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What is Philosophy? Is it the exclusive domain of those who dream in abstract? Or is it the manifestation of the struggle of those who practice in material? Does it originate in the minds of professors like a Ganges flowing out from the hair-locks of "Lord" Shiva? Or is it rustic and puerile, evolving into maturity through the experiences of common men. I started writing philosophy without actually knowing that I was writing one. To start with, it was an outlet to project my frustration in the form of writings. Pretty often, it carried abuses hurled at none in particular, but at the system through its agents. But I don’t know when those ramblings started getting matured into Philosophy and all puerility and abuses purified themselves on the way – a Ganges doesn’t become pure by its origin but by the treatment people give to it on its way. In my book “Writings @ Ankur Mutreja”, I included a section on my personal philosophy and thought nobody would be interested in reading it. But, fortunately, I have found some kind-hearted people, who have given me their valuable feedback. I am reproducing my philosophy below by selecting those top...

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One Man. Ten days. No talking. One Centre. 102 meditators. No eye-contact. One Course. 105 hours of meditation. No gestures. One Law. One Truth. One Universe. This story isn't about me, it's about you. It may read as if it's about me, but if you've ever sought the Truth, then it's about you too. Surrender; it's the only way to win the war, the one being fought within, deep down in the trenches of your mind. Wherever that may be . . . Can I do it? And if so, what then? ...

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An introduction to moral, political and economic philosophy. Twelve philosophers in each category are featured, their basic theories are examined and provide the basis for discussion....

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PARTI An Introduction to Clearer Thinking Chapter 1 Attitudes: How They Affect Our Thinking 3 Chapter 2 Classifying Viewpoints: Conservative and Liberal 12 Chapter 3 Epistemology and Logic 20 Chapter 4 Fallacies: Errors o f L anguage and Logic 32 PART 2 Moral Philosophy: Ideas of Good and Evil, Right and Wrong Chapter 5 Moral Philosophy: A Brief Introduction 47 Chapter 6 Plato and Aristotle: Idealism and Realism 55 Chapter 7 Epicurus and Epictetus: Pleasure and Apathy 65 Chapter 8 Aquinas and Descartes: Faith and Reason 72 Chapter 9 Hume, Bentham and Mill: Subjectivism and Utilitarianism 82 Chapter 10 Kant and Schopenhauer: Idealism and Pessimism 90 Chapter 11 Nietzsche and Sartre: Naturalism and Existentialism 99 PART 3 Political Theory: The Relationship of Man and the State Chapter 12 Introduction to Political Theory 111 Chapter 13 Law: Understanding the Rule o f Reason 119 Chapter 14 Problems o f Government: Five Great Issues 127 Chapter 15 Plato and Aristotle: Utopia and Polity 138 Chapter 16 Augustine and Aquinas: Platonist and Aristotelian 146 Chapter 17 Machiavelli and Hobbes: The Prince ...

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In this theoretically sophisticated monograph Dr. Alex Battler formulates a new ontological interpretation of the category of force: - a definition of force as an ontological category; - the manifestation of force in the inorganic world within the framework of the idea of the Big Bang; - a definition of force in the organic world to determine the boundary between life and nonlife; - a solution to the mind–body problem (i.e., what consciousness and thought are), which has led me to a new formulation of the concept of Progress. ...

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PREFACE......................................................................................................9 INTRODUCTION: LEXICON AND METHOD....................................17 CHAPTER I. THE PHENOMENOLOGY OF FORCE.........................31 1. Foreword.............................................................................................32 2 . Ancient Greek Philosophers On Force............................................35 3. The Philosophy of Force in the Works of European Philosophers of the 15th–19th Centuries.................................................................41 Nicholas of Cusa..........................................................................41 Leonardo da Vinci.......................................................................42 Bernardino Telesio and Francis Bacon.......................................44 René Descartes and Isaac Newton..............................................47 Benedict de Spinoza....................................................................50 John Locke...................................................................................51 ...

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volunteers bring you 18 recordings of Freshness of Poetic Perception by Paul Hamilton Hayne. This was the Weekly Poetry project for October 7, 2012. Paul Hamilton Hayne was born in Charleston, South Carolina. He left his law practice to persue his literary interests. He became a literaey critic and magazine editor in Grovetown, Georgia, where he lived until his death. (Summary by David Lawrence)...

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Poetry, Nature, Philosophy

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Excerpt: Songs of Travel and other verses by Robert Louis Stevenson.

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Contents* I - THE VAGABOND (To an air of Schubert) ........................................................................................................... 5 II - YOUTH AND LOVE - I ....................................................................................................................................... 6 III - YOUTH AND LOVE - II .................................................................................................................................... 6 XII - WE HAVE LOVED OF YORE (To an air of Diabelli) .................................................................................. 10 XIII - MATER TRIUMPHANS ............................................................................................................................... 10 XVI (To the tune of Wandering Willie) .................................................................................................................... 12 XVII - WINTER ........................................................................................................................................................ 12 XIX ? TO DR. HAKE (On receiving a Copy of Ver...

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This book is all about the fictional country called Utopia. It is a country with an ‘ideal’ form of communism, in which everything really does belong to everybody, everyone does the work they want to, and everyone is alright with that. This country uses gold for chamber pots and prison chains, pearls and diamonds for children’s playthings, and requires that a man and a woman see each other exactly as they are, naked, before getting married. This book gave the word 'utopia' the meaning of a perfect society, while the Greek word actually means ‘no place’. Enjoy listening to this story about a country that really is too good to be true. (Summary by Jenilee.)...

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Philosophy, Politics

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Anthem is a dystopic science fiction story taking place at some unspecified future date. Mankind has entered another dark age as a result of what Rand saw as the weaknesses of socialistic thinking and economics. Technological advancement is now carefully planned (when it is allowed to occur, if at all) and the concept of individuality has been eliminated (for example, the word I has disappeared from the language). As is common in her work, Rand draws a clear distinction between the socialist/communal values of equality and brotherhood and the productive/capitalist values of achievement and individuality. The story also parallels Stalinist Russia, which was currently going on at the time as the story was published. (Summary from Wikipedia)...

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Science fiction, Philosophy

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Florentin’s Laws are neither Murphy’s (pessimistic) Laws nor Peter’s (optimistic) Laws, but partially pessimistic and partially optimistic, while another part is neutral (ambiguous: neither pessimistic nor optimistic) – as in neutrosophic logic. Therefore, each Florentin’s law includes negatives and positives, unlike Murphy’s law which has only negative attributes, and respectively Peter’s law which has mostly positive attributes or results....

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Florentin’s Laws: To hell with Murphy, deviate! 1. If anything can go wrong, pass it on to someone else! 2. When your team wins, it is thanks to you. If the team looses, it is because of others. 3. Get a reason to award your friends, and a pretext to punish your enemies. 4. Even good things have negative side effects. Moreover, negative things have positive side effects. 5. Don’t play by others’ rules. Build your own rules that allow you to win. If you still don’t win, prove the game is useless. 6. If he’s better than you, deny him. If he’s worse than you, praise him....

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Preface: If anything can go wrong, pass it on to someone else! Adventures and Variations in Murphy's Law: 4 What and Why Florentin’s law: 8 Florentin’s Laws: To hell with Murphy, deviate!: 13 Florentin’s Laws: Ignore Peter’s, relax!: 17 Florentin’s Interdisciplinary Laws: 19 More variations in Florentin’s law: 22 Call for Contributions: backcover...

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Excerpt: Reprinted from Fraser?s Magazine. The cloud which for the space of a month hung gloomily over the civilized world, black with far worse evils than those of simple war, has passed from over our heads without bursting. The fear has not been realized, that the only two first-rate Powers who are also free nations would take to tearing each other in pieces, both the one and the other in a bad and odious cause. For while, on the American side, the war would have been one of reckless persistency in wrong, on ours it would have been a war in alliance with, and, to practical purposes, in defence and propagation of, slavery. We had, indeed, been wronged....

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Eleven linguistic categories are presented (Murphy’s laws, the clichés, homonyms, tautologies, proverbs, metagrams, translations, definitions, figures of paradoxism, monorhymes, and abbreviations), which afterwards are respectively turned into their corresponding Florentin’s Laws, clichés, homonyms, etc. and exemplified....

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Let’s Make Experiments in Linguistics (General preface) - 6 1. FLORENTIN’S LAWS If anything can go wrong, pass it on to someone else! - 8 1.1. ADVENTURES and VARIATIONs IN MURPHY’s LAW (Preface) - 9 1.2. What and Why Florentin’s law - 11 1.3. Florentin’s Laws / !An Author to the Cube! - 13 1.3.1. Florentin’s Laws: To hell with Murphy, deviate! - 14 1.3.2. Florentin’s Laws: Relax Peter’s! - 16 1.3.3. Florentin’s Interdisciplinary Laws - 18 1.3.4. More Variations in Florentin’s Law - 20 2. FLORENTIN’S CLICHÉS The dictator lifts the state of emergency with a crane - 22 2.1. Changing the Figurative Language to a Literal Language (Preface) - 23 2.2. Florentin’s Clichés - 28 3. FLORENTIN’S HOMONYMS Send me an e-male - 36 3.1. Preface: Send me an e-male = Florentin’s Homonyms = - 37 3.2. Florentin’s Homonyms - 39 3.2.1. First face of the story (Homophones) - 40 3.2.2. Second face of the story (Homophones) - 42 3.2.3. Multiple faces of the story (Homophones) - 44 3.2.4. Others (Homographs) – 45 4. FLORENTIN’S TAUTOLOGIES - 46 4.1. About Florentin’s Tautologies - 47 5. FLORENTIN’S PROVERBS - 48 5.1. Introduction: Dev...

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Opinions are like flare, which can turn either way: they can spread like wild fire or encapsulate themselves within the bounds of personal integrity, and thus illuminate. I started writing opinions in the late 2008 through my blogs. I admit at times I did go wild with unsubstantiated accusations and surmises, leading to risky speculations and irresponsible opinions. Recently, I published a comprehensive book of my writings entitled "Writings @ Ankur Mutreja", and the present book is a short selection of my opinions presented therein with emphasis on responsible writing. I am an advocate by profession; therefore, most of my opinions have a tint of law; in the first part, the expression is simple; so, it is for lay persons who won’t mind a little exercise of mind in the legal arena; whereas, in the second part, I have gone whole hog with law, and I admit those without formal legal training may find it convenient to ignore. My style of writing is terse and pointed, but at times I have gone overboard like in one particular opinion on Aarushi murder, where emotions and logic intermingled in an expanded narrative. Righ...

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Excerpt: A Treatise on Government by Aristotle, translated by William Ellis.

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The moment that you have finished reading this book, you will be able to know whether the years just ahead are good or bad for you, and how long this season will last. You will be able thus to act accordingly: if there is a storm on the horizon, you will be able to take shelter in time; if sunny days loom ahead, you will take advantage before the opportunity pass. The seasons of our lives alternate from good to bad ones - and vise versa - according to a certain pattern, which George Kouloukis, a Greek attorney-at-law, explains in this book, based on the way the good and bad seasons have alternated in the lives of lots of famous men and women, whose the biographies he cites in the book. This knowledge radically transforms the way we all live today, and helps us to live a much better life....

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- Chapter 1. The Astonishing Discovery - Chapter 2. Ludwig van Beethoven - Chapter 3. Giuseppe Verdi - Chapter 4. Pablo Picasso - Chapter 5. Napoléon I - Chapter 6. Victor Hugo - Chapter 7. Winston Churchill - Chapter 8. The Complete Picture - Chapter 9. The Advantages - Chapter 10. Mikhail Gorbachev - Chapter 11. Nelson Mandela - Chapter 12. Christopher Columbus - Chapter 13. King Henry VIII of England - Chapter 14. Margaret Thatcher - Chapter 15. Queen Elizabeth I of England - Chapter 16. Aristotle Onassis - Chapter 17. John Glenn - Chapter 18. Elizabeth Taylor - Chapter 19. Maria Callas - Chapter 20. Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis - Chapter 21. The Dalai Lama of Tibet - Chapter 22. Jimmy Carter - Chapter 23. Sarah Bernhardt - Chapter 24. Auguste Rodin - Chapter 25. Josephine, Napoléon I’s Wife - Chapter 26. The Confirmation - Chapter 27. The Practical Use - END NOTES - Sources...

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The first volume of the catalogue in Thomas Jefferson's private collection.

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Philosophy - Moral XXIV Politics 1

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This book presents my views on various issues ranging from contemporary events to personal philosophy. This book is, in fact, a consolidation of my views concretized on my blogs over years – which can be accessed from my website www.ankurmutreja.com – and is divided into four sections: Satire, Reviews, Opinions and Philosophy. I would recommend you to at least check out the first section entitled Satire. Then, you may move onto the Reviews section – as a natural transition from ultra-light to light – where I have reviewed Travel Locales, Books, Movies & more. If you like the Reviews section, I am sure you will also enjoy reading my Opinions, ranging from Human Rights to Economy. Last but not the least; Philosophy…do read it if you liked my other writings. Enjoy Reading! Ankur Mutreja....

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Excerpt: Advertisement. The story of ?Catherine,? which appeared in Fraser?s Magazine in 1839-40, was written by Mr. Thackeray, under the name of Ikey Solomons, Jun., to counteract the injurious influence of some popular fictions of that day, which made heroes of highwaymen and burglars, and created a false sympathy for the vicious and criminal....

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Voltairine de Cleyre (1866–1912) was, according to Emma Goldman, the most gifted and brilliant anarchist woman America ever produced. Today she is not widely known as a consequence of her short life. De Cleyre was especially influenced by Thomas Paine, Mary Wollstonecraft and Clarence Darrow. After the hanging of the Haymarket protesters in 1887, she became an anarchist. Till then I believed in the essential justice of the American law of trial by jury, she wrote in an autobiographical essay, After that I never could. She was known as an excellent speaker and writer – in the opinion of biographer Paul Avrich, she was a greater literary talent than any other American anarchist – and as a tireless advocate for the anarchist cause, whose religious zeal, according to Goldman, stamped everything she did. (Wikipedia)...

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Philosophy, Politics, Literature

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The Way of Peace is your guide to the power of meditation; self and truth; the acquirement of spiritual power; the realization of selfless love; entering into the infinite; saints, sages, and saviors; the law of service; and the realization of perfect peace. (Summary by Andrea Fiore)...

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Instruction, Religion, Philosophy

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volunteers bring you 11 recordings of Departerd Days by Oliver Wendell Holmes. This was the Weekly Poetry project for May 8, 2011. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. was an American physician, professor, lecturer, and author. Regarded by his peers as one of the best writers of the 19th century, he is considered a member of the Fireside Poets. His most famous prose works are the Breakfast-Table series, which began with The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table (1858). He is recognized as an important medical reformer. 1830 proved to be an important year for Holmes as a poet; while disappointed by his law studies, he began writing poetry for his own amusement.[22] Before the end of the year, he had produced over fifty poems, contributing twenty-five of them (all unsigned) to The Collegian, a short-lived publication started by friends from Harvard. Four of these poems would ultimately become among his best-known: The Dorchester Giant, Reflections of a Proud Pedestrian, Evening / By a Tailor and The Height of the Ridiculous. Nine more of his poems were published anonymously in the 1830 pamphlet Illustrations of the Athenaeum Gallery of Paintings. (su...

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Instruction, Nature, Philosophy, Poetry