Issues
Issue 129: December 2018 / January 2019
EDITORIAL
The Functions of Art
by Grant Bartley
NEWS
News: December 2018 / January 2019
Berggruen Prize given to Martha Nussbaum • Confusion over approval of dog experiments • Roger Scruton to chair housing design body — News reports by Anja Steinbauer
ARTS & LETTERS
A Forgiving Reason: The Secret of Sherlock Holmes’ Success
Tim Weldon detects links between Sherlock Holmes and Blaise Pascal in the operation of intuition.
Ockham’s Rose
Carol Nicholson looks at philosophical themes in The Name Of The Rose. (WARNING: CONTAINS PLOT SPOILERS.)
Can Art Fight Fascism?
Justin Kaushall considers Adorno’s argument that radical art radically changes consciousness.
The Case Against Conceptual Art
Trevor Pateman makes the case for the prosecution.
Creating the Beautiful Society
Francis Akpata explains how Schiller saw art as a path to utopia.
Should We Pursue Happiness?
Vincent Kavaloski reviews both Tolstoy’s insights and his oversight.
ARTICLES
The Ethics of Education in the Secular State
Andrew Copson considers some ethical problems for secular education in a pluralistic world.
Hegel on History
Lawrence Evans rationally interprets Hegel’s rational interpretation of history.
The Trouble with Hegel
Chris Christensen thinks Hegel shouldn’t have stopped where he did.
Putting Animals & Humans To Sleep
John Shand doubts there is a moral difference.
Philosophy: A Call to Action
Calvin H. Warner asks if philosophy can improve our lives.
I Hate Philosophy
At least Gray Kochhar-Lindgren can be philosophical about it.
Hermann von Helmholtz (1821-1894)
Dylan Daniel looks at the philosophical insights of a remarkable scientist.
Is The World An Illusion?
Each answer below receives a book. Apologies to the many entrants not included.
OBITUARIES
Mary Midgley (September 13, 1919 - October 10, 2018)
Carol Nicholson on a remarkable ethicist and Philosophy Now contributor.
LETTERS
Letters
Dogmatic Demands • Brought to Book • Many Reasons For Worlds • Shades of Gray • Taking the Moral High Ground • Derrida True Reader • On Celebrity
COLUMNS
Iris Murdoch (1919-1999)
by Terence Green
Philosophy for the Young, Medieval Style
Peter Adamson on battles over the trivium and quadrivium.
Brains, Minds, Selves
Raymond Tallis uses all three to show that he has all three.
REVIEWS
From Bacteria to Bach and Back by Daniel Dennett
We delve into the brain to look for the mind this issue as Peter Stone agrees with Daniel Dennett that we don’t know our own minds (or brains).
I Am Not A Brain by Markus Gabriel
Stephen Anderson agrees with Markus Gabriel that our minds aren’t brains.
Santa Claus: The Movie
Chris Vaughan says “Bah humbug” to consumer society.
CARTOONS
Simon & Finn
by Melissa Felder
Phil Witte’s Cartoon
by Phil Witte
Bill Stott’s Cartoon
by Bill Stott
FICTION
The Light From Our Eyes
Stephen Brewer wonders what’s in the (mind’s) eye of the beholder.