In this blog post, we explore the differences between Eastern and Western ways of thinking and the processes of cultural imitation and fusion through ‘The Geography of Thought’. The book I read this time is Richard Nisbett’s ‘The Geography of Thought’. Comprising eight chapters, the author—a social psychologist—uses experiment-based data in each chapter to explain the differences in...
“The Metamorphosis” is Franz Kafka’s masterpiece, which delves into the absurdity and anxiety of human existence. It profoundly illuminates alienation, loss of identity, and conflict with family through the story of a man transformed into a grotesque insect. Franz Kafka Franz Kafka was born in 1883 in Prague, Czech Republic, as the eldest son of a middle-class Jewish family. At the...
This blog post deeply explores whether Amir in ‘The Kite Runner’ is a true hero or a man who acted to ease his guilt. Chocolate is sweet. Anyone who puts chocolate in their mouth can feel the sweetness surge instantly. Yet, paradoxically, the reason chocolate is cherished more than equally sweet candies or jellies is precisely because of its bitterness. That absurd sensation—both sweet and...
This blog post explores how far it is ethically permissible to ‘design’ children amid advances in genetic technology. Professor Michael Sandel unpacks the philosophical and ethical debate surrounding ‘designing children’ in his book ‘The Case Against Perfection’. While we can consider a partner’s character or qualities when choosing a friend or spouse, children are beings we cannot...
This blog post takes a deep look at the meaning of human existence and attitudes toward life through Hemingway’s ‘The Old Man and the Sea’. ‘The Old Man and the Sea’ is Ernest Hemingway’s masterpiece, first published in the September 1952 issue of Life magazine. It earned him the Pulitzer Prize the following year and the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954. As the last novel...
This blog post explores whether shared genes can explain an individual’s altruistic behavior through kin selection theory, examining its limitations and issues. Introduction Richard Dawkins’ book ‘The Selfish Gene’ argues that all living beings, including humans, act according to how they are pre-programmed by their genes. Dawkins explains that individuals fulfill the task of...
This blog post explores whether Karl Raimund Popper’s theory of falsifiability can serve as a valid criterion for distinguishing science from non-science. Inductive reasoning is the process of deriving general conclusions from specific instances. This process has limitations because it draws conclusions from incomplete information. Its justification is based on the principle of...
This blog post explores how Pauline Chen, a woman and Asian who pursued the path of a surgeon, achieved a balance between success and family life. I happened to read a book about the lives of surgeons. The book I read was Final Exam: A Surgeon’s Reflections on Mortality, written by Pauline Chen. This book goes beyond simply conveying medical knowledge; it contains profound reflections on...
This blog post takes an in-depth look at how far animal rights should be respected within the mechanization of modern production processes. I read Yuval Noah Harari’s book Sapiens. In the section addressing the mechanization of modern production processes, I encountered the idea that production processes involving farm animals have also been mechanized, and that animals are now...
This blog post analyzes human cloning from a utilitarian viewpoint, examining whether its process and purpose increase social utility. American philosopher Hilary Putnam outlined his reasons for opposing human cloning in Chapter 1 of his book ‘The Genetic Revolution and Human Rights’. He introduced the concept of “moral intuition,” arguing that his opposition to human cloning was based on...