Wherein Lies the Value of Art? Clive Bell’s Radical Aesthetic Vision
The British philosopher and art critic Clive Bell (1881-1964) was a prominent proponent of the formalist approach to aesthetics. In this specific sense, he advocated
Essays
Longer pieces, disciplined and educational.
The Souls of White Folk
This assumption that of all the hues of God whiteness alone is inherently and obviously better than brownness or tan leads to curious acts.
Distorted Rhetoric and Forgotten Principles: How AOC is Reviving Oratory in the US
There are parallels to be made between the shape of democracy in Athens all those years ago and that of US politics today. In the same manner that rhetoric took principal place in determining the outcome of the socio-economic structures of the Athenian city-state, so too have we witnessed the undeniable power that rhetoric continues to possess in the present-day.
Paul Rée, Nietzsche, and the Myth of Libertas
In 1878 Nietzsche wrote a letter to Paul Rée (1849-1901) in which he declared: ‘All my friends are now agreed that my book [Human, All-Too-Human]
Durkheim’s Anomie in a Time of Crisis
Durkheim formulated his concept of anomie in his doctoral dissertation, The Division of Labour in Society, published in 1893. The word ‘anomie’ comes from the
Camus’ The Plague: Contagion, confinement and complicity
Camus’ The Plague (La Peste) is one of the most famous novels penetrating the heart of the world’s current pandemic.
Philosophy and the Liberal Arts
This image of Philosophy and the Liberal Arts is perhaps the most iconic of liberal arts education. But what does it mean?
What is Education for? A rare look at higher education in prison
Research shows that education is prison can be life changing. For the incarcerated education teaches a deep lesson in freedom.
The New Dark Age
Hope is above all ‘a state of mind … it is a dimension of the soul … It is an orientation of the spirit’
Educating for Freedom: in praise of Freire
What the educator does in teaching is to make it possible for the students to become themselves.
Fascisms: then, and now? Arendt and The Origins of Totalitarianism
Re-reading Hannah Arendt’s The Origins of Totalitarianism is something of a wake-up call. Some of the evidence from her book, makes for a chilling comparison with current political episodes.
Eat green to save the environment, says IPCC – how to tell if that really means you
Governments need to do more to make sustainability possible; addressing climate change means also addressing inequality.
Liberal Arts Education by and for Women
Liberal Arts Education owes much to a female mastermind.
How is global warming heating up the Earth?
Is global warming heating up the Earth? A question from Raphael, aged 11, Auckland, New Zealand.
This is Water
This is Water is a commencement speech given by David Foster Wallace on 21st May 2005 at Kenyon College.