Immersion and Self-Consciousness
June 15, 2014
Schopenhauer claimed that the function of art was to release the individual from their constant restless striving. We have selfish desires that we look to satisfy, desires which seem beyond our control and not always admirable. But in aesthetic contemplation we can lose our sense of self if we become immersed in the object and …
Diversity
May 11, 2014
While in some ways there is a commonality that holds us together as a species – all of us wanting love, freedom and personal growth – we also exhibit a great diversity. There is no denying this. As well as the very apparent differences in race, sex and culture, we are diverse in our politics, …
Apology for Narcissus
February 12, 2014
Valentine’s Day on February 14th is a supposed day of love. But then it’s not for all. Not everyone is in a relationship on that day, and not all of those in a relationship are truly in love. Nevertheless, we can make Valentine’s Day a day for everyone if we broaden it to include self-love …
What Science Cannot Teach Us
January 17, 2014
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. …
Censored
January 4, 2014
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 …
Prospective
December 30, 2013
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 …
Introspective
December 24, 2013
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 …
True Stories?
November 3, 2013
Yesterday was a remarkable day. It was not just that it lasted 32 hours, spent mainly on my way from Kuala Lumpur to Nottingham with an 8-hour time difference. But on the flight and since, I have come to think afresh on the question of truth in fiction and the place of storytelling in our …
Ethics Begins at Home
August 17, 2013
I’m not a moral philosopher (and sometimes joke that I’m an immoral one). But certainly morality is an area of the arts that concerns every single person. We all have ethical deliberations to face on a regular basis. Some have a strict and explicit code according to which they live while others get by on …
Riefenstahl’s Olympia
July 5, 2012
Can art be beautiful even though it’s wrong or would its wrongness destroy its beauty? This rather abstract question of contemporary aesthetics is made concrete in the example of filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl’s work. Riefenstahl was revolutionary, pioneering in the 1930s a number of cinematographic innovations. She used unusual angles on her subjects; she distorted the …
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