If history is deprived of the Truth, we are left with nothing but an idle, unprofitable tale
Remember to check out the About Us page! Welcome to the blogpost of Geoff and the Michaels. It matters not from whence you have come, but here we hope that kindred spirits may arise from the sharing of observations both frivolous and academic. The modern world is a place of information overload, one in which …
The following is a summary/reflection written during my study of the historical development of jurisprudence through Henry Sumner Maine's Ancient Law. It was an exciting and rewarding read, hence this piece of writing. It's also probably a bit more disconnected than usual, since Maine weaves together a large variety of ideas within short paragraphs and …
Continue reading The Historical Development of Legal Systems
Five hundred years before the birth of Christ, the world was still a wild and untamed place. In the aftermath of the Bronze Age Collapse, the quest for sustenance defined the lives of beasts and men alike. Civilisation, scattered and confused, was confined to the north of the equator, in a narrow strip of the …
Today, there is perhaps no defining feature of the West more than the ideal of ‘liberty’, immortalised in word - ‘Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite’ - and manifested in material - the Statue of Liberty and money. We see this term as an inalienable human right, a juxtaposition of tyranny, and a sensationalist ‘mission civilisatrice’ to liberate …
Continue reading Liberty and 自由 (Liberty) . The dichotomy of one word between two cultures.
It has been five years since with uncertain footsteps I boarded a vessel bound for the West. My luggage weighed heavy, my heart heavier still, leaden with a melancholy I did not yet know. Plump with the dew of paradise, aflame with youthful irreverence, and in defiance of orthodoxies past, my exodus had brought me …
Procopius records ‘he [Gelimer] neither wept nor cried but ceased not saying over the words of the Hebrew Scripture: “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity”’. Procopius commentates nothing; alas, there is no more to be said. Though in his lifetime the Mediterranean was once again a Romanum Lacum, Justinian’s empire was economically prostrate, beset on …
Continue reading Why do ancient historians use speeches in their works?
In this essay I will present the perspectives of Australian philosopher J.J.C Smart and American philosopher Thomas Nagel on the contemporary philosophical debate on the question: Can science ever tell us what it is like to be a bat? Smart presents an argument for the explanatory power of science, whilst Nagel argues the contrary, that …
Continue reading Can Science Really Tell Us What It Is Like To Be A Bat?
Let’s start with a thought experiment. You have 2 samples of 500 people each with a disease X, and you have a treatment Y. If you give this treatment Y to the first sample of 500 people, you have a 100% probability of saving 400 of those people. If you give the same treatment to …
What follows is my personal interpretation and translation of the famed Chinese text, 洛神赋 (Encounter With A Goddess, sometimes translated as "Ode to the Nymph of the Luo River") , by 曹植 (Cao Zhi). Born in 192 AD, the author was renowned for his talent, ambition, and brilliance, writing many of China's most well-known poems. …
The notion of meritocracy – a societal system in which people are selected on the basis of their demonstrated abilities and merit – has been thoroughly, and for many unknowingly, ingrained into Western society and political structure. In the Western capitalist democracies, efficiency is integral to maintaining consistent advancements both technologically and economically; the premise …
Defining Self-esteem Central to the concept of happiness is the idea of self-esteem, that is, one’s perception and relationship with one’s self. This relationship is without a doubt the most important in our lives, since we are constantly in our own presence. Whether it is when we are alone or when we are with others, …
Veni Vidi Veritatem 