Romanticism and Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Douglas Hedley discusses Romanticism as it emerges from Enlightenment and the life and theology of the philosopher Samuel Taylor Coleridge.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge was an English poet, philosopher and theologian, who with William Wordsworth founded the Romantic Movement. He is mostly remembered for his poetry and literary criticism, alongside his addiction and turbulent life. However, these were informed by religious notions of universal life-consciousness and unity.
The Life of Charles Darwin and his Development of the Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection
Nick Spencer discusses the life of Charles Darwin and how he moved away from Christianity as he developed his theory of evolution by natural selection.
Charles Darwin was an English naturalist and biologist. He is best known for his contributions to the scientific theory of evolution, applying Malthus' notion of population preservation to evolution by natural selection, and descent by modification, to species. His most famous work, Origin of Species, was released by him after twenty years of anxiety. Aware of the impact it would have, he described the experience as 'like confessing a murder'.
An Analysis of Richard Dawkins' Assumptions
William Lane Craig discusses the assumptions that underlie Dawkins' arguments.
Jacques Derrida. Part 1 Deconstruction.
Steven Shakespeare discusses Jacques Derrida's 'Deconstruction' philosophical strategy for reading a text with an eye to what runs counter to the intended meaning or structural unity of a particular text.
Jacques Derrida was an Algerian-born French philosopher who founded 'deconstruction' as a way of critiquing traditional interpretations; for example of texts or institutions. He argued that linguistic explanation is created not given, and replaced the norms of language, ethics and aesthetics with a notion of meaning as expressed in context and relationship.
Jacques Derrida. Part 2 Religious Motifs.
Steven Shakespeare discusses Jacques Derrida's 'Religious Motifs' and how he avoids making doctrinal commitment whilst recognising the 'otherness' of God.
Jacques Derrida was an Algerian-born French philosopher who founded 'deconstruction' as a way of critiquing traditional interpretations; for example of texts or institutions. He argued that linguistic explanation is created not given, and replaced the norms of language, ethics and aesthetics with a notion of meaning as expressed in context and relationship.
Jacques Derrida. Part 3 Theology.
Steven Shakespeare discusses how Jacques Derrida, a 20th century philosopher, has developed his theology.
Jacques Derrida was an Algerian-born French philosopher who founded 'deconstruction' as a way of critiquing traditional interpretations; for example of texts or institutions. He argued that linguistic explanation is created not given, and replaced the norms of language, ethics and aesthetics with a notion of meaning as expressed in context and relationship.
Introduction to Rene Descartes'. Part 1 of 2.
John Cottingham discusses Rene Descartes contribution to philosophy and theology. Rene Descartes was a French philosopher and mathematician. In his, Meditations on First Philosophy, he argued for radical scepticism (examining beliefs against a method of doubt about source) towards any form of knowledge. This idea set the scene for philosophical debate for centuries to come. The work included his famous claim that only one thing is certain; 'cogito ergo sum'; popularly translated as 'I think therefore I am'.