Subscribe to get Part 2 of this episode. Listen to a preview. Hear this part ad-free. On Roger Scruton's Beauty (2009), ch. 5-9, featuring Mark, Wes, Dylan, and Seth. The latter half of the book completes the survey of types of beauty that we discussed last episode by considering issues in our appreciation of artworks, and then develops a moral and political argument for Continue Reading …
Ep. 288: Scruton on Ethical Art (Part Two for Supporters)
Concluding our treatment of Roger's Scruton's Beauty (2009), ch. 5-9, from part one. We consider why we'd really be attracted to something that according to Scruton's account takes a lot of work. Dylan brings in architecture, which Scruton also wrote about, leading us to wonder about the form/function distinction and whether that standard in architecture (the fact that a Continue Reading …
Ep. 288: Scruton on Ethical Art (Part One for Supporters)
On Roger Scruton's Beauty (2009), ch. 5-9, featuring Mark, Wes, Dylan, and Seth. The latter half of the book completes the survey of types of beauty that we discussed last episode by considering issues in our appreciation of artworks, and then develops a moral and political argument for why relativism about taste, i.e. the "democracy of tastes" that says that all aesthetic Continue Reading …
Ep. 287: Roger Scruton on Beauty (Part One)
Subscribe to get Part 2 of this episode. Listen to a preview. Hear this part ad-free. On Beauty (2009), ch. 1-4, featuring Mark, Wes, Dylan, and Seth. Scruton just died in Dec. 2020; he had taught aesthetics for more than 30 years, and this book provides an overview of issues in the philosophy of art. The chapters we read this time include an overview chapter, then Continue Reading …
Ep. 287: Roger Scruton on Beauty (Part Two for Supporters)
Continuing from part one on Beauty (2009), ch. 1-4. We critically examine Scruton's claim that apprehending beauty is cognitive and never merely sensory, which would rule out, e.g. there being beautiful smells or tastes. We also go into points from Scruton's chapters on natural beauty, human beauty, and everyday beauty. Appreciation of natural beauty seems to be something Continue Reading …
Ep. 287: Roger Scruton on Beauty (Part One for Supporters)
On Beauty (2009), ch. 1-4, featuring Mark, Wes, Dylan, and Seth. Scruton just died in Dec. 2020; he had taught aesthetics for more than 30 years, and this book provides an overview of issues in the philosophy of art. The chapters we read this time include an overview chapter, then treatments of human beauty, beauty in nature, and everyday beauty (e.g. decorations, fashion, Continue Reading …
There Is More to Seeing Than Meets the Eye: Rejecting Scruton’s Conception of Photography
Photographers of a thoughtful demeanor should take a keen interest in what we mean by “seeing.” Are there different types of seeing? Does each visual art have a particular mode of seeing? Is there a difference between “looking” and “seeing”? To what extent is seeing different than thinking? The English philosopher Roger Scruton attempted to answer these questions in one of the Continue Reading …
Roger Scruton on Religion and Politics
The recent interest here in Roger Scruton (who I'd really only known due to his Kant scholarship)led me to this interview with him from 2002 from The London Times in light of his book The West and the Rest: Globalization and the Terrorist Threat.His conservative political philosophy is outlined as such: ...He rejects the western assumption that while freedom makes us Continue Reading …
Roger Scruton on Religion and Politics
The recent interest here in Roger Scruton (who I'd really only known due to his Kant scholarship)led me to this interview with him from 2002 from The London Times in light of his book The West and the Rest: Globalization and the Terrorist Threat.His conservative political philosophy is outlined as such: ...He rejects the western assumption that while freedom makes us vulnerable Continue Reading …
Scruton on Philosophy vs. Neuroscience
The talk is somewhat misleadingly titled "Roger Scruton - Persons and their Brains", but what he's really concerned to do is point out the limits of neuroscience and justify a place for philosophy in the study of human behavior. Not sure if that's a straw man or not, but he has some critical things to say of our podcast guest Patricia Churchland. Take a Continue Reading …
Atheists Against Atheism
Not all atheists are on board with 'the four horsemen' of the New Atheism: Dawkins, Dennett, Harris, and Hitchens. Julian Baggini, podcaster and author of Atheism: A Very Short Introductionpoints out their generally unsophisticated grasp of religion. I met Baggini in New York last December when he came to speak to a small group of us on the subject of politics. He's British, Continue Reading …