Tag Archives: philosophy

Lost Enlightenment

Posted on November 28, 2016 by smellincoffee

Lost Enlightenment: Central Asia’s Golden Age from the Arab Conquest to Tamerlane © 2015 S. Frederick Starr618 pages Lost Enlightenment takes readers back to a time when Central Asia was the crossroads of the world, a hub of both commercial and … Continue reading →

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Selections from Musonius Rufus

Posted on September 14, 2016 by smellincoffee

These are a few passages from Ben White’s modern interpretation of Musonius Rufus’ lessons and fragments. Prologue:Of everything that exists, God has put some in our control, some not. He has put the noblest and most excellent thing in our … Continue reading →

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How to Live

Posted on September 11, 2016 by smellincoffee

Musonius Rufus on How to Live© 2012 Ben White112 pages Virtus isn’t just for the men any more.  Musonius Rufus is the forgotten Stoic, a man hailed alongside Socrates as nigh-saintly by Origen, but now almost forgotten. More’s the pity, because … Continue reading →

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How the Scots Invented the Modern World

Posted on September 10, 2016 by smellincoffee

How the Scots Invented the Modern World:The True Story of How Western Europe’s Poorest Nation Created Our World and Everything in It © 2001  Arthur Herman400 pages An elderly patron at the library has adopted me as his go-to source for … Continue reading →

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The Porch and the Cross

Posted on August 27, 2016 by smellincoffee

The Porch and the Cross: Ancient Stoic Wisdom for Modern Christian Living© 2016 Kevin Vost198 pages Stoicism as a moral philosophy has had admirers through the ages, and especially during the medieval epoch. While modern snobbery tends to dismiss the … Continue reading →

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The Obstacle is the Way

Posted on July 6, 2016 by smellincoffee

The Obstacle is the Way© 2014 Ryan Holiday224 pages Let us say, dear reader, that you have heard of Stoicism, hailed as the go-to philosophy of mental fortitude. You want to read about it. But you don’t want to take … Continue reading →

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The Great Debate

Posted on June 29, 2016 by smellincoffee

The Great Debate: Edmund Burke, Thomas Paine, and the  Birth of Right and Left© 2013 Yuval Levin296 pages The Great Debate uses the war of letters between Edmund Burke and Thomas Paine  to explain the philosophical differences between conservatism and … Continue reading →

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The News

Posted on April 2, 2016 by smellincoffee

The News: A User’s Manual© 2014 Alain de Botton272 pages The news more than any other modern institution has taken the role of shaping a nation’s collective consciousness, but  what shape does that leave us in? Alain de Botton’s The … Continue reading →

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The Wisdom of the Myths

Posted on March 7, 2016 by smellincoffee

Wisdom from the Myths: How Greek Mythology Can Change Your Life© 2014 Luc Ferry416 pages Well over a year or so ago, in a mood to read about the classical tradition, I happened upon Wisdom from the Myths: How Greek … Continue reading →

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Philosophy for Life and Other Dangerous Situations

Posted on August 30, 2015 by smellincoffee

Philosophy for Life and Other Dangerous Situations© 2013 Jules Evans320 pages  For most, philosophy is a subject that screams impotent academic prattle, the practice of strange individuals who are clearly paid too much to gaze into their navels and pontificate … Continue reading →

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