BHA120: Love in Philosophy & a very Skeptical Look at 'The Art of Seduction'

anthonytyler
12 minutes ago
2 min read

Welcome back to the next edition of Black Hoodie Alchemy! Continuing with last week's theme, we are analyzing another book by the controversial author Robert Greene, known for his works like ⁠The 48 Laws of Power⁠, ⁠The 50th Law⁠ (co-authored with 50 Cent), and the topic of discussion today: ⁠The Art of Seduction.⁠ And with Valentine's Day just a couple weeks away from the time of release, it seems like as good a time as any for a wildcard episode such as this!

Listen to the episode right here or wherever you stream your podcast action.

(This is a sociological and literary analysis, I am not trying to be a pick-up artist and I am not trying to position myself as any kind of authority on these topics, whether it be casual dating or romance.)

Perhaps even more controversial than the 48 Laws, this book operates on an equally cynical premise that everyone is self-interested and just looking to one-up each other. It details 9 seducer-archetypes as well as the many stages of tactical seduction, backed up with analysis of historical figures such as Cleopatra, Princess Diana, JFK, James Dean, David Bowie, Marilyn Monroe and many more.

Reading this with the mindset of general psychology and sociology instead of manipulation and power-dynamics is useful, and it wouldn't be too difficult if not for the persistent usage of words like "prey" and "victim". With this book originally being published in 2001, I seriously doubt that this provocateur shock-value language would be used so flippantly if it were written today (as I do think it is meant as shock-value, building off of the 48 Laws of Power).

But that said, I don't endorse or condone the language or mindset espoused in this book, and instead I have a good laugh at all the crude language while also trying to extrapolate any useful psychological and sociological context possible from it. I do think this book is interesting and worth reading, but it will only be useful to the critically-thinking adult that is not looking to take anything at face value.

I hope you enjoy listening, and I wish you luck on your romantic pursuits! Ha.