12 Rules for Life

by Jordan Peterson

English language

Published July 30, 2018

ISBN:: 978-0-345-81602-3

(36 reviews)

12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos is a 2018 self-help book by Canadian clinical psychologist and psychology professor Jordan Peterson. It provides life advice through essays in abstract ethical principles, psychology, mythology, religion, and personal anecdotes.The book topped bestseller lists in Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom, and has sold over five million copies worldwide. Peterson went on a world tour to promote the book, receiving much attention following an interview with Channel 4 News. Critics have praised the book's advice and its atypical style, though Peterson's writing style has been criticized by some. The book is written in a more accessible style than his previous academic book, Maps of Meaning: The Architecture of Belief (1999). A sequel, Beyond Order: 12 More Rules for Life, was published in March 2021.

1 edition

ShuaTheGreat reviewed 12 Rules for Life by Jordan Peterson

Review of '12 Rules for Life' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

I wouldn't recommend this book for deep theological study. At it's core, it's another self-help book. Considering I've never read one of these "self-help" books before, I have nothing to really compare it to. However, the way Jordan goes about demonstrating the reason for and effects of said rules often felt to me irregular. I didn't particularly like the final rule, as it was short, and half of it seemed to have been spent talking about his daughter's arthritis condition, which I didn't quite see the correlation between that and petting cats. Despite these lesser issues I've had, I find the book as a great reminder for how to carry oneself. Favorite rule was probably 8, on honesty. Can't say I don't know what it's like to be dishonest. Loved the occasional insertion of a smiley face. Makes the book seem all so much more genuine. Although, it also shows …

protomattr reviewed 12 Rules for Life by Jordan Peterson

Review of '12 Rules for Life' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

I listened to the audio book version of this and recommend it. It's obvious this material is very meaningful to Peterson, as multiple times his voice, such a unique blend of Canadian politeness and nothing-held back motivation, quavers through difficult passages. The effect is profound. The "12 Rules" seem somewhat arbitrary, little more than a framework for attaching Peterson's meandering tangents, compelling anecdotes, and at times challenging perspective, but still the overall package is an excellent provoker of thought and inspiration.

Deuce reviewed 12 Rules for Life by Jordan Peterson

Review of '12 Rules for Life' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

It is very good but somewhat way too religious for me.
Slavic people aren't that religious thus... it gets hard when encountering tons of biblical nonsense that it becomes are to attribute the idea & its corresponding biblical examples.
I do love some chapters though, it is still a worth reading

Sergeant Cat reviewed 12 Rules for Life by Jordan Peterson

Review of '12 Rules for Life' on 'GoodReads'

3 stars

There's a little bit of food for thought here, but it's drowning in excess verbiage. I found it hard to follow the author's arguments or even train of thought as much of what he brought up seemed completely irrelevant to what each chapter was about. It read like stream of consciousness writing.

There are definitely things worth considering in the book but it's a hard slog to get from front to back.

Brett Hodnett reviewed 12 Rules for Life by Jordan Peterson

Review of '12 Rules for Life' on 'Goodreads'

1 star

This book draws from a wide range of disciplines to cherry pick little pieces that bolster the pre-existing points he wants to make. To anyone unfamiliar with the disciplines and research he bases his arguments on, the use of such a range of information gives the impression of intelligent argument, but the reality is that he nearly universally misrepresents the viewpoints of those he disagrees with, and gives carefully chosen specific examples from a field of thought, as though that represents the agreed upon thinking in that field. There are more straw men built and torn down in this book than in any I can recall reading.
This would be a good book for one thing only, and that is to use in a course teaching logic and the deconstructing of arguments.

steezeburger reviewed 12 Rules for Life by Jordan Peterson

Review of '12 Rules for Life' on 'Goodreads'

1 star

Repetitions of past stoics

trillex reviewed 12 Rules for Life by Jordan Peterson

Review of '12 Rules for Life' on 'Goodreads'

1 star

Tried but couldn't finish it. At first, the ramblings made sense and were coherent but eventually turned into Americanised drivel, saying that people's behaviour comes from religion, which certainly is true if it is spoon-fed to you as soon as you can walk, but it is just rough to listen to if this was not the case. At some point, he even yells at you for having alternating opinions on that's matter.

Felt very inclusive in the start but became rough, exclusive and annoying in the end.

U de Recife reviewed 12 Rules for Life by Jordan Peterson

Review of '12 Rules for Life' on 'Goodreads'

2 stars

The way I see these ratings, they can be understood in one of two ways: either you are rating the quality of the book in itself or you are rating how much you’ve enjoyed it. Both being possible, mine here concerns only the second way of rating. That is, I’m not here passing a judgement on this book’s quality, for I’m not knowledgeable enough to dig deeper onto Jordan Peterson’s assumptions in constructing many of his arguments. What I can do, then, is just report how much I have been touched by this book.

Using Goodreads suggestion on what each star means, my appreciation of the book is about right on the 2 stars for ‘it was ok’. Not that I disliked it; but I’m probably not the targeted audience for this book’s content. I have known Jordan Peterson’s thought and work from his classes on YouTube, and although we are here faced with an interesting presentation of much of what he has said elsewhere, for anyone like me who has attended his online classes, the core of the book does not come as a surprise nor the presentation makes it more understandable than what he has already said in his talks.

So, by rating the book as [only] ‘ok’, I’m just giving an account of my previous exposure to Jordan Peterson’s material. As already stated, I’m in no position to offer any meaningful critique of the grounds and reasons upon which he mounts his case. And though I didn’t ‘like it’, I still learned from it. That to say that this is still a worthwhile work that tries to offer a well-structured map on how to move away from the chaos of our present times.