May 26, 2019
“I have a dream…”, “In this grave hour…”, “I do not come here as an advocate…” – the first lines of some of the greatest speeches that shaped the history of the 20th century. Rhetoric as the art of persuasion has always played an important role within societies. It is the main tool in all [...]February 7, 2017
One of Aristotle’s most famous works is his Nicomachean Ethics, so called because the work was edited by Aristotle’s son Nicomachus. It is a curious fact that none of Aristotle’s surviving works were directly written by him. They are all compilations from his lecture notes, edited by his various students. This accounts for their often [...]August 7, 2014
We owe to the Greek historian Diogenes Laertius most of our information on the life and works of this philosopher, who, together with Socrates and Plato, symbolize Western philosophical inquiry. He was born in 384 B.C. in Stagira (Thrace) and died in Chalcis (Euboea) in 322 B.C. His father, Nicomachus, was physician to Amyntas, the [...]May 12, 2014
Alchemy seems to be an almost universal science. Not only do we find it in Medieval Europe, but also in China and India, amongst other places. This is perhaps because it is not just a primitive forerunner of modern chemistry, but a sacred science in its own right, which was studied wherever esoteric knowledge has [...]