The Books I read in 2023
Published on: 22 January 2024, 02:11 pm
Here is a list of books from a gruelling year, which may keep the reader company in another potentially hard year.
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FROM Manipur to Gaza, 2023 witnessed gruelling times.
At least the reading was good. A little bit of diversion from the agony and death about which one reads in newspapers and on social media.
The books that I read in 2023 were driven by my profession; my interest in economics and history; and some that were recommended by friends. Here are some of them. Not in any particular order of liking. It is difficult to pick the best.
The Proof: Uses of Evidence in Law, Politics and Everything Else by Frederick Schauer (2022)
Frederick Schauer is a professor of law at the University of Virginia and the author of books such as Free Speech: A Philosophical Enquiry; Thinking like a Lawyer; and The Force of Law.
In the age of fake news, trust and truth are hard to come by. We have persons in high and influential positions who make blatantly false utterances that are taken as gospel truth. Very little, however, is presented as evidence.
Even if contested, no proof is ever presented. People are entitled to their opinions but not to their own facts. We do not realise that people when perceiving facts are often influenced by their normative preferences.
The Proof helps us understand what is or what is not, how we determine what is, and how we know what is not. It is about how to make an assessment of factual truth and falsity. The book helps us develop fresh insight into the challenges of reaching the truth.
