Eulogy to re-launch

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...

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?

Coffins in Ghana

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.

The Politics of Health Care

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.

Gloucestershire Philosophical Society:

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.

Death lecture video

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.

Fear of Death (video)

An interesting video here - from Yale - on the Fear of Death: Maybe I should adopt the cross-legged, converse-and-jeans look for my RPE301 lectures?
Dave

Seventh Seal (again)

Hi,
We will be looking at the film The Seventh Seal in class today.

Look at http://course1.winona.edu/pjohnson/h140/seal.htm for some ideas (see list of questions near base of the page) - and make comment via this blog post.

Other ideas are at http://r-p-e.blogspot.com/2008/02/seventh-seal.html

Prefer the Bill and Ted version? see
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=flcv_TnH7Mk

D.

Fantastic Philosophy Resources at MIT

Massachusetts Institute of Technology have made huge amounts of their 'courseware' available, free, online. This includes a lot of philosophy materials. For example, see HERE for lectures notes on a range of topics including the Problem of Evil, the Ontological argument, and a range of ethical topics.


There are also video lectures on 'The Philosophy of Love in the Western World' - HERE - which will be of interest to students taking the RPE301, Love Sex and Death course.

Cheers,
Dave

Somervale - Midsomer Norton

This Monday, I headed south to Somervale school, in scenic Midsomer Norton. I talked (a lot!) about Religious Experience, Life after Death and a little about Design and Evil. The groups had, overall, lots to say - and asked some great questions. This set of school visits has been a privilege for me: I have had so many questions put to me that I have not thought of myself - or that have made me think in different ways about topics.



There is a set of links for Religious Experience at: http://post16.reonline.org.uk/tt_alinks.php?123 that may be of interest. Check out http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/986177.stm on Near Death Experiences - and for Evil - well see the links at this post: http://r-p-e.blogspot.com/2008/03/evil-stalks-west-midlands-cadbury.html

Hope to see you all again at some point!
Dave

High Drama in the West Midlands (well, Bromsgrove)

Wednesday saw me off to visit South Bromsgrove High School Technology and Language College - to talk about Buddhist ideas of Life after Death - and the Problem of Evil.
It was a memorable trip..

I was almost late due to transport difficulties - and our second session was interrupted by a fire alarm - it has been ages since I have lined up with 1300 pupils and staff in a large sports area.. That was made up for by cake - as one of the group was celebrating her 18th birthday: so on balance an enjoyable visit..
The group asked some very good questions - and it was a pleasure to come and talk to so thoughtful and reflective a class - good luck with the A2 exams!

For more on the problem of evil (buy our A-level Religious Studies Problem of Evil DVD here !) - see the post at http://r-p-e.blogspot.com/2008/03/evil-stalks-west-midlands-cadbury.html - and look at the YouTube clip, and the other links in that post. On Buddhism - there are great resources at Access to Insight - I would start with their subject index.

Dave

The Seventh Seal

Well - we did it: we watched The Seventh Seal in RPE301 (Love, Sex and Death) this Monday. This post is to allow RPE301 students to post their comments - but others are welcome to join in to.

Now - many think of this Bergman film as depressing and dull. I really found it neither: it was quite funny (even without thinking about the excellent Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey parody - but I will keep my opinions on the ethical profundity of Bill and Ted for another day..) -and rather optimistic - even cheerful..?

I am not sure how many will prefer the Squire to Block himself - but I think his balance to Antonius Block's seriousness and Jon's pragmatism is refreshing throughout. Of course, there is a lot that is pertinent to this module in here: esp in Block's pleas for those who want to believe but can't..

If you are stuck for where to start for comments - think about the questions at the bottom of this page from Winona State University.

Oh - there is some interesting analysis at http://course1.winona.edu/pjohnson/h140/seal2.htm - with explicit reference to existentialism. I am not sure that I agree that it is a flaw in the script that Block does not have to sacrifice anything in order to find what he looks for (when he knocks the pieces over to aid the escape of the Acrobats/Players and child). Also - are you convined by the claim in this analysis that Block's ceaseless questioning prevents him from being able to "hear the still, small voice of God"? Lots to comment on in this analysis though!

Dave

A Good Death - how do we measure the value of 'a life'?

Over at http://unfspb.wordpress.com/2008/01/22/a-good-death/#more-336 there is an interesting discussion that arises out of the death of the actor Heath Ledger.

His death is often described in media reports as a 'tragedy' - but how do we balance the value of a young life lost and an old life? Is the length the aspect that prevents us from seeing a death as tragic?

Does the author at UNFSB really think that Heath's death was a 'good' one? Or is the idea of a short, wonderful life being better than a long, but maybe bland one a useful corrective to our usual view - or a naive and overly-romantic notion?

dave

Love, Sex, Death and Podcasting

Those of you preparing for your third year of Religion, Philosophy & Ethics (rather than just relaxing all summer), will have noted the module Love, Sex and Death. I just came across a really intriguing podcast at:
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/podcasts/2007/02/science_weekly_for_february_12.html
which I thought would make an interesting pre-module listen. Enjoy...
Dave