Tag: philosophy

The unique life philosophy of Abdi, born in Somalia, living in the Netherlands

When viewers are introduced to Abdiwahab Ali, the main character in the short documentary Neighbour Abdi, his charisma radiates from the screen as he showcases his creative metalwork and spins a series of lively potential titles for a film about his life. But viewers soon learn that his easygoing attitude is hard-earned as he recounts his… Read More The unique life philosophy of Abdi, born in Somalia, living in the Netherlands

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We think loneliness is in our heads, but its source lies in the ruin of civil society

We look for loneliness inside our heads when its source lies all around us, in the destruction of collective life, the erosion of communal bonds, the ruin of civil society, the squeezing of public spaces. Kenan Malik ‘The hope that political action will gradually humanise industrial society has given way to a determination to survive… Read More We think loneliness is in our heads, but its source lies in the ruin of civil society

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Who Was Averroes?

Averroes (Ibn Rushd; 1126–1198) was one of the greatest polymaths of the ancient Islamic world, whose practice expanded into philosophy, theology, astronomy, physics, linguistics and more Averroism’, ‘radical Aristotelianism’ and ‘heterodox Aristotelianism’ are nineteenth- and twentieth-century labels for a late thirteenth-century movement among Parisian philosophers whose views were not easily reconcilable with Christian doctrine. The… Read More Who Was Averroes?

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Historic responsibility has to make up for the want of legal responsibility: Lord Acton

Lord Acton writes to Bishop Creighton in a series of letters (1887) concerning the moral problem of writing history about the Inquisition. Acton believes that the same moral standards should be applied to all men, political and religious leaders included, especially since, in his famous phrase, “power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely”: I… Read More Historic responsibility has to make up for the want of legal responsibility: Lord Acton

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The Battle for the Soul of Judaism: Tribalism, Amalek and Axial Age Universalism of Isaiah

A struggle within Judaism between universalism and tribalism can be traced much, much further back… This is the time of the author(s) of Second Isaiah in the Hebrew Bible and Christian Old Testament… Second Isaiah teaches the universal existence of God, i.e., not just the God of the Jews but of the whole world. It… Read More The Battle for the Soul of Judaism: Tribalism, Amalek and Axial Age Universalism of Isaiah

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Like a Top Hat

Alasdair MacIntyre: An Intellectual Biography by Émile Perreau-Saussine Reviewed by Jonathan Rée Marx’s optimism proved to be ill-founded. The proletariat did not live up to expectations, leaving latter-day Marxists scrambling to find alternative superheroes. Hence, according to MacIntyre, the multitudes of ‘conflicting … political allegiances which now carry Marxist banners’, all expressing a well-founded hatred of capitalism but none offering… Read More Like a Top Hat

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