Death - Symbolism in Holbein's Ambassadors

For those on the RPE301 Love, Sex and Death module - we were talking about this in class, on Tuesday...

Death and the Greeks

For those doing RPE209 and RPE301, but really for anyone interested, a discussion point has been raised by Jeremy Stangroom on the Talking Philosophy website. Jeremy asks the following:

In the Phaedo, Cebes suggests to Socrates that a common fear amongst people is that the soul will be extinguished upon death.
Was that a common fear at the time? (The stuff I’ve been reading has sort of suggested that what people were really afraid of was that bad things might happen to their souls after death. But it’s possible I’ve been reading the wrong stuff.)
Is there a standard text dealing with attitudes towards death in Ancient Greece?

The Philosopher's Stone

A new philosophy e-journal, The Philosopher's Stone, has been launched. It is early days yet as it is currently looking for contributions for the first issue. It states the following:

'The Philosopher’s Stone is an online journal of philosophy founded on the conviction that the job of philosophers is to serve humanity by transforming the lead of confusion and uncertainty into the gold of clarity, understanding and upright living. What else could be the product of genuine and good philosophy – which is, after all, the love of wisdom? The purpose of this journal is therefore to publish articles that not only promote only academic discussion of philosophical issues, but which do so in a distinctive format, promoting the public understanding of those issues and of philosophy in general in a good humoured, engaging and enjoyable way.
The target audience of TPS is very wide: Philosophy students who want good resources to get a handle on their subject matter, professors who want a good source of material to draw on and recommend – and to read for their own enjoyment and edification, and members of the public with an interest in philosophy. The journal covers fresh expositions of thorny philosophical issues, good natured interaction between scholars at opposite ends of disagreements, exciting tales of recent developments in philosophy and more'

Keep an eye out for it!