The culture of honor – and the vendetta that it implies – is very widespread around the Mediterranean. Certain pillars are found there that structure the family unit and social coherence on the scale of villages or towns. The main function of the vendetta is to ensure the respect and a fortiori the security of a family or a larger…
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Natural, necessary and vain desires Contrary to the dominant thought, Epicureanism is not a radical hedonism. On the contrary, it is a philosophy that focuses on living in an essentialist way, that is to say, eliminating the superfluous to achieve happiness. As such, happiness is achieved when you no longer feel the need to seek it. If you have eaten,…
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According to its Greek etymology, strategy (derived from στρατός, stratós (“army”) and ἄγω, ágô (“to lead”)) refers to the art of preparing, directing the overall operations of a war, whereas tactics (τάσσω, tássô (“to arrange, to set in ranks”), formally derived from τακτός, taktós (“ordered”) with the suffix -ικός, -ikós. ) refers to the art of arranging troops on the…
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Traditionally, societies are organized around the functions that their members perform. If we look at Maslow’s pyramid, we can see that the hierarchy of needs in the pyramid follows the structure of ancient societies. The peasants who make up the base provide for subsistence needs. The warriors provide security through their mastery of the art of war. The clerics contribute…
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According to the Robert, predestination is a religious doctrine according to which God destines certain creatures to salvation by the sole force of his grace and dooms the others (whatever they do) to damnation. This belief is shared by several Christian denominations, notably Calvinist and Jansenist. These sects of Protestantism flourished and took root across the Atlantic where they greatly…
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Nudge theory (or liberal paternalism theory), according to Wikipedia, is a concept from the behavioral sciences, political theory and economics, derived from industrial design practices, that argues that indirect suggestions can, without force, influence the motivations, incentives and decision-making of groups and individuals, at least as effectively if not more effectively than direct instruction, legislation or enforcement. Nudge acts at…
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Tourism as we know it today is a recent phenomenon, let’s take a look at what gave rise to it. Pilgrimage or religious tourism One of the first manifestations of tourism has its roots in religion. Most religions encourage a return to holy places either because it is a religious imperative, or because they contain relics or because they allow…
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Doing nothing is an art, and like any art, it is necessary to be inspired by the masters to progress. What is doing nothing? The frenetic life we all undergo in one way or another makes the concept of idleness (which gave rise to the word leisure) or non-action almost impossible. Our minds are constantly in motion. This activity finds…
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or the benefits of serendipity Serendippo, according to a Persian tale, is a kingdom ruled by a king concerned with the moral education of his three princes. To perfect their education, he sends them to the four corners of the kingdom to glean valuable lessons and thus make them exemplary monarchs. According to Le Robert dictionary, serendipity is the “ability…
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Our being, called self, is according to Carl Jung what corresponds to our true nature. It is a conscious (ego) and unconscious whole. To conquer the self is to make the unconscious part conscious according to a process called individuation. The ego is the perception we have of ourselves. However, it is only a small part of our essence. The…
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