In this book, a range of contributors working in a number of different theological disciplines ex... more In this book, a range of contributors working in a number of different theological disciplines explore the question of what failure as a category has to say to theology.
The jovial journalist, philosopher, and theologian G. K. Chesterton felt that the world was almos... more The jovial journalist, philosopher, and theologian G. K. Chesterton felt that the world was almost always in permanent danger of being misjudged or even overlooked, and so the pursuit of understanding, insight, and awareness was his perpetual preoccupation. Being sensitive to the boundaries and possibilities of perception, he was always encouraging his audience to find a clear view of things. His belief was that it really is possible, albeit in a limited way, to see things as they are. This book, which marries Chesterton's unique perspective with the discipline of philosophical hermeneutics, aims to outline what Chesterton can teach us about reading, interpreting, and participating in the drama of meaning as it unfolds before us in words and in the world. Strictly speaking, of course, Chesterton is not a hermeneutic philosopher, but his vast body of work involves important hermeneutic considerations. In fact, his unique interpretive approach seems to be the subtext and implicit fascination of all Chesterton scholarship to date, and yet this book is the first to comprehensively focus on the issue. By taking Chesterton back to his philosophical roots--via his marginalia, his approach to literary criticism, his Platonist-Thomist metaphysics, and his Catholic theology--this book explicitly and compellingly tackles the philosophical assumptions and goals that underpin his unique posture towards reality.
Abstract:This essay offers a reflection on the nature of love—particularly familial love—within t... more Abstract:This essay offers a reflection on the nature of love—particularly familial love—within the apocalyptic and media-saturated context of World War Z (2013). Moreover, it explains how World War Z offers an alternative to a consumptive and over-mediated view of love. The discussion is undertaken through developing analogies between zombie tropes, René Girard's mimetic theory and Simone Weil's mystical philosophy. Particular emphasis is placed on Girard's conception of undifferentiation and Weil's explorations of love, attention and hunger. Apart from exploring certain tensions that arise from living amidst media, the argument is intended to provide a reinterpretation of the nature of the zombie both as a cinematic symbol and as critique of the imploded world that is the global village.
This paper offers a new perspective on the rhetoric of ‘sustainability’ especially within dialogu... more This paper offers a new perspective on the rhetoric of ‘sustainability’ especially within dialogue around ‘design for sustainability’ (DfS) by applying and advancing the work of twentieth-century r...
This article proposes to resolve an internal ambiguity in the subdiscipline called Everyday Aesth... more This article proposes to resolve an internal ambiguity in the subdiscipline called Everyday Aesthetics (EA), systematized by the researcher Horacio Pérez-Henao, according to whom the extension of aesthetics to the everyday has been done, on the one hand, by means of a consideration of an expansive object and subject according to aesthesis itself, as mainly proposed by Katya Mandoki, and, on the other hand, by means of a restrictive object and subject according to the parameters of an authentic aesthetic experience, a theory headed by John Dewey. Methodology: To resolve this tension, a hermeneutic methodology known as the fourfold sense of being, related to Hegelian dialectic, albeit with important modifications supplied by William Desmond was used. This methodology allows a suitable way to explore and discuss different approaches in everyday aesthetics epitomized by Mandoki and Dewey, and makes possible the proposal of a third way, epitomized by G. K. Chesterton. Results: Bearing in...
changed its name to the South African Institute of Librarianship and Information Science (SAILIS)... more changed its name to the South African Institute of Librarianship and Information Science (SAILIS). This has done a great deal of good and brought us together so that a number of projects which extensively overlap the field of Librarianship and Information Science (sic! ) have been able to go allead with little or no friction. However, the last two years has seen a powerful upsurge in online working, both as regards in-house systems and die accessing of the major overseas data bases. Both the mining and engineering sectors of the economy have been particularly active in setting up in-house systems e.g. for geological information, bore-hole data, for estimating and tendering infurmation, etc. The first Computer Aided Design (CAD) systems are also now in operation. The result of all this lias been rapid growth of wliat is as yet still an informal Online User Group (OLUG) with some 150 members. The majority of these people llave no knowledge of Librarianship and probably little interest in it. SAILIS has not made any effort to draw them into its fold to tlie best of tlie writer’s knowledge. Thus, following the Australian precedent, there is a strong desire to see a South African Branch of IIS established, to which OLUG could probably be affiliated. This may well stir SAILIS, and already the Special Libraries and Information Services of SAILIS, Suutliern Transvaal Branch, which is based in
Abstract: In various discussions on design it is evident that the idea of competition is a centra... more Abstract: In various discussions on design it is evident that the idea of competition is a central concern (Bonsiepe 2006 : 27, Buchanan 1985 :7, Lasn 2006 :14, Margolin 2007 :6). Owing to its rhetorical nature, design automatically fosters a culture of comparison and competition ...
This paper explores the mimetic patterns found in a selection of zombie films with reference to t... more This paper explores the mimetic patterns found in a selection of zombie films with reference to the philosophy of Rene Girard. To begin with, it argues that the zombie apocalypse, rather than only representing a future upheaval of society is also apocalyptical in the literary and theological sense; this it to say that it represents present social conditions by taking a very particular stance on the trajectory of human history. This article describes how the zombie contagion can be read as a symbol of what Girard calls ‘mimetic desire’. Thereafter, it deals with the way in which this contagion of desire, through the hegemony of mimetic undifferentiation, results in the escalation of reciprocal violence in a global society. Finally, it highlights specific plot points in recent zombie cinema that suggest the possibility of curing this reciprocal violence in such a way as to imply the necessity of a politics of weakness.
In this book, a range of contributors working in a number of different theological disciplines ex... more In this book, a range of contributors working in a number of different theological disciplines explore the question of what failure as a category has to say to theology.
The jovial journalist, philosopher, and theologian G. K. Chesterton felt that the world was almos... more The jovial journalist, philosopher, and theologian G. K. Chesterton felt that the world was almost always in permanent danger of being misjudged or even overlooked, and so the pursuit of understanding, insight, and awareness was his perpetual preoccupation. Being sensitive to the boundaries and possibilities of perception, he was always encouraging his audience to find a clear view of things. His belief was that it really is possible, albeit in a limited way, to see things as they are. This book, which marries Chesterton's unique perspective with the discipline of philosophical hermeneutics, aims to outline what Chesterton can teach us about reading, interpreting, and participating in the drama of meaning as it unfolds before us in words and in the world. Strictly speaking, of course, Chesterton is not a hermeneutic philosopher, but his vast body of work involves important hermeneutic considerations. In fact, his unique interpretive approach seems to be the subtext and implicit fascination of all Chesterton scholarship to date, and yet this book is the first to comprehensively focus on the issue. By taking Chesterton back to his philosophical roots--via his marginalia, his approach to literary criticism, his Platonist-Thomist metaphysics, and his Catholic theology--this book explicitly and compellingly tackles the philosophical assumptions and goals that underpin his unique posture towards reality.
Abstract:This essay offers a reflection on the nature of love—particularly familial love—within t... more Abstract:This essay offers a reflection on the nature of love—particularly familial love—within the apocalyptic and media-saturated context of World War Z (2013). Moreover, it explains how World War Z offers an alternative to a consumptive and over-mediated view of love. The discussion is undertaken through developing analogies between zombie tropes, René Girard's mimetic theory and Simone Weil's mystical philosophy. Particular emphasis is placed on Girard's conception of undifferentiation and Weil's explorations of love, attention and hunger. Apart from exploring certain tensions that arise from living amidst media, the argument is intended to provide a reinterpretation of the nature of the zombie both as a cinematic symbol and as critique of the imploded world that is the global village.
This paper offers a new perspective on the rhetoric of ‘sustainability’ especially within dialogu... more This paper offers a new perspective on the rhetoric of ‘sustainability’ especially within dialogue around ‘design for sustainability’ (DfS) by applying and advancing the work of twentieth-century r...
This article proposes to resolve an internal ambiguity in the subdiscipline called Everyday Aesth... more This article proposes to resolve an internal ambiguity in the subdiscipline called Everyday Aesthetics (EA), systematized by the researcher Horacio Pérez-Henao, according to whom the extension of aesthetics to the everyday has been done, on the one hand, by means of a consideration of an expansive object and subject according to aesthesis itself, as mainly proposed by Katya Mandoki, and, on the other hand, by means of a restrictive object and subject according to the parameters of an authentic aesthetic experience, a theory headed by John Dewey. Methodology: To resolve this tension, a hermeneutic methodology known as the fourfold sense of being, related to Hegelian dialectic, albeit with important modifications supplied by William Desmond was used. This methodology allows a suitable way to explore and discuss different approaches in everyday aesthetics epitomized by Mandoki and Dewey, and makes possible the proposal of a third way, epitomized by G. K. Chesterton. Results: Bearing in...
changed its name to the South African Institute of Librarianship and Information Science (SAILIS)... more changed its name to the South African Institute of Librarianship and Information Science (SAILIS). This has done a great deal of good and brought us together so that a number of projects which extensively overlap the field of Librarianship and Information Science (sic! ) have been able to go allead with little or no friction. However, the last two years has seen a powerful upsurge in online working, both as regards in-house systems and die accessing of the major overseas data bases. Both the mining and engineering sectors of the economy have been particularly active in setting up in-house systems e.g. for geological information, bore-hole data, for estimating and tendering infurmation, etc. The first Computer Aided Design (CAD) systems are also now in operation. The result of all this lias been rapid growth of wliat is as yet still an informal Online User Group (OLUG) with some 150 members. The majority of these people llave no knowledge of Librarianship and probably little interest in it. SAILIS has not made any effort to draw them into its fold to tlie best of tlie writer’s knowledge. Thus, following the Australian precedent, there is a strong desire to see a South African Branch of IIS established, to which OLUG could probably be affiliated. This may well stir SAILIS, and already the Special Libraries and Information Services of SAILIS, Suutliern Transvaal Branch, which is based in
Abstract: In various discussions on design it is evident that the idea of competition is a centra... more Abstract: In various discussions on design it is evident that the idea of competition is a central concern (Bonsiepe 2006 : 27, Buchanan 1985 :7, Lasn 2006 :14, Margolin 2007 :6). Owing to its rhetorical nature, design automatically fosters a culture of comparison and competition ...
This paper explores the mimetic patterns found in a selection of zombie films with reference to t... more This paper explores the mimetic patterns found in a selection of zombie films with reference to the philosophy of Rene Girard. To begin with, it argues that the zombie apocalypse, rather than only representing a future upheaval of society is also apocalyptical in the literary and theological sense; this it to say that it represents present social conditions by taking a very particular stance on the trajectory of human history. This article describes how the zombie contagion can be read as a symbol of what Girard calls ‘mimetic desire’. Thereafter, it deals with the way in which this contagion of desire, through the hegemony of mimetic undifferentiation, results in the escalation of reciprocal violence in a global society. Finally, it highlights specific plot points in recent zombie cinema that suggest the possibility of curing this reciprocal violence in such a way as to imply the necessity of a politics of weakness.
In this article, I argue against the claim made by Vassilis Saroglou that religion, and specifica... more In this article, I argue against the claim made by Vassilis Saroglou that religion, and specifically Christianity, may be taken as an a priori incompatibility. This is done through a discussion of the reconciliation of theology and humor that is evident in the work of G. K. Chesterton — a theologian who was forever laughing, joking and defending the ephemeral. To navigate this reconciliation, I tackle Chesterton’s writings on two fronts. To begin with, after reading Chesterton through the lens offered William Desmond’s ‘fourfold sense of being’, I discuss his thinking on humor in terms of his distinctive articulation of Christianity in paradoxical terms. Secondly, I then discuss Chesterton’s views on humor with regard to his prioritization of the virtues of honesty, humility and hospitality in relation to his own paradoxical logic. In showing these two strands of his thinking — his paradoxy and morality — to be deeply intertwined, I suggest that the reconciliation of humor and theol...
This article considers the ontology of the British journalist GK Chesterton with respect to its i... more This article considers the ontology of the British journalist GK Chesterton with respect to its implications for the interpretation of visual texts, referred to here as the ethics of speculation. This exploration takes place under the assumption that Chesterton's ontology, as that which relates to understanding the meaning of things, and his ethics, as that which examines the uses and abuses of things, have a dialogical connection. While Chesterton is not formally considered a philosopher, art historian or visual theorist, it is proposed that his ideas as an post-Victorian cultural commentator remain relevant to visual theory today. Unfortunately, Chesterton does not explicate his ontology systematically; this paper suggests that it may be considered in the light of three interlinking considerations: the riddle, the answer and the romance of being. It is in contemplating the interrelationship between these three considerations of being that specific ethical implications concerni...
The following essay offers a response to the observation that the terms 'religion' and 'fanaticis... more The following essay offers a response to the observation that the terms 'religion' and 'fanaticism' are commonly used in a pejorative sense in relation to sport, both in popular writing and in more critical academic discourse ...
This essay, from the book 'Sport and Militarism', edited by Michael L. Butterworth and published ... more This essay, from the book 'Sport and Militarism', edited by Michael L. Butterworth and published by Routledge in 2017, focuses on illuminating the rhetorical entanglement of sport and militarism within the American arena/stadium. Mimetic realism/theory, after René Girard, and Kenneth Burke's meta-rhetorical thinking form the theoretical backbone of the essay, although reference is made to other thinkers on the phenomenological and ritual framework of sports events.
This is a fairly rough sketch of a few concepts from the work of Jacques Lacan, explored by means... more This is a fairly rough sketch of a few concepts from the work of Jacques Lacan, explored by means of the comedy of Louis C. K. This is from the book "Louis C. K. and Philosophy" edited by Mark Ralkowski. I'm aware that the clear split between the big Other and the unconscious might have its problems, but my decision to make this distinction was guided by the interpretation of Lacan provided by Colette Soler in her book "The Unconscious Reinvented". I'd recommend turning to that if you want to get a better sense of the nuances that this little essay couldn't include.
Against more conventional approaches to writing about cinema, I offer the following clash of herm... more Against more conventional approaches to writing about cinema, I offer the following clash of hermeneutic horizons – of Chesterton’s views with the “filmind” of two recent films (Shutter Island and Inception). My aim is to provide a fresh feminist reading of gender representation that somewhat subverts more recent feminist critiques.
Even in our image-saturated world, the face remains the primary signal of identity. From infancy,... more Even in our image-saturated world, the face remains the primary signal of identity. From infancy, the face initiates that all-important moment of genuine recognition. We find ourselves mirrored in the lives of others as they welcome us into the world. “Meaning is a physiognomy,” says Ludwig Wittgenstein in his Philosophical Investigations; which is to say that the face is a gateway not only to understanding people but to actually understanding anything at all. The face is a challenge to quite a lot of the philosophy that can be overly preoccupied with the communion of mind and mind and of thought with thought. The face is a stark reminder of our raw materiality. Those of us who would like to live in a bubble detached from our flesh and blood have only to look at the faces of others to discover that life in a bubble simply will not work. We have to face the facts.
This study proposes an answer to the question of what the contemporary relevance of the writings ... more This study proposes an answer to the question of what the contemporary relevance of the writings of GK Chesterton (1874-1936) may be to the field of visual culture studies in general and to discourse on (visual) hermeneutics in particular. It contends that Chesterton’s distinctive hermeneutic strategy is dramatology: an approach rooted in the idea that being, which is disclosed to itself via language, has a dramatic structure. It is this dramatology that acts as an answer to any philosophical outlook that would seek to de-dramatise the hermeneutic experience. The structure of Chesterton’s dramatology is unpacked via three clear questions, namely the question of what philosophical foundation describes his horizon of understanding, the question of what the task or goal of his interpretive process is and, finally, the question of what tools or elements shape his hermeneutic outlook. The first question is answered via an examination of his cosmology, epistemology and ontology; the second question is answered by the proposal that Chesterton’s chief aim is to uphold human dignity through his defenses of the common man, common sense and democracy; and the third question is answered through a discussion of the three principles that underpin his rhetoric, namely analogy, paradox and defamiliarisation. After proposing the structure of Chesterton’s dramatology via these considerations, the study offers one application of this dramatology to Terrence Malick’s film 'The tree of life' (2011). This is sustained in terms of the incarnational paradox between mystery and revelation that acts as the primary tension and hermeneutic key in Chesterton’s work.
Philosophical Theologies In South Africa: Conference Presentation, 2022
Søren Kierkegaard tells a parable of a re that breaks out backstage in a theatre. 1 A clown charg... more Søren Kierkegaard tells a parable of a re that breaks out backstage in a theatre. 1 A clown charges out onto the stage to warn the audience of the danger but, because he is already dressed up for his show, the audience members mistake his warning for comedy. They laugh and clap and so fail to respond to the threat. Kierkegaard speculates that the world is likely to end "amid general applause" like this because so many people believe that what they are witnessing is only "a joke." In this story, Kierkegaard sets up a distinction-along soteriological lines-between what appears and what may be concealed by appearance. Of course, Kierkegaard's clown is a symbol for Christ. The light shines in the darkness but the darkness fails to comprehend it. 2 The people misunderstand the clown partly because of what they expect from the theatrical world they have entered. What is not anticipated recedes from view. "[A]ppearances," G. K. Chesterton notes, have something to do with "disappearances." 3 It is this gap-and something of the bridging of this gap-between appearances and disappearances that I want to address here. However, I want to do so from the opposite perspective to the one we nd in Kierkegaard's parable. I regard the opposite perspective as the more pertinent one in our time. In this age, if people miss the news that would save them, it would more likely be because they are taking things too seriously. 4 If anything, our clowns are believed at the expense of their clowning. 5 But then, thank God, we have thinkers like Chesterton who do not accept this status quo. At the very end of his book Orthodoxy (1908), Chesterton makes a claim regarding the "pathos" of Christ, which was "natural," and "almost casual." But he contends that one dimension of Christ's pathos 5 Just as Dave Chappelle.
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