5 ms·
The arthashastra is brilliant. Much older and far more Machiavellian than Machiavelli. Highly recommended if you are interested in ancient thought
by voldacar 6y ago
The arthashastra is brilliant. Much older and far more Machiavellian than Machiavelli.
Highly recommended if you are interested in ancient thought
- captn3m0 6y agoAlso far more misogynistic.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- rudiv 6y agoEdit: This comment deemed unsavory by desi HN gang.
- warranty 6y agoFemale form of deities are the only ones that can be worshipped for bloodlust. Female deities aren’t feminists they want blood of enemies flowing.
- thewhitetulip 6y agoI couldn't believe it when I read it. And they say the society in Manusmriti is much more misogynistic than this book! And this book is bad. Really bad.
- warranty 6y agoMisogyny keeps civilization alive.
- actuator 6y agoIf we judge any ancient work by our current morals, we would most likely be left wanting. This book was written almost 2500 years back.
- crispyporkbites 6y agoI half agree with this. IMO we should absolutely throw out content that doesn’t fit within modern morals, given our modern morals are objectively more correct and humanist than anything prior (if that is not the case we should challenge our morals not the prior text). However we can still learn from and stand to lose a great deal by destroying content with morally questionable angles. So what we really want is an interpretation / disclaimer in front of this work that makes it clear how we should interpret it through a framework that applies today without bringing off-topic morality questions into play.
- actuator 6y agoYeah, I agree with this. The comment which I replied to which has been flagged now stated something like, "this is so misogynistic". Hence, my comment that prevailing morals were largely different then. One can choose to leave the misogynistic things yet still appreciate his work on politics and economics.
- abhayhegde 6y agoI believe in seperating people from their brilliant works. Appreciating their work/thoughts does not necessarily mean condoning their behavior. One should never accept or propagate inappropriate social cues. However, that does not mean one should lose an opportunity to be wiser by reading and assimilating thier wisdom. As such nobody is perfect and who ever it may be, let us pick the positive qualities from them, on our way towards becoming a nicer person.
- max_ 6y agoThanks for the recommendation. I was looking for something like this to add in my personal library.
- rramadass 6y agoYou might find my comment in this thread listing some book recommendations, useful.
- actuator 6y agoIs the english translation good enough or reading it in Sanskrit is recommended? If yes, any translation that you recommend?
- rramadass 6y agoYou might find my comment in this thread listing some book recommendations, useful.