By David Gosselin “Trust me, the fountain of youth, it is no fable. It is running Truly and always. Ye ask, where? In poetical art.” – Friedrich Schiller, The Fountain of Youth Friedrich Schiller was born on November 10th, 1759 in Marbach, Württemberg. He was without question one of the greatest poets and dramatists to…
Tag: Aesthetical Education
How Tragedy Can Heal Society: The Oresteia as Political Therapy with Dr. Nicolai Petro
What does classical tragedy have to do with geopolitics? Why is it so important for modern statesmen, diplomats to think like Aeschylus and why should more artists think like statesmen? In this Rising Tide Foundation lecture, Dr Nicolai Petro introduces classical Greek Tragedy from a moral, and philosophical perspective containing within its essence, the necessary…
Renaissance or Dark Age? RTF Symposium
In this first of three presentations delivered to the Renaissance or Dark Age Symposium on September 7, 2025 in Toronto Ontario, Matt Ehret introduces the concept of Renaissances and Dark Ages as the effects of principles (or the defiance) of Universal Principles of Natural Law applicable to ALL societies across ALL ages. What are those…
Education as the Cause of Political Freedom – The Brethren of the Common Life
We all know that human society is littered with dark ages, renaissances, fallen empires, and brilliant revolutionary bursts of progress, increased liberty and creative freedom. But what is the ‘secret sauce’ that allows a fallen society to rise and generate such powerful artistic, scientific and political minds capable of leading humanity into greater harmony with…
The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters
By Cynthia Chung What say of it? what say CONSCIENCE grim, That spectre in my path? – Chamberlayne’s Pharonnida There has always been a fascination with “horror” since time immemorial, such that much of what functions to thrill us today is not much different from the sort of folk tales told hundreds if not thousands…
James Fenimore Cooper’s ‘The Bravo’: A Lesson in Political Intelligence
By Cynthia Chung [This is a transcript of an RTF lecture that was delivered as part of the “Storytelling, Myth-making and the Shaping of Universal History” Symposium.] So the subject of this class, as the title would suggest, is on James Fenimore Cooper’s ‘The Bravo,’ and I am sure many people here are probably aware of…
Schiller’s Ghost Seer, Intelligence Methods and a Global Citizenry
A Study of Schiller’s The Ghost Seer By Cynthia Chung [The audio version of this article can be listened to here.] The Ghost Seer first appeared in several instalments in Schiller’s publication journal Thalia from 1787 to 1789, and was later published as a three-volume book. It was one of the most popular works of…
How To Conquer Tyranny and Avoid Tragedy: A Lesson on Defeating Systems of Empire
By Cynthia Chung This is a transcription of a lecture, which can be found here, given as part of the RTF series “Art, Science and Civilization: The Renaissance Principles Across the Ages.“ It is common today to be confronted with the belief that any country, any civilization that gains a certain degree of power, will…
Plato’s Fight Against Apollo’s Temple of Delphi and the Cult of Democracy
By Cynthia Chung Homer’s great poems that are left to us today, The Iliad and The Odyssey, describe the events of the Trojan War and its immediate aftermath, events which marked the descent of Greece into a Dark Age. Following the Trojan War, c.1190 BCE, the civilization of mainland Greece collapsed, written language was lost, and cities disappeared….
Rabelais and the Fight for the Modern Nation State
Early 16th century France was a newly formed nation-state following the exploits of Joan of Arc and unification efforts of Louis XI. The counterattack coming from the oligarchic forces was a most bloody religious warfare and Inquisition throughout Europe, pitting each against all. In the midst of all this raging madness, stood in France a…