An Addendum to my first version of this: My friend Ann says I Recited ‘The Collar’

The Folk Hall at New Earswick. My first go at this prompt related to a vague memory of the recitation of a speech from Measure for Measure (see it at this link). Since then, my friend, Ann, who has been my friend since we both went to Wooldale Primary School, has reminded me of much … More An Addendum to my first version of this: My friend Ann says I Recited ‘The Collar’

The limits of telelogical thinking with or without the concept of personal agency.

How do you plan your goals? Let’s unpack the question today, for it is culture-defining. Behind it lie three assumptions about modern humanity: The study of goal-orientated thinking arise in the history of philosophy arise from rather mixed sources in defining the paradigm that we call teleology. Originally the issues it covered stemmed from core … More The limits of telelogical thinking with or without the concept of personal agency.

Do we understand that  ideals that are constructed, often out of resistant and crude raw materials, are more significant than our hope in there being something transcendent in which to believe. This is a blog on the making of angels in art.

When Adam in Book VIII of Milton’s Paradise Lost gets the chance to quiz the Archangel Raphael (man to man, as it were) he has one thing on his mind. He wants to know how to sort out the confusion he has about the satisfaction he feels as a result of loving Eve, created for … More Do we understand that  ideals that are constructed, often out of resistant and crude raw materials, are more significant than our hope in there being something transcendent in which to believe. This is a blog on the making of angels in art.

The danger of loaded words in questions.

Superstition is very often a word that is pre-loaded with value judgments. In mainstream modern usage, with justification in the use of it by the ancients and in the history of Christianity. Rarly and continuing internal disputes in Christian tradition is larded with name-calling (in which being ‘superstitious’ is a claim made against sects being … More The danger of loaded words in questions.

“O wad some Pow’r the giftie gie us / To see oursels as others see us! / “:

The ‘gift’ is a complicated notion. It is considered as a possession by natural right, whose possession carries with it no obligation to the giver and yet is seen as something that could not be ours without someone have gifted it in the first place. A ‘gifted’ person may possess some quality or talent that … More “O wad some Pow’r the giftie gie us / To see oursels as others see us! / “: