged readers to uphold germane conduct for their position, which was mutually inclusive with virtue. One of the most sophisticated early examples of this genre is The Cyropaedia by Xenophon. I think that collections of adages, aphorisms, and epigrams have the capacity to be aligned with the type of literature that you are describing.

>>296 I've just realized that, in modern language, "Meditations" would fall under the "lifestyle" category. I'm sorry.

If you appreciated the DaoDeJing OP, you may appreciate the Dhammapada. It's a collection of wisdom poems attributed to the Buddha. Here's a passage from Chapter IV "Knowing this body to be like foam, Awakening to it's mirage nature, Cutting out Mara's flowers, one may go Beyond the sight of the king of death." The Diamond Sutra may also be worth checking out. I've also heard great things about Musashi's Book of Five Rings. I'd expect you may enjoy that book if you enjoyed the Art of War.

>>302 The Peloponnesian War is raw military history, but for something from the roughly the same era, the Socratic dialogues from Plato and various other authors might be the kind of thing that OP is looking for.

Probably Caesar's DE BELLO GALLICO would make you happy

Books I've gotten something out of: The 48 Laws Of Power, by Robert Greene Arrest Proof Yourself, ny Dale Carson How to Win Every Argument: The Use and Abuse of Logic, by Madsen Pirie Be Here Now, by Ram Dass The Tao Of Jeet Kune Do, by Bruce Lee Shen Ku, by The Zeek Breathe In, Breathe Out, by Les Gronow Book 4, by Aleister Crowley The Book. by Alan Watts Ninja Mind Control, by Ashida Kim The Tao Of Physics, by Fritjof Capra Ki In Daily Life, by Koichi Tohei Psycho-Cybernetics, by Dr. Maxwell Maltz The Satanic Bible, by Anton LaVey The Power Of Chi, by Geoff and Phyllis Pike Understanding Comics, by Scott McCloud. And generally, Geoff Thompson, J. Krishnamurti, UG Krishnamurti, FM Alexander, and Moshe Feldenkrais. Older classics: On War, by Clausewicz The Mind And The Sword, by Munetori The Unfettered Mind, by Takuan The Hagakure, by Yamamoto Tsunetomo The Bubishi, by Mao Yuanyi

I'm not sure if this is the kind of stuff that you're looking for, but I used to think life was too short; after which I read "On the Shortness of Life" by Seneca. It's worth the read (it's quite thin) but it basically says that when you stop wasting your time by doing things that aren't meaningful or fun, and start being critical of whether things are worth your time, you will find yourself having quite a lot of it. I guess I followed the advice and stopped doing a lot of stuff I shouldn't be doing, but I also found myself with nothing to do. So I read Albert Camus' "The Myth of Sysiphus" which basically says that life is absurd, there isn't really a point in it, but that we should just take on some role in the universe and act it out and enjoy, even if it is pointless; I guess you could add some Jordan Peterson to this and say that you should take on responsibility and this will make life feel meaningful. I'd add to this myself that I don't think you can have a life that is meaningful, but you can have one that feels meaningful to you. It seems to me that though nothing matters you can be so busy and engaged in the world that you don't think about it and if anyone were to ask you about it you'd say it was a stupid question (like Peterson says about people who doubt whether your children matter (or something like that), you wouldn't try to argue it, it would just be obvious to you)

>>294 But the Prince is philosophy, anon. It's Political Philosophy.