That's the title of the book I'm currently reading. It's short (200 pages) but I have to read slowly and some passages a couple of times. Sounds like a real slog huh? It is, however, one of the best I've read. What's it about? Oh about 200 pages. I couldn't begin to tell you. Well, I guess I could begin. It's about concepts, how we (western civilization) got to where we are and where we may be going. The author is very erudite and, therefore, able to support his reasoning with examples from history and analysis of philosopher's writings. He makes the complex, relatively speaking, not easy but, easier to comprehend.
He told a vignette about Diogenes "the first cynic". He was the Greek guy (I refuse to say dude) who walked about in the daytime with a lantern looking for another honest man (he considered himself one). Anyway the story goes that one day in the argos (marketplace) Diogenes was admonished for masturbating in public. He shrugged it off with an aside asking, rhetorically I'm sure, Wouldn't it be wonderful if one could satisfy their hunger by just rubbing their belly?
You may ask "What about civilization's enemies?" You may, it is true. That, however, is for another time.
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