Dr Dominic Smith from the Centre recently had the pleasure of taking part in an expert witness panel for the Scottish Parliament, that fed into the work of a Citizens’ Panel on Covid-19 Strategy. The panel responded to the question:…
Paradox: a composite of the Greek ‘para’ (against or beyond) and ‘doxa’ (common belief or opinion); a paradox, informally, is a statement that goes against or beyond common sense; ‘this statement is a lie’ is a famous example of a…
Gravity: From the Latin gravitatem, ‘weight; heaviness; pressure’. According to Weil, gravity is the force governing human existence when and as we are directed by base virtues. It is characterised not only by attraction but also an intensity the closer…
Nihilism: From the Latin nihil, meaning ‘nothing’. Nihilism is the radical negation of the meaning and value of life, its reduction to nothing. For many continental philosophers, following Nietzsche, nihilism signifies a state of crisis in contemporary European culture.