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Stephen Mumford

Stephen Mumford

Dean of Faculty of Arts,

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Posts by Stephen Mumford

Character and Plot

A recent film left me a little mystified. What was it about? What was the meaning? How did it all make sense? The story seemed to end inconclusively and many of the events depicted had led nowhere. What were we to make of it? My theatre companion suggested it was best seen as a character …

An Unknowable Truth

We have to be humble sometimes and admit we are not capable of knowing everything that is true. This should be uncontroversial for surely there are many truths about the past all evidence of which is now erased. It is either true or false that a dinosaur sneezed on this exact spot 100 million years …

Pro-creation

Everyone does it alone, whether or not they would admit to it. It’s even better when done with another and there are some cases where it happens in groups. At all times it brings enjoyment. When done together with others there is perhaps the greatest pleasure, sense of achievement and satisfaction. You can do it …

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What Science Cannot Teach Us

If I had a hammer, there’s lots I could do with it. I could crush a walnut, for one thing. But I might hang a picture on the wall, knock a bulge out of my car’s wheel arch, break some toffee, start a carpentry project. I could also use it to bash someone’s brains in. …

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Losing our Minds

A further sadness about death is the loss of mind. A mind collects memories, experiences and learning. All those skills of intellect, painstakingly acquired, all those beliefs and values, all those habits and affections. They once made a person: an entirely unique individual shaped by their experiences and education; now gone into the past. They …

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Censored

John Stuart Mill’s view of liberty was largely right, especially where it concerned freedom of speech and expression. We ought to have nothing to fear from the public airing of views with which we disagree, for instance, for that exposes their stupidity. Besides, suppression of opposing views is rightly taken to be a mark of …

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Prospective

A new year is to begin in the Western calendar. It marks the opportunity for new beginnings, new resolutions, a virtual rebirth. Many believe the date of the new year to be an arbitrary point. But what matters is the prospect of an annual renewal, reinvigoration and reinvention. New Year’s Day presents us with an …

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Introspective

The holidays are a time for seeing friends and family, being sociable and outward facing. It would seem that there is not much opportunity for introspection. To keep our sanity, though, we will always need to strike an appropriate balance between attention to self and attention to others. At least some of the time during …

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Retrospective

It might be best not to dwell upon the past. For all our efforts we cannot change it. Why waste our considerations on its reliving? Some of the most thrusting and dynamic are precisely those who focus on the future, formulating their ambitions and strategy. For most of the year I aim for that. The …

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Disco Potential

A year or more ago someone remarked that they didn’t know what musical universe I inhabited, given that I’d expressed a diverse range of likes. It’s true; I like all sorts. The genre doesn’t matter as long as it’s good. But in my youth, there was one kind of music I just couldn’t appreciate: disco. …

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