On Liberty
A collection of essays and reflections on liberty, political struggle, and the foundations of an open society.
National Unity and the Philosophy of the General Will
From Hobbes and Rousseau to Sen, Parfit, Berlin, Habermas, and Arendt: why, in the moment of a regime's collapse, a general will for liberation must precede the apportioning of particular demands — without which pluralism cannot survive.
Lessons from the Bitter History of Massacre
The Armenian Genocide, the Holocaust, the Arab conquest of Iran, and Dey 1404 read together: how state violence against civilians follows a pattern, and why memorialisation must become institution to break the cycle of repetition.
The Illusion of All the Roads Not Taken
When peaceful avenues have been exhausted, the rhetoric of patience becomes complicity. A reading of Locke, King, Havel, Arendt, La Boétie, Shklar, and Taleb on the point at which inaction tips into betrayal.
Everyday Freedom
Against the Iranian intellectual habit of deferring freedom to abstract or utopian ideals: a defence of negative liberty, gradual reform, and the everyday freedoms upon which any higher freedom must be built.
Intervention Against Absolute Evil
From Bentham and Sidgwick: a utilitarian argument that, when peaceful alternatives have failed, intervention against an oppressive regime can be not only defensible but morally necessary.
Celebrity-Centered Opposition
Celebrities can be microphones; but a microphone is not opposition leadership. Why follower counts and viral gestures cannot substitute for the slow, structural work of political programs, expertise, and organisation.