Power by Bertrand Russell

Here is another from the philosophy section.

I can't really call it philosophy but more like thoughts on power. And the power is sliced from all the possible angles.

This is really good to give you some food for thoughts as this talks about the wide range of powers that are exercised in the society. Some are good but most of them are unproductive or bad when left untamed. Also, the idea here is to identify when the power is pseudo. It may not be the power but an idea of a person or thought being projected as powerful.

However, the power is a very local or you can say a relative thing. Different things, ideas or people gain power in relative terms. Which means that they are not powerful in isolation but in comparison. And this comparison actually drives how the power is going to used and pursued.

Charlie Chaplin's quote can be added to bring another dimension to power "You need Power, only when you want to do something harmful otherwise Love is enough to get everything done" but we're free to choose what we accept it to be as long as we don't forget that its always relative.

Peace

The Crisis of Islam: Holy War and Unholy Terror by Bernard Lewis

 I don't know why this one was picked.

First thing, this is super old (2003) so most of the information is outdated or verifiably available through other sources.

Secondly, the title is so wrong.

The book talks about how the current (in 2003) terrorist activities came it to be what it was. It tries to explore the historical events but fails miserably in bringing anything new. Most of it is rhetorical, and some of it will sound absurd if you've read some of the recent books on similar topics.

Not worth the time.

Peace

Pyrrhonism: How the Ancient Greeks Reinvented Buddhism by Adrian Kuzminski

Philosophy needs training similar to any other subject out there.

This one was picked to see how much I understand, and I'll say that this was a difficult read. It did took a lot of time to understand what was said, specially when it goes into the abstract thoughts (they are abstract of a first timer but may be coming easily for a trained student).

Anyways, this is a comparative work of philosophy which compares Buddhism with Pyrrhonism (You'll not get the definition here :)

The prime object is to establish the point that Pyrrho visited India with Anaxarchus, and during his visit he interacted with some of the thinkers/practitioners of Buddhism who influenced his philosophical ideas which led to the birth of Pyrrhonism. The philosophy which largely differs from the other branches because it offers a lifestyle and thought process but not really an argumentative kind of philosophy which proves to a particular point.

The idea was to suspend the judgement on anything, and avoid any mental perturbations that these judgements, if made, can possibly produce. This is a difficult thought to understand but the explanation comes from the perception of everything around us, and how it comes to be what it is.

Not the place for such a discussion but if you've recently been disturbed by any thought that doesn't go away than this is going to help.

Peace

Ataraxia