In The Sunflower Simon Wiesenthal narrates his story that occurred during his time as a concentration camp inmate during the reign of the Nazis; a time in which many, such as his friends, had lost hope and started questioning God: "It is impossible to believe anything in a world that has ceased to regard man... Continue Reading →
Book Summary: A Discourse on the Method / René Descartes
Part One Descartes states that every man is equally equipped with “good sense”, which is the faculty of judgement that leads one to wisdom. However, “it is not enough to possess a good mind; the most important thing is to apply it correctly” (p.2). Although each person may be equal in possessing the same forms... Continue Reading →
Book Summary: The Order of Things: The Archaeology of the Human Sciences / Michel Foucault
Preface Foucault’s inspiration of writing the book originated from a joke by Borges, who provided various definitions from a ‘certain Chinese encyclopaedia’ that divided animals into categories such as belonging to the Emperor, embalmed, tame, sucking pigs, sirens, drawn with a very fine camelhair brush, that from a long way off look like flies… Having... Continue Reading →
Wittgenstein, Culture, and Value: “Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent.”
In his work called Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, Wittgenstein ends his book with the stunning phrase: "Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent". Although this phrase of his has deeply affected me and my thinking, it is quite ironic that what I am doing right now contradicts with the literal meaning of the phrase, that... Continue Reading →
The Alchemy of Happiness / Al-Ghazzali
A pretty refreshing book that I would recommend to those that have an interest in Theology, Mysticism or Sufism. Al-Ghazzali, a philosopher, theologian, jurist and a mystic, touches on subjects such as "Knowledge of Self", "Knowledge of God", "The Love of God", "Knowledge of this World" in order to express the quest for happiness. In... Continue Reading →