The Askesian Society

The Askesian Society http://www.askesian.com Re-established 2007 Sun, 09 Nov 2008 21:38:13 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en A Tree with Roots By Jonny Thakkar It is by now well known that Bob Dylan fills his recent songs with lines taken from elsewhere. Just as ‘Love and Theft’ - whose very title is an ostentatious quotation, from the title of Eric Lott’s book about white singers coopting black culture - contains phrases from ... http://www.askesian.com/index.php/2008/11/09/a-tree-with-roots/ (Sexual) Influence and Analogy: Dylan and The Beatles by Hamid Khanbhai Only months before Rubber Soul, their first strong album, The Beatles released Help and that lyrical nadir, Another Girl. The song appears to be void of psychological and narrative interest. We are introduced to a nameless, amorphous and uncharacterised trio, the components of a scarcely delineated love triangle. ... http://www.askesian.com/index.php/2008/03/18/sexual-influence-and-analogy-dylan-and-the-beatles/ The Clinton Headlock By Jonny Thakkar It was hard to know what Hillary Clinton was up to. “Shame on you, Barack Obama,” she jabbed. “Enough with the speeches and the big rallies and then using tactics right out of Karl Rove’s playbook. This is wrong, and every Democrat should be outraged.” Obama’s ... http://www.askesian.com/index.php/2008/03/10/the-clinton-headlock/ Why Study Past Philosophers? By Jonny Thakkar Every time we think about something explicitly we do so against a background of implicit presuppositions. As finite beings we have no option but to take things for granted. Not everything can be up for grabs at once; in any consideration we need to hold some things constant. Assumption ... http://www.askesian.com/index.php/2008/03/10/why-study-past-philosophers/ The gimp of the perverse: lessons for the young revolutionary from Edgar Allan Poe By Jonny Lowndes The 20th Century often expressed itself as footnotes to Edgar Allan Poe. Any literature that concerned itself with the new urban sublime was ripping off his story, The Man of the Crowd; any that tried to 'explain the ways of the dead god to man' - that tried to ... http://www.askesian.com/index.php/2008/02/08/the-gimp-of-the-perverse-lessons-for-the-young-revolutionary-from-edgar-allan-poe/ Is literary influence scary? By Ollie Thomas ‘Flowing into’ or ‘flowing onto’? The former, in the earliest Latin uses – as rivers flow into the sea, blood into the heart, or words into our ears. But metaphorical ‘influence’ was figured long before then, by Muse inspiring poet, or god inspiring prophet. Such inspiration – ... http://www.askesian.com/index.php/2008/02/07/is-literary-influence-scary/ Under the influence By De Froment, who intends to rewrite this soon, but sweetly met his deadline. "Let's go out on Friday and get shitfaced". "It was a great night, we got absolutely battered". "Chris is hilarious - he was ratted that night". There's a lot of talk of drinking, of how much people ... http://www.askesian.com/index.php/2008/02/04/under-the-influence/ Placing the environmental lobby By Philip Wood The social sciences have long been familiar with the idea that social phenomena have ‘functions’, i.e. that phenomena exist because they play a role in ensuring the survival of an entire ‘social organism’. I would like to return to some of the problems of Darwinian models within the ... http://www.askesian.com/index.php/2008/01/19/placing-the-environmental-lobby/ Spatial terms and metaphors in ancient Greece By Ollie Thomas In Sophocles’ play, Antigone refuses to let her brother Polynices, who has died attacking his own state and whose corpse has been exposed in punishment, lie unburied. Creon therefore labels her a traitor, and demands that she be buried alive by being walled up in a small hill-cave. ... http://www.askesian.com/index.php/2007/12/26/spatial-terms-and-metaphors-in-ancient-greece/ Royale with Cheese? By Jonny Thakkar A seaplane, a speedboat and a helicopter – all white – set against golden beaches and the cyan sea. Bond alights and stands for a moment, summer suit and shades, sizing up the surroundings and waiting for them to return the favour. The peacock has landed. This is ... http://www.askesian.com/index.php/2007/12/21/royale-with-cheese/