When Roman emperors rode in triumphal processions, they would have a fool in the chariot with them, continually whispering to them something along the lines of “You are only human. You too will die – just like beggars and slaves do.” Shakespeare returns to the idea of mortality obsessively in Hamlet (c.1600); for instance, when the antic Prince rhymes: “Imperious Caesar, dead and turn’d to clay, / Might stop a hole to keep the wind away.” Indeed, one of the most striking images of late medieval Europe is the Dance Macabre or Totentanz, in which all classes join hands with death. In Rome, as in medieval Europe, the spectre of death served a levelling function. No matter who you are, sooner or later God is going to cut you down. This insight also reminds us that institutions and discourses that seem immutable are not set in stone, but embodied in that most perishable of things, human flesh.
Folly
With the publication of Erasmus’s Praise of Folly (Moriae encomium) in 1509, the old order of folly was swept away. Whereas the author of the Ship of Fools (Narrenschiff, 1494), Sebastian Brandt, had inveighed against the moral corruption of mankind, in Erasmus’s hands folly becomes a way not only of exposing the hypocrisy and despotism of those in power, but also of understanding ourselves and our place in the world, not least because it provides a tool to fathom the limits of reason.
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Metaphors & Creativity
Ignacio Gonzalez-Martinez has a flash of inspiration about the role metaphors play in creative thought.
Medieval Islam & the Nature of God
Musa Mumtaz meditates on two maverick medieval Muslim metaphysicians.
Robert Stern
talks with AmirAli Maleki about philosophy in general, and Kant and Hegel in particular.
Volney (1757-1820)
John P. Irish travels the path of a revolutionary mind.
IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE
Becky Lee Meadows considers questions of guilt, innocence, and despair in this classic Christmas movie.
"I refute it thus"
Raymond Tallis kicks immaterialism into touch.
Cave Girl Principles
Larry Chan takes us back to the dawn of thought.
A God of Limited Power
Philip Goff grasps hold of the problem of evil and comes up with a novel solution.
A Critique of Pure Atheism
Andrew Likoudis questions the basis of some popular atheist arguments.
Exploring Atheism
Amrit Pathak gives us a run-down of the foundations of modern atheism.