Category: Free Will
We’re excited that you’ve joined the conversation! At HMU, we want to continue the great authors’ conversations in a contemporary context, and this blog will help us do that. We look back to Aristotle and the early philosophers who used reason and discourse to gain wisdom and now we endeavor to do the same every day.
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March 3, 2023 Thanks to Ally Zlatar, a 2023 HMU Fellow in Ideas, for today’s post. Image Credits: Film Still, Miike, T. (Director). (2014). As the Gods Will. Toho. Japanese death game films, also known as ‘Battle Royale’ films, typically depict a scenario where a group of individuals are forced to participate in a deadly …
The Art of Japanese Death Game Films Through Analysis of As The Gods Will Read More »
September 10, 2021 Thanks to Alissa Simon, HMU Tutor, for today’s post. “Fools”, said I, “You do not know/ Silence like a cancer grows/ Hear my words that I might teach you/ Take my arms that I might reach you”/ But my words, like silent raindrops fell/ And echoed/ In the wells of silence/ And …
Modern Day Chorus: Lord of the Rings and Ceremony Read More »
May 28, 2021 Thanks to Alissa Simon, HMU Tutor, for today’s post. Pericles, Prince of Tyre: written about 1607, by William Shakespeare”Comus”: written about 1637, by John Milton Last week, I discussed the character of Pericles from Shakespeare’s Pericles, Prince of Tyre. This week, I will continue to explore Shakespeare’s play, but focus on Marina, …
October 20, 2017 Thanks to Alissa Simon for today’s post. Kant’s Science of Right takes time to read. In the Science of Right, Kant explains the interaction of theory with practice when defining ownership, rights, and equity. I find it difficult to pull short sections from his writing because all of his arguments build upon …
September 29, 2017 Thanks to Alissa Simon, HMU Tutor, for today’s post. “I think many of the stories that we tell ourselves as a society – the stories that encode our hopes, aspirations, and fears – preserve the traces of classical culture and myth and are part of our classical legacy.” – Professor Elizabeth Vandiver …
October 9, 2015 “there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so” Our modern calender lists two basic reference points: BCE and AD. If we were to create a new calendar for the modern era, perhaps we could write it as before and after Shakespeare. A playwright whose works influenced every author …
July 24, 2015 July’s Quarterly Discussion focused on Immanuel Kant’s Metaphysics of Morals. Reading Kant can be very challenging. One has to learn and understand his terminology and then be able to trace a single thread of an argument for pages and pages. For some reason, this seems more difficult in a language like Kant’s …
May 8, 2015 There is a fascinating scene in The Matrix Revolutions when Neo (Keanu Reeves) bursts into the Oracle’s (Gloria Foster) kitchen. The Oracle and a little girl, Sati, are making cookies. The Oracle says, “Oh, I was hoping to have these done before you got here.” Why is this fascinating? Well, so much can …
May 1, 2015 At the end of Book III in Paradise Lost, Satan tricks Uriel into letting him pass through the gates which protect the world from the demons. A disguised Satan brags about the brilliance of God’s ways and Uriel agrees with him. Uriel says, “Faire Angel, thy desire which tends to know/ The …
April 24, 2015 April’s Quarterly Discussion arose from the idea of Free Will. HMU doctoral candidate, Peter Ponzio, and HMU Tutor, Alissa Simon, both created the discussion format and questions. It is possible that the conversation could have run nearly endlessly. One thing is clear however, to be among friends discussing such deep-seated issues is …
