Political Thought

Resting on a set of Great Concepts that have emerged from the Great Conversation, the development of political thought has literally determined the course of history and affected every dimension of human existence. The limitations of our modern languages complicate any perception and understanding of these Great Concepts, which emerged in languages of other societies with values much different from our own. Many of the words of modern political discourse—rights, democracy, justice, law, freedom—did not exist in ancient cultures that had no conceptions of their meanings. Other words—government, rule, obligation, obedience, and others—carried meanings for the Great Thinkers that modern thinkers would not recognize. While this inconsistency permeates all historical thinking, it is particularly true of political thought. Nationality, citizenship, nationalism, and patriotism are new words devised by modern Great Thinkers to describe new notions. Nation, people, country, community are old words, whose meanings have become unstable and therefore explosive.

William H. Mott IV’s in-depth analysis in Political Thought spans hundreds of years of political philosophy and belies a deep interest and knowledge of politics.

Philosophy in History: How Ideas Have Shaped Our World

What kind of forces have shaped our modern world? Have they been political, economic, scientific, or perhaps even theological? The answer is that all of these forces have been at work, but they have all been the product of ideas, as our views on all of these topics have changed over time. Can ideas be more powerful than armies? Surprisingly, the answer is ‘yes’. History teaches us that nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come. Throughout history, rulers, generals and in our own day even stockbrokers and plutocrats have always imagined themselves to be in charge, with that last group even describing themselves as ‘masters of the universe’. In reality, however, all of these individuals have themselves been the products of ideas, owing their positions entirely to existing trends of thought. How this has come about and how it has delivered for us our present-day world are the themes explained in this book.

Our Secret - O Nosso Segredo

What mystery is capable of transforming the past, the present and the future of humanity?

In the midst of so many questions about God, our reason for existence, and the meaning of everything around us, this work answers the greatest mystery in the history of mankind. Through a vision—both innovative and revolutionary—and a thorough analysis of the two branches that throughout history have defined our lives directly or indirectly, this book seeks to go beyond the realisation that religion and science have diverged over the years.

The work that the reader has in hand is not meant to be a superfluous conspiracy theory, a simple philosophical thought or a utopian idealisation. It aims instead to be a milestone for the thinking of the new man, and is based on logical, sensible, factual and concrete arguments, from which the mystery is unveiled: the mystery to which neither science nor religions have succeeded by giving a full and unanimous response, until today. This book is intended to redefine our beliefs and convictions, find points of convergence between both branches—and thus chart a new path for the discovery of the essence behind God, our mission as human beings, and the existence of everything present in the universe.

Not All Quiet Before the Storm: A Political Study of the West

Not All Quiet Before the Storm: A Political Study of the West offers a comprehensive political and philosophical critique concerning the increasing popularity of socialism among liberal intellectuals, leftist generations of the young, and even Christian democrats. The author presents a series of extensive analyses on ideological, cultural, and generational wars, moral and identity issues, and the challenges facing the Western world in the twenty-first century.
The reader is to receive a severe but frank stricture upon liberal democracy, a condemnation of the globalizing elite and the Western world’s current political climate and culture.
The tone of the work is “politically incorrect,” describing the decline and socialist transformation of the West. The Left has changed the entire political and cultural landscape of the Western world. The breakdown of civil society was caused by individual rights not being paired with personal responsibility, and the growing culture of entitlements has convinced the people that failure is not their fault but results from the political-economic system’s transgressions. Westerners have abandoned the ethical basis for society, believing that all problems are solvable by “good government.”
The book offers recommendations on solving the readily apparent impasse. It outlines an alternative system termed the “New West”.

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall

By 2022 an increasing number of Britons were asking themselves “what has gone wrong?”Great Britain – a nation with an imperial history, a nation of profound innovators, a nation steeped in tradition and pride. The more complex the picture, the more difficult it is to see clearly exactly what the problems are. Solutions are rarely blindingly obvious and yet the seeds of the problems may well be staring us in the eye. Either in the conference room, at the dinner table, or in the mirror.Here we accompany a typical British family from 1955 to 2022. Their dialogues reveal historical parallels and interesting insights into perceived “Britishness” over this period. Their lives and their beliefs, their travels and experiences, their attitudes, and expectations, expose them for what they are: an average family of the time. For they, and others like them, were weaving the thread into the British flag. The respective comments take us down the path leading to the social and political situation of 2022.The mirror held before us shows that what Abraham Lincoln once said remains true today: “you’ve got to do your own growing no matter how tall your grandfather was.”Every single person has the possibility to change what they see in their own mirror, and in society’s mirror. All that is necessary is to acknowledge that needs must.

Mental Fight

In this factual and compelling philosophical memoir, the author takes you on a journey from their birth in the West Indies to their quest for answers to life’s paradoxes. Despite overcoming the challenges of prison, homelessness, and mental illness, they find redemption through education and philosophical discovery. This unsentimental account recounts the author’s path towards enlightenment and the solutions they have found to life’s biggest questions.

Life on the Other Side of My Neighbourhood

Often, we traverse through life in a bubble, oblivious to the realities unfolding just across the neighbourhood. It’s not deliberate, but a common human tendency. Yet, when a sliver of life ‘on the other side’ catches our eye, it prompts a riveting realization: do we indeed inhabit the same world?

This newfound perspective might send shivers down your spine as you grapple with the stark contrasts of life, especially in the landscape of Southern Africa. Here, countless souls are relegated to the status of ‘desperadoes,’ their lives shackled by the chains of poverty, a situation exacerbated by the haunting shadows of colonization.

How I yearn for our leaders to don disguises, to walk a mile in the shoes of those on the other side of the neighbourhood. Such an experience could unveil the crushing repercussions of lacklustre governance on the future generations of Southern Africa. Perhaps then, they might reconsider their leadership ethos, valuing citizens as beings of emotion and aspiration, not merely as ballot ticks.

Through the lens of an ordinary South African immigrant, this narrative unfolds a tapestry of daily challenges, endeavouring to offer you a deeper understanding. As you traverse through her journey, may it spark a transformation within, urging you to look beyond the familiar, and delve into the unseen narratives that share our world yet remain veiled in the mists of unawareness.

Life As We Speak

Step into a world where words hold unimaginable power and unlock the gateway to our desired reality. In Life As We Speak, the profound connection between our speech and the very fabric of existence comes to light. Delve into the realization that life itself is a pure reflection of the way we harness and employ language.

This transformative book reveals the awe-inspiring potential of intention-oriented speech patterns. By consciously shaping our words, we generate thought forms that act as guiding forces, directing every activity and event toward our initial vision. Life As We Speak empowers readers to harness this ultimate ability, unlocking the keys to success, health, wealth, and whatever else their hearts yearn for, simply by becoming aware of their speech patterns and making conscious adjustments.

Within the pages of this captivating work, the mysteries of spoken and written words are unraveled, allowing readers to master the mechanism of life-creation through the power of their own voices. This book serves as a profound tool, dedicated to enhancing readers’ lives by revealing the immense power hidden within their spoken words. Through enlightening teachings, readers learn to cultivate constructive and beneficial verbal expression habits, forever transforming the way they interact with the world.

Language and Consciousness

The earth is home for countless species and has been for many millions of years. Man is probably one of the most recent arrivals, but in a remarkably short time has so changed the world to make its future uncertain.

It has been only about 400 years since this change appeared when science, using language differently, became a significant part of our intellectual make-up. At the same time language, in the hands of writers, became the manipulator of human consciousness, as David Lodge has discussed in Consciousness and the Novel.

This book attempts to establish a new platform to understand the nature of human consciousness based on language, without the need for the concept of ‘neural correlates’, for which many currently search.

How the Universe Operates

Why do the heavenly bodies behave in a contrary fashion to what we are familiar with on earth?
Before a wheel can turn, we must ensure rim is joined to axle; before a couple can dance in circle, their hands must be joined. In contrast, the planets circle the sun and the moons circle the planets without any securing mechanism, and so precisely that their movements can be predicted to a millisecond. Again, why is it that, released from the effects of gravity, emollient matter like water or molten lead forms spontaneously into tiny globes, copying the form found in stars, planets and the sun? Are the tides satisfactorily explained by the thesis of gravitational ‘pull’ of moon and sun? If so, why does modern science have such difficulty reconciling the relative influences of these two bodies? What sort of reality is light, and why is the speed of light fixed and not infinite, at least in space?
Answers to these and other questions may be found through recourse to the philosophy of Aristotle. The thinkers of the Enlightenment chose to discard Aristotle’s limited natural science. That was understandable. But they chose to discard his philosophy as well. This was unwise, as fresh study of Aristotle’s thinking will show.

Hope on the Brinks: Dreams and Nightmares Crossing Borders

Much writing and popular media coverage of forced migration portrays refugees in a frame of helplessness and vulnerability. Focusing on the ‘suffering refugee’ obscures our ability to recognize the collective strength of refugee communities and how these strengths allow displaced persons to reorganize their lives in informal settlements in growing cities of the developing world. This book sheds light on how a growing population of urban refugees from Rwanda rebuilt their lives and communities after conflict and displacement in Cameroon, and how quickly things can change when their legal situation is called into question. Turmoil in the Central Africa region has led to over 500,000 refugees and asylum seekers arriving over the past several decades in Cameroon, the safe haven of the Central Africa region. This book aims to present human faces to the sea of refugees dominating our television screens, illustrate the range of their experiences rather than boiling the trajectories down to simple flight and displacement, and underline how their situations demonstrate resilience and hope in their ability to endure extreme hardship in chaotic urban environments. Indeed, even under the guise of rapidly changing and exclusive immigration policy, displaced persons try to keep their lives moving forward. A better understanding of hope and practice that lead to desired outcomes of refugees within growing urban centers in developing countries is imperative to inform these resilience building programs that humanitarian agencies are still grappling to design.

Have Not Charity - Volume 1: Sins and Volume 2: Virtues

Have Not Charity is a fascinating and profound investigation into deep and important concepts which have become obscure in modern times: sin and virtue. Alexandr Korol examines what motivates people in their actions, how goals and behaviours align, and how these are all affected both for good and ill both by virtue and by sin. He seeks to show that many ‘good’ deeds are in fact motivated by sin.

This is a true modern work of ethics, in the classical sense, a guide for a better life. If you have ever hoped to gain a clearer and fuller understanding of how society and life work, this book will prove invaluable.