Philosophy & Thinking
Big ideas from the thinkers who shaped them.
Everything Flows: The Riddling Wisdom of Heraclitus
Heraclitus explained: everything flows, the unity of opposites, the logos and character as destiny, the riddling wisdom of an ancient Greek.
Duty Without Attachment: Lessons from the "Bhagavad Gita"
Lessons from the Bhagavad Gita: act without attachment to results, why inaction is not an escape, and the many paths to the divine.
The Unexamined Life: Socrates' Defense in Plato's "Apology"
Plato's Apology: Socrates' defense at his trial, why the unexamined life is not worth living, Socratic wisdom and conscience over the crowd.
What "The Alchemist" Taught Me About Life
What Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist teaches about life: following your Personal Legend, reading omens, embracing adversity and the power of love.
The Art of Becoming Human: Reflections on Confucius' "Analects"
Lessons from Confucius' Analects: ren (humaneness), the Golden Rule, why ritual and courtesy matter and the junzi, the person of noble character.
The Way That Cannot Be Named: Exploring Lao Tzu's "Tao Te Ching"
The very first line of the Tao Te Ching tells you that the book is about to fail on purpose: the Tao that can be spoken is not the eternal Tao.
Unveiling the Layers of Capitalism: Insights from Marx to Sen
Capitalism through three lenses: Marx on exploitation and contradictions, Schumpeter on creative destruction and Amartya Sen on capabilities.
The Pursuit of the Good Life: Insights from Aristotle's "Nicomachean Ethics"
If Plato's ethics points us toward a perfect world beyond this one, Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics keeps both feet firmly on the ground.
Justice, the Soul, and the City: Exploring Plato's "The Republic"
I went into Plato's The Republic thinking it was a book about politics.
Meditations on the Inner Citadel: What Marcus Aurelius Taught Me About Self-Mastery
There is something almost unbearably intimate about reading Meditations by Marcus Aurelius.