Showing all posts about philosophy
Hampshire College, a liberal arts university, to close
16 April 2026
Not good news. Word that the university, located in the American state of Massachusetts, is to close. I didn’t go to university after leaving high school, couldn’t decide what to study, but maybe a liberal arts degree might have been a good fit.
If I’d known, back in the day, such courses even existed.
And while a number of local tertiary education institutions offer liberal arts courses, I believe Australia only has one dedicated liberal arts uni, Campion College, situated in Toongabbie, in Sydney’s west, which opened in 2006.
If liberal arts degrees are new to you, here’s how Campion describes the course:
We celebrate the humanities at the heart of the Western intellectual tradition — literature, philosophy, theology, history, and the study of languages and culture. These disciplines are not simply subjects to be learned; they are the foundations of a rich education that shapes the whole person and has guided human flourishing for centuries.
I’ve heard it said liberal arts degrees are for those interested in everything, but nothing in particular.
This is sort of thing no longer desirable? University courses catering for people with broad interests, rather than something more focused? It would be unfortunate if that were so, and was resulting in the closure of places such as Hampshire College.
RELATED CONTENT
Did the universe exist before the Big Bang? Maybe…
27 June 2024
What happened, or was there, before the Big Bang that is said to have brought the universe into being? Was there nothing, to which something came? It is the question of the ages.
In his recent documentary series, Universe, British physicist Brian Cox posits that the universe existed before the Big Bang. How long this pre Big Bang entity had been there, or its origins, remain unknown however. How fascinating these before-the-beginning sort of questions are.
RELATED CONTENT
astronomy, philosophy, physics, science
Is the Sun conscious? Can a great ball of fire think for itself?
5 April 2024
Maybe I’ve been watching too much of Universe, the Brian Cox made documentary about, well, the universe, and am way too willing to take in all manner of ideas, no matter how outlandish they may seem. So when this article (PDF), exploring the possibility the Sun is a conscious entity (of some sort), written in 2020 by Rupert Sheldrake, appeared on my news feed recently, my curiosity was piqued.
Meanwhile, field theories of consciousness propose that some electromagnetic fields actually are conscious, and that these fields are by their very nature integrative. When applied to the sun, such field theories suggest a possible physical basis for the solar mind, both within the body of the sun itself and also throughout the solar system. If the sun is conscious, it may be concerned with the regulation of its own body and the entire solar system through its electromagnetic activity, including solar flares and coronal mass ejections. It may also communicate with other star systems within the galaxy.
If the Sun could talk, what might it say to us? Maybe, “do something about climate change before it’s too late.” Or, “always wear sunscreen when in my presence.”
It’s a fun idea, solar consciousness, but I’m not sure we’d ever hear Brian Cox going along with the notion. I’ll defer to Star Trekin’! in the meantime: it’s consciousness; but not as we know it…
RELATED CONTENT
astronomy, humour, philosophy, science
Albert Einstein, special relativity, and an afterlife: this is heavy
22 July 2023
Image courtesy of Lumina Obscura.
Is your dead grandmother… still alive? The answer is…
… yes…
… in a sense.
That’s if information in the cosmos is never destroyed, but rather… rearranged. In this case the information I refer to are the atoms, sub-atomic particles, and who knows what else, that make up everything in the universe, including us, and our predeceased family members.
Interaction with this information, which over eons diffuses into the cosmos after our deaths, may then be possible if cosmic consciousnesses, being ours — somehow — comes to be one day, and are able to envelope the universe, and eventually encounter your late grandmother’s information.
This is the understanding I took away from this Big Think video featuring German theoretical physicist Sabine Hossenfelder, which I saw on Open Culture. Best you watch for yourself though, and see what you make of it, as matters of maths and physics are not my thing. Otherwise, some fodder for a little contemplative thinking this weekend, perhaps?
RELATED CONTENT
Albert Einstein, philosophy, physics, science