Tag: Philosophy
The final scenes of Her afford a surprising opportunity for thinking about the value of philosophy. Theodore Twombly, the central human character, has just been dumped by their…
I was always a voracious reader with a preference for fiction. My family made regular trips to the library growing up, so I had a never-ending supply of…
The advancement of civilization as it is often situated in the narrative of scientific inquiry is matched by the enlightened aims of the humanities; both are dedicated to…
Werner Heisenberg in his book “Physics and Philosophy” wrote: “It is probably true quite generally that in the history of human thinking the most fruitful developments frequently take…
When I think of my love for the humanities, I think of magic. For me, the humanities offer a glimpse into other realms, worlds filled with wonder, excitement…
Ron Eisenman shares how a PBS television series encouraged him to pursue his passions and turn to the humanities to help him make sense of the world around…
While discussing N. Scott Momaday’s novel A House Made of Dawn, Professor Bowden introduced a new concept – geosophy. It was an unexpected moment during an undergraduate geography…
I was first introduced to David Foster Wallace’s “This is Water” in a Language and Composition class. Our textbook was full of examples of rhetoric, categorized by topic….
As a college freshman, Thérèse Cory encountered Plato’s Socratic dialogue Euthyphro for the first time. Reading Socrates’ exhortations for Euthyphro—a man bringing charges of murder against his father—to…
Sitting in a large field in Leakey, Texas at night, I looked up and there were millions and millions of stars around me. I was awe struck about…
As a society we are so often encouraged to go about our days in such a way that builds our own futures. This is great and all, but…
In this excerpt from a podcast with National Humanities Center Robert D. Newman, U. S. Representative David Price reflects on the transformative experience of reading the work of…
Just as he was completing a decade’s worth of training as a neurosurgeon, Paul Kalanithi was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. When Breath Becomes Air, the memoir…
National Endowment for the Humanities Chairman William “Bro” Adams shares how philosophy professor and World War II veteran Glenn Gray and his book The Warriors: Reflections on Men…
Choosing a Humanities Moment was initially a challenging task. Over the last few years working with the organization PLATO (Philosophy Learning and Teaching Organization), I’ve spent a lot…
As part of my undergraduate degree in Asian studies, I took a class on Haiku, a traditional form of Japanese poetry. At the time, I knew nothing about…
As a 21-year-old senior in college, Nancy Hirschmann encountered—and was forever changed by—German philosopher Hegel’s notoriously difficult passages in The Phenomenology of Spirit. Suddenly, she “broke through the…
I was in my English class and we were talking about humanities moments for extra credit. We talked about a woman who disagreed with the “mimetic” effect and…
Personally I’ve never been one to adopt a positive outlook when things go wrong. In my life, things tend to go wrong more than they go right. This…