An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding by David Hume is considered one of the most philosophical and scientific texts ever written, and primarily, it exposes the limits of human rationality through a series of 12 essays that are quite rational themselves. Indeed, Hume starts by admitting to the limited power of his own arguments, but in … Read more
The Divide-And-Conquer Strategy In division there is weakness. The two things we take from this is to be wary of being divided ourselves as individuals, as groups, and to understand that the best way to fight an enemy is to divide them first. The Battle of Marathon In what was considered a defining war for … Read more
In Beyond Good and Evil, Nietzsche makes a powerful argument against the moral philosophers, the utilitarians, and the “pure” souls. There is no such thing as virtue, there is only the strong and the weak. Exploitation is not wrong, it is the essence of being alive. Being trampled on, being placid, being foolish – those … Read more
In 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, Harari writes about globalism, nationalism, religion, technology, meditation and economics but the book is more philosophical than historical although many interesting historical references are made. Harari’s thesis is that the source of the development of society is the fictions we have created, but when these fictions are taken … Read more
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky is a novel about what unfolds when morality submits to rationality. Raskolnikov was an ambitious and intelligent student who wanted to become a professor and has already published his first article at the age of 23, but his depraved financial condition has led him to depression. To make things … Read more
Free Will by Sam Harris is a book devoted to the philosophical debate about what agency is. His argument is that free will is nothing more than illusion. The reason why this is important is that if he is correct, we would need to think of reality and people very differently. If the scientific community … Read more
The Technological Society was written in 1954 by French philosopher Jacques Ellul. The book traces humanity’s historical discovery of technology, and how technique has come to dominate every aspect of our lives. Ellul writes in an academic style that is not always very accessible, but often presents his arguments in a wonderfully lucid way. Ellul’s … Read more
Summary The Gay Science by Friedrich Nietzsche is a collection of masterfully written musings about art, religion, God, literature, human psychology, the difference between the sexes, thinking, the illusion of the contemplative minds, free will, actors, and morality. Nietzsche despises systematic thinking, he rejects the British philosophical tradition and the German tradition. The urge to … Read more
The Prince by Machiavelli is an introduction to realpolitik. It’s important to understand that Machiavelli’s audience is a prince. Few can consider themselves princes in the modern world, and many of insights in this book involve warfare, how to successfully build and maintain an empire, and how to treat your subjects – none of these are … Read more
The Central Problem of Philosophy Camus starts The Myth of Sisyphus by stating that the central problem of philosophy is to figure out whether life is worth living, everything else is details. People don’t die in the name of the ontological problem. What gives life meaning is the irrational illusions. These same ideas that, when … Read more