The birds they singAt the break of day‘Start again,’ I heard them say‘Don’t dwell on what has passed awayAnd what is yet to be …’ – Leonard Cohen, Anthem +++++++++++ Hour by hour, life is kindly offered usWe have learned but little from yesterdayOf tomorrow, all knowledge is forbidden,And if I ever feared the coming… Read More The present is our happiness
जनमत कभी विचारधारा विहीन नहीं हो सकता लेकिन हमारे अंदर दार्शनिक साहस न हो तो हम खुद को नष्ट कर लेंगे दिलीप सिमियन This essay first appeared in Outlook magazine on April 11, under the title The Crisis of Ideology क्या हम उस युग में पहुंच चुके हैं जिसमें विचारधारा का अंत हो चुका है?… Read More विचारधारा का संकट
go upright among those who are on their knees / among those with their backs turned and those toppled in the dust / and let your helpless Anger be like the sea / whenever you hear the voice of the insulted and beaten… Two poems by ZBIGNIEW HERBERT (1924-1998) / TRANSLATED BY John and Bogdana… Read More The Adventures of Mr Cogito
One of the founders of modern Existentialism, KARL JASPERS has since the downfall of Hitler become a spokesman of Germany’s highest conscience. The present article was part of a lecture he delivered at Geneva on September 13, 1946 “World empire means world peace through the conquest of all by one, by a single power. World… Read More Karl Jaspers: Is Europe’s Culture Finished ? Paths Toward a New Creativity (1946)
NB: The title of this post is inspired by a lecture on Gandhi’s ideal of resistance to oppression, delivered by my old friend Professor Bhagwan Josh. Please find below some words of advice to student protestors in the context of the global resistance to genocide. They are also relevant to all of us who resist… Read More Stand Up, Say No
By Kyle Chayka “The power to change one’s life comes from a paragraph, a lone remark,” James Salter wrote in his 1975 novel, “Light Years.” An encounter with a single “slender” line of writing, as he put it, can send a reader spinning off on a new trajectory; her life becomes divided into a before and… Read More The Internet’s New Favorite Philosopher
NB: Notwithstanding the good intentions of Boehm’s speech, the truth remains that Israel is committing genocide, the world is witness to genocide; and the world watches ‘the West’ sacrifice, yet again, its universal principles to imperial self-interest. As another philosopher, Frederic Lorden puts it, ‘The whole world watches Gaza die, and the whole world watches… Read More Universalism in dark times
NB: This essay was published in Outlook magazine on April 11. DS Waiting Are we in a post-ideological age? No, we are submerged in it. The term ‘post-truth’ is merely an example of the impact of ideology on our speech habits. What does it mean? We can approach the meaning of the term ideology by… Read More The Crisis of Ideology
Rouven J. Steeves Introduction: “The Light Shines in the Darkness . . .“ The study of politics presupposes the study of man. The study of man demands we consider the nature of being as ensouled flesh. This leads us into the realm of philosophy and, by extension, given that we are interested in man as… Read More Psychologists of Evil: Nietzsche and Dostoevsky on the Darkness of the Soul
For Bernard Stiegler, a visionary philosopher of our digital age, technics is the defining feature of human experience Bryan Norton It has become almost impossible to separate the effects of digital technologies from our everyday experiences. Reality is parsed through glowing screens, unending data feeds, biometric feedback loops, digital protheses and expanding networks that link… Read More Our tools shape our selves
After the truth-shower 