By Cynthia Chung “Madman, thou errest. I say, there is no darkness but ignorance” – William Shakespeare (Twelfth Night) There is a very real attempt to rewrite history as we speak. A history that is at the root of what organises our world today, for it is understood that who controls the past, will have control…
Author: ibykus20
To what Purpose are We Drawn to Tragedy: A Study of Shakespeare’s Hamlet
RTF Symposium: Re-discovering the Infinite through Classical Art, on February 10th, 2019. In this class, Cynthia Chung discusses whether there is a purpose to tragedy beyond merely being tragic and whether this was the intention of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Along with a study of the play, two performances were compared and juxtaposed to what Shakespeare intended…
To What Purpose do We Seek the Beautiful?
Class by Cynthia Chung. We all have something that comes to mind when we are speaking of beauty. It is certain that almost everyone right now is thinking of something different from the person next to them about what is beautiful. Everyone seeks out beauty, But if we cannot explain why we think something is…
How to Conquer Tyranny: A Lesson from Plato
“The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” – Dr. Martin Luther King Plato’s Letter VII Plato to Dion’s associates and friends wishes well-doing. You write to me that I must consider your views the same as those of Dion, and you urge me to aid your cause so far as I can…
Lessons from a Grecian Urn Part Two: The Paradox of the “One” and the “Many”
By David Gosselin This is Part 2 to the series on Keats’ “Ode to a Grecian Urn”. Part 1 can be found here. Chapter II: What is Poetry? The yearning for harmony and perfection is an innately human desire. What else can satisfy this thirst for perfection, if not art? Even nature, in its infinite…
Lessons from a Grecian Urn Part One: Truth and Beauty in Art
By David Gosselin An object is perfect, when everything manifold in it accords with the unity of its concept; it is beautiful, when its perfection appears as nature. The beauty increases, when the perfection becomes more complex and the nature suffers nothing thereby; for the task of freedom becomes more difficult with the increasing number…
The Emerging Eurasian Alliance as an Opportunity not a Threat
by Cynthia Chung This article is based off of a presentation done at the RTF symposium on Nov 16th titled “The Art of Peace: The New Silk Road Counters an Age of Turbulence” This past November marked the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, and along with its celebration the continuation of a…
The Power of Metaphor
By David Gosselin Metaphor should not be approached as some “thing,” but as a transformative power, the invisible process by which “things” come into being. Using metaphor, even very simple language and very common-place images can be brought into new, unique constellations. Contrary to the sundry definitions of metaphor proffered by many school teachers and…
China’s Sputnik Moment Kindles a New Spark of Hope for the World
By Matthew Ehret It was once believed in the west that the future would be beautiful, just, and as plentiful as it was peaceful. Under John F. Kennedy’s bold leadership the idea of space exploration was more than a simple “space race” or plopping a human being on the moon “within the decade and returning…
Why Iran’s Development of Nuclear Energy Will Create Stability and Prosperity in the Middle East
By Cynthia Chung This is Part 3 of the series “Iran’s Century and a Half Fight for Sovereignty”. Part 1 is a historical overview of Iran’s long struggle with Britain’s control over Iranian oil and the SIS-CIA overthrow of Iran’s Nationalist leader Mosaddegh in 1953. Part 2 covers the period of the Shah’s battle with the Seven Sisters, the…
