The Social Sciences Research Council’s discussion blog, that I just hit upon today, is one of the best blogs of its kind out there that particularily addresses issues in religion and secularism. It features a discussion on Charles Taylor’s book A Secular Age among others. You can ... More
The essential characteristic of any city, of any polis, is the founding act. This act, played once and for all, embodies a higher, invisible reality, that which allowed the Polis to exist. As such, the laws which the Polis gives herself reflect this reality, and are thus immutable. Thus Solon ... More
It is commonplace to speak of the ancient Greek (or, more exactly, Athenian) democracy, or less commonly nowadays of the Roman Republic, as the ancestor of our modern parliementary democracies. This view corresponds well with a larger interpretation, seeing the ancient world as a beacon of light ... More
These developments in the relationship between basileia and hierosyne are reflected in imperial iconography – i.e., in the way in which emperors are depicted. Down to the time of the iconoclastic controversy, emperors most often were depicted in ways that emphasized their power – crowned ... More
“Why was it virtually impossible not to believe in God in 1500 in our Western society, while in 2000 many of us find this not only easy, but even inescapable?” This is the question Charles Taylor posits and (brilliantly) attempts to answer in the following 776 pages. Taylor rejects ... More
