Carl Cederström

Andre Spicer

Not exercising as much as you should? Counting your calories in your sleep? Feeling ashamed for not being happier? You may be a victim of the wellness syndrome. In this ground-breaking new book, Carl Cederström and André Spicer argue that the ever-present pressure to maximize our wellness has started to work against us, making us feel worse and provoking us to withdraw into ourselves. The Wellness Syndrome follows health freaks who go to extremes to find the perfect diet, corporate athletes who start the day with a dance party, and the self-trackers who monitor everything, including their own toilet habits. This is a world where feeling good has become indistinguishable from being good. Visions of social change have been reduced to dreams of individual transformation, political debate has been replaced by insipid moralising, and scientific evidence has been traded for new-age delusions. A lively and humorous diagnosis of the cult of wellness, this book is an indispensable guide for everyone suspicious of our relentless quest to be happier and healthier.

The Wellness Syndrome

Dead man working

Happiness has meant different things in different times: according to Aristotle, only the gods could be truly happy, but if you lived ethically, you might come close; for medieval Christians, the best way to be happy was to suffer pain and for Romantic philosophers like Rousseau, society made happiness impossible. But what does it mean to be happy today? In this devastatingly witty new book, Carl Cederstrom traces our present-day fantasy of happiness from its roots in the 60 s counter-culture. He argues that happiness is now defined by a desire to be authentic , to experience physical pleasure, and to cultivate one s brand as an employee. Along the way we encounter the renegade Austrian psychoanalysts, Big Pharma, Californian bohemians, self-help gurus and Silicon Valley CEOs who have all contributed to our current fantasy. Whilst these ideals may have depicted the good life in the 70s, a time of affluence and abundance, they are no longer sustainable in our current age of austerity. It is high time, Cederstrom argues, that we construct new fantasies of happiness.

The Happiness Fantasy

Simon Critchley

The question of how to lead a happy and meaningful life has been at the heart of philosophical debate since time immemorial. Today, however, these questions seem to be addressed not by philosophers but self-help gurus, who frantically champion the individual's quest for self-expression and self-realization; the desire to become authentic. Against these new age sophistries, How to Stop Living and Start Worrying tackles the question of 'how to live' by forcing us to explore our troubling relationship with death. For Critchley, philosophy begins with the question of finitude and with his understanding of a key classical theme - that to philosophize is to learn how to die. Learning how to accept both our own and others' mortality as a part of life also raises the question of how to love. Critchley argues that the act of love requires us to give up something of ourselves, to lose control so as to be open to the demands of love. We will never be equal to this demand and so we are brought face to face with our own limitations - one form of which is what Critchley calls our 'originary inauthenticity'. By scrutinizing the very nature of humour, Critchley explores what we need to laugh at ourselves and presents the need to confront the inescapable ridiculousness of life. Reflecting on the work of over 20 years, this book provides a unique, witty and erudite introduction to the thought of Simon Critchley. It includes a revealing biographical conversation with Critchley and a fascinating debate with the critically acclaimed novelist Tom McCarthy about the nature of authenticity. Taken together the conversations give an intimate portrait of one of the most lucid, provocative and engaging philosophers writing today.

Conversations with Carl Cederström

How to Stop Living and Start Worrying

André Spicer

Vi strävar alla efter att bli bättre människor. Snyggare, smartare, mer produktiva, bättre älskare och mer hälsosamma. Vi går på kurser, läser böcker och tittar på Youtubeklipp. Egentligen finns det ingen del av livet som inte kan optimeras. Forskarna Carl Cederström och André Spicer försöker under ett års tid att systematiskt förbättra olika delar av sin tillvaro. I januari ökar de sin produktivitet, i juni maximerar de sin sexuella njutning och i september ska de bli miljonärer. Experimentet förvandlas snart till ett sätt att leva, där de investerar stora mängder tid och pengar i att bli den optimala versionen av sig själva. Den vilda jakten på ett bättre jag är en rolig och självutlämnande skildring av självhjälpsindustrin och vad den gör med oss. I slutet av året tvingas författarna ställa frågan: Vad var meningen med allt? Carl Cederström är docent i företagsekonomi vid Stockholms universitet och författare eller redaktör till fem böcker. Han har skrivit för The New York Times, The Guardian, The Atlantic och Svenska Dagbladet. André Spicer är professor på Cass Business School, London, och författare och redaktör till sju böcker. Han har skrivit för The Guardian, Financial Times, The Times och CNN. Spicer är bosatt i London.

Den vilda jakten på ett bättre jag E-bok

”Under hösten slutar jag röka och börjar titta på YouTube-videor där amerikanska hemmafruar visar hur man bäddar perfekta sängar och puffar kuddar i soffor. Jag lånar inredningstidningar av en granne och syr sammetsgardiner med min mamma.” En guldmunk är en man som inte haft sex på ett år. Carl får lära sig ordet när han skiljer sig. Snart beskriver det honom själv. Medan vännerna försöker para ihop honom med olika tjejkompisar stannar Carl hellre hemma och städar. Han läser allt han kommer över om livskriser, viker plastpåsar och märker upp lådor med etiketter till sent in på nätterna. Men just som han fått ordning på sitt liv blir han kontaktad av K. Hon presenterar sig som hans städsjälsfrände och en omtumlande vänskap växer fram, först per brev och sedan genom möten. Hon retas och utmanar Carl, men är han beredd att ge sig hän igen, med allt stök som det kanske skulle föra med sig? Guldmunken är en berättelse från verkliga livet, om kärlek och kontroll, och om konsten att lära sig stå ut med ohyra.

Guldmunken : en kärlekshistoria

Synes du ikke, du træner så meget, som du burde? Tæller du kalorier i søvne? Er du flov over, at du ikke er glad? Så er du også ramt af WELLNESS SYNDROMET. Ønsket om at optimere vores egen wellness er begyndt at arbejde imod os. Det pres, vi lægger på os selv, får os til at blive dårligt tilpas, og konsekvensen er i sidste ende, at vi isolerer os. WELLNESS SYNDROMET tager pulsen på sundhedsfanatikerne, som gør alt for at finde den perfekte diæt, på ”virksomheds- og business atleterne”, som begynder dagen på kontoret med en ”dansefest”, og på de selvovervågende individer, der registrerer alt i deres liv, lige fra daglige skridttal til toiletvaner. Vi lever i en verden, hvor dét at føle sig godt tilpas er ensbetydende med at være et godt menneske. Bestseller-forfatterne, Carl Cederström og André Spicer, stiller en skarp og humoristisk diagnose af vores egocentrerede sundhedskultur og viser en vej ud af det den.

Wellness syndromet

Todd Kesselman

Impossible objects are those about which the philosopher, narrowly conceived, can hardly speak: poetry, film, music, humor. Such "objects" do not rely on philosophy for interpretation and understanding; they are already independent practices and sites of sensuous meaning production. As Elvis Costello has said, "writing about music is like dancing about architecture." We don't need literary theory in order to be riveted by the poem, nor a critic's analysis to enjoy a film. How then can philosophy speak about anything outside of itself, namely all of those things which actually matter to us in this world? In Impossible Objects, Simon Critchley - one of the most influential and insightful philosophers writing today - extends his philosophical investigation into non-philosophical territories, including discussions on tragedy, poetry, humor, and music. In a series of engaging and enlightening conversations, Critchley reflects on his early work on the ethics of deconstruction; the recurring themes of mortality and nihilism; his defense of neo-anarchism; and his recent investigation into secular faith, or "a faith of the faithless". Essential reading for artists, academics, and general readers alike, this book explores the relationship between the philosophical world and those complex and fascinating "impossible objects" which give life meaning.

Impossible Objects

In this devastatingly witty new book, Carl Cederström traces our present-day conception of happiness from its roots in early-twentieth-century European psychiatry, to the Beat generation, to Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump. He argues that happiness is now defined by a desire to be "authentic", to experience physical pleasure, and to cultivate a quirky individuality. But over the last fifty years, these once-revolutionary ideas have been co-opted by corporations and advertisers, pushing us to live lives that are increasingly unfulfilling, insecure and narcissistic. In an age of increasing austerity and social division, Cederström argues that a radical new dream of happiness is gathering pace. There is a vision of the good life which promotes deeper engagement with the world and our place within it, over the individualism and hedonism of previous generations. Guided by this more egalitarian worldview, we can reinvent ourselves and our societies.

Carl Cederström

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