Timeless Conversation Between Two Aristocratic Men Gu Yuan & Guo Moruo By Quan Le This is the occasion for expressing some of my desultory remarks on Chinese culture, history and more generally on epistemology, my core interest. Epistemology has 3 theoretical branches : theory of knowledge, heuristics/maieutics and hermeneutics. Epistemology has one practical application at…
Tag: drama
On Lessing’s ‘Nathan the Wise’: Is a Harmony of Cultures Possible?
For the first inaugural lecture kicking off the RTF Symposium ‘The Role of Art in Shaping a Sovereign Citizenry’ which will feature lectures every Sunday afternoon until March 12 2023. In this lecture RTF President Cynthia Chung will conduct a discussion on the classical work ‘Nathan the Wise’ by the renaissance humanist Gotthold Lessing. Exploring…
The Battle for the Mind: How to Exit an Artificial Reality
By Cynthia Chung [This is a transcript of a Rising Tide Foundation lecture delivered December 18, 2022 which can be viewed here.] The above is a picture from George Cukor’s movie ‘Gaslight’ (1944) which is what originated the term “gaslighting.” [The definition of gaslighting is to manipulate someone using psychological methods into questioning their own…
Germany’s Stockholm Syndrome and the Firing of Valery Gergiev
By Cynthia Chung “No, there is a limit to the tyrant’s power! When the oppressed man finds no justice, When the burden grows unbearable, he appeals with fearless heart to heaven, and thence brings down his everlasting rights, which there abide, inalienably his, and indestructible as stars themselves. The primal state of nature reappears, wherein man…
An Introduction to Friedrich Schiller: Theater Considered as a Moral Institution
by Cynthia Chung I know of only one secret to guarding man against depravity, and that is: to arm his heart against weakness. – Friedrich Schiller’s Theater Considered as a Moral Institution As within any period of time, the question is repeatedly asked “What is the Role of the Artist?” That is, what is the…
Beethoven’s Fidelio Plays out on a Modern Stage… in Belmarsh Prison
By Luc Trudel A recently posted video allows anyone to quietly visit the site where, a man, a good man, is prevented to live his life peacefully because he exercised one of his human rights. The video serves as a reminder of the disgraceful fact that Julian Assange has been held unjustly in UK’s Belmarsh…
To What Purpose are We Drawn to Tragedy: A Study of Shakespeare’s Hamlet
In this lecture, 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 are compared and juxtaposed to determine what Shakespeare intended for his audience. Featured Cover Image: “Hamlet’s Vision” by Pedro Americo
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…