The funniest critique of Cartesian dualism ever put to film occurs on the moon. In Terry Gilliam’s The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988), Robin Williams plays the King of the Moon: a giant disembodied head floating serenely above his own detached body. The head is refined, articulate, and philosophical. The body, meanwhile, rampages below: lustful,Continue reading “The Locus of Human Action”
Tag Archives: St. Augustine
Delphi: Know Thyself
Delphi emerges as a Panhellenic sanctuary around 650 BCE but it started earlier, much earlier. Inscribed on the pronaos of the Temple of Apollo was the threshold admonition: γνῶθι σεαυτόν, gnōthi seauton, know thyself. It was never therapeutic advice. It does not mean discover your preferences or honor your feelings. It means: know what kindContinue reading “Delphi: Know Thyself”
The Use of Myth
Hesiod stands at the beginning. He is the first to write down stories that had been circulating for centuries. His account is not a moral arc in the way the Hebrew tradition would later tell its story. Hesiod is part farmer’s almanac and part chronicler. This is how the seasons work, and this is whoContinue reading “The Use of Myth”
Protective Arts 