Immortality
October 5, 2012
I have just returned from a conference on the metaphysics of relations at which were some of the finest contemporary philosophical minds. I was struck by frequent references to the likes of Aristotle, Aquinas, Duns Scotus, Descartes and such. Aristotle died 2,300 years ago. We have had a long time to improve on his thinking, …
Quantities and Qualities
September 30, 2012
At a recent philosophy conference in Porto the organizers treated the delegates to a tour of some famous port wine cellars. We were shown the vintage wine collection, of which the company was very proud. Perhaps not realising we were philosophers, the tour guide asked if we had any questions. I’ve never understood what defined a wine as vintage …
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 …
Literature, Philosophy and Existentialism
June 17, 2012
I have a difficult relationship with novels. I sometimes wonder what’s the point of a fictional story. And should I really spend frivolous time on novels when I haven’t yet even read the complete works of Aristotle, where surely more truth is to be found? Dickens is my favourite author but I always feel a …
The Discovery of Free Will
June 14, 2012
Humanity has a great history of exploration and discovery. Great landmarks of civilization include Columbus discovering the Americas and Amundsen reaching the South Pole ahead of Scott. We can also think of Faraday explaining electricity for the first time, Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection and the discovery of penicillin. Some of our top …
On Music
December 9, 2011
This week I visited the Department of Music at the University of Nottingham to hear about the good work they have been doing. While it was a management meeting in my role as Dean it did lead me in the days that followed to consider the importance of music to us as human beings. Little …
Childish Pleasures
November 25, 2011
I’m delighted that Nottingham is hosting a major exhibition of the paintings of L. S. Lowry. My children saw the brochure and found it interesting but amusing. Lowry’s work has a childlike quality, which to an extent explains how it took some time for him to be accepted as a great artist. The arts often …
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