Book Summaries

Morals stave off chaos. Social order needs discipline, and often is reinforced through religious belief.

There is no growth or security without rules based on morals. Moral codes are not the same, one may conclude, after a provisional reading of history, but more knowledge of history suggests the opposite – that moral codes are universal and necessary.

The vices that exist today were probably virtues in the past – relics of his rise. Sin has flourished in every age. Dishonesty and corruption have always existed, even more so in the past than today. Man has never really followed the Ten Commandments.

Schopenhauer is peculiar among philosophers because he is a pessimist while almost all of the rest are optimists. He is not fully academic like Kant or Hegel, but not wholly outside the academic tradition. He prefers the religions of India, Hinduism and Buddhism, while he dislikes Christianity. He is free from nationalism and his appeal … Read more

The idea that you should tailor the way you learn to the learning style that you naturally gravitate towards has become increasingly popular over time. The Onion poked fun at the idea. They ran a story about parents who were upset their child, a nasal learner, who wasn’t suited to learn new information through traditional … Read more

Good people don’t get rewarded, they don’t get special favors. The only thing that matters is who can survive. If there is a theology that history supports, it is that the world is made up of two opposing spirits: good and evil. Zoroastrianism, Manicheanism, and Christianity all preach that good and evil forces exist, and … Read more

It is not the race that makes the civilization, it is the civilization that makes the people. As we have learned from writers like Jared Diamond, civilizations are not created by people, or by a certain race, but by geographical circumstances. Geography, in addition to the economic and cultural realities that result from it, then … Read more

There comes with technology both curses and boons – this has been true for every technological development throughout the ages. But the detrimental effects of today’s technology are more hidden from us. Let us go back to the past for a moment, to a time when cars were first invented. Then, it was clear for … Read more

The narcissism of small differences was a theory set forward by Freud, it is the idea that communities that are closer together are especially likely to engage in feuds because of hypersensitivity to details of differentiation. But such an idea lacks explanatory power. It simply tells us that what happens, but not why it happens. … Read more

Hegel was one of the most influential philosophers in history. In addition to Protestants and philosophers, Marx borrowed ideas from Hegel. But Russell thinks that Hegel’s doctrines are false. The Law of Non-Contradiction Hegel asserted that the rational is real and the real is rational, “the nature of Reality can be deduced from the sole … Read more