When devils, wizards or jugglers deceive the sight, they are said to cast glamour o’er the eyes of the spectator. ~ 1721 A. Ramsay Gloss. to Poems, OED The root of the word glamour (or glamor) comes from the Scottish glaumour (a corrupt form of grammar) and the French grimoire.¹ Glamour originally refers to knowledge of the… Read More Glamour and Shakespeare’s Glamis – Any connection?
The Gap of Nothingness is an idea found in the existentialism of the French philosopher, Jean-Paul Sartre. In his Being and Nothingness: An Essay on Phenomenological Ontology of 1948, Sartre talks about a ‘place’ or ‘no-place’ between stimuli (from the world of experience) and a person’s response. This “Gap of Nothingness” is the space between… Read More Sartre’s Gap of Nothingness
In studying the religions of the world, the German sociologist Max Weber (1864 – 1920) made a distinction between the ethical and the exemplary prophet. The ethical prophet tells us what to do but doesn’t necessarily do it themselves. The exemplary prophet leads by virtue of their lifestyle—that is, they lead a life of integrity.… Read More When leaders don’t practice what they preach
Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) was an English philosopher whose work emphasized society and politics. He is often described as the founder of modern political philosophy, although some attribute that honor to Niccolò Machiavelli (1469 – 1527) who outlined in ruthless detail how to be an autocratic leader. Concerning religion, Hobbes makes a distinction between knowing that… Read More Thomas Hobbes – Life isn’t just nasty, brutish and short
Bob Dylan hit the nail on the head with his 1964 tune, “The Times They Are a-Changin’” and that, along with his other fantastic rad-hippie tunes, is probably why Dylan still makes headlines today. Last night I pulled out a book I’ve been meaning to read for a long time. Luckily it’s on the web… Read More How times have changed… “And you better start swimming or you’ll sink like a stone”
Introduction by Michael W. Clark, Ph.D. (Earthpages.org) Let me begin by noting that my comments here are entirely independent of this article. I only hope that by stressing this and placing my comments before the article headline, I won’t be ruffling any feathers at The Conversation, a site which I generally respect and applaud for… Read More ‘Dark empaths’: how dangerous are psychopaths and narcissists with empathy? – With unsolicited introduction by Michael Clark, Ph.D.
Ian Kidd exposes the errors of the science fundamentalists. Source: Doing Away With Scientism | Issue 102 | Philosophy Now Opinion: From Climate Change to Covid 19, politicians usually claim to “follow the science” which arguably is just as much a political as a scientific claim. Even Rudy Giuliani knew that science is about competing… Read More Doing Away With Scientism | Issue 102 | Philosophy Now | Opinion
The Illiad is a Greek epic attributed to Homer about the siege of Troy. Not unlike the much larger Indian epic, the Mahabharata, this Greek tale involves a grand-scale war between two opposing forces. Divine gods and goddesses often appear and, like the Indian story, offer their assistance to favored mortals. Together with the Odyssey,… Read More Illiad – War, myth and spirituality combine in this ancient Greek epic
Iago is William Shakespeare‘s devilishly clever ‘sour grapes’ character in the tragic play Othello. Passed over for a promotion in the Venetian army, Iago becomes insanely jealous of anyone who has anything and plots his chilling revenge through lies, deceit and treachery. Through his dark schemes, Iago exemplifies intelligent evil at its worst. After tricking… Read More Iago – Shakespeare’s vindictive creep who never repents
The cause of the humanities’ current crisis is far older than critics of postmodern relativism allow—and more baked into the heart of the modern American university. In fact, one must look back to very creation of the American universities in the late nineteenth century to see why their triumph precipitated the marginalization of the modern… Read More Scientism, the coronavirus, and the death of the humanities | OUPblog | Opinion
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