By David Gosselin The following essay is part two of a series. Click here for part one. Having examined Schiller’s notion of Genius in the last article, it became clear that the wisdom of the “masters” described in his poem was not the kind of knowledge born out of the natural insight and creative intuition…
Tag: Aesthetical Education
Towards a Culture of Genius
By David Gosselin In the following poem, Friedrich Schiller turns his thought-poetry towards the question of Genius. The question of what constitutes Genius remains even more elusive in our modern age than it was at the time of Schiller’s writing in the 18th century. In his time, the classical wisdom of previous ages had already…
Paul Robeson and the Battle for the Soul of America
By Matthew Ehret This essay is an accompaniment to a lecture delivered by the author honoring the life of Paul Robeson as an unfinished symphony “Every artist, every scientist, every writer must decide now where he stands. The artist must take sides. He must elect to fight for freedom or for slavery. I have made…
A Pax Americana or A Republic If You Can Keep It?
By Cynthia Chung “Fortune thus blinds the minds of men when she does not wish them to resist her power.” – Livy It seems quite evident to many that the United States has been consumed by the same ambition and thus fate with that of the Roman Empire. That one of the most notorious periods…
Classics & Classics : The Three Kingdoms… Tempus, Kairos & Chronos
In this presentation delivered by the Rising Tide Foundation’s resident China expert Dr. Quan Le, the heart and soul of Chinese civilization is explored through the portal of the great Confucian classics and the deeper moral, philosophical and even geopolitical lessons contained in the 14th century historical novel by Luo Guanzhong titled ‘The Romance of…
The Mind, Life and Insights of Confucius
While all living beings are mortal, only human kind has access to the self-awareness of its own mortality. With this knowledge of our own finiteness, we may become cynical and fearful pessimists wallowing in despair and nihilism or we may choose to embrace a higher set of goals and principles for the identity we shape…
Johannes Kepler’s thinking: “Playing, as God the Creator played”
The prevailing view of Kepler’s “archetypal” thinking today contains a fatal error that has been spreading in people’s minds for half a century since an essay by Wolfgang Pauli. The error becomes clear when one realizes that Kepler thought metaphorically, but his critics, such as Pauli, think symbolistically. By Ralf Schauerhammer I actually wanted to…
From the Beautiful to the Sublime: On Schiller’s “The Guides of Life”
By David Gosselin Two kinds of genius may escort you throughout life.True Goodness falls on him who lets them lead as one.Beauty enlivens and makes brief the winding road;Duty and fate grow lighter with her by your side—She leads with gracefulness and laughter to the edge.And there, mortality waits by eternal seas.There, you’ll discover the Sublime—daring and…
Comets Colliding: Schubert & Brahms Set Schiller and Heine
By David Gosselin These are two of the finest examples of German Lieder I’ve encountered. Perhaps no art form has succeeded in uniting poetry and music more effectively than the 19th century tradition of German classical art songs. A careful study of this form of creative expression and dialogue between the greatest poets and musical…
Edgar Allan Poe’s Final Mystery: A Tale of Two Murders is now Free to Watch
What better way to celebrate Poe’s birthday than to remember who was the “true” Poe The moment has finally arrived! The Rising Tide Foundation is proud to announce that our feature film ‘Edgar Allan Poe’s Final Mystery: A Tale of Two Murders’ is now available to watch for free. Today being Edgar Poe’s birthday, January 19th,…