The Art Instinct: Beauty, Pleasure and Human Evolution, by Dennis Dutton, Oxford University Press 2009. A review by David Maclagan.

GYÖRGY FALUDY From Thomas Land, in Budapest BOOK after translated book, a soft-spoken poet who spent a long life writing in an awkward, minority language is taking his rightful place among the giants of world literature — even in his homeland. György Faludy was born in Budapest a century ago this September. He was a [...]

If you believe Lin Yutang, author of The Importance of Living, man is a curious wayward dreamer who is furiously pursuing all the wrong things. Yutang has a very specific philosophy for living life which will bring genuine contentment, and he begins with the idea of detachment, which is similar to Buddhist philosophy.

Being a Philosophy major in college, I never thought there was anything funny about the subject of Philosophy. Understanding metaphysics, logic, rationalism and existentialism etc. discussed by the super thinkers of the world like Aristotle, Plato, Marx, Sartre, and Kierkegaard seemed anything but humorous. Trying to grasp the perplexing questions of life like, “Why are we here?” and “What’s it all about, Alphie?” hardly seemed a subject for humor.

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