Philosophy Books Malaysian Lawmakers Should Read
The wisdom of philosophy can help us question our leaders, understand our society, and improve the world.
Philosophy. It’s a word that sends chills down the spines of most secondary school students. The word conjures up images of bearded men in togas and riddles wrapped in enigma. It is a subject that is seen as useless; something that is not relevant in the “real world”.
Who needs Philosophy, when you have Maths and Physics? These are the fields that are going to save our nation from its current economic depression, right?
Well, quite a lot, as it turns out.
Lawmakers and law enforcers in this country should be well-versed and knowledgeable about philosophy, as it is both relevant and important within the framework of our society; with the likes of laws, morality and justice.
Today, when law and morality are not exactly the most stable concepts, it is of utmost importance that we all know and understand the role and place of philosophy in our daily lives.
In this article, I will be sharing with you some of the most important books on philosophy. These works have greatly influenced my views on life, and I hope that through this article, they will influence yours as well.
Frederic Bastiat — The Law
“The law perverted! And the police powers of the state perverted along with it! The law, I say, not only turned from its proper purpose but made to follow an entirely contrary purpose! The law become the weapon of every kind of greed! Instead of checking crime, the law itself guilty of the evils it is supposed to punish!”
This opening passage, which features in The Law, is also the perfect description of the current Malaysian legal system. What Bastiat meant was that it had been corrupted by legislators to favor certain people or businesses, at the expense of others. It is the same in Malaysia.
What Bastiat feared had come true; that the law would be used to take property and freedom from people, under the premise of it “being for their own good”. Whether it be the raising of taxes, over-criminalization, or whatever else, the law is used by lawmakers to benefit themselves and their cronies, at the expense of everyone else. This is just one example of how our lawmakers have perverted the law.
The fiery text in which The Law is written seems to accurately reflect the anger and frustration Bastiat feels about the state of the legal system, as well as the rest of his work. It also expresses his hope that, one day, people would “awake” and see that they are being used and abused by unfair and unreasonable laws and demand that it changes, as he states near the end.
The French lawyer and economist was a classical liberal thinker who believed in the ideas of the free market and freedom in general. He witnessed and participated in the French Revolution at a young age, and quickly began to dislike it as it turned more violent and repressive. Lawmaking, to Bastiat, was not about doing what was necessarily “good” but rather what was least harmful. He describes his theory as being: “that law is good in proportion to its sanctity, its conformity to justice…and its suitability to our nature.”
The Law is written in the style of an open letter to lawmakers in France, criticizing them for their heavy-handed legal system that often causes more problems than it solves. Bastiat believes that these problems are not accidents but rather the fault of the legal system itself. He explains that when laws do more harm than good, there is something wrong with the law.
For Malaysian lawmakers, the message behind the book is simple: Respect personal and economic freedom, or get overthrown. For ordinary citizens, the message is to take advantage of your freedoms while you still can, before they are taken away completely.
Albert Camus — The Rebel
“Absolute freedom mocks at justice. Absolute justice denies freedom. To be fruitful, the two ideas must find their limits in each other.”
Anti-establishment, yet loving the human spirit. This is the main theme of The Rebel, by French philosopher and writer, Albert Camus.
The Rebel can be summed up by this passage: “A generation had fought for freedom; then another had surrendered to a life of slavery in the name of that freedom.”
This is the story of the human spirit over history; the idea that the human spirit is indomitable, yet time, and time again people have given up their freedom to oppressive governments out of fear. The book states that this occurs in cycles, with the masses eventually waking up and demanding freedom after becoming unsatisfied with their persecuted lives. This then leads to another cycle of rebellion, followed by an uprising, then back to another period of oppression.
For Malaysian lawmakers and citizens, the message is simple: Do not surrender your freedom. Do not give up what your ancestors struggled and died for. The government’s next move will be to take away freedoms and instill more control over the people; whether it be heavy-handed internet censorship or more CCTV cameras, they will do it if you don’t stop them now.
What Camus analyzed throughout the book, the cycle of rebellion and uprising, can be compared to the situation in Malaysia; with the dissatisfaction of the people and the oppressive yet inefficient laws. The next move from the people will be a revolution; will you join them and fight for your freedom, or will you go along with the flow and choose safety?
Pierre-Joseph Proudhon — What is Property?
“If I were asked to answer the following question: What is slavery? and I should answer in one word, It is murder, my meaning would be understood at once. No extended argument would be required to show that the power to take from a man his thought, his will, his personality, is a power of life and death; and that to enslave a man is to kill him. Why, then, to this other question: What is property! may I not likewise answer, It is robbery, without the certainty of being misunderstood; the second proposition being no other than a transformation of the first?”
Although I am not a socialist, I have included this book to give the reader a unique view on the concept of private property and the impact of its existence. The book is one of the first writings on anarchist philosophy; although there were a few before it, they have been lost to history.
In it, you will find that the writer, Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, claims that property is robbery; that it is an injustice for some to have more than others, and that it ultimately leads to the poor selling themselves to the rich. It is an interesting read, yet it does not fit with my worldview. But to his credit, the writer does bring up several points; such as private property inevitably leads to power, and those with power will inevitably abuse it.
What Malaysian lawmakers can learn from this book is that the government needs to provide more social justice. Stagnant wages, high cost of living, expensive healthcare, poor working conditions; all these can be improved by integrating Proudhon’s philosophy in a balanced way; not all of it, of course, but some.
For the average Malaysian, I do not think that it is right to see the wealthy getting richer and richer and the poor getting poorer and poorer. This is an injustice; and although we will not be able to eliminate it completely, we can strive to make improvements to our lives; individually and as a nation.
Robert Nozick — State, Anarchy, and Utopia
“Our main conclusions about the state are that a minimal state, limited, to the narrow functions of protection against force, theft, fraud, enforcement of contracts, and so on, is justified, but any more extensive state will violate persons’ rights not to be forced to do certain things, and is unjustified; and that the minimal state is inspiring as well as right.”
The second of our philosopher-legislators, Nozick was a professor at Harvard who wrote this book in response to Rawls’ ‘A Theory of Justice’. The book leans towards anarchy; although wrapping itself in the guise of unity, the state is founded upon theft, blackmail, and killing. The book also brings up a question that goes to the core of what a nation is: What did the citizens do to deserve their nation?
Nothing. They were born in it. This is a random occurrence; hence, the state has no right to place itself over individuals.
One of the most important aspects of the book is its influence on libertarianism; in fact, many consider the book the bible of it.
For Malaysian policymakers, this book can help in balancing our diverse ethnic groups and religions. The book promotes small government and individual liberty, both of which can help improve the relationship between the federal government and citizens. Although the book provides a balanced argument, policymakers should take extra caution when implementing its policies; a laissez-faire policy (i.e., no intervention at all) can lead to serious abuse of the weak, and today, there are many ways in which the government needs to intervene for the good of its people.
But what Nozick’s book can provide is a change in mentality. A shift from a paternalistic mindset to a libertarian one: citizens know what is best for them, and they should be allowed to make their own choices. As long as they aren’t infringing on others’ ability to do the same, then they are free to do as they wish. This can solve many of our problems, from corruption to drug abuse, without having to sacrifice personal liberty.
Malaysia’s next generation of leaders can learn from Nozick’s book to develop this mentality, and cultivate it in the people.
Simone Weil — On The Abolition Of All Political Parties
“No one can be faithful to a party. One is faithful to persons, groups, ideas; never to a party.”
One of the most interesting people on this list of thinkers for me was Weil. An activist, a philosopher, and a mystic; she had an unbelievable impact on the world through her contributions in various ways. Even Camus, who is notoriously critical of Christian thought, had nothing but kind words for her.
The book itself is quite short. The premise is simple: the sole goal of any political party is to gain power. Once in power, it has no choice but to act in its own self-interest rather than that of the people. This has been the case for all governments throughout history, regardless of their political affiliation. This is why she believes that all political parties should be dissolved.
You may disagree with her ideology; that’s okay. The important thing is to appreciate what she has to say. Her arguments are not those of a naive person; they come from a well-read person with a background in philosophy; yet, her conclusions are very humble; they are the conclusions of someone who wants the best for their society, but knows that it is the people who know what is best for themselves.
In a country where partisan politics are ever-present; her ideas must be heeded. Malaysians are always debating whether the opposition are traitors, or whether the ruling party are oppressors. But what purpose do these labels serve? They only create animosity, and push the groups further apart. This isn’t the goal of a representative government. A representative government’s goal should be to benefit all members of its society, regardless of political affiliation. Weil reminds us of this important fact.
In a broader sense, her book tells us that the tendency to create in-groups and out-groups is a mistake. We are all human, and we all want the same things. By creating divisions within our society, we are only hurting ourselves.
Even today, her lessons are still applicable. It’s been over seventy years since it was written, but unfortunately, humans haven’t evolved much. We still bicker and fight like children, and this is why her works are important: they remind us that we aren’t different from one another.
Weil herself once said: “If we judge that a certain person is our enemy, we then have already placed him outside of the human field.” Let’s not forget that.
Søren Kierkegaard — Two Ages: A Literary Review
“Not until the single individual has established an ethical stance despite the whole world, not until then can there be any question of genuinely uniting; otherwise it becomes a union of people who separately are weak, a union as unbeautiful and depraved as a child-marriage…. When the mouth blathers pure drivel, it is futile to try to deliver a coherent discourse; it is better to consider each word by itself-and so it is with the situation of individuals.”
Modern Malaysia, like most societies, is divided. We bicker among ourselves more than we unite against our real enemies. Our leaders are corrupt, our laws Draconian, and our society materialistic. Social media is full of anger and hatred towards others with different views. In the current age, it is easy to go with the flow, join the angry mob, and jump on the hate bandwagon.
Yet, more and more of us are questioning this new status quo. We’re tired of being divided, and we want genuine unity. But how do we reach it? Do we need a revolution? An election? A coup? Do we need to reform our religion, our social structures, our economy, or all of the above? These are important questions that need to be answered, but not in a Facebook rant.
Kierkegaard, a 19th century Danish philosopher, wrote extensively about issues such as these. He was the first one to really dive into the problems of Western society, and in Two Ages: A Literary Review, he does a wonderful job of explaining the issues of his time in a way that is relatable to ours.
Responding to a humiliating caricature of himself in a Danish newspaper, Kierkegaard wrote a short piece called Two Ages: A Literary Review. He analyzed how the media and public opinion can sway people’s views and reasoning, and how this leads to a cycle of hatred and misunderstanding. He explains that we should be careful about what we believe to be true, and think for ourselves instead of letting the loudest voices influence us.
It is rather eerie how this piece still holds true today. We can see the issues that Kierkegaard writes about playing out on our TV screens and on the front pages of our newspapers. Once again, he reminds us to use our reason to determine what is truth, not our emotions, or what the media tells us is true.
For our nation to move forward, we must stop bickering among ourselves and begin the hard task of introspection. As Kierkegaard once said: “The crowd is untruth.”
Michel de Montaigne — Of Cannibals
“All men, until their morals have been formed by education, are more or less savage…”
While many of us who were born here see Malaysia as our home, for many others, it is not. They were born in another country, or their ancestors had come from elsewhere. For the past fifty years, Malaysia has experienced an influx of people moving into the country, and although many of them have become “Malaysians”, they will always be different in some way.
They are the “other”.
Whether it is due to race, religion, or culture, there will always be an “other” that stands apart from the masses. How should one act towards the “other”? Are they the same as us, or inherently different? Can we ever really know someone of a different background than us? These are all questions that have been addressed by great thinkers throughout history.
One of these great thinkers was Michel de Montaigne. In his essay Of Cannibals, he tells of how the Tupinambá people in Brazil practiced ritual cannibalism to honor their dead enemies. While this practice seems barbaric to us, Montaigne ponders if his own culture is better, or worse, than that of the Tupinambá; is it right to judge their actions as savage, or do all cultures practice ritual cannibalism of some sort?
Through this lens, Of Cannibals looks at how different society is from itself at different times. We may seem “savage” to future civilizations for our social media addictions, or our tendency to vote based on populist policies. Others may view our rituals as distinctly “inhuman”. In the same way, the Tupinambá may have seemed “barbaric” to Montaigne for treating their dead in a different way.
In a world with so many different people, ideas, and viewpoints, it is easy to judge those that are different from ourselves. In a world that is ever-shrinking due to globalization and social media bubbles, it will become even more important to understand different cultures. Montaigne would remind us that no matter how strange or barbaric others may seem to us, that strange and barbaric are merely points of view.
The Malaysian political landscape is changing, and the new generation of voters are demanding that their issues be heard.
Philosophy has never been more important today, and it is up to us to not let our politicians get away with empty rhetoric. We must hold them accountable, and the way we will do that is by being informed voters.
As lawmakers of Malaysia, let us pledge to always do our research before casting our ballots, and let us also pledge to remain ever-vigilant in keeping our representatives honest.
