Throughout history the upper classes have always claimed to be entitled to their wealth on the basis of their claim that they are smarter, stronger and better than the lower classes. These claims were, and remain, largely delusions. The advantages of the upper classes are socio-political not “biological”. But with new scientific developments, the pretensions of the privileged threaten […]
Harari- Part 3, Nazi Humanists?
According to Harari Nazi ideology was humanist- which is not, of course, to say that it was “humane” or humanitarian. Harari says that humanism is constituted by any ideology which holds that Homo Sapiens have a unique and sacred nature different from all other animals and that this unique nature is the most important thing in […]
The remarkable thought of Yuval Harari- Part 1 Introduction
There are many short histories of the world and histories of philosophy. Where to start? Some historians just write well without necessarily focussing on particular themes- Geoffrey Blainey is an example. Ian Morris and Jarod Diamond explore why the West developed before other parts of the world. Jarod Diamond argues for the primacy of geographical factors. He points to […]
Kant, Husserl, Heidegger and Marx- a brief note
ImmanuelKant (1724- 1804) distinguished between “phenomena” and “noumena”. Phenomena are things that we perceive though our senses and understand by applying our reason to them. But Kant believed that objects also have an existence in themselves which we cannot directly experience. This is “noumena” or the “noumenal world”. Edmund Husserl (1859-1938) agreed that human […]
Two Dumbest Ideas From Philosophy- Anselm’s “proof” of God and Berkeley’s idea about existence
There have been a lot of strange ideas in philosophy. But I think St. Anselm’s “proof” of the existence of God and George Berkeley’s ideas about existence rank among the dumbest. Perhaps you can find some dumber ones? St Anselm’s “proof” of the existence of God Anselm (1033-1109) believed he had proved the existence of God in the […]