Umění uměřenosti - Cesta ke spokojenosti v nespokojené době – Brinkmann Svend (2019)

This Czech-language book by a well-known Danish sociologist, translated into many languages, explores the advantages of a more modest and moderate life not focused on consumption. Such a life is not based on self-absorbed individualism and protects people from manipulation by an aggressive market. The author points to the unrealistic nature of the compulsive pursuit of happiness typical of the positive thinking promoted in many personal-growth guides. His argument draws on a wealth of thought from modern and earlier philosophers, psychologists and sociologists, as well as original terms. Politically, he argues for democratic responsibility for what happens in society: people are driven towards happiness understood as an endless number of possibilities, but this form of happiness is more of a burden. Existentially, people are obsessed with experiencing as much as possible, although we are defined not only by what we do but also by what we do not do. Ethically, we live in confusion, while ever-new sensations lead to lasting dissatisfaction and may even contribute to the current epidemic of depression. Psychologically, taking less than we are entitled to has its own value, while aesthetically, value can lie in voluntarily giving up certain pleasures.