Posts | Liberal Arts

Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye

Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye, first published 50 years ago, is a classic of African American literature. Exploring the consequences of pervasive racism in 1940’s … Read more

Seneca On the Shortness of Life

Seneca the Younger (c. 4 BC – AD 65) was a Roman Stoic philosopher and stateman. As with Marcus Aurelius, Seneca saw Stoicism as a philosophy … Read more

Baudelaire and The Philosophy of Toys

Can you remember what it was like to play as a child? Perhaps you had a favourite doll, toy car or set of figures that … Read more

Philosophy and the Liberal Arts

Philosophy with the Liberal Arts from the Hortus. Also known as Philosophy with the Seven Liberal Arts. Here is the centre of the image focusing on Philosophy, Socrates, and Plato

Philosophy and the Liberal Arts is the title of a page from a book called the Hortus deliciarum (Garden of delights). It was written by … Read more

What is Life?

Lynn Margulis (1938-2011) was an American biologist and writer who is mostly known for developing the theory of “endosymbiosis” in the 1970s, which had a … Read more

Buddhism Contra-Philosophy?

As Dominique Side puts it, perhaps one of the ‘most striking things about Buddhism is the way that the Buddha began teaching by talking about … Read more

Stride toward freedom

Liberal Arts has a long history in the USA. In recent years it has been exercising self-critique on the colour of its canonical literature, and … Read more

The Plague by Albert Camus

Translated from the French by Stuart Gilbert Albert Camus’ La Peste or The Plague, written in 1947 is a fictional account of the sudden arrival … Read more

Meditations by Marcus Aurelius

Marcus Aurelius was born in AD 121, died 180. He was Roman Emperor from 161-180. His main interest was Stoic philosophy. James Moore and Michael … Read more

Musicians must make music, artists must paint, poets must write

discontent and restlessness will soon develop, unless the individual is doing what he or she, individually, is fitted for. Musicians must make music, artists must paint, poets must write if they are to be ultimately at peace with themselves. What humans can be, they must be. They must be true to their own nature. This need we may call self-actualization.
Maslow’s 5th basic need

Max Weber: oratory, leadership, and power

Max Weber: modem electoral campaigns the quantity of oratory is ever on the increase, and it tends to lose in content what it gains in mass appeal.

‘In modem electoral campaigns the quantity of oratory is ever on the increase, and it tends to lose in content what it gains in mass … Read more

Acquire those things which one can never lose

If I had children I should tell them that in this age one ought to be prepared for everything, for no one can count on the future. And I should add that people should rely on nothing that can be taken away; but try to acquire those things which one can never lose till one ceases to exist: fortitude, energy, knowledge, and prudence.
Alexis De Tocqueville, 1848

What do you need to be a philosopher?

What do you need to be a philiosopher? Green Lacewing Fly

What do you need to be a philosopher? You discover that you are a philosopher: it is not something you ever become. Not a logical … Read more

Aristotle’s Cave

God reaches out to create Adam by Michelangelo

Suppose there were men who had always lived underground … but had learned by report and hearsay that there was a divine spirit and power. … Read more

Summer Showcase with The British Academy

Summer Showcase The British Academy. Liberal Arts Online

The British Academy is running a Virtual Summer Showcase from 19 – 20 Jun. Free and online. They are throwing open their “virtual doors” for … Read more

Liberal Arts Jobs, Careers, and Complexity

At a time when there is a renewed appreciation for certain jobs, it helps to tell a broader story on the role of work and … Read more

5 Short Reads

5 shorter reads. A reading list that can be enjoyed at anytime and whose brevity belies its depth. For Donald Winnicott, the psyche is not … Read more

Liberal Arts Jobs and Careers – Qualified for the Future

Liberal arts jobs and careers are often considered difficult to pin down but a report published this year from The British Academy helps to make … Read more

What is Liberal Arts?

One of the questions we get asked most is “What is Liberal Arts?” closely followed by “What is a Liberal Arts Degree?”. While Liberal Arts … Read more

What an astonishing thing a book is | Carl Sagan

Carl Sagan, Cosmos: A Personal Voyage, Ep.11, The Persistence of Memory

Carl Sagan was an American astronomer, cosmologist, astrophysicist, astrobiologist, author, and science educator in astronomy and other natural sciences.

Liberal Arts Lockdown Listening can be enjoyed entirely alone, with friends and family*, for pure pleasure, deep contemplation, as a soundtrack to accompany melancholy, and/or … Read more

Summer Watching

A Liberal Arts summer watching list for those of you who are joining our BA (Hons) Liberal Arts programme later this year, or still thinking about doing … Read more

Summer Reading

If you are joining our BA (Hons) Liberal Arts programme this year, or still thinking about doing so, then you might want to look over … Read more