Showing 76 articles
The Universe as an Answer
Author: Jorge Angel LivragaMarch 8, 2020
We often speak about the stars, the planets, the animals, the sky, the Earth, water or snow and we forget the real sense and meaning of the word Universe. Man asks himself questions about the whole of Nature, of which he himself is a part, but he tends to lose the central idea to which [...]
Scientism: does science have all the answers?
Author: Florimond KrinsJanuary 15, 2020
Science has been taking a more and more prominent place in our modern civilization. Since Europe emerged from the Middle Ages in the 15th century, the scientific community has had an increasingly important and powerful role in guiding the leaders of the Western world. In the course of this development, a number of different scientific [...]
Hoarding Books Versus ‘Living’ their Wisdom
Author: Sukesh MotwaniDecember 31, 2019
I confess: I love seeking knowledge. I read a lot, and also hoard many more books than I can actually read…I am a bibliomaniac. Thomas Frognall Dobson spoke of this fictional “neurosis” that prompts an obsessive desire to collect books. (1) But there is a more fascinating Japanese word for it: Tsundoku, which essentially is [...]
The Joy of Living Philosophy
Author: Akanksha SanghiOctober 13, 2019
Know Thyself. This famous axiom from the ancient Greek tradition seems so simple but in reality these words are a key to living life. As I reflect over the last 5 years, since when I began my journey as a philosopher and started to explore the meaning of these words, it is easy for me [...]
Religion and Philosophy
Author: Julian ScottOctober 13, 2019
Today, there is a deep divide between these two fields and, for most people, they are seen as antagonistic. Religion is about faith, or blind belief (in the popular imagination), while philosophy is about reason. Faith seems to be in contradiction with reason. Can this opposition ever be resolved? At its root, however, religion is [...]
Philosophy and Religion: What is the Difference?
Author: Pierre PoulainAugust 20, 2019
When I write an article for this magazine, I usually pick an event from the daily news to comment on. Today I will not fail in this habit, but I have chosen to comment not on an event, but a personal experience which had occurred in a class, at the New Acropolis center in Tel [...]
Dunkirk – To live or to survive?
Author: Gilad SommerMarch 27, 2019
“Those men who, in war, seek to preserve their lives at any rate commonly die with shame and ignominy, while those who look upon death as common to all, and unavoidable, and are only solicitous to die with honour, oftener arrive at old age and, while they live, live happier.” (from Xenophon’s Anabasis) As production [...]
The Masses in Modern Philosophy
Author: Istvan OrbanJanuary 25, 2019
In the last century, the role of the masses grew immensely in importance and affected both culture and politics. Philosophy has been using the term masses and mass societies since the 19th century, but we can find statements about masses of people earlier, even in the works of the classical Greek thinkers like Plato. He [...]
Idealism, Philosophy, Volunteering – Three Pathways for Change
Author: Gilad SommerApril 3, 2018
Many of us wish to change the world. But how can it be done? First of all, it is obvious we are not just seeking to change the world – the world is changing anyhow, regardless of what we do. The ancient philosophers wisely stated that the only permanent thing in the world is change. [...]
The Secret Truth of Ceremony
Author: Zarina ScrewvalaApril 2, 2018
Last year we had a very special gathering of philosophers in Mumbai, and I had the privilege of looking after the meals for this wonderful event. A volunteer was helping me and I remember, as we started our first tasting of the many meals to come, she said, “Let’s make this tasting a ceremony!” Suddenly [...]
Daring to Dream of a New and Better World -Q&A with Yaron Barzilay
Author: Manjula NanavatiJanuary 21, 2018
Tall, trim and relaxed in any environment, Yaron Barzilay smiles easily, but weighs his words very carefully. Understated and well-read, he punctuates his conversations unexpectedly, with an incisive colloquial humor that betrays his acute sense of the current socio-economic and political climate, and his capacious grasp of India’s history and mythology. Professionally, Yaron Barzilay is [...]
The Dawn and Decline of Technological Man
Author: Jorge Angel LivragaNovember 1, 2017
How important has technology been to the development of Humanity? By definition, technology relates to the means by which man attempts to rule over matter. However, technical elements alone are not enough to measure progress. Today we find ourselves engaged in a cult to technology, such that we judge the quality and excellence of civilizations [...]