The Samurai and the Spirit of Bushido
Author: Julian ScottJuly 31, 2026
I was inspired to write this article after visiting an exhibition on the samurai at the British Museum. Paradoxically for an exhibition about warriors, and much to my surprise, I emerged with a strong feeling of joyful peace and serenity, effects which I attribute to the sheer beauty of some of the paintings and artefacts on display, along with the often heroic stories that accompanied them, [...]
Crime – Can we Do Something about it?
Author: Gilad SommerJune 6, 2022
There is a plague that is wreaking havoc in our cities these days, causing distress, pain, and fear. I’m not talking about COVID, but about the pestilence of crime. In the United States it has been a political issue for big city mayors for many decades, much thought and money has been thrown at the problem, and yet the solution does not seem to be any closer. This is a problem we have not yet [...]
Philosophy of Education
Author: Julian ScottMay 25, 2022
Napoleon once declared, “Of all political questions, education is perhaps the most important.” Undoubtedly, education is important from a political perspective because it has a major effect on the development of the citizen. But what about its value for the individual? Perhaps both of these facets are equally important and, as Aristotle pointed out, ethics is intrinsically linked to politics [...]
The Philosophy of Benevolence
Author: Julian ScottMay 12, 2021
I am referring with this title to the life and work of a Chinese philosopher called Mengzi, or Mencius, as the latinized version of his name is written. Born in Zou province around 371 BC, he lived in a period known as ‘The Warring States’, which lasted from 481 to 221 BC. It was probably as a result of seeing much cruelty and much suffering among the people of the time that Mencius promoted [...]
How Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism shaped Chinese Culture
Author: Julian ScottSeptember 14, 2018
In the beginning, so the Chinese legends say, there was only chaos and from this chaos emerged Yin and Yang, two primordial opposing forces which, when they interacted with one another, brought forth the universe. The continuing interaction of these two opposites produced the constant change that characterizes life. For Chinese thought, it is necessary to accept the changing nature of life, [...]
The Symbolism of Chess
Author: M.A. Carrillo de Albornoz & M.A. FernándezAugust 22, 2014
Though the origin of the game of chess is still unknown and mysterious, it is quite certain that it originated in the East, though it is the West that became infatuated with it. We also know that, in its beginnings, the game of chess was part of the strategy of war and was therefore applied to the Kshatriya (warrior caste). The black and white pieces symbolized darkness and light, the war [...]
Confucius
Author: AnonymousAugust 8, 2014
The philosopher who has had most influence on the Chinese people is known in the history of thought by the name of K'ung-fu-tzu, or Master K'ung, which the Jesuit missionaries of Peking latinized to Confucius. According to tradition, K'ung Chung-ni, or K'ung Ch’iu was born in Ch’ü-fu in the State of Lu, on the 21st of the tenth month, 551 B.C. and is said to have lived until 479. His [...]
How to solve the economic crisis: Initiatives inspired by the teachings of Plato and Confucius
Author: James H LeeAugust 4, 2014
The modern liberal economic system has proven incapable of solving the economic and financial crises in the world,using traditional solutions. Initiatives undertaken by brave men and women whose creativity and determination inspired by timeless teachings of Plato and Confucius are showing the way. The term “State” initiated by the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648 (1) refers to a geographical [...]