Zen and the Art of Funk Capitalism: A General Theory of Fallibility [Paperback]

Karun Philip (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 15, 2001

A Cure for Poverty?This book provides a new explanation of why capitalism succeeds where it does, yet fails to achieve universal welfare as its most vocal proponents claim it ought to. By looking at the issue of the meta-knowledge problemhow disadvantaged people do not know how to find out what knowledge is valuable, where to acquire it, and how to finance itthe book discovers the core reason for enduring poverty of entire communities. The book starts with a core axiom that knowledge is fallible (and meta-knowledge even more so) and discusses the implications of that for ideas in welfare, education, entrepreneurship, banking, law, ethics and religion.In its Appendix, entitled "A Rationalist's Guide to Religion" the book provides an interpretation of the world's major faiths in light of the fallibility axiom.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Karun Philip is the co-founder of Tranquilmoney, Inc., a New York based software company. He earlier founded and ultimately sold MM Imagine Technologies Private Limited, a back office outsourcing company based in Chennai, India.

Product Details

• Paperback: 124 pages
• Publisher: IUniverse (November 15, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0595205143
• ISBN-13: 978-0595205141
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.9 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,100,870 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Is this book a "white dwarf"?, February 6, 2002

By 

Rafe Champion (Sydney, Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Zen and the Art of Funk Capitalism: A General Theory of Fallibility (Paperback)

A white dwarf is a star of massive density. A book qualifies as a "white dwarf" if it is so packed with content that it can be read many times and still yields more insights and understanding each time. This book is only a hundred pages in length and it covers a range of fundamental issues from philosophy, the nature of freedom and discovery, law and government, money and banking, entrepreneurship and education, the problems of developing countries. It is clearly written and provides an excellent bibliography, including web sites, for futher investigation of his themes.

Karun Philip is a practical dreamer, with his head in the clouds of abstract ideas and his feet planted in the earth of the commercial marketplace. In my view this book is almost a white dwarf because the author has managed to convey so many insights by unpacking the implications of the "axiom of fallibility" which is the central organizing principle of the book. He attributes most of the novelty and power of his ideas to the pioneering work of F A Hayek, a man who he describes as too market-oriented for the left but not sufficiently laissez-faire to satisfy the libertarians.

The axiom of fallibility tends to meet a mixed reception. Some people consider that it represents a capitulation to irrationalism, to relativism and the feckless attitude of "anything goes". Others consider that it is old hat, everyone knows about the uncertainty of human knowledge. However the secret of creative scholarship is to take a simple idea and pursue its less obvious consequences and implications. If the idea is sound and the scholar is both resolute and lucky in his sources, influences and insights, the results can change the direction of civilisation.

One would have to be a polymath to judge whether Philip's insights are robust in all the areas that he has addressed. In addition, the exposition is too brief to answer the myriad of doubts and objections that critics will provide. It may be that this is not quite a white dwarf, and perhaps Philip's next book, elaborating the themes of this volume, will qualify.

Rafe Champion
Independent Scholar, Sydney, Australia

4 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is an awesome book, January 11, 2004

By 

"chauncytechman" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Zen and the Art of Funk Capitalism: A General Theory of Fallibility (Paperback)

Awesome. That's the only way I can describe it. You're going to read this, and then think "damn, this is *deep*, I need to read it again." You'd think that a book like this would be a lot longer - I mean, it took Ayn Rand a thousand pages to do Atlas Shrugged, and 1984 was something like 350 pages. And all the other stuff is too hard to read, it's badly written.

This book is readable, as in, it makes sense to an average guy. (I'm a computer repair tech with certifications instead of college degrees.) It's well-written and understandable, and it all makes sense. And you have a whole LOT crammed into about 120 pages. It's all about philosophy and how we don't know anything truly for sure, and how you've got to do everything based on those assumptions. As in, about how all the stuff in the modern capitalist west is based somewhat on those - like democracy, the jury system, capitalism, all of it. Think of it as being a bit like The Matrix as written by George Orwell, the guy who did 1984 and Animal Farm.