Showing 14 articles
Capitalism and Socialism in Plato’s Republic
Author: Gilad SommerJune 24, 2023
Capitalism and Socialism are commonly portrayed as two contrasting approaches to the distribution of resources within a society. In very simple terms, Capitalism advocates for the freedom of economic activity and individual ownership of property, while Socialism promotes regulated economic activity, and communal ownership of property. Based on these basic definitions, one can understand why [...]
The Rise and Fall of Mayan Civilization
Author: NA El SalvadorDecember 9, 2020
The people of Mayan society built large cities, sumptuous temples, and towering pyramids. At its peak, around 900 AD, the population was estimated at about 200 people per Sq km in rural areas, and more than 800 people per sq km in cities (comparable to the modern Los Angeles County). This vibrant “Classic Period” of [...]
Altruism and the Bottom Line
Author: Kurush DordiSeptember 30, 2018
“If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed.” – Albert Einstein Today organizations are under more pressure to perform than they have perhaps ever been before. There are pressures from all stakeholders who incessantly demand increasing profitability every year, while at the same [...]
Income for all
Author: Istvan OrbanNovember 15, 2017
In Finland the government recently introduced a scheme whereby 2000 unemployed people would receive an unconditional income of £478 a month. Initially, it sounds like a utopia, but the experiment is real and the selected families will receive the guaranteed sum for 2 years. The results so far are incredible: the scheme is not only [...]
Ethics first!
Author: Sabine LeitnerAugust 16, 2017
On Wednesday 14 June, in the early hours of the morning, a fridge freezer exploded in a flat on the fourth floor of the 24-storey Grenfell tower block in London and caused a fire. Although fire crews arrived within 6 minutes of the alarm being raised, the fire had by then spread to the outside [...]
Social business, a new way to end poverty
Author: James Chan-LeeAugust 16, 2017
Not withstanding decades of foreign aid, in 2016 1.2 billion persons still suffered from hunger, privation and ignorance. To escape the trap of ‘dead aid’, Muhammad Yunus (Nobel Peace Prize 2006) and other idealists have created ‘social enterprises’ to help the poor escape poverty through dignity, social solidarity and fraternity. Despite the teachings of Plato [...]
What we achieved, and what still remains…
Author: Gilad SommerMay 13, 2017
There are some who believe in the greatness of the past, in a golden age long passed, or simply in the “good old days”. Assumingly, in those days, people were good and honest, and virtue reigned the world. Therefore we need to go back to things as they were, or as we imagine they were. [...]
The Industrial Revolutions
Author: Alfredo AguilarMay 13, 2017
We have all encountered, from our school days to the present day, all kind of references about the industrial revolution and how it changed life first in Britain and then in the whole world. A shift from an agricultural life to people migrating to live in the growing cities, in order to work in the [...]
Changing the World by Changing Consumption
Author: Dilip JainMarch 23, 2016
One of the world’s leading voices on the issue of climate change and protecting the environment at the 2015 Paris Climate Conference was Dr. Jane Goodall, a renowned primatologist. In one of her interviews, she explains that she came to Paris for the UN climate summit “to save the rainforests” from corruption and intensive farming. [...]
Philosophy in the Boardroom
Author: Kurush DordiJanuary 26, 2016
When we look around our world today we see an evident change in the last 50 years. Since the post-war reconstruction era that drove mass industrialisation and development of the economies of Western Europe and America, the focus has gradually shifted to developing economies and the flow of wealth has started reaching the shores of [...]
The Myth of Unending Progress
Author: Jorge Angel LivragaAugust 26, 2014
The term “progress” derives from the Latin “progressus” which means, quite simply, the action of going forward. It is a mere illusion of the senses, intoxicated with hope, the supposition that every forward movement is synonymous with improvement, happiness and joy. The arithmetic progression of 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. does not mean that 2 [...]
The Crisis of Western Education and the Role of Philosophy
Author: Sabine LeitnerAugust 8, 2014
Introduction In the developed world, the standards of literacy, numeracy, general knowledge and behaviour are falling. Millions of young people have also become disaffected from school and, despite the fact that previous generations have fought hard to make what was once a privilege of the rich accessible to all, do not see much point in [...]