The Imperium and Its Discontents: A Few “Metaphysical” Remarks

A Heretic’s Log: A series of philosophical essays written between September 20, 2002 and July 15, 2004.

Usama Bin Laden was a disinherited man. His wealth notwithstanding, his voice was inaudible, his concerns irrelevant, his dreams and aspirations moot. He was not the only one in this position, of course. The world is full of such disinherited and dejected men. But then, not too many of them have had the opportunity to think of themselves as allies to the Powers That Be in this world, joined in a common cause against “Godlessness,” and not too many have had a taste of “victory,” albeit achieved through that old-fashioned, yet not so “honorable,” way that is gorilla warfare. Continue reading “The Imperium and Its Discontents: A Few “Metaphysical” Remarks” →

The Imperium between East and West

A Heretic’s Log: A series of philosophical essays written between September 20, 2002 and July 15, 2004.

It may not be so important to know the exact date on which the American Western Imperium, with all its pretensions at universality [1], had its real beginning. After all, the beginning is no longer with us, and the way the Cold War ended, i.e. with the utter ideological defeat of the other side, if anything, denotes the improbability of its abortion. The genie is out of the lamp and no Aladdin is in sight. Dealing with the consequences at this stage is, therefore, much more urgent than dealing with the causes. Or so it appears, at least for those interested in “crisis management.” Continue reading “The Imperium between East and West” →

A Unity of Expectations

A certain unifying reality is continuously imposing itself upon us, all of us, regardless of how we choose to define ourselves or each other. This reality is called Modernity, and it is in fact a process, a very ruthless process, despite the ennobling ideas born out of it and those that gave it birth.

It is so, because it is uncompromising in its demand that our very sense of identity should be as fluid, continuous and, so seemingly unending, as history itself. Modernity does not accommodate a rigid sense of identity, those who exhibit or insist on having such a sense will always be in conflict with Modernity even when they seem reconciled with it. Continue reading “A Unity of Expectations” →

Clash of Civilizations or Conflict of Interests?

A Heretic’s Log: A series of philosophical essays written between September 20, 2002 and July 15, 2004.

The whole thesis of a clash of civilization could be approached and refuted from a variety of angles. One such important angle is that there are indeed no civilizations, but only one global civilization (western, so far) encompassing many cultures, with each culture witnessing an internal clash of values between modernity and tradition giving birth in the process to various fundamentalisms: Christian, Islamic, Jewish, Hindu, etc. Continue reading “Clash of Civilizations or Conflict of Interests?” →