In my line of work, one often witnesses the might of the Indian state. Yet its most comical manifestation is often found in the servile obsequiousness of the personal staff attending to government babus. When summoned, they stutter, stammer and words often fail them. The kinder we, to give them thanks for nothing.Our sport shall … Continue reading A Midsummer Night’s Dream
In 1971, during the height of the East Pakistan refugee crisis, the philosopher Peter Singer published an essay called Famine, Affluence, and Morality in which the ‘Shallow Pond’ thought experiment - one of philosophy’s most profound thought experiments - made its appearance. On your way to work, you pass a small pond. Children sometimes play … Continue reading The Shallow Pond and the Life You Can Save
In the fable of the 'Fox and the Sour Grapes', the disappointed fox walks away at the end. He does this only because he is alone. Had there been a few more foxes salivating over the grapes, walking away would have been tough. According to the French philosopher Rene Girard, everything we desire is driven … Continue reading Girard’s Scapegoat Mechanism and the Mahabharata
I’ve read a ton of books on psychology over the past five years, and I’ve hardly come across a single work that doesn’t make a reference or has a quote from Daniel Kahneman’s ‘Thinking Fast and Slow’. Kahneman passed away last March at the ripe old age of 90. When we hear about the passing … Continue reading Peak, End, and Exit: Daniel Kahneman’s Last Decision
At the height of his fame, Henri Bergson, was not just France’s leading philosopher but also arguably the most popular public intellectual of his age. His lectures were jam-packed and the audience cut across all classes and gender. Bergson, is most known for his concept of time which he called Durée. For Bergson, the qualitative … Continue reading On Henri Bergson
The most dramatic moment in the history of philosophy must be Socrates being forced to drink hemlock. If one is asked to pick another moment that could rank high on drama, my submission would be Spinoza’s excommunication in 1656 by the Jewish community of Amsterdam. Spinoza’s parents landed up in the Netherlands after fleeing Spain … Continue reading Spinoza’s God
In the early years of my career in development, one of the raging debates was about the glory and ethical principle of working in the ‘field’ against joining organizations that paid lip service to development. Looking back, all of it appears so juvenile; as if development was only about working in rural, remote settings and … Continue reading On Simone Weil
Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time - Bertrand Russell Russel’s quote is something that I often think about each time I spend time reading stuff that I barely understand and more importantly that is of no practical use. When Dave Edmonds biography of the philosopher Derek Parfit started getting rave reviews, I decided … Continue reading Parfit
2023 New Year’s Eve began with me rushing my little one to the Emergency department after she was scratched by a stray cat at home. Snowy, the culprit, has been a regular at our home in Kozhikode since the pandemic and has been very pally with my girls. I’ve never been fond of cats. For … Continue reading Feline Encounters of 2023
During the Peloponnesian War, the strategy adopted by Pericles was to barricade the city of Athens and the route to the port of Piraeus behind walls. The belief was that while the Spartans would ravage the hinterland, the Athenians would win the war from the sea. (Piraeus is today the Shipping capital of the world … Continue reading Diogenes the Cynic
