Showing 423 articles
Metaphysical Goods
Author: Sabine LeitnerSeptember 8, 2023
It is easy to understand theoretically how the sound of a violin is produced. But it is very difficult to turn this intellectual understanding into the actual ability to play the violin well. Similarly, as humanity, we have already grasped many profound concepts a long time ago, but in some cases it has taken us [...]
The Science of Tomorrow: An Alliance of Reason and Spirituality
Author: Jean StauneSeptember 8, 2023
In view of what is happening today, it is possible that science may hold a less important place in the culture of tomorrow. Why? Because when science is called upon to express its view on certain subjects, it often adopts an excessively authoritarian tone. This uncompromising approach has discredited it in the eyes of public [...]
The Symbolic Dimension of Grimms’ Fairy Tales
Author: Ana Luisa LellisSeptember 8, 2023
“Deeper meaning resides in the fairy tales told to me in my childhood than in the truth that is taught by life.” Friedrich Schiller Over two hundred years ago, the brothers Grimm published the first edition of their “Children’s and Household Tales”.Little did they know how important their work would be and for how long [...]
Alchemy and its Mute Language
Author: Agostino DominiciSeptember 8, 2023
To spread and transmit its teachings, Western alchemy has often resorted to the visual arts, with their symbolic and imaginative language. This fact should not surprise us if we take into account that ‘working according to nature’ is the modus operandi of the alchemist. In other words, if one sets out to discover the hidden [...]
Tales from the Ramayana – The Abduction of Sita
Author: Miha KosirSeptember 8, 2023
In the world of literature there are a few well known epic stories in which the plot is built around the abduction of a woman. In the East one of them is the ancient Indian story of the Ramayana, and in the West, there is the ancient Greek story of the Iliad. These are not [...]
In Praise of Folly and Other Teachings of Erasmus
Author: Istvan OrbanSeptember 8, 2023
“We live in times when to speak endangers the body, but to remain silent endangers the soul” – Erasmus of Rotterdam Nowadays, Erasmus comes to our mind when we hear about the student exchange program of the European Union. The educational program was named after a Dutch Renaissance philosopher, Desiderius Erasmus, who was a great [...]
Fear and Courage
Author: Delia Steinberg GuzmánSeptember 8, 2023
That fear is the greatest adversary on the path of wisdom? We already knew that. But we have to experience it. Wisdom is not about filling our heads with ideas that are never applied (precisely because of fear or cowardice, or comfort, which is another form of fear and cowardice); wisdom is to learn to [...]
The Moral Struggle
Author: Delia Steinberg GuzmánSeptember 8, 2023
The true philosopher should think of his struggle as a moral battle. The field of morality includes all those latent powers that are trying to emerge but are unable to do so, because they need our decisive and willing support. Morality is the sum of all our virtues, the combination of all our powers, active [...]
Farewell to Delia Steinberg Guzmán
Author: Sabine LeitnerSeptember 8, 2023
I would like to dedicate this article to my teacher Delia Steinberg Guzmán, International President of New Acropolis from 1991 till 2020, who passed away peacefully on August 15. A few years ago, she said in an interview: “We should all take time to think: why are we in the world? Not because we feel [...]
Theseus and the Minotaur: The Defining Human Image
Author: Siobhan FarrarSeptember 8, 2023
The image of Theseus, hero of Attica, standing at the centre of the labyrinth, holding a magical thread (called a clue) brandishing his sword, about to face destiny in a moment of reckoning with the Minotaur, is perhaps one of the most defining scenes from mythology with a symbolism both rich and complex. What this [...]
Capitalism and Socialism in Plato’s Republic
Author: Gilad SommerJune 24, 2023
Capitalism and Socialism are commonly portrayed as two contrasting approaches to the distribution of resources within a society. In very simple terms, Capitalism advocates for the freedom of economic activity and individual ownership of property, while Socialism promotes regulated economic activity, and communal ownership of property. Based on these basic definitions, one can understand why [...]
What Has Philosophy Taught Me?
Author: Antonin VinklerMay 14, 2023
Probably, all of us philosophers have to regularly answer questions such as – “What do you need this philosophy for?”. Today I am asking myself that same question – why do I need it in life? what has it taught me? And since it has taught me quite a few things, I will list some [...]