This is a guest post by Inger Cini. The philosophers Alain Badiou and Slavoj Žižek have provided contrasting perspectives on cinema. In this essay, I would like to comment on the similarities and differences in their thought under three main headings: how to read cinema, ideology in cinema, and the truth in cinema. Whilst Žižek…
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At the end of his book Why? The Purpose of the Universe, the philosopher Philip Goff makes a case for the human need for religion. However, he distinguishes between the more ‘belief-y’ aspects of religion (subscribing to agreed-upon creeds) and the more practical, lived-out aspects (e.g. ritual and community). He acknowledges that many people won’t…
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The Swiss psychiatrist and psychologist Carl Jung is well known for developing his concept of the archetype. This refers to a primordial pattern existing in the collective unconscious, or humanity’s shared, inherited mental contents, which we are unaware of. Jung previously conceptualised archetypes (e.g. the Mother, the Trickster, the Shadow, the Child) as purely mental phenomena…
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One of the applications of medical cannabis is for the improvement of mental health. In the UK (where I’m from), you can be prescribed medical cannabis to counteract the symptoms of a range of mental health problems, including depression, anxiety, and PTSD. Private cannabis clinics are seeing a rise in the number of patients who…
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Why do some people get really into New Age practices and beliefs? Explanations can range from charitable and optimistic ones (e.g. people finding pathways to truth and wellness) to less charitable and cynical ones (e.g. some people are not scientifically literate, or they’re prone to cling to wellness trends to feel more ‘spiritual’). In answering…
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