The Totalitarian Anatomy of Hellbound

Hellbound is a popular dark fantasy South Korean TV series. What speaks to me most about it is how the story is about a society’s metaphorical descent into totalitarianism. Totalitarianism you ask? Yes, that totalitarianism that we have already encountered in history from fascist Nazi Germany, Stalinist Soviet Union and the horrors of the Khmer Rogue regime in Cambodia.

What is Art for? Alfred North Whitehead on Truth, Beauty and Art in Adventures of Ideas

To look at the purpose of art, we first have to understand what art is. Alfred North Whitehead relates art to truth and beauty in the final section on Civilisation in his book Adventures of Ideas published in 1930. He systematically examines each of these notions, so he explains first what truth is, then what beauty is and then what art is, finally relating them to the purpose of art. This essay will recount his theory of these notions but first, some words on the man.

[Fiction] My Eulogy – Mea Culpa

[Christopher enters stage left, walking towards the podium in front of a coffin set up lengthwise but at an angle to the audience. The background is a clear night sky full of stars and the scene is moonlit. He had been tasked to read the eulogy his dearest friend, Alan, had prepared for himself, which was to be read at Alan’s funeral.]

I thank you all for coming this evening. I have intentionally arranged for my own self-written eulogy to be the last speech for today, the day you come to mourn my death. I regret that I have to speak to you like this, from beyond the grave. Please do not be mistaken that it is a mark of my insincerity. Indeed, it is quite the opposite.

The Experience Machine Part 2

Previously, I have explained what Nozick’s thought experiment on experience machines is about and his arguments against plugging in. If you have not watched it, please find the link, watch it first and then return here. To recap, his three arguments are and I quote:

1) “We want to do certain things, and not just have the experience of doing them.”

2) “We want to be a certain way, to be a certain sort of person.”

3) “Plugging into an experience machine limits us to a man-made reality.”

While they may seem reasonable, I have hinted at some scenarios such as wanting a holiday or to escape from a life of suffering, to be reasons why people might want to plug into the experience machine. I want to expand on that today, to argue against Nozick’s arguments and then reconcile it with what I think is the real takeaway from his thought experiment.