Published on
27 January 2020
Posted in Christianity, Culture, Music & Art, Philosophy
Oscar Wilde, introducing The Picture of Dorian Gray gave what seemed a damning critique of art: ‘All art is quite useless’. Perhaps he was right. Art is certainly not useful in any conventional sense. It does not help us catch our prey, cure diseases, or find the ideal spouse. Despite this ‘uselessness’ art is – […]
Published on
3 December 2019
Posted in Christianity, Culture, Education, Music & Art
The Building Better, Building Beautiful commission, headed by Sir Roger Scruton, exists to reclaim beauty in architecture, or to use their own words: to advise the government on how to build new housing with high-quality design tailored to the needs of the community. A lot of the UK’s poorer areas are afflicted by ugly communist-like […]
Published on
8 July 2017
Posted in Christianity, Culture, Marriage & Family, Music & Art
Terrence Malick’s most recent film, which received its UK theatrical release this weekend, is readily being described as the completion of a cinematic trilogy. The thematic unity of ‘contemporary soul-searching’ in Terrence Malick’s To the Wonder (2012), Knight of Cups (2015) and, now, Song to Song, alongside the aesthetic consistency of their highly fragmented, narrative-resistant forms, begins to justify this claim. […]
Published on
21 July 2015
Posted in Culture, Education, Morality in Public, Music & Art
From time to time determined scientistic voices argue that the Natural Sciences alone are paths to worthwhile knowledge. Now we have the responsible government Secretary of State arguing that students who do not choose science, technology, engineering or maths (STEM) subjects at A-Level are making a choice that will ‘hold them back for the rest […]
Published on
8 October 2014
Posted in Culture, Music & Art
Winners of the Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award 2014 were announced on 2 October, National Poetry Day, at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London. The guest of honour was children’s author Julia Donaldson. All 100 winning poets attended the prize-giving ceremony. The top fifteen Foyle Young Poets of the Year will also […]
Published on
14 January 2013
Posted in Culture, Ethics in the Media, Music & Art
On Christmas Day 2012 Quentin Tarantino’s latest film, Django Unchained, made its premiere. The film tells the story of an Afro-American slave in nineteenth-century America searching for his lost wife and of his efforts to achieve legal freedom. The historical background is bloody and the film is, as has been the case with many of […]
Published on
25 October 2012
Posted in Culture, Education, Music & Art
Some readers may have had the pleasure of viewing this picture which has been doing the rounds on social media. Like many of my musician friends I ‘shared’ it, and that promptly started a discussion with two others, not musicians themselves but both well-attuned to current social mores, as to whether there was anything wrong […]
Published on
30 January 2012
Posted in Culture, Education, Europe, Freedom, Human Rights, Moral Philosophy, Music & Art, Philosophy, Religion
From a guest blogger: What is it that St. Peter’s Basilica, Climate Change, the Euro Crisis and Beethoven’s Ode to Joy have in common? I shall not keep you guessing. All four demonstrate that humans are not only special, but also without doubt the most special of creatures on Planet Earth. Consider for a moment […]