 "Don't Cry for Me" - Aristotle
by Peter Cresswell
We all like a good 'weepy.' And we all know about catharsis. We got the idea from Aristotle, who argued that catharsis is the number one reason for enjoying drama. Ayn Rand didn’t agree. Art, she argued, shows us in concrete form what our world-view actually is. But have we got it all wrong? And is it okay to weep at the movies? (Read more...)
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Louis Sullivan - What’s the Big Idea?
by Peter Cresswell
Ayn Rand's view of what a good autobiography should be is contained in the title that Louis H. Sullivan gave to the story of his life: The Autobiography of an Idea.
So who is Louis Sullivan? What's the big idea? And what does it have to do with Frank Lloyd Wright, skyscrapers, and Sherlock Holmes? Read on, dear reader. Read on. (Read more...)
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 Property Rights: A Blessing for Maori New Zealand
by Peter Cresswell
The intellectually lazy can often be heard opining (amongst other nonsense) that before Europeans arrived all of New Zealand was owned by the Maori who inhabited some parts of the country. This is the 'thinking' that somehow concludes that some four hundred tribesmen somehow 'owned' the entire South Island! This is the sort of thinking that I can only conclude is utter tosh. (Read more...)
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 A Free Iraq - If you can keep it
by Peter Cresswell
Man is born free, but everywhere he is in chains." Not true. Not everywhere. Not in Baghdad - not any longer. (Read more...)
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Wednesday
February 19, 2003 |
Lessons in Lust (Behind the Privy)
by Peter Cresswell
For those who lust after power, frustration ensues at any barrier to the exercise of that power. From the U.S. to New Zealand, the reaction of the power-luster to his (or her) power being blunted is the same. (Read more...)
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Thursday
February 13, 2003 |
 Genetic Engineering - Why They Don’t Get It
by Peter Cresswell
Activists analyse the minutiae of rumour, gossip and innuendo surrounding GE plants, foods and crops, yet seem to be missing the big picture. (Read more...)
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Retirement of a Velvet Revolutionary
by Peter Cresswell
As Vaclav Havel steps down from the Czech Presidency he has held since his country wrested its freedom from the Soviets, a SOLOist reflects on the lessons we can learn from the great man's early career. (Read more...)
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What Is Architecture?
by Peter Cresswell
In their book What Art Is, Louis Torres and Michelle Marder Kamhi suggest that architecture is not art. Now, this long-awaited book from the editors of Aristos is certainly an important one - though nowhere near as important as they think it is, and nowhere near as important as Rand's own Romantic Manifesto on which their book is based - but unfortunately it is seriously flawed. (Read more...)
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That Expectant Hiss
by Peter Cresswell
People my age or older (down, Josephine) might remember the shiver of anticipation they once felt when putting the needle down on an eagerly awaited new record - the expectant hiss as the stylus cut through new, unplayed vinyl in that brief but magical moment before the first note is heard gave goosebumps in places that the more digitally convenient CDs don't even know exist. Once every two months my letterbox now offers me a similar thrill when a new copy of The Free Radical appears in in my letterbox... (Read more...)
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 The Quantum Aristotle
by Peter Cresswell
Since the Renaissance the west has revelled in technological progress and scientific advances - even as the philosophical ideas underpinning these successes have been undercut and undermined. (Read more...)
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Civilisation under siege
by Peter Cresswell
This was a declaration of war - but a declaration by whom, and against what? (Read more...)
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Top Five(ish) Films
by Peter Cresswell
Having been asked by the SOLO Headmaster to choose and discuss my top five films while avoiding, for the most part, the obvious Objectivist canon, I have found that to name only five is too difficult, and I herewith protest that to demand five is blatant and unforgivable rationalism. Thus unencumbered by my protestations, I present my top bunch, excluding docos, and in no particular order… (Read more...)
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Frank Lloyd Wright
by Peter Cresswell
A remarkable film on this architectural genius ably demonstrates both his genius and his struggle - the reasons for his struggle can be deduced from the commentary, while the visual presentation of the products of his genius is worth the price of admission ten times over! (Read more...)
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Athens v Sparta
by Peter Cresswell
It is our minds that make us distinctly human. It is our very means of survival, & our chief glory; it is the human mind that is responsible for a Beethoven symphony, a Shakespearean sonnet, an Aristotelian treatise (& the glories of dark ale & red wine). As a bird teaches its young to fly, & a lioness her cubs to hunt, so too must we humans teach our infants to think - to use the mind they are born with. (Read more...)
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Rugby Rules No More!
by Peter Cresswell
I want you to consider a very important question tonight, the answer to which could affect the fortunes of this country for some time to come. In fact, even as we ourselves speak here tonight, the question is being urgently debated up and down the country. The question is this: Does anyone here tonight understand the tackled ball law? (Read more...)
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