about

I’m a philosopher working way outside of academia.  I was a one-time aspiring PhD student in philosophy who became disillusioned with the whole tenure process and did a lot of things.  Most would consider me an “armchair philosopher” and I would not completely disagree.  My philosophical insights are solely reliant on reason, intuition and reflection, rather than scholarship or the attempt to shoehorn philosophy into an empirical science as it seems to be the case these days, especially in the Anglo-American philosophy departments.  This liberates me from specialization and to push the boundaries of thought in any and all areas of human endeavors both East and West.

My philosophical perspective from the West is primarily influenced and inspired by the German philosophers Arthur Schopenhauer, Friedrich Nietzsche and Ludwig Wittgenstein of the 19th and 20th centuries and secondarily by Plato and Kant.  These philosophers are the only *Western philosophers who are, in my opinion, closely aligned to the Eastern philosophical view.  My philosophical perspective from the East is primarily influenced and inspired by the ancient Chinese Taoist philosophers Lao Tzu, Zhuangzi and Sun Tzu, and secondarily by Adi Shankara (Hinduism) and Nagarjuna (Buddhism).  It may seem to be an anachronism that my influences are three modern German philosophers and three ancient Eastern philosophers.  My biased rationale is that it took centuries for the West to have the correct philosophical views that the East had known for some time.

[* – Martin Heidegger could be included as a thinker close to the Eastern tradition, but I never really liked his philosophical style, nor could I ever forgive a philosophical thinker that supported the fascism and racism of Nazi Germany. ]

My mission is to articulate philosophy in a manner that is direct, provocative and bold, but that is also literate, erudite and balanced.  This will be done primarily through my books as an author, this website and pretty much any medium that allows me to write, speak and present, as there is no time in the history of our world where one has more channels to communicate thoughts through words, speech and gestures then now.

This entails that one who philosophizes and is the author of media, is also an educator that should conduct their business affairs as an entrepreneur. That is why I consider myself an A.P.E.E. (Author, Philosopher, Entrepreneur and Educator).

My first published book is titled “I Think, Therefore I Plan: Mastering the methods and meditations of project management“, a book, like my life, that makes you philosophize on the “how” (methods) AND the “why” (meditations) of managing projects in work and life… This book fulfills this need like no other in the industry.   Other book projects related to philosophical and meditative inquires are in the works.

But this is just the beginning as I desire to articulate, philosophize and educate you about… nearly everything!  I hope you enjoy the journey.

Don Kim, A.P.E.E.

My political spectrum: