RE: Reflections on The Examined Life
I read a book or two a week. I don't always write a reflection on them or suggest them to others. I was a reviewer for many years, and even if I do write about something it doesn't mean I'm going to recommend it (for instance, a while back I wrote up a review of the West End Games Star Wars game, which was very measured in its recommendations).
I disclose that links are affiliate links because it is the ethical thing to do. At the same time, it lets people know where I got a particular item, since the affiliate links are always to the same storefront I used; it's sort of a win-win: you can find the edition that I have while also supporting me.
Believe me when I say that if I recommend something it comes with my endorsement. The Examined Life was actually a good read and something which was never dreary. It may not be a must-read book, especially for people who don't share my interests, but it is short and accessible enough that it may well be worth reading.
For most people, transparently trying to sell something isn't ethical -- it calls into question the value anyone's endorsement. Just sayin'
I'm not sure what you're getting at here. An endorsement is, essentially, telling people to buy something. All I have done is provided a link to the product here, and a brief reflection.
Would it be better if I included the links without the affiliate tag (e.g. violating ethics by not disclosing a financial incentive)? What if I just didn't even include links to begin with, forcing people who were interested in the book to find it on their own? You could argue that the latter case is a trivial inconvenience (after all, I heard about the book by reading an article that didn't lead to it), but there are systems in place with some marketplaces to reward people for driving traffic. All I would be doing is, in essence, the same thing without actually getting credit for it.
You can argue that the system's wrong, but I think I fall pretty conservative on the ethics side regarding what people generally consider acceptable. I include disclaimers whenever I post a link, not buried down at the end of a post, and I've never endorsed anything I don't believe in. Even when I tear into something, I link to it the same way (with a disclosure), and I don't typically make an outright recommendation to buy something: even when I like something I will only rarely say "You should go check this out" in an explicit manner.
I'm not trying to do a hard sell by any means.