In 1954 Algeria held a unique place in France’s national psyche being both part of France and something totally barbarous or alien. Considered French territory, yet filled with Arabs who in their eyes were not French. Those not of the Gallic ethnicity were the majority Arab population. According to the elite in Paris, they were… Continue reading Ghosts of Algiers
Born in Florence in 1386, Donatello was, and remains to be, celebrated as one of the most skilled sculptors of the Renaissance. Studying under the likes of Ghiberti and Brunelleschi, he developed a style influenced heavily by the Classical language of architecture but not restricted to this. He used materials ranging from wood to bronze… Continue reading What makes Donatello’s sculptures so compelling?
Since ChatGPT was released, many commentators are sounding the alarm about an artificial intelligence (AI) takeover, suggesting that professors will soon be out of a job, or that the student essay is dead. This is reactionary and misguided. ChatGPT, by its very nature, cannot do the kinds of things we ought to want student essays to do. ChatGPT… Continue reading Has ChatGPT killed the student essay? Philosophers say no
How does self-identification lead to the formation of relationships? Self-perception can be one of the most unreliable sources of one’s character; I will show how relationships are based on one’s idea of themselves, rather than who they actually are. I would like to illustrate how the ego prevents one to seek friendships of whom they… Continue reading The friendship contract of a murderer – examining friendships and self-perception in Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment
Katabasis: ‘A going down’ – etymology: καταβαίνειν, Greek, ‘to descend’, from ‘κατα᾽, down, and ‘βαινω’, I go. This essay deals with the question of how Classical literary elements and mythology can be utilised in a way which enhances the critical and provocative in poetry which seeks to cut ties with tradition, in what at surface… Continue reading Classical katabasis in Allen Ginsberg’s ‘Howl’
So, where does this vicious cycle take us? Since 1970 the bellowing echo haunting billionaire corporations and oil companies concerning the future of the planet has mass-accumulated generations of voices. Before the internet became so prominent, forms of manipulation were regularly used to discard accusations of harmful usage of the planet’s resources. The facade of… Continue reading A word on global warming
Young people go to university with the hopes to gain a good future for themselves and what they are returned with is an insurmountable amount of pressure and financial debt When thinking about student life, one often imagines the glamour of freedom, the joy of following intellectual pursuits, the idea of sitting in a giant… Continue reading The broke student phenomena
