Eudaimonia and Tory Odds

Very pleasant today (although cold)  and as well as meeting a friend for a cup of coffee I spent some time looking at trees laid bare by the season.

Lovely trees (part 1)

And even more winter trees in Ealing

After this reflecting on 'Good Life' (useful as Thursday be looking at Aristotle and Virtue at City Lit Moral Philosophy class).

Sadly (in some respects) you can't (according to these smart Ancient Greek guys) have 'Good Life' (or more accurately  Eudaimonia ) without constantly working at it - but you can form 'good habits' and draw on 'Exemplar's  around you -

Some clips (each less then 10 minutes) here if you're interested.

1. Aristotle and Virtue Theory.
2. The Good life Aristotle. 
3. Aristotle on Ethics, Happiness and Virtue.

The Current Odds (advisedly)  in Next Tory Leadership Race..

So on this topic Tories are internally beating themselves up about their  leadership (party and Country)
If you're after some light relief on the topic ...

The Runners and Riders

Bookies  parading of  Tory Next Leadership Odds make one look like motorway  car crash  seeing that Jacob Rees-Mogg is favourite (perhaps not the right word?)  and that bringing up the rear are a plethora of  what could be described as 'outsiders' like the untroubled by reality Ian Duncan-Smith at 150-1  and the former UKIP leader Nigel Farage at 250-1, strangely comforting that reality takes a break here (we hope).

And fantasy land (we trust) - good to see Cameron ahead of Farage!

More Photo-Shopping at Richmond School of Art

Richmond has some lovely views across the Thames

Richmond really is a lovely spot and Photoshop course at Richmond School of Art is a great excuse to visit the town - must say that although software package is slightly intimidating I'm getting quite enthused with tuning and altering pictures I've taken.

Being spoilt  by great Apple machines in Richmond

We're very much a mixed ability class and I'm sure we'rte our challenge for our teacher.

Roughly speaking we're having some time to get to know a little of the s/ware before embarking on projects - I'm hoping to pop into the library at the college sometime this week  to get more familiarisation  with the application .


Richmond (RHACC) was at one time a Girl.s school but now offers a nice mixture of adult learning courses across the Arts.

The facility has as well as plenty of practically based courses a business school - (where I did a Social Media course last summer).

Former use of the facility 

Photo'  - Calling out for some 'tuning'

Politics

Disappointed  that rather than make Mea Culpa - 'Hands Up' guv'nor  declaration David Cameron chose to say it's bad but could be worse

In truth Tories made a bad mistake with May - Brexit project is not hers and while she continues to act as though she's  a lost soul in purgatory with the twin troubles of  no leadership ability or empathy  negotiators in Europe  will try and make it up as they go along.

Next election when it comes is likely to be between two new leaders (my view is that Corbyn will be far too old at 72), if Momentum continues it's ascendancy (rather too much like Militant 2.0 for me I'm afraid)  could be that Labour are un-electable and I'm of the mind that it's still hard to rule out Boris in No. 10!

More Ethics at CityLit

A challenging destination

On Thursday another session (number 3 ) of grappling with Moral Philosophy, Ariel (the course leader) promised at the start of the course that it would not be easy and for sure I'm finding that is the case!

Benedict continued to be a thorn in our side - but I suppose a significant one, for us to negotiate (perhaps more a bump in the road!)


As was pointed out part of the problem is that to accept too much relativism is to have one's 'Moral intuition' challenged  - we do recognise what is (or feels to be) intrinsically good  but perhaps that is just the norms that society so effectively instils in us?


Let's face it the concept of slavery was not an issue for many of the great Ancient Greek philosophers indeed Aristotle thought that Slavery was 'Natural' thing with people being (naturally) Either Slaves or Non-Slaves - this is not a widely accepted idea these days!


We spent some time in the class thinking too about Plato and his forms (this bringing to light that Mathematicians are generally Plato- nists in their outlooks, recognising that the triangles they construct are but mere approximations of the  perfect triangle that we might aspire to).


It was suggested that there is a form of inherent  (which is a priori) it has been shown (to the satisfaction of some) that the untutored mind can be tested by exercising a dialectic to exhibit this inbuilt non-empirical knowledge -Immanuel Kant is associated with this area of study.

It seems that Plato considered the soul to be an eternal that goes from body to body and does not die when the body does.

Next week we'll continue to wrestle with Plato's ideas and consider Aristotle - our homework is to listen to another of the BBC Radio 4 'In Our Time' programmes - this time on the topic of Virtue.

Some of this stuff is captured in Meta-ethics when we say we know instinctively what's right - where does it come from?

3 types:

Moral absolutism - Perhaps being a vegan might be an absolutist view (regardless of culture)

Moral Relativism - More than one moral position can be correct

Cultural Relativism - this allows other cultures to choose their own morality

Virtue Ethics was favoured by Aristotle  (Eudiamonia/Flourishing)

Here the idea is  that ethics are not intrinsic and can be learnt, - there are four classical (Cardinal) virtues  from Plato but they each need to have their Golden Mean (which was Aristotle) to be recognised  - check them out here.

Justice

It's interesting (to me) to find a tie in to classical art The Cardinal Virtues in paintings  female 'allegorical figures' .

Art

The attributes and names of these figures  vary according to the relevant  tradition in the area.

Many churches and artwork have the Cardinal Virtues shown with symbolic items such as

 Justice – sword, balance and scales, and a crown

Fortitude

Temperance – wheel, bridle and reins, vegetables and fish, cup, water and wine in two jugs

Fortitude – armour, club, with a lion, palm, tower, yoke, broken column

 Prudence – book, scroll, mirror (occasionally attacked by a serpent)

Not Just a Shop.

Alex Swain is  featured with
 his carry away furniture

University of London has a site just on High Holborn, at ground level a showroom often displaying young artists work is currently a shop (but not just a shop) .

Some nice stuff there from cards to furniture ...

Take 5 minutes there

RTS London session on BBC World Service TV expansion

Introducing a BBC World Service TV presentation

Last night at an  RTS meeting which was largely a presentation from  BBC World Service team on their  current TV expansions.


BBC' World service profile  is sometimes on the up and sometimes on the low.
I was at Basys (A pioneer in 'Computer Newsroom' Technology)   during a big Arabic push when MLTS technology was being introduced to help with 'multi-byte' characters  also was part of a  Pilat Media team  when the project was to   some clever scheduling which included remote control of Wegner digital receivers.


Yesterday it was all about spending a Foreign Office (FO) cash allocation (£290 m over 4 years I think was the figure given) - the target is to reach another 80 million listeners/viewers.

There's been quite a bit of recruitment for the World Service of late (many outside of the UK) 950 new recruits now and another 400 to come.

We heard from a team of BBC types who spoke about their branding and partner arrangement  - focused on Asia (mainly India but also Korea) and Russia - areas where the BBC & FO perceive a deficit of unbiased News. There's also a push in Africa with new Radio services in the Horn of Africa.

Questions were raised by the audience around censorship and being 'even-handed' in coverage for India/Pakistan.

Amazing to see how much building is going on in the vicinity of  ITV's London centre (near Waterloo).

New buildings -More Flats I anticipate - while  Street sleepers numbers continue to increase

PhotoShop at Richmond Art School

The ethos 

In Richmond last week for start of Photoshop training course - Facilities well set up and a nice schedule for the 5 week run.

Adobe (who manage the Photoshop product) have a business model that charges an annual fee - (on a monthly basis if you prefer) - considerable reduction on the charge if you purchase as a student (up to 65%) - there are alternatives to this market leader and the freeware GIMP looks promising - I'm running the trial version (for a week) before making a decision.

Who would have thought i'd be here?

I'm thinking I won't be a heavy user and am hoping that GIMP (horrible name) uses a similar philosophy (layers and the like), I've been happy the last 5 or so years with Google's Picasa  - it's no longer a program that Google are focusing on and or developing.

Sun on Richmond Green a (big) stone's throw from the Richmond Art School (part of RHACC)

Health Service

Now I'm not (as regular readers will know) a fan of Boris Johnson but I do support the NHS having more funding - the BBC News was truly shaming on the current situation -if these extra funding  needs to be disguised as a Brexit premium so be it.

I also have some sympathy with Boris (I'm surprised to say) over the lack of direction on post Brexit UK - the decision has been taken and I understand than Remain-ers are trying to make the exit look as much like staying in as possible - this though (in my opinion) is the worst of both worlds -I'd prefer to stay in but if we're leaving we need to exploit the upsides that there are.

For me (now)  the issue is indeed May's lack of ambition or direction - there is a lack of leadership which needs addressing

Moral Philosophy course- Session 2

For knowledge- enter here 

Having had a good stab at the preparation ahead of reconvening to look further at Moral Philosophy, in week 2 of my latest course (A   CityLit  course focusing on the subject of Ethics) I was initially slightly frustrated but by the end of the 2 hour class I felt that I was able to see something of the 'project'.

The course is after all to give us 'tools' not to actually answer the big questions (which can draw you in) that we encounter.

Pleasing

Having reflected on the idea of Moral Relativism and listened to one of Lord Bragg's In Our Times (on the topic of Relativism) I'm realising that I do have some tools but that the quest is not likely to end easily.


Next week it's Plato and am going to be  listening to a reading of Chapter 14 of Bertrand Russell on Plato's Republic  to get ready for the class.

And the Practical

The Internet (and making lists) are useful in actually tackling projects around the home   - long been thinking about tidying up a bathroom and adding a shelf  (Expression Products) and  Glass Tumbler & Holder (SupaHome) are quick wins.

Be Optimistic 

If you get a chance I'd recommend taking a look at David Bryne  and his Reason's To Be Cheerful (the idea taken from the title of one of  Ian Dury's Song) - something positive to reflect on .

An NPG visit

After Moral Philosophy 2 (more about this later) and visit to the National Portrait Gallery (the NPG) am beginning to get myself (a little) familiar with the layout and facilities there ahead of course in February.

Henry Cole by Sir Joseph Boehm

Like many Galleries the NPG is hung largely, chronologically but there are rooms set aside within for say a broad chronology - like 'Politicians' for example there are of course other 'Temporary' (meaning ticketed/paid) exhibitions - I'm not sure about the overall feel of the gallery or how well it all works, still getting the 'hang' of it.

(Thomas) Ruff pictures

I was interested to see a bust of Henry Cole who was one of many important figures around Prince Albert pressing for better British Design in the 19th century.




There are some things in the NPG which I like but not sure that they should be there - for example Photographs (it was good to see that Thomas Ruff work is on show) or Sculpture.

Seeing some examples of Stained glass though reminded me of what I saw in what Gilbert & George were doing with their 'Beard Portraits.

I was though much taken with Dame Laura Knight's self portrait (with model) - really like the informal nature of the picture and the use of red in it.

A nicely composed self portrait by Dame Laura Knight.

Gilbert and George at White Cube

White Cube Bermondsey, big but not lovely 

On Tuesday I went to Bermondsey to take some photo's and also see Gilbert and George (who I am a fan of) exhibition at White Cube.


(Thanks to whoever picked up my hat and handed it in at the reception).


I used to be a fairly regular visitor to this part of London when I was a volunteer at the 'Old' Design Museum (as in previous location not old designs), I hadn't realised just how hip parts of the borough were though - although East London is Hipster capital there are plenty of beards bikes and beans out here too.

Non Hipsters must stay outside?

The street where White Cube is even has decorated utility boxes (like I saw in Portugal) along with sweary Coffee shop.

Of course it has long been contended that Modern Art is a 'con' I certainly wouldn't say that about all or even this rather one dimensional exhibition but it did feel a bit of a two trick pony of a show - there was something quite lovely about the large 'beardy' pictures (More about the connection I made later)  but the large swearing things are a bit tedious as they don't shock now and although the persona and performance of the boys has some legitimacy I'm not sure that it will ensure that they are celebrated in 50 years time (they're not Caravaggio or Canaletto when all is said and done)  .

The manifesto 

What it's headlined as

Big works have craft and content but might seem flippant

Swearing is a theme

As are beards

Tate Modern -Not everyone will be taken into the future

A series of interesting rooms about Utopia, Dreams and Fear

Great to get out and take some pictures yesterday - my destination was Tate Modern and while I was there I saw an exhibition I really enjoyed it featured the work of Ilya and Emilia Kabakov  and was titled -Not everyone will be taken into the future .

The exhibition resonated with me - it told of what was at the time a determined drive for artistic independence by Ilya Kabakov.
When Ilya started his independent work  it was a time when this was not an path  in the Soviet Union.

There was something about the exhibition that reminded me of both visits to the Museum of Innocence (Somerset House) and Meschac Gaba (Tate Modern) - it has made me think of how I might 'curate' some sort of collection of my own memories.

I liked that although work on show was conceptual in some respects there was craft on show too.

Although Tate exhibitions like this prohibit photography a fair amount of snapping seemed to be going on with mobile phones (tip to these people, turn off the audible shutter click).

Here are some pictures of the exhibition- the pans reminded me of something I saw at the Saatchi some time back.

Liberation in returning party membership 

Some work looked at communal living in t
he soviet era

Revisiting and refreshing 

Are we the Lilliputians?

Pictures from the Honor 6x & Moral Philosophy Article Number 3

Phone Camera - Looking out into daylight is always a challenge

First real use of the camera that's within the Honor 6x 'phone.

I'm finding out more about the remote operation of the Canon camera -and transferring pictures to and from the camera - still trying to find how to mute the shutter click when in remote though.

And a remote triggered timed shot

Moral Philosophy

Final reading for this week was an article by Ruth Benedict called  'Anthropology and the Abnormal'  this article highlights (quite strongly) the concept of Moral Relativism.

Ruth Benedict who was an anthropologist traumatised by her father's early death and the effect it had on her mother writes in the article in a clear manner on some of the more extreme variations of 'Social Norms' in the world.

Increasingly as the world becomes more homogenised what is acceptable in major 'developed' cities around thew world looks similar.

What was very surprising to me was to read  just how different some cultures 'acceptable' behaviour was when the article was published (1934) - some of it might be partially attributed to lesser developed countries being 'out of step' but the dramatic differences point to something more around the adaptability of group behaviour .

One of the examples that Benedict cites is the belief in Witchcraft and related poisoning in Melanesia (which continues today to feed into the local behaviour and which has  provided a rich selection of research projects).

Another example of very different social mores is the Kwakiutl (of North America) and their attachment to the custom of the Potlatch along with how they seek to 'mourn' in a very different way from a Christian wake.

Benedict does (I think) make a point that even in these extreme examples there may be some common agreements around what is 'Good'.

Korean stuff

Korea is more than just a War story

I sometimes watch NHK and Ariang TV - I was incredibly impressed to see a TV programme (on NHK)  that covered sympathetically the story of a Japanese woman ( Fusako Kunita) who married a Korean man (his nationality was not known to her at the time), this was during the time Korea was  a Japanese colony - subsequently she moved to Korea where she still leads an active life  - a story that was worth hearing.

Also on Ariang TV (The Korean channel) I was surprised to hear a K-Pop Star attributing a quote to  the Philosopher  Jeremy Bentham, the quote was  -it is  Darkest under the Candlestick  -I'm not sure that it is Bentham's but mention of him and such a quote was not expected by me. (After a little research and it's not too clear what it means/refers to either).

Soutine and more on week 1 Moral Philosophy (second article)

Soutine's at Courtauld Gallery

The other day I had a couple of hours in which I decided to take a look at the soon to temporarily close Courtauld Gallery (for around 2 years starting this Autumn).

My  quick whizz included  the Soutine exhibition - the works on show are portraits of Hotel staff and looking at these I felt that what was on show was the Paris of George Orwell's Down and Out in London and Paris.

Soutine was apparently a mate of the louche Modigliani (famously Amedeo painted Soutine’s portrait on a door!) – for me it was a nice exhibition, not too extensive and an artist I’d not taken much note of before.

There was something about the works of Soutine that made me think of Francis Bacon - subsequently I see that Bacon was indeed a 'fan' of Soutine.

Boats on The Seine (1877)

Also while at the Courtauld I took some time to appreciate another figure new to me Pierre Bonnard- like the River Seine in Paris (1922) and Two Oxen by him


And talking of the Seine great too to see some of Alfred Sisley's paintings including Boats on The Seine (shown here- left).

Moral Philosophy second article

And back to my 'homework from Week 1 of Moral Philosophy  second part looking at an article entitled -

A Philosophy Tool Kit  it's by the Australian philosopher called Alan Hájek - (there's an audio version you can listen to there as well).

The idea here is that Hájek is supplying us with some tricks to make the study of Philosophy a little easier -

Here are some notes from my reading/listening..

1) The (as in definite description)  is an important word - implying a value to the phrase that follows such as Doing The Right Thing ..

2) A claim that makes a wide range of cases 

use extreme cases e.g. biggest or smallest  - The Big Bang is given as an extreme case 

What is Moral Philosophy(1) & Wireless control of Canon Cameras

CityLit -Off to a great place to learn

Having completed a number of Philosophy courses at CityLit (all led by the excellent Scott Biagi, amazingly I see that my first course at CityLit on this topic was nearly 4 years ago) I thought that the time was overdue to continue finding out about the big questions and seeing if Philosophy as a 'subject' transcends the experience I've had so far.


So the course that I've enrolled on (and started) is called Moral Philosophy, it's at City Lit (again) and the course leader for this  is Ariel Kernberg.


Great mixture of people crowded into room, mixture of ages and Men and Women - for me one of the pleasures of previous courses was the interaction that took place and I reckon it'll be the same here.

First thing I note that we're told is that it's  formerly been known as Ethics so that might be something I reflect on as time goes by.

Having had a look at the difference between the empirical and normative we were presented with an overview and Three articles to read and consider before week two...

Here's what I got from the first one

What is Ethics

The article starts off looking at the significance of Ethics in business issues particularly around legal matters and company 'values'

1) Egoism - we act in our self interest
2) Natural Law - one behaves in line with human nature
3) Utilitarianism - greater overall human welfare, for example throwing yourself on a grenade
4) Respect for Persons - acting in a way that recognises human dignity

Captain Oates in the ill fated South Pole expedition  led by Captain Scott is given as an example we might consider Oates walking out to his death when he said

This case (and others) alert us to the importance of fact in real life cases - although we might share a desire for a certain 'Moral' outcome we might have a different perspective on the way to achieve it.

Interested in learning & meeting people?

I am going outside and I may be some time....

Was he concerned with ending his own suffering or improving the others chance of survival?


Conceptual issues 

Conceptual issues need to be looked at, these might include during a war are Civilian populations innocent?
Modern medical techniques might require us to redefine death - as we can now sustain life beyond what was formerly considered to be 'death'- is the ending of one's own life immoral?

Normative versus factual

Factual - 
The Sky is blue (empirical research).

Normative 
You should be wary of strangers

Income in the USA is unequal (fact)

we might then propose that income inequality is wrong as a moral statement but it could be hard to convince all of this.

Consequentialism measures behaviour by effect it has either good for oneself Egoism or society at large Utilitarianism 

The difference between Right (absolute) and Good (various degrees of)

There's a really interesting example in the article about issues around a possible suicide for 'A Burn Vitim's Desire to Die' .. here it is - I think you'll agree that it's not something that can be given an easy answer. (there's a film about this too but not I've been able to locate it online).

I'm hoping to report more on this course - but expect that I'll get from it an ability to interrogate problems rather than just answers to them - here's a definition of Moral Philosophy.

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Canon Remote Camera  on  Android 

Along with configuring the Google Home Mini one of my motivations to get a new phone was the chance to enhance what I could do with the Canon G7 Camera - here's a nice Youtube that covers it

some of it.

Living in the Future 2 -Android Phone Honor 6x

In fact I did think quite a bit about getting a new phone in 2017, far from essential but felt that having chosen Windows 6 or so years ago I was getting left behind with many 'Apps' not on this type of phone.

Honor 6 - I set my limit at £200

So set an upper price of £200 and found what seemed a good all rounder with the Honor 6x.

BT Mobile provide a smaller SIM

Amazing that online orders come so promptly I got this via Debenhams and having ordered it on Friday it arrived (post free!) Monday lunchtime.



What I hadn't anticipated was the need to get another SIM card - this time a 'nano' -so again amazingly prompt service (from BT Mobile) a new SIM card Wednesday in the post.

What I hadn't realised was why people get so attached to these devices - they do all a computer does but on the move and Android integrates into Google home so I can 'cast' from phone to TV.

Google Maps very useful too - still learning about it.

Brexit

.. really is the news story that keeps giving Farage (he really is an  attention seeker) calls for another referendum - which makes me instinctively reject the idea and Peter Stringfellow leaves Tories  because he's against the destination of travel, what next!

Living in the Future 1 -Google Home

Welcome to the future -Google Home Mini

It's quite easy to be a voice of doom and also take things for granted  - are things getting better?

Well in some ways we're living in the greatest of times  (or at least what would have felt like Utopia 50 years ago).

The idea of calling up video by voice on your TV seems like something out of Star Trek but now it's an every day thing.


I've just got a Google Home Mini and along with a new mobile phone (more about that soon) I've been able to call out videos that appear (as if by magic) on my 40" colour LCD display - how cool is that?

I can also ask for Jokes, News and the Weather - am going to get more gadgets soon too (hopefully allowing me to turn more devices on and off).

Finding the Apple (and Well Done Toby)

A great asset for 'mature' Londoners

I'm looking to see if Photoshop is the thing for me and am finding that platform of preference for this Application is most often the Apple.

So ahead of the course in Richmond (RHACC) next week I did a one day course on Apple at City Lit  - the course was led by Stelios who was really enthusiastic and helpful, as there were only two of us taking the course we got a great deal of help and I'm now more comfortable with the prospect of the 5 week intro'.

That Shuffle

Well reports of the Cabinet reshuffle have concentrated on the incorrect tweets and the resistance of many in the cabinet to moves proposed by PM May - truth is that it feeds into the appearance of a week leader out of touch with her colleagues and the electorate.

No way for people to live in a wealthy country

I'm not impressed that a Comprehensive school educated Minister for Education (Justine Greening) felt obliged to resign (she didn't like the alternative job offer) and the replacement will be a public school educated male.


Having said that I do recognise that Toby Young has come to the right conclusion about his own role with the University's UK  Regulator (at last).

The Conservative party and its leader is worried that Local Elections this year (including councils in London) are too give them a bloody nose so focus seemed to be on inward matters rather than dealing with issues contry faces

I wonder if any of this window dressing particularly that stuff around the 'Central office'  will help the dispossessed and homeless of whom there are far too many in the centre of London.

Mail wants Young's Head? - Reshuffling and A bygone time

Mrs May has a job on her hands (on top of all the rest)- if she asked me for my suggestion on her reshuffle I'd recommend she effectively anoints her successor and that should be Chancellor Phil 'Spreadsheet' Hammond, it could (for once) be a sign of 'Country before Party'.

Mail message is clear

An irritation and diversion for May is the mess around appointment of Toby Young to (yet another body) the new University's UK  Regulator


I'm not someone who generally wishes things as they were but can't help thinking that it's not so long ago that someone like the ex Journalist (yet another one) Toby Young would have recognised that it would be a wiser thing for him to step aside from the role on the board .


If Young  was up for a job on '8 out of 10 cats or some similar TV show his CV would be a good fit - in a role where he's regulating education it's not quite so good (and there's a feeling going around that  his presence on it weakens this regulator considerably).

What 'Middle England@ thinks?

Interesting too to see current Education Minister, Justine Greening ( that rare animal a State educated Woman Minister) who is responsible for the body  has her job under threat  - her removal from the Education portfolio could mean that Toby Young goes with less of a fuss too?




Coverage of the appointment of Toby Young does emphasise the clique that remains too powerful and unaccountable, with no clear accountability.

Although having said that he does seem remarkably short of friends (as of course his Book & Film suggests).

Two Peas in a Pod?

I'm surprised at how The Mail on Sunday/Mail/Mail online  is covering this story (and many others about the Government) - seems to me there's an Agenda that is distinctly anti- Boris (and to  a lesser extent anti-Gove), I'm no fan of either but a little suspicious about the paper's motivation.



Bring on the reshuffle.

BBC RADIO

Nice programme -Good Luck Professor Spiegelhalter - sets out to debunk the idea of luck (??) for me does the opposite but did make me think, liked his personal page -seems an interesting man with plenty of honours too.