To seek a philosophy of one's own

Are Greeco-Roman philosophies still relevant to our times? Aren’t our modern problems much different from those faced by people in ancient times? Conversely, however, fundamental human desires and aspirations haven’t changed in the last two millennia or even earlier? Don’t we still want love, friendship, money, reputation and tranquility, and still fear sickness, pain, death? If that is what most of us would agree with, then the instruments devised by the Greeco-Romans still constitute a powerful tool kit to help us figure out how we want to live. That is why the theoretical explanations and practical suggestions of 13 ancient philosophies still relate to us and even guide us. 

Live Like a Philosopher can help the reader relate to these philosophers, without being scared off by the big names. Having done a lot of the heavy lifting themselves to develop a life philosophy, the lifetime of distilled ideas by these philosophers can be shared to build a coherent and meaning way of life. From Pythagoras to Socrates, their blueprint for thinking about how to live well are highly relevant. Despite representing different philosophical schools, the three dominant themes that run common in them are - feeling good, being good, and thinking well.      

Pigliucci, Lopez and Kunz invite readers to expand their horizon to the vast richness of ancient philosophies of life. Through each philosopher’s life and works the authors dish out practical exercises that can be applied in our daily lives. These exercises are relevant teachings to be test driven over a course of time. The idea is to help reader with questioning and exploring their own philosophical journey in the process. At the end, what is important is not to stick with one set of ideas but to seek a philosophy that one would like to own. 

The idea of buying a latest shiny smartphone gives us pleasure, but it doesn’t last long and soon dissipates. Like a drug addict we soon resume our quest for another shiny object. Should it be pursued more as a matter of choice or as a philosophical question? Whatever be it, philosophy can help us know what to do in such a situation with a sense of good judgement. Insatiable desire to accumulate more and more things is a form of sickness that not many are aware off. According to the Cyrenaics school of philosophy, we must own our pleasures instead of our pleasures owning us. In other words, it is the immediate physical pleasure that matters, here and now. 

This book is an engaging resource for anyone who would like to test drive the ancient Greek and Roman philosophies to suit present life and circumstances. It creates a much-needed bridge between ancient wisdom and modern interpretation. It helps in better understanding rich philosophical ideas, so that these could be applied in present-day modern life. Live Like a Philosopher gives an illuminating opportunity to navigate the existential waters with valuable insights and reflections. 

Well-known philosophers Pigliucci, Lopez and Kunz have compiled this book that explores a range of Greek and Roman philosophies. These philosophies include the Epicurean doctrines of pleasure and avoidance of pain; the Aristotelian philosophy on virtuous character and radical doubt; and Pyrrhonism, the humbling philosophy of life that admits of not knowing much. Despite distinctions between ancient philosophies, the authors have attempted to draw synergies to address the modern-day challenges. 

Live Like a Philosopher can be helpful in creating meaningful life philosophy to navigate a world filled with uncertainty. How can we build a good life for ourselves? is the loaded question it sought to address, by using ancient philosophies as a compass to find a new way forward with a sense of purpose. On happiness, Aristotle had remarked ‘one swallow does not make a summer, nor does one day’. He went further to say that ‘one day, or a short time, does not make a man blessed and happy.’ A resurgence of interest in philosophies of life is not without reason. 

Live Like a Philosopher
by Massimo Pigliucci, Gregory Lopez and Meredith Alexander Kunz
Headline Books/ Hachette, New Delhi 
Extent: 298, Price: Rs. 699.

First published in Deccan Herald on April 27, 2025.

History repeats itself

Has the world plunged into a crisis, and that too permanently? The geopolitical analyst Robert Kaplan has every reason to believe so. Moreso with no such thing as linear in this world, the direction of human history is anything but unknowable. Though technology has kept evolving, roots of the permanent crisis continue to lie in what goes wrong with technology. With a sweep of history and politics, one could see similarity between today’s challenges and those of interwar years. The similarity being that every national disaster now has the potential to spread across the world, pandemic being one example. 

Waste Land both warns as well as generates hope. While it positions us as the Master of Technology, it considers us no less victims of it to a previously unimaginable degree. The entire world may seem one big now yet not connected enough to be politically coherent. But despite such cultural and even civilizational differences, a crisis at one level becomes a crisis for all. All countries are now so connected, at least technologically, that the crises have a domino effect. There are exceedingly complex set of issues that have yet to be acknowledged and resolved.

An interesting and absorbing sweep through history, literature, politics and philosophy guides Kaplan to divide the world into two broad phases, Globalization 1.0 and Globalization 2.0. While the past phase was about the spread of democracy and the enlargement of the middle class, the present phase is value-neutral but largely hostile. Furthermore, this phase is characterized by dense webwork of interactions that is a perfect fuel for sustaining permanent crisis. No wonder, Ukraine, Gaza and other major conflicts get their effects amplified, rather than assuaged. 

Considered one of the top global thinkers on Foreign Policy, Robert D. Kaplan is currently Robert Strausz-Hupe Chair in Geopolitics at the Foreign Policy Research Institute. At this time when the world is bracing uncertain geopolitics, a deadly mix of war and climate change and heady cocktail of power rivalry and technological supremacy, the future finds itself in an exceedingly fragile phase of political transition. Nothing less than a penetrating diagnosis is needed to evolve a new international order.

The world isn’t getting worse, but the point is that social and digital media in the cities, in addition to doing some good, has greater potency to ignite more geopolitical turbulence. Waste Land surmises that social media in the world-cities are the key reason why politics will continue to get complicated and challenging. Not only has complex countries like Pakistan, Nigeria, and South Africa are teetering on becoming failed state, it is getting harder to even govern countries like the United States and France. The book makes some compelling observations and tosses unprecedented challenges that mankind is likely to face. 

Kaplan has drawn an interesting parallel of the present situation with the erstwhile Weimar Republic, the semi presidential republic during the interwar period 1918-1933, which the world today find itself in an exceedingly fragile phase of technological and political transition. Much like Weimar, ours is an interconnected system of states in which no one really rules. Weimer, once a loose-limbed republic, is now a permanent condition in the world, as countries (and its people) are connected by technology to affect each other intimately.

The whole city is a web, or should it be said the entire world is a web. Social media and the digital technology only amplify crowd psychology. The Trump phenomenon was hard to imagine in an earlier age of technology. The technology has its pinball motion that oscillates between extremes of toxic narcissi and the solidarity of the mob. The future is being defined by 21 century technology but has interesting resonant with the past. Kaplan concludes that many diverse strands of culture and history are converging to make amazing new sense of things. 

Waste Land is a brilliant and engaging survey of the world before us. Grounded in a vast range of history, philosophy and literature, it provides a range of critical positions before us. It is a dark mirror held to a dangerous world that demands our attention. We seem to have little choice but to fight one, as the outcome is neither clear nor predictable. It is a cautionary tale of absolute brilliance.  

Waste Land
by Robert D. Kaplan
Hurst, London.
Extent: 207, Price: US$ 23.

First published in the Hindu Business Line dated April 26, 2025.

A dera for everyone

Punjab is known for its sprawling deras - a place where a self-proclaimed religious head recites sermons - and there are some 9,000 of such deras in the state. About 80 per cent of the state’s population patronizes these deras which are believed to pocket 90 per cent of the religious donations. It is not without reason, it gives a large dalit population, an estimated 32 per cent in the state, a sense of social identity by which it can wield massive influence that is not without controversy. While most deras are a heady mix of the esoteric and the politics, these are also reflective of the sacred geography. Over the years, however, each dera has emerged as a seat of alternative spiritual power.  

The rising popularity of alternative religious sects has sparked much interest in the deras. These have emerged in response to prevailing caste-based social discrimination and exclusion of lower castes from the mainstream religion. Confirming the popularity of these sects among the lower castes, the contemporary attractiveness of the deras need to be understood as a complex social process. Not only that, the deras have influence on the character of the society which is often intertwined with its politics. While there is highly influential Dera Sachkhand Ballan on one extreme, the controversial Dera Sacha Sauda too dots the landscape. 

Religion is here to stay, or should it be said religious sect. In a sense, the deras act like tributaries of the main channel. Far from being boxed into narrow framework, the deras carry with them the rich diversity of deep philosophical realm. The Deras offers a compelling people’s perspective on the sociological imagination of these dynamic institutions which continue to evolve with time to stay relevant. However, the manner in which these institutions negotiate with the present scenario is fascinating. Spread across seven chapters, the book provides an ethnographic narrative on the dera culture that is not only growing but its social welfare perspective is gaining precedence.    

The modern narrative on the deras is somewhat progressive. Indeed, many deras are run by self-proclaimed gurus as personal enterprises. There is little denying the fact that there is a vast reservoir of free-floating disgruntling individuals for whom such progressive orientation of the dera is the way forward. These individuals want these deras to operate on purely entrepreneurial basis, investing in brand-building through charity work like blood donation camps and mass marriages. Deras have become congregations for electoral politics. Politicians of all stripes are understandably warming up to such possibilities. It is no surprise that the political patronage these deras receive in times of political crises is critical.

The Deras is an absorbing study on the dera culture in Punjab, which has gained unique profiles over the course of time with the adoption of distinct rituals, ceremonies, traditions, slogans, symbols, auspicious dates, customs, prayer, religious rituals, and attire of baba. Together with mammoth physical infrastructure, the deras provide social mobility for socially discriminated and economically poor sections of society. The book provides all that contributes pathological reasons for mushrooming of these deras. 

Author Santosh Singh reasons that mushrooming of deras has more to do with the fact that subaltern identity has yet to get mainstreamed. As this has yet to happen, the aspirations for inclusion and equality are far from fulfilled. The phenomenon of deras needs to be seen from the perspective of generating a social capital, which contributes to the emancipation and empowerment of lower caste and middle-class people in particular.

The Deras 
by Santosh Singh
Penguin, New Delhi 
Extent: 196, Price: Rs. 699.

First published in The Outlook on April 19, 2025.

No time to die, James Bond

For over six decades, from 1962 till 2021, James Bond has been a fixture of global culture, universally recognizable by the films’ combination of action set pieces, sex, political intrigue, and outrageous gadgetry. No Time To Die, the last Bond film released in Sept 2021, had the ruthless and self-indulgent secret service agent ‘die’ for the first time. Bond’s death cannot be without an impeccable reason. The lingering question: Is life sucked out from 007 or is there a new life for the agent awaiting somehow? Are there reasons enough for the secret service agent to perish or are global changes too many for his life getting a meaning?  

Spanning the franchise’s history, from Sean Connery’s iconic swagger to Daniel Craig’ visceral interpretation of the superspy, James Bond Will Return offers both academic readers and fans a comprehensive view of the series’ transformations against the backdrop of real-world geopolitical intrigue and sweeping social changes. Six years between the film Spectre (2015) and No Time To Die (2021) so much had happened that the Bond, as a character, felt grossly challenged. The period was itself factitious: Trump presidency was transforming the world between 2017-2021, and Brexit have had its influence on Europe in 2020. Gender relations were changing too.

Cary Fukunaga felt that ‘you cannot change Bond overnight into a different person’. As someone who directed Daniel Craig in No Time To Die, Fukunaga argued that while you can definitely change the world but not the way he has to function in such a world. In theory this was acceptable but not in practice. Never were there more vocal calls for substantive changes to the franchise than ever before, suggesting instead that the series was turning ‘redundant’ if such changes were    not incorporated. The world had definitely changed at all levels.    

The twenty-five chapters in this book engage with the wide range in which the Bond franchise has achieved historical and cultural impact, navigating the repetitions and innovations over the years. Over six decades 007 has remained a perennial feature of most adulthood, in no small way in which it owes it to the character’s ability to create and remain relevant.  But this in no way explain why some critics, scholars, and even fans have been glued to the Bond movies for being sexist, elitist, and even racist. Needless to say, it created opportunities when there was no dearth of reasons to pursue them. Over time, however, the masculinity and femininity the series presented began to strike many viewers as outdated.

Change is inevitable, more so in the case of Bond. It escaped change for being slow, but each time it served newness in each new film. The Bond has demonstrated its ability to shift social and political coordinates, while retaining the core constitutive elements that have held fans together since 1962. James Bond has remained an enduring icon of both national and masculine, and that would remain a challenge to retain that identity.

James Bond Will Return is for true. Barbara Broccoli didn’t shy away from saying that the next Bond film would be ‘a reinvention of Bond'. 'We’re reinventing who he is and that takes time'. James Bond matters to the entertainment industry, society, culture, and scholarship, negotiating issues of wider geo-political importance.          

James Bond Will Return
by Claire Hines, Terence McSweeney and Stuart Joy (Eds)
Columbia University Press, USA
Extent: 328, Price: Rs. 2,808.

First published in Hindustan Times on April 12, 2025.