On Temperance
For the ancient Greeks, sôphrosune (σωφροσύνη) or temperance was a key virtue. The ancients understood that our emotions and desires can be excessive, and that ...
Category: Book review
Notes and summaries on relevant books. These articles rather seek to summarize and draw out original concepts directly attributable to the author.
Slave of the Passions
Can we really trust our emotions? The world seems full of people who end up tortured by their feelings. Can’t we just get rid of all that anger and sadnes...
Two Modes of Living
There is likely no experience more human than that of feeling trapped by one’s circumstances. How people deal with this experience seems to vary enormousl...
The Evolution of Mediocrity
Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution has for a long time been the most widely accepted secular explanation for how living organisms change over time. In t...
The Fog of War
The photo above was taken by Robert Capa, the only civilian photographer to follow the Allied troops landing at Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944. Capa took 106 photo...
The Origins of Reason
What does it mean, to be rational? This is the question that Hugo Mercier and Dan Sperber ask in their revolutionary book, The Enigma of Reason. This book was a...
Does Reputation Matter?
It is fascinating to observe how people become obsessed with their reputation. This is especially true in the era of social media. I find this fascinating becau...
Radical Candor
Kim Scott’s book Radical Candor is a truly fascinating management book. You can tell it is a good book because it is hard to summarize. Each chapter is fi...
The Art of Dealing with Difficult People
The modern relevance of Stoic ideas is beautifully explained by the American philosopher William B. Irvine in two of his books, A Guide to the Good Life: The An...
The Ajax Dilemma
The Ajax Dilemma is a fantastic interpretation of the Iliad by the classicist philosopher Paul Woodruff, centering on the tensions arising between Ajax, Odysseu...