An Open Letter to The Victorian Minister for Education, The Hon. Bronwyn Pike MP

‘The average student attends secondary school for six years before becoming a fully recognised member of the community that they will, not only shape, but partly constitute. Our society is made up of many, many generations of past students – each invariably either nurtured or scarred by their educational experiences. The degenerative effects of an educational system unsupported by either its community or its government will not be felt for many years. But, when it is (and it certainly will be), then it will be too late …’

Read Full Post »

Socrates vs. The People of Athens

Meletus, Anytus, and Lycon vs. Socrates
399BCE
A Response for the Prosecution
by Ross Barham
Good people of the jury, I thank you for this rather unique opportunity. For those of you who may have never acted as one of the 501 representative citizens in a Court such as this, allow me to explain that typically, after the defendant [...]

Read Full Post »

PHILOSOPHY OF ART Field-trip

‘In my last lecture (11.04.06), it was suggested that: “we put the art that we want to reflect/represent our society/culture, in galleries, and we put the art that we want to reflect/represent ourselves, in our homes.” This insight, I believe, is especially true of The Ian Potter Centre – which specialises in the works of Australian artists. It would be wrong to think that art ‘happens’ in a social vacuum.
The following is a record of my experience and thoughts of some of the works at The Ian Potter Centre.’

Read Full Post »

AUSTRALIA*

AUSTRALIA*
Ross Campbell Barham
Ideas of Utopia 161-052
The University of Melbourne
16.10.2006
DISCLAIMER
THE CONTENT OF THIS DOCUMENT AND SUBSEQUENT PRESENTATION HAVE NOT BEEN ENDORSED BY EITHER THE UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE OR ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR JOHN ARMSTRONG.
Preamble
This document contains 12 articles recommending changes necessary for bringing about a holistically better Australian society. While related articles are grouped together according to topic, [...]

Read Full Post »

Ideas for Utopia

IDEAS for UTOPIA
MANIFESTO
AIM
Philosophy is all too often dismissed as inconsequential with respect to the ‘real world’. IDEAS for UTOPIA is an email based group that aims to remedy this by applying methodologically rigorous philosophical thought to issues that cannot possibly be resolved by pragmatic measures alone.
FUNCTION
While the IDEAS for UTOPIA mailing-list is also used to [...]

Read Full Post »

Philosophical Conceptions of Saintliness

This Work is Dedicated to The Greater Glory of The All-Knowing Unknown, The God of Philosophers.
Preface: The ability to understand is not equal to the ability to create.
‘Saint’ is a term of commendation.
It functions, though with contrary meaning, in a similar way to the term ‘fiend.’
Just as there are no absolute Fiends, so too are [...]

Read Full Post »

is PHILOSOPHY for you?????

1. You find gnarled tree roots to be highly evocative of the absurdity of existence.
2. When thinking deeply about things, you can end up staring into empty space for extended periods of time.
3. You sometimes wonder why arrow-signs are seen as pointing one way and not the other.
4. You find it interesting to try to [...]

Read Full Post »

Christian stories often finish a page later than they ought.

Christian stories often finish a page later than they ought. Take the story of St. Nicassius, where the saint courageously offers his head in return for the people’s safety of his soon-to-be sacked city. Predictably, the (literally) Barbarian hordes unhesitatingly lop it off and proceed to murder, rape and pillage his people unobstructed.
As far as [...]

Read Full Post »

Fathers’ Day

To My father,
Assuming you haven’t jumped-the-gun and taken-a-peek, so to speak, it should be, in your mind at least, Sunday the 1st of Septemper, 2002. Father’s day. For me, the explication of my thoughts in these very words came into being on Monday the 26th of August; a whole six day prior.
The German philosopher, Friedrich [...]

Read Full Post »

Eulogy for Grant

(I’m going to deviate from the norm a little:)
Rather than reflect upon particular memories of my father, Grant,
instead, I would like to take this opportunity to wax philosophical.
After all, it was, for the most part, Grant’s hard-earned dollars that paid for my education as an aspiring philosopher. (So) he may as well get his money’s [...]

Read Full Post »