This is a remarkable book. Not because the author tells us what is right and wrong but because he explains what it is to be human, what humans should be and the relationship between the two, according to the world’s greatest philosophers, theologians and moral thinkers over time. If you have ever wanted to better understand what Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Aquinas, Erasmus, Rousseau, Nietzsche, Mohammed, Marx, Lao Tzu, Hegel, Locke, Kant and Buddha to name a few were trying to say about who we are and how we should live, this is the book for you.
Malik exposes their contributions, contradictions, strengths and weaknesses in layman language using well reasoned argument and humour to get at the way they saw how humans are and the way (at least some of them) thought we ought to be. The way we think about moral issues has changed over time due to social change, history and different cultural perspectives. Think about the moralistic changes you have seen in your own lifetime. We are polarized between those that subscribe to rules based morals as in the monotheistic religions and those what believe we can get at what is right and wrong by using reason and science. Another trending view is that there is no objective moral code at all and that all morals are simply a matter of personal “preference”.
And he writes this book in a way as you read it you think, OK this is his favorite thinker e.g., Hegel, wow. But then he goes on in equally exuberant detail about the next thinker e.g, Nietzche only to expose his limitations and shortcomings too. Malik has no favorite thinker it seems – it is the depth and breadth of his coverage which is simply amazing.
In reading this book I discovered a couple of interesting subjects I wish to follow up on. The first is that of the largest successful slave rebellion the world has ever seen led by Toussaint L’Ouverature in 1696 Santo Domingo (Haiti). A book written years ago about this subject is now high on my list to read: The Black Jacobins. Author Malik says this rebellion was the kernel of anti-colonialism still unfolding today and is as equally as important as the French and American revolutions.
A more recent subject Malik addresses was a book written about dozen years ago entitled When China Rules the World. According to the author Martin Jacques, China is a “civilization” not a nation state, is firmly grounded in its history, has the world’s most competent government with the strongest support and has very different views of how “democracy” should work. We tend to judge China using our western lens assuming that it will become more western. Not true according to the book’s author. It is the world that will become more Chinese as China (and India) assume more global leadership and control in the not too distant future. Perhaps China is not the rogue state we have been led to believe it is. Intriguing indeed.
Just a couple of examples of how stimulating and enjoyable a read this was for me. I rate The Quest for a Moral Compass 5 full stars and will likely read it again.
mattersofthemoment 