Events

Modernity is difficult to characterise in its entirety: on the one hand, doubt runs rife about the integrity of received institutions and ideas; on the other hand, we witness some of the most ambitious political developments and philosophical system building. Luther systematically undermines confidence in the Catholic Church, yet remains commited to systematic theology, whilst his followers attempt a first systematic account of the whole of law. With Descartes, doubt takes the form of a philosophical method, yet which purports to yield a rationalist account of the world. Yet where does such a 'view from nowhere' leave the subject? Dissatisfied with the hubris of rationalism, on the one hand, and the naivety of empiricism, on the other, Immanuel Kant issues a radical proposal: the rational subject is himself the key to the possibity of objective knowledge: it is precisely from within the confines of his subjectivity that he apprehend those universal concepts without which the world could have no meaning for him. With Hegel this subjective turn took on a new significance altogether: reason itself is historically conditioned, and that which the subject defines himself in relationship to is not the objective per se, but other subjects, and indeed the whole of history. Join us as we attempt to untangle the many paradoxes of early modern thought.  

The founding of Republics is a defining feature of modernity. The formulation of political and religious challenges to hereditary forms of governance, often culminating in civil wars, occured throughout Europe. Philosophical treatises were published in abundance on the nature and function of the ideal Republican state, with arguments derived from anthropology, the nature of human freedom, and even scriptural exegesis. Yet these projects differed radicaly from one another in their aims, the means by which they were realised, and their longevity. We examine three successive Republics and consider their respective aims, the hidden costs, and what made some successful and others less so.  

The 'long nineteenth century' is marked above all else by socio-economic transformation heretofore unseen. Breakthroughs in mechanical textiles, chemistry, iron production, and transportation -- most consequentially the invention of the steam engine -- lent themselves to rapid industrialisation that in turn transformed the soical landscape, taking work out of the home, and whole trades of towns and villages out into the new industrial cities -- in England, Birmingham, Manchester, Sheffield, and Leeds among others. The consequences of this rapid societal transformation were much studied, most famously by Karl Marx. A student of Hegel, Marx was inclined towards a science of history, which he viewed as most essentially a history of material and economic transformation. Hegel's 'dialectic' is now reinterpreted as an ongoing class struggle -- the kind Dickens in England and Hugo in France made the subject of so many novels. We study Marx's theory and try to understand it in context, apart from what has been made of it in subsequent history.  

The turn of the C20th saw a series of developments in physics and mathematics that for the first time shook confidence in science and raised anew the philosophical questions that had been deemed solved or made irrelevant by it -- questions of the integrity of science, of the universality of its laws, of the possibility of reducing all of human experience to scientific laws, and these to laws of logic, and of there remaining any role for philosophy after science. Einstein's theory of relativity demonstrated that space and time were not absolute, but relative to mass, so radical a result that he barely convinced himself of the soundness of his calculations. Experiments in particle physics yielded paradoxical results which, though they could be made to fit new equations, could not be made sense of in themselves. 'Shut up and calculate!' was the motto of the Copenhagen researchers. This all contributed to the discrediting of the positivist view that all of human experience was ultimately reducible to laws; further challenges were dealt by the logician Kurt Gödel and the philosopher Wittgenstein. To this day, physicists are conflicted about the integrity of the prevailing theory of quantum mechanics. We study these developments in turn, looking particularly at the work of Werner Heisenberg, and ask whether philosophy still has a role to play after science.  

Forthcoming 

The conflict between Monarchical and Republican concepts of the state is emblematic of differing concepts of the human person, particularly the nature and value of freedom and the feasibility of self-governance. Monarchies have ofen been deposed before its citizens had come to terms with the challenges of running a just republic. The English Civil War is the culmination of a hundred years of civil discontent, especially since the War of the Roses and the gradual transfer of power from an array of noble families to a single suriving family -- The Tudors. The creation of the King's Council in 1536 by Henry VIII marked a significant stage in the process of centralisation. The need of the Tudor monarchs to call parliaments to give public assent to their radical religious reforms inadvertently gave parliament a taste of its possible role as a counterforce to the monarch. The insistence of the Stuarts on the Divine Right of Kings could not ultimately surpress this growing want of relative autonomy amongst parliamentarians, and the resultalt revolution saw England for the first and only time execute its own king. We explore the full implications of this ideological shift and the effectiveness of the republic that ensued. 

Copernicus demonstrated for the first time that the Earth orbits the sun, and not the reverse as was previously thought. Previous measurements had lended themselves to the latter view, but the number of 'epicycles' needed to model the known orbits and their coincidence at specific times became impractical. Copernicus' revision of the fundamental point of reference simplied the model drastically. More importantly it challenged our peceived sense of central significance in the cosmos, a kind of demystification of the place of man in the universe. Copernicus' work influenced Gallileio, and both astronomers' works were censored by the Church, not exactly because of the apparent contradiction with scripture, as is often claimed, but because of the competing epistemologies: the nature and scope of scientific truth in relation to philosophical and theological truth was not yet understood. We examine the deep philosophical and anthropological conflict underlying this important episode in modern history. 

We commence our Winter/Spring Seminar Series on Revolution with the birth of philosophy in Greece. Parmenides' writings survive only as fragments, and what we have can be read in 30 minutes. Yet they are a window into a mind on the cusp of an intellectual revolution, one foot in myth, another in reason. We dissect Parmenides' famous claim that 'All is One' and how it set the stage for subsequent Greek philosophy and, perhaps, all of philosophy.

Christian thought presents in many respects a synthesis of Jewish and Greek ideas. Yet it stands out as arguably the most radical concept of the human person and his purpose, deriving especially on its insistence on the Incarnation of God in the person of Jesus Christ. From this radical assertion stem a variety of doctrines and cultural possibilities, including iconography, the visible Church, a 'personal' God, and the foundation of ethics on 'faith' and interior transformation to its incisive critique of 'law'. We discuss the significance of these ideas and their immediate impact on the Roman world.

Cicero famously presented an account of the evolution of forms of state following Plato. Rome indeed went through several iterations of its constitution: the original kingdom, presiding over the whole of the Italian peninsula, collapsed following civil strife between the Plebian and Patrician classes. The subsequent Republic -- a mixed constitution -- saw the dawn of Rome's imperial might, though it eventually collapsed due to warfare among the ruling families. Augustus emerged victorious and crowned Emperor. We explore the political conditions that gave rise to the birth of the Roman Republic in particular and its decline.

The Gregorian Reforms of the C11th were an attempt to give coherent unity to Ecclesial (Canon) law and determine the nature and extent of the State's subordination to the Church. 400 Years later, this arrangement proved dissatisfactory, and a combination of peasants' revolts and resistance from several universities and rulers across the Holy Roman Empire catalysed a complete reformation of our concepts of law and state. Luther argued that no human authority could mediate between man's conscience and God, but this left doubt about the place and purpose of civil law. Phillip Melanchthon, a disciple of Luther, attempted the first complete systematisation of law as such, uniting all jurisdictions of law under common principles of 'natural law', concerned with the regulation of the civil community of fallen men and disposing them towards Godly living. We examine the effectiveness of the Reformers' solution to the conflict of civil and ecclesial law. 

Roger Scruton is remembered for his writings on an array of themes, but perhaps none so compellingly as art and architecture. Scruton's aesthetics are rooted in deep convictions about the nature of the human person. We study a chapter of his book The Soul of the World that connects traditional architecture to the religious and moral imperatives that drove the first human settlements.

Benjamin Disraeli and Michael Oakeshott each gave expression to a vision of political conservatism that would carry through to the 1980s. 'One-Nation Toryism', Disraeli's term, sought to overcome class divides through a return to common morals and traditions. Oakeshott similarly eschewed overly scientific or theoretical attitudes towards politics, preferring practical reasoning grounded in experience and tradition. We study a chapter from Oakeshott's On Human Conduct that explores what it means to act and what this means in the context of civil association. 

Developing our exploration of the themes of inheritance, justice and providence in Augustine's City of God, we turn now to two of the foremost French writers. Nearly three centuries between them, Michel de Montaigne and Joseph de Maistre offer timeless insights into the fragility of that heritage which binds generations together. We'll be discussing Montaigne's essay 'On Custom', reflecting on what he describes as the 'tyranny of custom' and its abuse in justifying vice, following which we shall tackle de Maistre's celebrated 'Seventh Dialogue' defending the providence of war. 

Edmund Burke's Reflections on the Revolution in France contains a powerful defence of hereditary government founded on an understanding of society as an indissolubly intergenerational project. We consider what influence these arguments had on the subsequent generation of English Romantic poets, in particular Wordsworth and Byron. 

We commence our Spring seminar series on heritage with Plato's Republic, particularly the chapters dealing with the relationship between art and morality and how this informs Plato's view of the role of art in relation to the state.  

St Augustine's City of God defends his fellow Christians against accusations that they were responsible for the fall of Rome to the Visigoths in 410, attributing it instead to moral decay. What follows is an impressive survey of Rome's history, her own poets and historians marshalled to the defence of Augustine's thesis, followed by an equally impressive survey of the Old Testament and the derivation of an ideal city in heaven that contrasts with those across the earth. We consider the dependence of society on strong moral formation and how this squares with the concept of providence. 

We conclude this series on liberty with the debate between John Rawls and Michael Sandel and consider the present state of liberalism and whether it has any future.

We consider the importance of the distinction between legislation and governance for the preservation of a negative concept of liberty, as this was argued by the eminent economist and former chair of the London School of Economics, Friedrich Hayek. 

The three essential materials are now available online and we will be looking at Sartre, De Beauvoir and Camus and recommended readings are also available.

We explore two competing notions of liberty as they were originally formulated by J. S. Mill and their reprisal in the work of Isaiah Berlin.

We follow the work of Rousseau with another social contract theorist, Locke, and his impact on the American Founding Father, Paine.

We commence this season with Rousseau's social contract theory