Category: Humanities
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Philosophy You Can Feel: The Cosmology of Tai Chi
Taijiquan is not merely exercise but embodied Neo-Confucian philosophy. Each form enacts the cosmological principles of Zhou Dunyi and Zhu Xi: the emergence from Wuji to Taiji, the interplay of yin and yang, the cycling of phases. The body becomes a laboratory for investigating universal patterns, transforming the practitioner into a conscious participant in cosmic creativity: philosophy made tangible, metaphysics…
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Beyond Oedipus: Law, Desire, and the Symbolic Order
Jacques Lacan’s “return to Freud” wasn’t mere reverence but radical reinterpretation. He transformed our understanding of the Oedipus complex and the human psyche through reconstructing Freudian concepts. This essay explores how Lacan’s reading opened new theoretical possibilities for psychoanalytic thinking, suggesting that our previous understanding of mythology was just the surface of a deeper structural topology.
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California, Dreaming?
At the edge of a strip mall, where the Pacific Ocean’s vastness begins, a stark truth emerges. Surfers appear like fleeting thoughts, birds embody ancient hunger, and the ceaseless waves reveal the illusion of progress. This evocative poem by Cornelius Climatus is a meditation on emptiness, acceptance, and the profound truth hidden in plain sight, questioning our restless pursuit of…
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The Weight of Nothing: Grace, Meaning, and the Courage to Be
Human existence is a struggle for meaning, authenticity, and redemption in a chaotic world. In this text, we look at some of Flannery O’Connor’s gripping stories and read them with insights from Sartre and Kierkegaard. We also explore existentialism with Thomas Merton, where grace transforms despair into hope and freedom.
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Born Again, Enlightened, Analyzed: Exploring the Many Faces of Conversion.
This essay explores the concept of conversion as a transformation of the self, examining its manifestations in Christianity through figures like Paul, Augustine, and Luther, and comparing it to Islamic submission, Zen enlightenment, and Lacanian psychoanalysis. All involve a reorientation of identity and purpose.
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Shared Humanity in a Divided World?
Tribalisms create group cohesion and bonding, but it also leads to division and conflict. Our task today is to articulate the basis for a shared and universal humanity. How does the concept of solidarity exist in the psyche? We need to move towards a more flexible, holistic understanding of identity, towards greater compassion and unity.