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Pyrrhonian Buddhism reconstructs the path to enlightenment shared
both by early Buddhists and the ancient Greek sceptics inspired by
Pyrrho of Elis, who may have had extended contacts with Buddhists
when he accompanied Alexander the Great to India in the third
century BCE. This volume explores striking parallels between early
Buddhism and Pyrrhonian scepticism, suggesting their virtual
identity. Both movements saw beliefs—fictions mistaken for
truths—as the principal source of human suffering. Both practiced
suspension of judgment about beliefs to obtain release from
suffering, and to achieve enlightenment, which the Buddhists called
bodhi and the Pyrrhonists called ataraxia. And both came to
understand the structure of human experience without belief, which
the Buddhists called dependent origination and the Pyrrhonists
described as phenomenalistic atomism. This book is intended for the
general reader, as well as historians, classicists, Buddhist
scholars, philosophers, and practitioners of spiritual techniques.
Pyrrhonian Buddhism reconstructs the path to enlightenment shared
both by early Buddhists and the ancient Greek sceptics inspired by
Pyrrho of Elis, who may have had extended contacts with Buddhists
when he accompanied Alexander the Great to India in the third
century BCE. This volume explores striking parallels between early
Buddhism and Pyrrhonian scepticism, suggesting their virtual
identity. Both movements saw beliefs-fictions mistaken for
truths-as the principal source of human suffering. Both practiced
suspension of judgment about beliefs to obtain release from
suffering, and to achieve enlightenment, which the Buddhists called
bodhi and the Pyrrhonists called ataraxia. And both came to
understand the structure of human experience without belief, which
the Buddhists called dependent origination and the Pyrrhonists
described as phenomenalistic atomism. This book is intended for the
general reader, as well as historians, classicists, Buddhist
scholars, philosophers, and practitioners of spiritual techniques.
Populism is a genuine 'third way' in politics, a middle path
between the extremes of corporate anarchy and collective
authoritarianism. This is a trenchant and timely study.Populism is
distinguished from other political movements by its insistence on
two things conspicuously missing from modern systems of political
economy: genuine democracy based on local citizen assemblies, and
the widespread distribution among the population of privately-owned
economic capital. Adrian Kuzminski's book, in offering a
comprehensive historical account of populism. He shows that
populism, now largely overlooked, has in fact had a consistent and
distinct history since ancient times. Kuzminski demonstrates that
populism is a tradition of practice as well as thought, ranging
from ancient city states to the frontier communities of colonial
America - all places where widely distributed private property and
democratic decision-making combined to foster material prosperity
and cultural innovation.The political economy of populism was first
articulated by the ancient Greek philosopher Phaleas of Chalcedon
and variously developed by thinkers as diverse as Aristotle, James
Harrington, George Berkeley, Thomas Jefferson, Edward Kellogg and
Frederick Soddy. Only where none are rich enough to dominate others
economically nor poor enough to be so dominated, populists argue,
can the public interest be served. By democracy-for-all, populists
mean full and direct participation in empowered local citizen
assemblies. This vision of a decentralised, 'bottom-up' democracy
was developed in his later years by Thomas Jefferson, who called
for completing the American revolution by rooting broader levels of
government in such local assemblies, which he called 'ward
republics.' The book includes extensive extracts from Jefferson's
writings on the matter.In calling for a wide distribution of both
property and democracy, populism opposes the political and economic
system found today in the United States and other Western
countries, where property remains highly concentrated in private
hands and where representatives chosen in impersonal mass elections
frustrate democracy by serving private monied interests rather than
the public good. As one of very few systematic alternatives to our
current political and economic system, populism offers a pragmatic
program for fundamental social reform which deserves wide and
serious consideration.
Populism is a genuine 'third way' in politics, a middle path
between the extremes of corporate anarchy and collective
authoritarianism. It is a trenchant and timely study.Populism is
distinguished from other political movements by its insistence on
two things conspicuously missing from modern systems of political
economy: genuine democracy based on local citizen assemblies, and
the widespread distribution among the population of privately-owned
economic capital. Adrian Kuzminski's book, in offering a
comprehensive historical account of populism, shows that populism,
now largely overlooked, has in fact had a consistent and distinct
history since ancient times. Kuzminski demonstrates that populism
is a tradition of practice as well as thought, ranging from ancient
city states to the frontier communities of colonial America - all
places where widely distributed private property and democratic
decision-making combined to foster material prosperity and cultural
innovation.The political economy of populism was first articulated
by the ancient Greek philosopher Phaleas of Chalcedon and variously
developed by thinkers as diverse as Aristotle, James Harrington,
George Berkeley, Thomas Jefferson, Edward Kellogg and Frederick
Soddy. Only where none are rich enough to dominate others
economically nor poor enough to be so dominated, populists argue,
can the public interest be served. By democracy-for-all, populists
mean full and direct participation in empowered local citizen
assemblies. This vision of a decentralised, 'bottom-up' democracy
was developed in his later years by Thomas Jefferson, who called
for completing the American revolution by rooting broader levels of
government in such local assemblies, which he called 'ward
republics.' The book includes extensive extracts from Jefferson's
writings on the matter.In calling for a wide distribution of both
property and democracy, populism opposes the political and economic
system found today in the United States and other Western
countries, where property remains highly concentrated in private
hands and where representatives chosen in impersonal mass elections
frustrate democracy by serving private monied interests rather than
the public good. As one of very few systematic alternatives to our
current political and economic system, populism offers a pragmatic
program for fundamental social reform which deserves wide and
serious consideration.
Modern economies must "grow" because money borrowed for investment
can be repaid only by expanding production and consumption to meet
the burden of usurious rates of interest. The roots of this dynamic
between debt and growth lay in the financial revolution of the late
seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries in Britain which
established a new usurious monetary system. For the first time in
history credit was made widely available, but only on condition of
an exponentially increasing debt burden. To pay back debts
production had to increase correspondingly, leading to the
industrial revolution, economic "growth", and modernity itself.
Though private creditors gained a monopoly over the creation of
credit, and were disproportionately enriched, the resulting
economic growth for a time was great enough to benefit most debtors
as well as creditors, ensuring widespread prosperity. That is no
longer the case. With today's eco-crisis we have reached the limits
of growth. We no longer have the natural resources to grow fast
enough to pay our debts. This is the real root of our current
financial crisis. If we are to live sustainably, our system of
money and credit must be transformed. We need a non-usurious
monetary system appropriate to a steady-state economy, with capital
broadly distributed at non-usurious rates of interest. Such a
system was developed by an early nineteenth century American
thinker, Edward Kellogg, and is explored here in depth. His work
inspired the populist movement and remains more relevant than ever
as a viable alternative to the a financial system we can no longer
afford.
Modern economies must "grow" because money borrowed for investment
can be repaid only by expanding production and consumption to meet
the burden of usurious rates of interest. The roots of this dynamic
between debt and growth lay in the financial revolution of the late
seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries in Britain which
established a new usurious monetary system. For the first time in
history credit was made widely available, but only on condition of
an exponentially increasing debt burden. To pay back debts
production had to increase correspondingly, leading to the
industrial revolution, economic "growth", and modernity itself.
Though private creditors gained a monopoly over the creation of
credit, and were disproportionately enriched, the resulting
economic growth for a time was great enough to benefit most debtors
as well as creditors, ensuring widespread prosperity. That is no
longer the case. With today's eco-crisis we have reached the limits
of growth. We no longer have the natural resources to grow fast
enough to pay our debts. This is the real root of our current
financial crisis. If we are to live sustainably, our system of
money and credit must be transformed. We need a non-usurious
monetary system appropriate to a steady-state economy, with capital
broadly distributed at non-usurious rates of interest. Such a
system was developed by an early nineteenth century American
thinker, Edward Kellogg, and is explored here in depth. His work
inspired the populist movement and remains more relevant than ever
as a viable alternative to the a financial system we can no longer
afford.
Pyrrhonism is commonly confused with scepticism in Western
philosophy. Unlike sceptics, who believe there are no true beliefs,
Pyrrhonists suspend judgment about all beliefs, including the
belief that there are no true beliefs. Pyrrhonism was developed by
a line of ancient Greek philosophers, from its founder Pyrrho of
Elis in the fourth century BCE through Sextus Empiricus in the
second century CE. Pyrrhonists offer no view, theory, or knowledge
about the world, but recommend instead a practice, a distinct way
of life, designed to suspend beliefs and ease suffering. Adrian
Kuzminski examines Pyrrhonism in terms of its striking similarity
to some Eastern non-dogmatic soteriological traditions-particularly
Madhyamaka Buddhism. He argues that its origin can plausibly be
traced to the contacts between Pyrrho and the sages he encountered
in India, where he traveled with Alexander the Great. Although
Pyrrhonism has not been practiced in the West since ancient times,
its insights have occasionally been independently recovered, most
recently in the work of Ludwig Wittgenstein. Kuzminski shows that
Pyrrhonism remains relevant perhaps more than ever as an antidote
to today's cultures of belief.
Pyrrhonism is commonly confused with scepticism in Western
philosophy. Unlike sceptics, who believe there are no true beliefs,
Pyrrhonists suspend judgment about all beliefs, including the
belief that there are no true beliefs. Pyrrhonism was developed by
a line of ancient Greek philosophers, from its founder Pyrrho of
Elis in the fourth century BCE through Sextus Empiricus in the
second century CE. Pyrrhonists offer no view, theory, or knowledge
about the world, but recommend instead a practice, a distinct way
of life, designed to suspend beliefs and ease suffering. Adrian
Kuzminski examines Pyrrhonism in terms of its striking similarity
to some Eastern non-dogmatic soteriological traditions-particularly
Madhyamaka Buddhism. He argues that its origin can plausibly be
traced to the contacts between Pyrrho and the sages he encountered
in India, where he traveled with Alexander the Great. Although
Pyrrhonism has not been practiced in the West since ancient times,
its insights have occasionally been independently recovered, most
recently in the work of Ludwig Wittgenstein. Kuzminski shows that
Pyrrhonism remains relevant perhaps more than ever as an antidote
to today's cultures of belief.
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