Religion, Philosophy & Ethics course

Day Trip to London for Hindu Temple visit and Hajj Exhibition

2012-01-11T12:51:00.000Z

A limited number of tickets are nowavailable for students for a day trip on 2^nd March to thestunning Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Neasdon followed by the Hajj Exhibition atthe British Museum.

The coach will leave FCH at 8am and we willbe given a tour of the Hindu Temple at 10.30. After lunch we will be taken tothe Hajj Exhibition at the British Museum, leaving London for the returnjourney at 5pm.

For details of the Temple: http://www.mandir.org/

For details of the Hajj Exhibition: http://www.britishmuseum.org/whats_on/exhibitions/hajj/introduction.aspx

Tickets are limited and it is first-come,first-served. We are offering this for £15 for the whole day (admittance to theHajj Exhibition alone would normally cost £10) and can be purchased at theUniversity Online Store: http://store.glos.ac.uk/browse/extra_info.asp?modid=1&prodid=755&deptid=4&catid=25&prodvarid=0

Ticket-holders will be given more informationabout the trip closer to the time.

Mindfulness...

2012-01-05T15:01:00.001Z

Of interest to those on the Indian Religions module?

Invitation to visitors / students / potential students

2011-12-21T13:54:00.001Z

Just a quick post to note that http://www.facebook.com/groups/RPEglos/ - our course Facebook group - is open to all - and is mostly made up of staff, RPE graduates, current students and also people considering taking the course. Others are, of course, welcome.

Christmas Banned - no post this year..

2011-12-21T12:46:00.000Z

We have already covered at length the 'Christmas Banned' tabloid stories in previous years, so if people do want to read about it - you can:

http://r-p-e.blogspot.com/2010/11/christmasreligion-not-actually-banned.html

There is more here too: http://liberalconspiracy.org/2011/10/13/how-the-daily-mail-is-planning-its-next-christmas-banned-outrage/

Humanities at Gloucestershire

2011-12-02T15:17:00.003Z

Thought some of the viewers of this blog might like to see this presentation about Creative Writing, English Literature, History, English Language, Theology and RPE (Religion, Philosophy & Ethics) here at the University of Gloucestershire..

(use the 'play' type button to view this presentation, one step at a time)

Open Day Humanities 2011 on Prezi

The God of Philosophy

2011-11-24T10:17:00.001Z

Just thought some might like to know that the 2nd edition of RPE tutor Dr Roy Jackson's The God of Philosophy is now out!

Info at http://www.amazon.co.uk/God-Philosophy-Second-Roy-Jackson/dp/1844655016

Roy has published extensively as you can see HERE

Michael Stone and Buddhism, at Occupy Montreal

2011-11-15T15:16:00.000Z

Michael Stone draws on Buddhism in his talk at the Occupy Montreal Protest..

Michael Stone at Occupy Montreal from Emily Gan on Vimeo.

Gloucestershire Philosophical Society

2011-11-06T17:58:00.000Z

A list of upcoming talks - at which our students are always welcome - can always be found at http://www.glosphilsoc.co.uk/whatson.html

Some info about the next ones:

Wed.Nov. 9th. 2011. FCH Room HC203. Malcolm Pritchard and Harry Cowen (Gloucestershire Philosophical Society): “The University of the Future: What Role For Philosophy?”.
In the current period of material uncertainty, the humanities, including philosophy, are coming under attack. Yet in recent decades major intellectual works have appeared in political and social philosophy, ethics, philosophy of mind, etc. So what is happening to the nature of the university? What will/should be the role of philosophy in higher education?

Wed. Nov. 30th. 2011. 7.30.p.m. FCH Room HC203. Dr. Oren Ben-Dor, University of Southampton: “The temporal persistence of differend: reflections on Art, Truth and Practical Reason.” : Reading Heidessger and Spinoza, the talk discusses how mortals are as nature, and how this relationship originates in the primordial truth of unconcealement. Reinterpreting Lyotard, Oren focuses on the temporal, material and political aspects of this relationship. Oren is the author of 'Thinking About Law: In silence with Heidegger', 2007. .

Wed. Dec. 7th. 2011. 7.30.p.m. FCH Room HC203. Professor Alessandra Tanesini, Cardiff University: “Science, Values and Impartiality”. In this talk Alessandra Tanesini examines and ultimately rejects the view that science must be autonomous, value neutral and impartial. Instead she defends the claim that ethical and political values are an inevitable part of science and that at least in some cases their influence on scientific knowledge is positive. (Please note that before the talk there will be a short AGM.)

Glad you asked?

2011-11-06T17:48:00.000Z

Forgot I had done this! It is only an edited (not by me...) sample - but may provide some entertainment..
d.

New visitors

2011-11-05T15:40:00.000Z

I have just come back from an Open Day here in Cheltenham, talking to people about the RPE course...

I thought I'd pop a post here in case any of them/you are looking for more info...

The blog archives are a good start - including ones about our field trip, and our 'worst argument' competition... - just browse and see what is there.

Also - see the course Facebook group at: http://www.facebook.com/groups/RPEglos/ - you don't have to join to look at info here, but anyone with an interest is welcome to join - and feel free to post questions and chat with our current and past students.

http://www.visitcheltenham.com/ can give you more info about the town, and http://www.cheltenhamfestivals.com/ has loads of info re Cheltenham International Literature Festival, and the others festivals that the town hosts - more about this HERE..

Of course - you can always get in touch via email: dwebster@glos.ac.uk and ask us questions...
Cheers,
Dave

'Spirituality and the Emotions in Early Christianity'

2011-10-31T15:46:00.000Z

SCHOOL OF HUMANITIES: Bible and Spirituality Research Seminar
Dr. Stephen Barton
Durham University

Thursday 3 November
5.30-7.00
TC007
Francis Close Hall

All welcome

Dr. Barton was until recently Reader in the Dept of Theology and Religion, in the University of Durham. He is the author of The Spirituality of the Gospels (SPCK, 1992), and has just published ‘Eschatology and the Emotions in Early Christianity’, Journal of Biblical Literature 133 (2011).

Gloucestershire Philosophical Society

2011-09-30T12:16:00.000+01:00

Wednesday, 5th.October, 2011, 7.30.p.m., FCH Room HC203.

Dr. John Hockey, University of Gloucestershire, will be giving a talk on "Embodied Ideology: the case of infantry".

In this talk, John discusses how the military organisation-which constitutes the cutting edge of the state-socialises its members into particular values and norms, and also into particular somatic practices.

ALL WELCOME

Roy talks God..

2011-09-27T13:19:00.000+01:00

We are putting together a video glossary for the module RPE210 - The God of Philosophy - where module tutor, Dr Roy Jackson, talks about key ideas... This is just a sample, which I thought would be of interest..

Making the most of the module

2011-09-13T13:13:00.000+01:00

This is a video, with some advice for students on RPE110; but may be of interest to all students...

There are more videos, related to the course and its content, at http://bit.ly/rpeglos

Welcome!

2011-09-06T11:45:00.000+01:00

Just a quick post to welcome our new students, and existing ones, to a new academic year.

Of course - the course Facebook site (feel free to join) is still available via http://bit.ly/rpeglos - and is always lively...

Information about Induction for new students is being finalised at present, and will be out soon. If you have any worries - contact a member of the RPE team...

Thrills beyond words...

2011-09-06T11:40:00.000+01:00

Just to let people know - the United Kingdom Association for Buddhist Studies has, on its website, made available (free!) the back copies (vol. 1-22) of the journal Buddhist Studies Review.

http://www.ukabs.org.uk/ukabs/resources/journal-archives/buddhist-studies-review-vols-1-22/ is the link. Enjoy, and let me know if there are any technical problems...

Dave.

Lessons from new media?

2011-07-20T14:15:00.000+01:00

An energy company learns an important lesson about managing its image, public perception of ethics, and new social media...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/jul/20/greenpeace-twitter-injunction-cairn

It took legal action trying to force twitter users to withdraw images related to a protest: From the Guardian -

The Scottish court order prohibits the environment group "disseminating, printing, uploading, sharing, copying or otherwise publishing any images, photographs, pictures or other material (or copies thereof) taken or recorded by Greenpeace activists present within 50 Lothian Road, Edinburgh on or around 18 July 2011."

If you are familiar with social media - you can guess what happened next:

But hundreds of people have begun posting the pictures on their personal Facebook and Twitter accounts.

Where is this taking us in terms of protest, activism and free speech? Into, at the very least, interesting times...

d.

EduLearn lessons..

2011-07-04T17:54:00.001+01:00

Hi, just a short post..
I am at EduLearn11 researching more was for RPE to use technology in our teaching, learning, etc...

RPE has, as I have said on this blog before, a Facebook group- which is lively- and I think a success-- but what next? The video feedback Will and I did for RPE110 is something we can expand, but what else?

I hope to do some virtual office hours next term; but what about Twitter? Will you/our students use it? More when I get back, and have stolen any good ideas I can...

D.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Avinguda de Joan XXIII,Barcelona,Spain

Why Atheists Should Care about RE in Schools.

2011-06-29T10:25:00.000+01:00

[Short opinion by piece by me, on RE in schools - DW]

There has been a lot of noise recently about school-based Religious Studies (or, to those of us over a certain age Religious Education / RE). Its exclusion from the EBacc proposals and cuts to funded PGCE numbers have led to real concerns about the subjects future. Of course, RE teachers, and those that seek to represent them, have been quick to defend the subject and argue for its benefits. But reading through online comments (which, I know, is bad for anyone’s mental health / general view of humanity), I became aware of a fault line between defenders of RE and many with whom I normally agree / share opinions. A general hostility to religion has led many atheists to argue that RE’s marginalisation is welcome, and socially beneficial.

Irrespective of the arguments for and against the ‘new’ atheism, I want to suggest that such reluctance to support RE is predicated on a fundamental misunderstanding of how the subject is taught, and the benefits it offers young people. If you look to the lessons provided by RE teachers it soon becomes clear the RE has, largely through a series of historical accident, become the primary means by which pupils encounter questions of ethics. Further to this, it is the only subject ion schools where philosophy is systematically introduced to students. At AS and A2 level, the influence and popularity of certain modular components of contemporary curricular are so strong that many pupils (and students applying for, and arriving at, University) refer to the Religious Studies A level as ‘Philosophy and Ethics A level.’

While many, myself included, would like to see Philosophy taught as a mainstream subject in schools, that is not on offer now, or likely to be in the short to medium term. So I would suggest that if you are in favour of students developing critical thinking, of young people encountering the substantive arguments against as well as for religious belief, and of their introduction to philosophy and ethics as an academic discipline- you need to put aside any reservations about the consequences of religious belief in society – and stand up for Religious Education.

The debates sparked by writers such as Richard Dawkins, Stephen Hawking, Daniel Dennett and others are important, but to asses them and come to their own conclusions, young people need to well informed of the context, nature and intellectual history of these issues. Even the most devout atheist should be able to see that what young people need in assessing religious claims is a foundation of critical, reflective understanding and knowledge in which to ground their views. Some might even suggest that RE is currently a Trojan Horse for critical thinking and philosophy: maybe there is some truth to that. But as long as it serves to not merely to support faith, but to question and engage with it – it has value. If RE can use its window on ethics to prompt young people to ask searching questions about social justice, poverty, crime and punishment, truth and the nature of meaning – surely we can put aside differences over the truth of religious propositions, and agree that this is vital and urgent work – and that both students and society stand to suffer from its marginalisation.

UKABS Annual Conference 2011

2011-06-24T14:43:00.000+01:00

United Kingdom Association for Buddhist Studies

8th September 2011, 9.30am-6.00pm, Khalili Lecture Theatre,

School of Oriental and African Studies,

Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square,

London WC1H 0XG.

Registration fee:
(includes tea/coffee but not lunch)
£10 (£5 unwaged) for UKABS members
£25 (£15 unwaged) for non-members

Further information:
To register or for further details, please contact UKABS Treasurer, Dr. Naomi Appleton (naomi.appleton@googlemail.com).

Keynote Lectures:

Professor Max Deeg (Cardiff University): How the Dharma Came to the Region – Buddhist Foundation Legends.

Dr Ulrike Roesler (University of Oxford): “Lives of Liberation”: Biographical writing in Tibet.

University of Cambridge Research Project Presentation: Transforming Technologies and Buddhist Book Culture: the introduction of printing and digital text reproduction in Tibetan societies (Dr Hildegard Diemberger).

Postgraduate Panel:

Karen Liljenberg (SOAS) The Thirteen Later Translations of the rDzogs chen Mind Series: an overview.

Alastair Gornall (University of Cambridge) The Buddhism of Grammar in 12th Century Sri Lanka: An Alternative Perspective on the Saṅgha Reforms of Parākramābāhu I.

Eva Preschern (Canterbury Christ Church University) Tibetan Stūpas in Modern Europe: The Opportunities and Risks of Constructing Buddhist Monuments in a New Cultural Context.

Andrew J. Wormald (University of Bristol) The Role of Meditation in Contemporary Chinese Buddhist Identity in mainland China.

Invitation

2011-06-08T12:03:00.000+01:00

As the academic year drags towards its end, we start turning our thoughts to next year - and the new Religion, Philosophy and Ethics students who will be joining us here in Cheltenham in September.

If you are in that category - and are looking at joining us in September (or, indeed, the following year)- you are very welcome to join our course Facebook group at http://bit.ly/rpeglos - which is open to all, and you can meet current and past students, and the staff on the course...

Cheers, d.

Western Buddhism, Zizek and Authenticity

2011-06-08T09:28:00.001+01:00

Hi, just out of interest - here is a presentation (use the arrow to follow through it) I gave last year - and am trying to write up at the moment.. I wonder if it makes sense without me droning on over the top of it?
d.

Western Buddhism and Authenticity on Prezi

Gloucestershire Philosophical Society - Will Large on Levinas

2011-06-08T09:16:00.000+01:00

Dr. William Large: The Meaning of the Other in Emmanuel Levinas’ ‘Totality and Infinity’.

Wed. June 15th, 2011.

7:30pm TC002a, FCH Campus - Cheltenham.

All Welcome

This year is the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of Levinas’ ‘Totality and Infinity’, perhaps one of the most important books published in phenomenology in the Twentieth Century. The topic of this book is ethics, which Levinas situates in the experience of the Other who faces me. In this talk, Dr. Large will examine the two meanings of the Other in Levinas’ seminal text, and whether there is any conflict between them.

more at http://www.glosphilsoc.co.uk/whatson.html

Summer on Campus

2011-05-31T12:27:00.000+01:00

Just took this (effect via InstaGram) as I walked across campus...

Lively debate..

2011-05-29T17:26:00.000+01:00

You can tell all essays are in: our students have become very lively over on the course Facebook page at http://bit.ly/rpeglos

Lots of discussion of brain-gym, the ebacc and Religious Studies in schools, philosophy in schools and more. All are welcome to join the Facebook group and join in..

D.

Philosophy dead?

2011-05-23T09:58:00.003+01:00

Stephen Hawking, in a Telegraph piece this morning, declares that Philosophy is dead:

But almost all of us must sometimes wonder: Why are we here? Where do we come from? Traditionally, these are questions for philosophy, but philosophy is dead

There is a series of comments attached to the piece itself: my initial reaction was he has a very narrow sense here of what philosophy is, and what it is for....

Do others agree? (for comments via our Facebook group see: http://bit.ly/rpeglos )

The nice people at Philosophy Now have taken a response by Chris Norris from behind their paywall - so we can all read it - http://www.philosophynow.org/issue82/Hawking_contra_Philosophy - thanks to them...

d.

Gloucestershire Philosophical Society- The Politics of Human Nature: A Study of Power and Authority"

2011-05-06T11:55:00.000+01:00

Gloucestershire Philosophical Society

Wednesday, May 11th., 7.30.p.m. at FCH Room HC203

Harry Cowen, University of Gloucestershire, will give a talk on

"The Politics of Human Nature: A Study of Power and Authority".

The talk will focus on the conservative orientation towards power relations and authority, unpicking the 'human nature' assumptions that underpin tradition, power and social change.

All welcome.

FCH Campus is in Cheltenham.

Sai Baba dies...

2011-04-25T10:57:00.002+01:00

Obituary at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-13153536

Eulogy to re-launch

2011-04-11T13:07:00.001+01:00

Those of you who have done, or will do next year, the module RPE301 - Love, Sex and Death, may be interested to note that the :

The world’s first ‘death magazine’ is set to re-launch with a new website, masthead and strap-line

It launched, and then seemed to stall - but the re-launched version may have some interesting content

see: http://www.eulogymagazine.co.uk/ for details...

Reminder..

2011-04-08T13:56:00.001+01:00

Staff and Students at the end of last year...

Just to let people know that even though term may be coming to an end - this blog - and especially the Religion, Philosophy & Ethics course face book page are still active.

Most of the discussion seems to have moved to the facebook page, from the blog: but comments are welcome via both. Also - anyone with a general interest in our course (be you a teacher, A level student, member of the public!) can join the facebook group...

Cheers, Dave

New blog next door

2011-04-07T10:53:00.000+01:00

Our colleagues in English Literature here at Gloucestershire are working on a blog too - see http://eng-glos.blogspot.com/

Cheers,
Dave

Philosophy at Play Event

2011-04-07T10:21:00.000+01:00

Hi - this event is next week: see http://insight.glos.ac.uk/academicdepartments/dse/news/pages/philosophyatplayconference.aspx

Abstracts are at http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2157704/listofabstracts.pdf

I hope those coming find it useful...

Religion, Philosophy & Ethics student profile on YouTube!

2011-03-28T08:06:00.000+01:00

Cordoba March 2011 Field Trip Report…

2011-03-21T16:30:00.003Z

If it’s March – it must be the Spain trip…

[ more pics at http://on.fb.me/cordoba_glos ]

12^th March – 2.30 am – some very sleepy students and staff meet at the FCH campus refectory – for a 3am coach to Bristol Airport… Oddly – everyone is on time, and has their passport…

The Avant train waits to take us to Cordoba

We get to Bristol, and take off at 6.30am – and then once we are in Malaga, we get the local train to the main Malaga station:

We lurk here till our 14:30 train sweeps us north, then a short (!) walk takes us to Los Patios – our home from home for the week.

People are a little weary, so a short orientation tour, via Plaza de Corredera, is enough for most – followed by an early night…

Sunday 13th March

Long day starts with short walk to Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos .

Then, we head to the Torre de la Calahorra museum - where we get a rather rosy view of the history in the 'Golden Age' of Al-Andalus... Here is the annual picture on the roof terrace:

Followed by a wander to the newly refurbished Archaeological Museum - which has a new underground section on the Roman theatre, and some much more sophisticated accounts of the region's history.

Monday 14th

RAIN. plus everything was closed. More rain. Card games. More rain.

Tuesday 15th

Early train to Seville...

Our usual Seville meeting point...

We walked to the historic centre (without getting lost) – and began with the Alcázares Reales de Sevilla - which has interesting internal buildings – and stunning gardens: an amazing place.

It takes most of a morning to explore the Seville Alcazar – then lunch

Seville Cathedral is huge! It has treasure rooms, and a lot to see – also – test your cardiovascular endurance – and walk to the top of the tower – the views are worth it.

Seville Cathedral

Wednesday 16th

Medina Azahara - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medina_Azahara is 8 miles west of Cordoba.

Students at Medina Azahara

A short walk to a daily tourist bus - and off we went... Once there – there is a great museum – brand new, and interactive – with lots of resources: and the ruined city itself.

And back on the bus...

We then went to the Museum of Jewish life Casa de Seferad - to explore the Jewish heritage of the city – in the heart of the Jewish quarter. We had a short talk here, and saw some new exhibits on how Jews fared during the Spanish Inquisition (which we didn't expect)

At 2pm We met Imma – our expert tour guide – for the tour of the Mezquita / Cathedral – which is a highlight of the trip for many.

Thursday 17th...

5am - meet in reception of Hotel - for 5.30am coach to airport - then home at FCH by 3pm...

Looking back at the Mezquita as we leave for the coach..

Off to Cordoba...

2011-03-11T22:28:00.001Z

As part of RPE136 module, we are off to Cordoba, Spain for the field trip.... (leaving in 4 hours from now...) Follow us via http://on.fb.me/cordoba_glos

Cheers,

Dave

Bodhisattva Superstar...

2011-03-05T21:25:00.000Z

Interesting?

Heidegger and Evolution

2011-03-05T16:08:00.002Z

Hello everybody,

In an attempt to stop bothering my supervisors (i'm not in care) and instead bother other people i would be interested in people's comments on essay ideas i have. I tried to be as original as possible which maybe a weakness, but anyhow, in the spirit of learning i'm putting my ideas 'out there' to be criticised. Let me know what you think or possible areas for development.

Here's an extract from an essay/idea i'm considering (apologies for the length)

I would like to argue that Heidegger’s philosophy of ‘Being and Time’ presents an intuitive framework for understanding ‘evolution’. Not just biological evolution but evolution as a process, a state of becoming. In the same way that simple single cell organisms become complex multi-cellular life, or that elementary particles become heavy metals, or that spinning hot balls of gases become clusters of galaxies, each has the potential for the other. I do not want to infer any teleology in this framework, i.e. that human intelligence was a necessary step or that some design is required. More in the Heideggarian sense that all things carry their evolutionary past with them to be projected into a potential future, that evolution is Being and being, in that objects that exist are a part of evolution and evolution as a system allows those things to exist or go extinct placing them in the background of nothingness. Heidegger’s ‘Dasein’, ‘being there’ and ‘being with’ applies to all things, he intended it only to refer to humans but I think it can be applied to all objects that are subject to evolution, that are in the world and by definition of evolution interact with their world. As a result of evolution objects carry with them the history of their ancestors and so are always ‘being with’ as well as ‘being there’. ‘Throwness’ is essentially an evolutionary idea, in that all things do not choose the fundamental aspects of their being, where and how they were created, what past they are created into, we do not control what events we run into or what events will shape us. In the same way that every human is thrown into a biography not of their choosing be it their country of origin, ethnicity, host language or sexual orientation so to generations of organisms are thrown into a process that chooses them but they did not choose.

This is just a first mashing of ideas so don't get hung up on the grammar.

Death - Symbolism in Holbein's Ambassadors

2011-02-23T16:03:00.000Z

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

Death and the Greeks

2011-02-08T11:36:00.003Z

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

2011-02-08T11:29:00.003Z

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!

Gloucestershire Philosophical Society - next talk

2011-01-31T15:38:00.004Z

Prof Mike McNamee (Swansea University) -

The Idea of Ethical Expertise

Time	16 February · 19:30 - 21:30

Location	Rm HC203, FCH, Uni of Gloucestershire Swindon Rd Cheltenham, United Kingdom

More info	The Idea of Ethical Expertise. In recent years, there has been considerable discussion of the nature and purpose of ethicists, e.g. medical, in the public domain. But is their work susceptible of expertise? Prof. McNamee argues against the ideal, and argues for the ancient Greek concepts of techne (craft knowledge) and phronesis (practical wisdom).

Students (and the public) are welcome to attend this event..

Thai Buddhist Sect - photo essay

2011-01-27T20:31:00.003Z

Many thanks to my good friend Dr Paul Fuller, for pointing me in the direction of THIS article at Foreign Policy Magazine.

It is about the Dhammakaya movement (this is the link to their official website - some interesting pics HERE too),and the piece uses the word 'cult' rather easily. The movement (read a little HERE about it) has had controversy in the past, but remains hugely popular in Thailand and beyond. What is more striking about the Foreign Policy article is the truly amazing photos: they are copyrighted - so I won't re-post - but well worth it...

You can see a Dhammakaya Promotional Video below if you're interested.... (a clearly an 'insider' perspective from the organisation - with some cheesy music - but interesting)

Cheers,
Dave

Film Society

2011-01-23T17:57:00.003Z

Here is the flyer for the films for February. They are all shown in the lecture theatre (TC001) at FCH on Mondays at 8pm. Do please support this by attending!

Play

2011-01-04T12:51:00.002Z

http://philosophyatplay.blogspot.com/ - note new posts...
d.

Call me Dr X?

2010-12-12T20:22:00.001Z

http://crookedtimber.org/2010/12/12/how-should-students-to-address-professors/comment-page-1/#comment-341754 - an interesting dicussion: should students call me Dr X (esp odd, my surname not being 'X') and I call them by their surname: 'Oi Smith, what is meant by synthetic a priori? eh?'

Or maybe not.

I am kind of used to 'You' and 'Dave' - but the comments via the link really vary: let me quote a couple:

Maybe I’m just cripplingly old-fashioned, but I cringe when I see some of my colleagues insist on having their undergraduate students call them by their first names.

and

I find anything other than first-name address really awkward, but I think British students tend to gravitate to this as the norm anyway. American visitors on JYA programs tend to be more formal, and even sometimes address me as “sir”, which feels very weird indeed

(our visiting American [BCA] students sometimes do this - I rather like the implication of respect - but they soon learn....]

and

I’m struck by the number saying they use last name only (if I read it right). In direct address, I find that exceptionally rude, unless the person using it is so close to me that I can take it as jocular. The only situation where I regard it as normal is among school-age boys.

Not sure it ever really feels awkward these days? If I refer to a colleague in a class - I am sure I use their first name. As in: don't ask me, but am sure Roy will know.....

Need a break?

2010-12-12T19:55:00.000Z

Need a break when reading/studying? Only if you think you do...

Philosophy News reports that: Stanford researchers find that the “need” for study breaks has less to do with our biology and more to do with our beliefs. "If you think of willpower as something that's biologically limited, you're more likely to be tired when you perform a difficult task," said Veronika Job, the paper's lead author. "But if you think of willpower as something that is not easily depleted, you can go on and on." Of course if the mind just is the brain, then the distinction between biologically needing a break and believing that you need one becomes a false distinction. Isn't it?

Full story at http://news.stanford.edu/news/2010/october/willpower-resource-study-101410.html

Facebook

2010-12-09T13:08:00.002Z

http://bit.ly/rpeglos is the address for a new Religion, Philosophy and Ethics at Gloucestershire facebook group - all are welcome to join...

d.

Coffins in Ghana

2010-12-06T17:20:00.000Z

Last year in RPE301 (as we will in January) we looked at 'death cultures' including coffins in Ghana.

As http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-11879532 reports - a new exhibition of these has just opened in London at the Jack Bell gallery...

Thought this might interest some RPE students / blog readers!

d.

FCH Film Society

2010-12-03T08:55:00.007Z

A new film society for FCH has been launched showing films related to a monthly theme every Monday evening. The theme for December is Conscience and the first screening, the Hitchcock film Rope, will be shown Monday 6th December at 8pm in FCTC001.

Lolcat Bible Translation Project

2010-11-29T12:36:00.001Z

There are many novelty Bible translation projects - the Geordie Bible - the Cockney Bible, the Brick Testament (Lego based) - but a new one on me was the Lolcat Bible...

The peculiar text-msg influenced speech, and an emergent set of stock phrases (based on specific well-known lolcat images from http://icanhascheezburger.com/ - the main lolcat site), make lolcats seem rather intriguing anyway - but how to do the Bible? First have a Theistic notion (Ceiling Cat) - and go for it:

Boreded Ceiling Cat makinkgz Urf n stuffs

1 Oh hai. In teh beginnin Ceiling Cat maded teh skiez An da Urfs, but he did not eated dem.

2 Da Urfs no had shapez An haded dark face, An Ceiling Cat rode invisible bike over teh waterz.

3 At start, no has lyte. An Ceiling Cat sayz, i can haz lite? An lite wuz.4 An Ceiling Cat sawed teh lite, to seez stuffs, An splitted teh lite from dark but taht wuz ok cuz kittehs can see in teh dark An not tripz over nethin.5 An Ceiling Cat sayed light Day An dark no Day. It were FURST!!!1

See the whole project at:
http://www.lolcatbible.com/index.php?title=Main_Page

http://www.lolcatbible.com/index.php?title=1_Corinthians_1 - they have done loads of work on this...

Esp like: http://www.lolcatbible.com/index.php?title=Ecclesiastes

But: do the novelty translations reveal new meanings? Anything beyond the fun here?

Kant Attack Ad..

2010-11-29T12:14:00.002Z

Thought this might entertain some...

d.

Philosophy at Play

2010-11-18T21:09:00.000Z

Readers of the RPE blog may be interested in a new blog I am helping organise at http://philosophyatplay.blogspot.com/ - this is still in development - but is getting there!

One of the key aims is to promote an event on the philosphical aspects of play - details of that are at :
http://philosophyatplay.blogspot.com/p/philosophy-at-play-conference-details.html

Cheers,
Dave

Gloucestershire Philosophical Society Talk: Heidegger

2010-11-15T19:18:00.004Z

Dr. Will Large, University of Gloucestershire:

'Heidegger and the meaning of History'.

Wed. Nov. 17th. 7.30.p.m. FCH Room HC203

The talk will focus on Heidegger's "Being and Time", and will consider the significance of experience and the pertinence of the history of science in understanding this seminal work.

All Welcome. £2 for Concessions, £3 for others...

Christmas/Religion (not actually) banned from Stamps...

2010-11-02T09:32:00.005Z

You can tell Christmas is coming - as I have seem my first 'Christmas banned by political correctness' story: even if it turns out to be wholly false...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/greenslade/2010/nov/01/sundayexpress-royal-mail gives the details...

Links to past examples of claims about the banning of religion at Christmas can be seen here:

http://r-p-e.blogspot.com/2009/12/christmas-puzzle-link-and-usual.html

and at:

http://r-p-e.blogspot.com/2007/12/festive-philosophy.html

ho ho ho...

Death of the Emperor

2010-10-27T09:39:00.007+01:00

There has been a lot of news coverage over the shooting of the red deer stag known as the Emperor of Exmoor. I have been to Exmoor many times and have seen the hunters out with their guns and, I admit, they represent one aspect of humanity that I am none too impressed with (aside from anything else, they just look ridiculous). But I am curious over the outrage at this shooting which, incidentally, is perfectly legal. The anger is a moral one, and so I am wondering what the moral arguments are here. One newspaper argued that it is wrong because the Emperor is 'wild and beautiful', but is this a good reason to not shoot it? Lots of things are 'wild', and should we really base our preferences on whether we find something beautiful or not? There is certainly no shortage of red deer roaming around Exmoor. Perhaps the standard utilitarian response works here: the pleasure of seeing this animal roaming around alive (not to mention the pleasure of the Emperor itself?) is much greater than that priovided by its antlers danging from the wall of someone's stately home?

New for Christmas: Religion?

2010-10-26T13:27:00.003+01:00

This picture was in the Boots Christmas Catalogue.. Ignoring the annoying 'trend expert' nonsense, and not even daring think what the hell 'rockstar edge' means: I was struck by the brand-name - 'Religion'...

What is the thinking behind the use of this word here? I feel vaguely mystified...

The Athlete in a Future of Sport and Technology

2010-10-25T11:05:00.002+01:00

Gloucestershire Philosophical Society

Wednesday, 27th. October, 2010, 7.30.p.m.

FCH Room HC203.

Dr. Emily Ryall, of University of Gloucestershire, will give a talk on:

"Beyond Human: Conceptualising the Athlete in a Future of Sport and Technology".

All welcome.

RPE208 Day-Trip to Oxford

2010-10-21T13:01:00.004+01:00

For students on the Indian Religions module:

The plan...

We go to the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford ( http://www.ashmolean.org/ ) on Friday November 5th.

We will meet on the museum steps, at 12:45.

You can get the bus from Cheltenham – the Swanbrook 853 Service leaves at 11am from Chelt (Royal Wells Bus Station) and gets in around 12.30.

It leaves Oxford to return at 6pm (the Museum shuts at 6 anyway) - from St Giles (Taylorian Institute) - where it drops off on the way in.... (near Ashmolean) Back to Chelt 7:35pm.

details: http://www.swanbrook.co.uk/busServicesOxford

A day return costs £10. The museum is free.

A couple of hours in the museum should leave you with time to explore Oxford / shop / eat...

You can of course drive – but I would advise using the park and ride – as Oxford seems to have no public parking left...

Students not on this module can come, but need to let me know..

Cheers,
Dave

Problem of Evil DVD for schools

2010-10-13T14:34:00.004+01:00

Hi.

Just a quick post to note that our popular DVD aimed at schools (particularly those doing GCSE or A Level Religious Studies / Philosophy & Ethics) about the Problem of Evil is now back on sale, at a reduced price - see http://store.glos.ac.uk/browse/extra_info.asp?compid=1&catid=48&modid=1&prodid=355&deptid=6 for details..

Cheers,

Dave

Plato and Love

2010-10-13T12:13:00.004+01:00

Students across RPE, but especially those on RPE301 (Love, Sex and Death) may be interested in the following talk, offered by Gloucestershire Philosophical Society:

Wed. Nov. 10th 7.30.p.m. FCH Room HC203. Dr.Angie Hobbs, Associate Professor, University of Warwick. 'Plato and Love'.

Dr. Hobbs is one of the country's leading classical philosophers, and has become the U.K's first Senior Fellow in the Public Understanding of Philosophy.

More details on the GPS website at http://www.glosphilsoc.co.uk/whatson.html

Our students are very welcome at their meetings..

Meeting re Field Trip to Spain - room/time/etc

2010-10-13T11:21:00.003+01:00

Hi.

If you are interested in coming on the field trip to Cordoba (and Seville) in March 2011, you need to attend the meeting tomorrow:

Thursday 14th October at 12 noon, HC201 (FCH)

if you cannot make the meeting - just send me an email - dwebster@glos.ac.uk - and I will register your desire to come on the trip...

http://r-p-e.blogspot.com/2010/04/rpe136-cordoba-trip-2010.html

http://r-p-e.blogspot.com/2009/03/cordoba-field-trip.html

There is no God

2010-10-10T08:49:00.000+01:00

Some of you might have heard of the recent brouhaha surrounding Stephen Hawking's announcement that we don't need God any more. I am always surprised how what is taken to be novel and revolutionary has in fact been said before, and countless times before. Didn't Laplace once reply to Napoleon, many years ago, that God was a hypothesis that we no longer required? Has it taken this long to be heard by our newspapers?

Of course this is absurd thought. No it isn't even absurd. It is just plain stupid. Unfortunately, being a physicist does not make one a good philosopher (or a philosopher of any sort), and it is equally unfortunate that Professor Hawking thinks that philosophy is dead (the 'love of wisdom' dead? Who would wish such a thing?), for he might have otherwise actually bothered to read some philosophy.

The scientific idea (and that is what it is) that the universe requires God to exist probably has its origin, at least in our culture, more in Aristotle's Physics, than it does it any religious text. Does Hawking serious think that the first book of Genesis, for example, is meant to be read as a cosmology? (but then since he thinks philosophy is not worth reading, he's not likely to read theology either).

Just as much as we shouldn't trust a creationist's statements on physics, we should not take it for granted that a scientist knows much about anything accept science, and the belief that science knows everything, or that a 'theory of everything' really does contain everything, is precisely that a belief and not a scientific theory at all.

For those of you who want to think (and our students on RPE 201, Religion, Science and Belief might want to) about these issues a bit more, and might even have the slight feeling that philosophy is not quite as dead as Hawking wants it to be, would not be wasting their time in reading this article by Carlin Romano in The Chronicle.

Studying Religion, Philosophy & Ethics at University

2010-10-08T12:50:00.004+01:00

This Saturday sees one of our biggest Open Days (info: here), and I will be doing my bit, talking about what it is like to study religious, philosophical and ethical ideas, especially on our course here at University of Gloucestershire...

In discussing what I was planing to say, with a colleague, I was saying that I always get a what's the point? question: often framed in terms of what type of job a degree like this might lead graduates toward, but also - on occasion - in more general terms.. (His response, by the way, was the surely that a student who had studied philosophy, in particular, could do anything - I liked that answer...)

But it got me thinking...

Of course, on one level, I think "what's the point of studying anything else?" - the things we cover seem so vital, so central to what it means to be a human being, that the question is hard to get one's head round...

But: not everyone feels quite the same as we do about the topic - so beyond the intrinsic value of studying RPE, what does it give students? Of course, it gives them lots of analytical and critical skills, the ability to appreciate complex ideas, to deal with conceptually difficult material, to explain exactly what they mean, and to understand and articulate a range of religious notions. It provides them with the confidence to robustly defend points of view, verbally, or in written form, and the ability to revise their points of view as they see fit.

But, and I think this is very much true when I look at, and talk to, our graduates, it seems to make them thoughtful, especially when it comes to matters that impact on other people. By which, I think what I will say at the Open Day tomorrow is that we really strive, in a way that many other disciplines perhaps do not, to make our students better people.

This may seem odd, and we certainly don't tell them what to think (not that they'd listen - they often are rather argumentative and independent-minded [which is a good thing]) - but we do tell them that it is their duty to think; and that the ideas on the course will challenge them to produce an ethical response...

A J Ayer on YouTube

2010-10-06T20:11:00.003+01:00

Now that's proper TV... A J Ayer on Logical Positivism...

While our RPE students may enjoy this - thought that I'd pop on the blog - as this seems even better than X Factor, Strictly Come Dancing and Wife Swap all put together...

[Not to mention how odd smoking on TV looks in the clips]

Ayodhya Decision...

2010-09-30T12:42:00.004+01:00

The BBC is reporting:

A court in India has said that a disputed holy site in Ayodhya should be split between Hindus and Muslims, lawyers for the Hindu petitioners say.

However in a majority verdict, judges gave control of the main disputed section, where a mosque was torn down in 1992, to Hindus, lawyers said.

Other parts of the site will be controlled by Muslims and a Hindu sect.

You can read the Guardian's 10-year-ago feature on this - with some helpful background, at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/sep/28/ayodhya-mosque-india-guardian-report

Also see: http://gu.com/p/2k36h

RPE Lecturers in Turin

2010-09-22T14:17:00.000+01:00

Dave and I attended the CESNUR 2010 International Conference in Turin on 'Changing Gods: Between Religion and Everyday Life' from 9-11 September. Apart from wine and pizza we heard papers on New Religious Movements from some of the leading scholars in the field, rubbed shoulders with practising Mormon, Unification Church and Family (Children of God) members and learned all about vampires and spiritual therianthropy. Dave and I will be sharing more of our adventures in due course.

The Examined Life

2010-09-21T11:29:00.003+01:00

Hi.

For any new RPE students struggling to find resources for the Induction Project - see http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/examined_life/ where you can access a fair few reviews f of the film.

The trailer is below, and http://www.epistemelinks.com/Main/MainPers.aspx can help you track down info on the individual thinker you have chosen for the presentation; although not all are there - but Cornel West is on twitter ( http://twitter.com/cornelwest ), and I am sure you can use that google-thing...

enjoy...

dave

Welcome!

2010-09-19T20:42:00.004+01:00

So - another year...

A big welcome back to all existing RPE students, and an equally excessive welcome to all our new Religion, Philosophy & Ethics students. We will be seeing you all week - but do browse these blog archives to get more of a sense of the course.

The presentation below gives details about the opportunities for travel, that I mentioned during the main Humanities Induction talk... (press the 'play' button > )

contact me on dwebster@glos.ac.uk for more details...

Cheers,

Dave

Humanities Induction on Prezi

Philosophy in the city (and village)

2010-09-15T17:05:00.005+01:00

Famous Liverpool Sophists

Those misguided amongst you who thought Athens was the birthplace of philosophy are wrong: it was Liverpool (remember Plato's Cavern?), and to celebrate this fact there is a two-week Philosophy in the City festival which will bring many leading philosophers to a number of cultural centres in Liverpool. It starts on 10th October. If you're looking for something a little more local then the birthplace of Hobbes, the Cotswold village of Malmesbury, has its Thomas Hobbes Festival of Ideas from 14th-16th October. And, if you really want to be even more local than that, the Cheltenham Literature Festival (8th - 17th October) has a number of philosophical, or philosophically-related, talks.

So plenty of things going on in October!

Mocking?

2010-09-15T09:19:00.003+01:00

I noticed at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11300552 that:

"An ice cream company banned from using an advert displaying a pregnant nun has vowed to position similar posters in London in time for the Pope's visit.

Antonio Federici's advert showed a pregnant nun eating ice cream in a church, together with the strap line "immaculately conceived".

The Advertising Standards Authority has ordered it to be discontinued, saying it mocked Roman Catholic beliefs."

I have reproduced the image here: is this really offensive?

Flickr updates

2010-09-01T14:41:00.001+01:00

Just a quick note: have finally begun to add some stuff to the RPE Flickr page (see widget to the right) - or http://www.flickr.com/photos/58244916@N00/ - hope to add some more soon...

The Politics of Health Care

2010-08-05T20:27:00.007+01:00

I read this article a few weeks ago now from the New Yorker and was both moved and impressed by it. Its content is very powerful, and if you are disturbed by stories of the dying, then I wouldn't suggest you read it, but if you do have the courage and the time (it isn't short), then I would really recommend you do.

What struck me when I was reading it were two very powerful ideas. One is that all of us try and escape in our lives the inevitable fact we are going to die, and this is the one event that none of us can avoid. Yet, precisely because we run away from it, we never think about it. We have lost, as the writer of the article says, the art of dying, which is, as the classical philosophers knew, is just as important as living, and indeed might be the secret, paradoxically, of life itself. The second idea is that we spend all this money in the health service in the West to escape the inevitability of death even though we do not know how to die, whereas in the rest of the world the majority of the human race are dying of diseases that are perhaps curable. To me this is a much more serious question than philosophers normally talk about when discussing the ethics of dying. I am not really interested in the endless debates about whether euthanasia is good or a bad thing (if you were to push me in a corner, then I would probably agree with voluntary euthanasia, but I am aware of the problems with that as well), but how health care in the West eats up the resources of our planet just to keep us alive for another couple of months.

Bullfighting banned in Catalonia...

2010-07-28T13:44:00.004+01:00

So here we have a clear contrast between claims for cultural value, and claims of universal animal rights... - how do we disentangle them?

Fox news (!) has a view HERE and the usual BBC Have Your Say crowd are HERE

More detail is HERE

The Philosophy Society - July

2010-06-28T13:57:00.004+01:00

The next meeting for the philosophy reading group will be Thursday, 1st July at 6pm. As always we will meet at 5.55pm at the entrance to the SU Bar at Park Campus. Paul Caddle is leading the meeting and will be presenting a paper entitled 'What actually is Buddhism?' The discussion does not require any preparatory reading other than a hand-out which will be distributed on the night. So there is not a reason not to come (not even World Cup because we finish at 7.30pm). I look forward to a highly attended and high-spirted discussion.

Shelley

Metal Madnness...

2010-06-28T13:26:00.003+01:00

http://conferencealerts.com/seeconf.mv?q=ca16as3a

Heavy Fundametalisms: Can I Play with Madness? Metal, Dissonance, Madness and Alienation

8 to 10 November 2010
Prague, Czech Republic

Now THAT is a conference topic!

Wish I could go...
Would like to do something on NWOBHM, but not sure there's an audience for my paper on Tygers of Pan Tang...

See http://r-p-e.blogspot.com/2007/11/philosophy-and-popular-culture.html
for more on Philosophy and Popular Culture

d.

Exams and Cheating

2010-06-20T19:33:00.001+01:00

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jun/15/exam-cheating-brain-food May interest some here!

The Severn Forum Annual Lecture

2010-06-14T15:35:00.002+01:00

Wednesday 16 June, 7.45pm

http://www.thesevernforum.org.uk/

Is turning off the aid to poor countries the right Christian response?

Revd Professor Michael Taylor
Emeritus Professor of Social Theology,
University of Birmingham

Main Lecture Theatre, The Park Campus,
University of Gloucestershire
£3 to the public. Free to members and students

Contact: Patricia Downes ( pdownes@glos.ac.uk )

The Philosophy Society

2010-06-02T11:18:00.005+01:00

Dr. Emily Ryall from Oxstalls Campus is giving a paper and opening a discussion for the reading group on Thursday, 3rd June. The abstract and reading links are posted below. Remember we are now meeting at the earlier time of 6pm, so meet outside the SU Bar at Park Campus at 5.55pm. The Gallery Room is now closed for the summer and I am still awaiting the booking for a seminar room. I am unable to come tomorrow evening but you will be under the excellent charge of Emily. Is anybody willing to collect the key from security? If somebody could volunteer for this small but important detail, please let me know.

Shelley

Being-for-oneself and being-for-others in sport: An existentialist critique.

I have argued in a previous paper (Ryall 2008) that sport seems to provide an area whereby the nature of being is intensely illuminated; for we are always aware that it is something that is voluntarily engaged in and has no meaning beyond that which we give it. In addition to this, the nature of sport provides a stage upon which the free choices we make are wholly visible both to ourselves and to others, and the emotions of pride and shame, contempt and respect (of varying degrees) are common. Such emotions, according to Sartre, demonstrate the on-going battle between ourselves and others to be authentic and in good-faith, and not fall foul of self deception nor the reduction of oneself by another to a mere object. As such, this paper will attempt to apply some existentialist (mainly Sartrean)ideas regarding authenticity and good-faith to the world of sport, and will consider whether Sartre’s notion of ‘the look’ exposes the problem of these emotions and the way we view ourselves and others in sport.

For my previous, 2008, paper on the nature of being a substitute in sport see: HERE
For an earlier draft of the paper being presented see: HERE

Research Seminar - Metaphysical Sporting Value

2010-05-19T16:30:00.001+01:00

Research Seminar (all welcome)

Tuesday 1^st June

11am-12pm

Oxstalls TC217

Metaphysical Sporting Value – Carl Thomen

Why do you play sport? Is it to compete and to win, or is there something more to it than that? Did you know that sport can:

(i) Be a source of self-affirmation?[1]

(ii) Reveal the extent to which humans can truly be said to be free and responsible?[2]

(iii) Be beautiful in its promotion of a greater harmony and balance in one’s life?[3]

[1] There will be no mention here of the type of self-motivating confidence speak you would see on a Tony Robbins Show (“You can do it! You are a special little flower ready to bloom blah blah blah”). This I promise.

2 Woohoo! You are not a slave to the deterministic force of physical causality! (This thought may cause you to want to get drunk in celebration. I am willing to overlook this cause and effect relationship)

3 No Buddhist monks (and probably only three of four hippies) will be hurt during this presentation

[2] Woohoo! You are not a slave to the deterministic force of physical causality! (This thought may cause you to want to get drunk in celebration. I am willing to overlook this cause and effect relationship)

[3] No Buddhist monks (and probably only three of four hippies) will be hurt during this presentation.

Gloucestershire Philosophical Society:

2010-05-07T15:59:00.004+01:00

Wednesday, May 12th. 2010, 7.30.p.m. FCH, Room HC203.

(Cheltenham, University of Gloucestershire, Swindon Road)

Dr. Jane Monkton-Smith, University of Gloucestershire, will talk on:

"Narratives of Sex, Death and Gender".

Based on her recently published book, Jane applies the methodology of French philosopher Michel Foucault to better understand the practices of rape and murder.

All welcome.

Philosophy Society - May Meeting

2010-04-22T15:47:00.004+01:00

We will be meeting the second Thursday, 13th, of May in a room yet to be confirmed at Park Campus. Please note that we will start at 6pm and end at 7.30pm. Instead of reading a text this month we will be watching one. The film is Code Unknown. If you are unable to source the film you can buy a used copy from amazon for a 5ver. Alternatively, I can post you my film once I've watched it. You may even be able to find it in Blockbusters or a local library.

Here is a description of the film:
"Code Inconnu takes the unknown and transforms it into the familiar. Just as in reality the characters exist and their personal story lines remain unfinished. In life we exist without permanent structure and our lives are only completed by death. Michael Haneke is telling us that 117 minutes can never encompass an entire life."

Let me know if you need some help finding the film. My email is: s0510427@connect.glos.ac.uk

Shelley

Philosopher's Football Match

2010-04-21T09:51:00.003+01:00

A re-enactment of the Monty Python philosopher's football match is taking place on Sunday May 9th at West Finchley, North London and will see the Greeks take on the Germans. The players will include many notable philosophers, comedians, ex-sports players and journalists, including AC Grayling (German manager), Graham Taylor (Greek manager), Julian Baggini, Tony Hawks, and Nigel Warburton (referree)... oh, and my less notable self (centre midfield for the Germans!).

It is the idea of the Philosophy Shop which aims to bring philosophy to school children and highlight the importance of philosophical and critical thinking.

For tickets and more information, please visit: http://www.philosophersfootball.com/home

Philosophy for Children

2010-04-16T12:42:00.004+01:00

Anna Saunders will give a talk on:

Philosophy for Children (P4C)

Wednesday 21st April at 4pm

FCH TC006A

All Welcome

PHILOSOPHY FOR CHILDREN, or P4C for short, was the title Professor Matthew Lipman gave to his project of using the discipline of philosophy as a resource to help children become more intellectually energetic, curious, critical, creative and reasonable. He conceived the project in the late sixties when he was teaching philosophy at Columbia University, and, today, it is a worldwide educational movement. He decided to devote himself to making the resources of philosophy accessible to children through thoughtful dialogue stimulated by the sharing of literature. He was inspired by writers of dialogues such as Plato and Diderot (and by the Charlie Brown cartoons!) to create philosophical dialogues in which reasoning, questioning and conceptual exploration were revealed to be important in the lives of a group of pupils, friends and teachers. Now Philosophy for Children is practiced in more than thirty countries around the world using a wide variety of materials to instigate questioning and inquiry.

Though the materials vary, the basic model of the community of inquiry and the methods Lipman introduced have remained remarkably robust and popular with teachers and pupils alike.

Anna Saunders teaches Religious Studies at Bournside School in Cheltenham.

The talk will be of a general nature and so this should not only appeal to those interested in teaching Religious Studies/Philosophy in schools, but also for parents and for anyone interested in teaching more generally

Trouble in the Cordoba Mezquita

2010-04-03T21:52:00.004+01:00

I read at http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/apr/01/muslim-catholic-mosque-fight that visiting Muslims were not allowed to pray in the Mezquita, now the Cathedral, in Cordoba - where we were just a few weeks ago.

The report has the Catholic church noting, as it is keen to in the leaflet you get on entry, the pre-Muslim religious use of the site - although that building was on much smaller scale than the huge Mosque that was to come.

The Bishop repeated the standard line, which is given every year when Muslims write and ask to be allowed to pray in the building: "The shared use of the cathedral by Catholics and Muslims would not contribute to the peaceful coexistence of the two beliefs"

RPE136 - Cordoba Trip 2010

2010-04-01T15:34:00.010+01:00

This year’s Religion, Philosophy and Ethics module, Overseas Study Visit saw a lively group of students head out from a damp Gloucestershire to the Spanish sun...

This module (RPE136) is designed to offer students the opportunity to experience an extended visit in the company of other students to a city or area of historic significance in the study of Christianity and/or other religions. The essence of this full module is a five night and five day study tour of an historic location, such as Rome, Jerusalem or Turkey. For the past two years, our destination has been Cordoba.

Thursday
After a more eventful journey than planned, we arrived at Los Pati os once more – for a busier year than last time. We began with our usual orientation tour, and the Museo Vivo de Al-Andalus / Torre de la Calahorra. The wireless-headphone tour ends on the roof, and with a view of the Roman Bridge and Mezquita. After this we headed off for the walk to the Archaeological Museum – with its Roman and other materials – maybe by next year the English-language labels will finally be in place... The day ended with a quiet drink in the Plaza Corredera.

Friday
This was the day when we met up with Imma (our tour guide from last year), who showed us round the Jewish Quarter (and the only remaining synagogue) , the Old Town and Mezquita – with a commentary to contrast with the info you get from the Catholic Church leaflet that you are give on entry. In many ways, the Mezquita is the highlight of the trip – and at the end of the tour, students are left in the building to stay as long as they wish.

Saturday
We spent the morning at the Alcáz ar de los Reyes Cristianos in Cordoba – which has a history of the site, as well as spectacular formal gardens.

The afternoon was spent wandering the Old Town and (in an addition to last year) at the Museum of Jewish life ( http://www.casadesefarad.es/in/entrada.html ).

Sunday was a day off, and the staff investigated the Madinat al-Zahra site – as a possible addition for next year. This ruined Islamic city has a new museum, which we checked out – and which is very hi-tech, but also gives a fantastic introduction to the region.

Students explored – one rented a bike (we ran into him at Madinat al-Zahra), some went walking, and others pottered about the Old Town (there are loads of museums in Cordoba – so lots to explore).

Monday
This was the day-trip to Seville. After an early walk, the Avant train sped us to Seville.

Following last year’s geographical challenges, we found our way with more ease – and headed to the astounding site of the Alcázares Reales de Sevilla – in which you could lose days (and indeed students, but most seem to have come back); and then there is – next door – the huge, towering Seville Cathedral, a gothic immensity almost totally obliterating traces of a mosque on the site.

Tuesday
Travel home... Down to Malaga by train this time – but all went smoothly – and we now just await the student assessments!

For info on last year's 2009 trip see http://r-p-e.blogspot.com/2009/03/cordoba-field-trip.html

Thanks to all the students who came for making it an exciting and memorable trip...

The Philosophy Society

2010-03-24T14:37:00.005Z

Last month Paul Caddle ran the meeting on the topic of the philosophy of Bishop Berkeley. Unfortunately I posted a web-link for the reading which is a 74-page piece of writing by Berkeley. Paul had attached a small section of the reading (two pages) on a word document which I failed to see. I apologise if the daunting amount of reading made members shy away from the meeting. We had a healthy turn-out though, with or without a correct reading link. As you all know Berkeley reasoned the existence of God from the empirical evidence of objects existing despite an absence of human perception. To Berkeley, the perception of God locates objects in time and space. Here are the limericks Ronald Knox wrote on behalf of Berkeley's idea:

There was a young man who said God,

must find it exceedingly odd

when he finds that the tree

continues to be

when noone's about in the Quad

Dear Sir, your astonishment's odd

I'm always about in the Quad

And that's why the tree

continues to be

Since observed by, yours faithfully, God

The April meeting will be held on 8th April. I am awaiting an email from Park to confirm which room we will be allocated for the evening. We will meet at 7pm outside the SU Bar and venture to the room together. We will discuss the Philosophy of History and the reading is (eight pages) by Walter Benjamin:

http://www.efn.org/~dredmond/Theses_on_History.PDF

Look forward to having an invigorating discussion.

Religion, Philosophy and Ethics Research Seminar

2010-03-19T16:29:00.009Z

Dr. David Webster on 'Western Buddhism: The Challenge of Authenticity'

5.00 pm Thursday 25th March

Francis Close Hall, room TC006b

All Welcome!

Philosophers in the Movies

2010-02-19T12:26:00.006Z

I noticed our local cinema is showing The Last Station which is about the last year of Leo Tolstoy's life. Tolstoy is played by Christopher Plummer and his wife is played by Helen Mirren. The names of these two actors got me thinkng about philosophers portrayed in movies: Plummer, of course, played Aristotle in the film Alexander, and Mirren played Ayn Rand in The Passion of Ayn Rand. But I must admit I'm struggling to come up with many philosophers who have featured on the big screen. There is Derek Jarman's Wittgenstein of course, and Nietzsche has made an appearance in a coupe of obscure movies such as When Nietzsche Wept and Liliana Cavani's Beyond Good and Evil. I recall one director recently stating that he would like to make a movie about Socrates, but it actually surprises me that there isn't one already (or is there?). Given how colourful the lives of philosophers can be (with the notable exception of Kant: that would be a very dull movie indeed!) I'm surprised I'm struggling to recall many films of them. Also, who would make the best philosopher to make a film of, and who would have the starrring role? Brad Pitt as a hunky Socrates (well, you had Keanu Reeves as that Buddha dude), or Ricky Tomlinson as Zizek?

And see http://maxim-lebedev.livejournal.com/61855.html for yet more comments...

RPE Research Seminar on Thursday 25th February

2010-02-19T12:04:00.003Z

Dr Alan Kirby will be giving a talk on 'The Arguable Death of Postmodernism, and Beyond?' at Francis Close Hall, room TC006b on Thursday 25th February at 5.30. All welcome.

Sufism in Britain - Conference

2010-02-16T15:23:00.007Z

Tuesday 13 April 2010; University of Gloucestershire
Tiered Lecture Theatre, FCH Campus,
Swindon Road, Cheltenham

Sufism is a movement in Islam that has contributed immensely to its expansion, especially in the non-Arab regions of the world. The mystical movement in Islam is noted for its diversity, its eclecticism, and its dynamism. This conference explores the nature of Sufism in the United Kingdom and its relationship with other Islamic strands and ideologies in this country.

Programme

10.15 – 10.45 Registration and Coffee

10.45 Welcome: Prof. Patricia Broadfoot, Vice Chancellor/Dr Shelley Saguaro, Head of Department of Humanities, University of Gloucestershire

10.50 – 11.35 Rt. Rev. Prof. Kenneth Cragg (Oxford), Factors in the Development of Islamic Sufism

11.40 – 12.25 Dr Muhammad Seddon (University of Chester)
Shaykh Abdullah Ali al-Hakimi, The Alawi Tariqah and British Yemenis

12.35 – 1.10 Sadek Hamid (University of Chester)),
The Rise of the Traditional Islam Scene; Neo-Sufism and British Muslim Youth

1.10 – 2.00 Lunch

2.05 – 2.50 Sariya Contractor (University of Gloucestershire)
Online Sufism – Young British Muslims, their internet ‘selves’ and virtual reality
OR
Dr Ian Draper (University of Birmingham)
Cyberspace as Tariqua space - Wird (Qur’anic verses) and Wazifas (Divine names and attributes) Online among the Haqqaniyya and the Qadiri-Budshishiyaa Sufi Orders.

3.00 – 3.45 Dr Theodore Gabriel (University of Gloucestershire)
Expressions of Spirituality in Islam - unity and diversity in Sufi thought and practice

3.45 Vote of thanks: Dr Theodore Gabriel / Tea

FEES: £16 (£8 for students and the unwaged; £5.00 for students of University of Gloucestershire). Tea/Coffee will be served morning and afternoon.

A sandwich lunch (to include sandwiches, crisps, cookies, fruit and coffee/tea) will be available if ordered when your booking is made. The cost for this is £5.50 and should be sent with your conference fee.

Speakers

Rt. Rev. Prof. Kenneth Cragg is Assistant Bishop of Oxford, Professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies, and an author who has published prodigiously on the theme of Islam and Christian-Muslim relations. He is the author of The Call of the Minaret; The Wisdom of the Sufis, Counsels in Contemporary Islam, and Muhammad and the Christian among numerous other volumes.

Dr Mohammad Siddique Seddon obtained his PhD in Religious Studies at University of Lancaster and is currently Director of the Centre for Applied Muslim Youth and Community Studies (CAMYCS), Lecturer in Muslim Studies and Honorary Research Fellow at the Department of Theology and Religious Studies, University of Chester. His research interests are historical and contemporary issues relating to Islam and British Muslim communities. He has published a number of related works and books including, British Muslims: Loyalty and Belonging, (2003), British Muslims, Between Assimilation and Segregation: Historical, Legal & Social Realities, (2004), and, The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Islam (2009).

Sadek Hamid is Lecturer in Muslim Youth work in the University of Chester. His research interests are in young British Muslims and religious activism, exploring the contemporary impact of different Islamic youth movements who were at the forefront of efforts to promote religious revival upon second and third generation Muslim communities in the UK He is the author of “Islamic Political Radical Radicalism in Britain: The Case of Hizb-ut Tahrir” in Islamic Political Radicalism: A European Comparative, Edinburgh University Press, 2007. and "The Attraction of Authentic Islam: Salafism and British Muslim Youth” in Salafism: A Global Movement, Hurst. London. 2009.

Sariya Contractor is a doctoral student in the Department of Education, University of Gloucestershire, and author of Is humility the essence of greatness? an article on Prophet Muhammad, and Hijab Empowering Women. Her doctoral research is on ‘Muslim Women in Multicultural Britain: Exploring the Inter-play between Islam, Ethnic Culture and Integration’.

Dr Ian Draper is lecturer in Islam and Contemporary Religion at University of Birmingham. He has worked as a youth and community worker among Muslim communities in Birmingham and as principal researcher in a project on transnational Sufism. His research interests are in Sufism in cyber space and the use of talismans among Sufi pirs in the United Kingdom. He is the author of “Transnational Sufism: the Haqqaniyya” in Sufism in the West (London, 2006) and “From Celts to Kaaba: Sufism in Glastonbury' in Living Sufism in Europe and North America (London: Curzon RKP, 2004)

Dr Theodore Gabriel is an Honorary Research Fellow in Religious Studies in the Department of Humanities at the University of Goucestershire and was formerly Senior Lecturer in Religious Studies at Cheltenham and Gloucester College of Higher Education. He is the author of numerous volumes on Islam, the most recent being Christian Citizens in an Islamic State: The Pakistan Experience. He is Co-Editor of the forthcoming volume of essays Islam and the Veil, Continuum Books.

To attend, please contact:

Mrs P Downes, Department of Humanities, University of Gloucestershire
Francis Close Hall, Swindon Road, Cheltenham, GL50 4AZ
Enquiries: Telephone: 01242 714570 Fax: 01242 714826
Email: pdownes@glos.ac.uk or tgabriel@glos.ac.uk

Or book on line (Events) at www.ecommercegateway.co.uk/glos/store/

The Philosophy Society: February Meeting

2010-02-10T09:53:00.005Z

The Philosophy Society reading group is meeting tomorrow evening, Thursday, 11th February, 7pm in The Gallery Room above the SU Bar at Park Campus. The set reading is a few words from Roland Barthes in the form of excerpts from his book Mythologies. The reading is very short: if you haven't read it already there is still plenty of time to do so. The link is below.

If you have any questions please contact me using this email address: s0510427@connect.glos.ac.uk

I look forward to seeing all of you and having a vigorous discussion.

Shelley

http://carbon.ucdenver.edu/~mryder/itc_data/barthes/myth_today.html

A Day To Remember...

2010-02-04T16:24:00.009Z

'How happy is the blameless Vestal's lot!

The world forgetting, by the world forgot;

Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind!

Each pray'r accepted, and each wish resign'd'

(Alexander Pope, Eloisa and Abelard)

Yesterday I took a class on Kafka's Metamorphosis. For those who don't know the story, it is about a salesman, Gregor Samsa, who wakes up one morning to discover he has turned into an insect. We discussed, amongst other things, the importance of identity and how this is bound up in things, such as items that have a particular connection to oneself, for Gregor was distressed that the furniture from his room was being removed: even though this meant that, as an insect, it gave him greater physical freedom, it also meant it removed much of his humanity; the physical memories of his life previous to being an insect.

The same day, a small group watched Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind as part of the Philosophy and Film series. It gave us an opportunity to reflect once more on memory: if it were indeed possible to erase unhappy memories then why wouldn't you? Also, would such an erasure really make any fundamental difference as to what constitutes you? Is it our memories that makes us what we are?

That evening, I returned to my apartment and turned on the TV to watch a new series called Caprica. The 'functionalist' premise here is that, with such advanced technology, it would be possible to collect together all the public memories of one individual and create a copy of that person. Think about it: only one hundred years ago a person who has died would have left very little physical memory; a journal perhaps, some photos maybe, letters, a birth certificate,public records, a skeleton...But someone born today will leave behind vast megabytes of 'data', a digital memory of themselves, stored on hard drives, databases, photos, videos, text messages, emails, social networking sites, YouTube, hospital records (brain scans, x-rays), blogs...But even if you did collate this all together into some 'avatar' would this really be anything remotely like the original? Are we not made of more than our public, third-person memories? What of the 'what's-it-likeness'. of qualia, of...dare I say it...soul?

...Another day in the life of a philosopher...

RPE Day Trip

2010-02-01T13:42:00.002Z

As part of our ongoing mission to enrich your minds (see the Film series on Ning for current students), we are planning an RPE Day Out…

The plan is to visit the newly refurbished and reopened Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. (http://www.ashmolean.org/ )

There is some great material there – esp on Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam, but also a range of other things of interest to RPE students – we hope you will make the effort to join the staff and explore the museum.

Students - details have been sent out via Ning...

2010-01-22T11:06:00.002Z

Religion, Philosphy & Ethics - Research Seminars 2009-10
University of Gloucestershire

Revd Dr Harriet A. Harris (Wadham College, Oxford), ‘Philosophy and Prayer’

at 5.30 on Tuesday 26^th January

Francis Close Hall Campus (Cheltenham)

in room TC006b

All Welcome

Harriet A. Harris is Chaplain of Wadham College, Oxford and teaches Theology and Philosophy in the University of Oxford. She has written Fundamentalism and Evangelicals for Oxford University Press, numerous articles on Protestant fundamentalist thought and activity, and some comparative reflections on fundamentalisms across the world faiths

Is Avatar Deep?

2010-01-17T18:25:00.007Z

I recently received an email requesting contributions for a book on Avatar and Philosophy. I'm not averse to contributing to these 'popular culture' books, and I have contributed in the past, but Avatar? Nice effects, I admit, even though I felt nauseous for the first half-hour whilst my brain adjusted to the 3D, but I did not come out of the cinema feeling as if it had engaged me in any intellectual (or even emotional) sense. I don't know how many times I've seen (been forced to watch) Disney's treatment of Pocahontas, but is this really any different?

Death lecture video

2010-01-08T17:03:00.003Z

This may interest those of you in RPE301 (Love, Sex and Death) - and others. You may want to skip to http://academicearth.org/lectures/death-intro and move to the others in the series (a lot if this is introducing his class) - but I thought I'd start at the start...

I liked this; but note - it does have that notable American philosophy standard item: cross-legged prof sat on desk, in Converse. I say this fondly - it is a cliche - but it also made me smile.. which is a good start for a lecture on death.

Watch it on Academic Earth

See the rest of the series at http://academicearth.org/lectures/death-intro with loads of great resource links...

d.

Upcoming...

2010-01-04T13:51:00.007Z

more details to follow, but some dates for the diary...

Religion, Philosophy and Ethics

Research Seminars
2010

Tuesday 26th January Revd Dr Harriet A. Harris
(Room TC006b) ‘Philosophy and Prayer’

Thursday 25th February Dr Alan Kirby
(Room TC006b) ‘The Arguable Death of Postmodernism, and Beyond?’

Thursday 25th March Dr David Webster
(Room TC006b) ‘Western Buddhism: The Challenge of Authenticity’ 5pm

All sessions are from 17.30—19.00 and all are welcome, they will be at the FCH Campus (Cheltenham) of the University of Gloucestershire - except the last one (Dave W) which is at 5pm

Harriet A. Harris is Chaplain of Wadham College, Oxford and teaches Theology and Philosophy in the University of Oxford. She has written Fundamentalism and Evangelicals for Oxford University Press, numerous articles on Protestant fundamentalist thought and activity, and some comparative reflections on fundamentalisms across the world faiths

Alan Kirby holds a PhD in English Literature from the University of Exeter. He is a writer and researcher in twentieth-century literature and culture. He has published on subjects including Stephen Poliakoff, John Fowles, spy fiction, and James Joyce. He currently lives in Oxford. Digimodernism (2009) is his most recent book, available from Continuum

David Webster lectures in Religion, Philosophy and Ethics at the University of Gloucestershire. His primary interests are in Theravada Buddhist philosophy (his work The Philosophy of Desire in the Buddhist Pali Canon was published in 2005), and the interface between western and Buddhist philosophy.

Christmas Puzzle Link and usual 'Christmas banned' nonsense

2009-12-17T08:46:00.004Z

Peter Cave has a Christmas puzzle for the entertainment of philosophers at http://continuumphilosophy.typepad.com/continuum_philosophy/2009/12/guest-post-peter-caves-seasonal-puzzle-1.html - enjoy

See previous links at http://r-p-e.blogspot.com/2007/12/festive-philosophy.html for stories on banning Christmas, etc- expect usual tabloid versions this year too...

Dave

Prezi on Buddhism

2009-12-10T16:14:00.004Z

Hi. I will be using Prezi on the RPE208 Indian Religions module for the Buddhism aspect next Semester, but thought you'd like to see one by someone else on Buddhism...

Either see below or look at http://prezi.com/dcuu3lcgun15/

Dave

Cheating and Sport?

2009-12-03T09:20:00.007Z

I am not that interested in professional football; the cultural imperative for all men to attend with irrational gusto to the minutiae of its details leaves me cold, and feeling distanced from it. Nonetheless, I was struck by Guardian sport blog headline:

The night France's philosopher king spat in the face of the common man

Now, the headline seems wholly over the top: but maybe there is something of interest here. I forced myself to read the entry. And, there was indeed something of interest there. The blog author (Paul Hayward) notes that the French coach sees the incident as failure of the referee - and not a matter of cheating. I can see it is a mistake by the referee. To me this is the game and not cheating says the French coach.

The blog author advances more evidence of the same attitude in sport - and this leads him to the view that as far as many players and others are concerned - they should be able to do anything and it is then the job of the match officials to spot and punish rule-breaking. Paul writes:

With each swan dive, handball and feigned injury we have shuffled to the moment where the modern player thinks it is his duty to cheat, and the responsibility of the state to stop him. To Henry and Domenech, this was a failure not of spirit, of fair play or values but of governance

This is interesting. The idea here is that you should do anything you can to win - and the game is to avoid detection. The rules, it implies, are to be enforced onto you, not something you seek to follow from an intrinsic respect for them. Is it fair to say that many feel the same about the law? If we think about a particular part of the law - motoring restrictions (against speeding, parking where we choose, etc) - I think there parallel is quite striking.

To return to sport though, does such a view not mean that cheating is impossible? If you get away with it - that is fine; if you are caught, you are punished and the rules are upheld. I wonder if I feel the same about lying, or stealing...

Comments?