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‘The age of chivalry is gone.’: A discussion of the sense of crisis afflicting the British aristocracy in the late eighteenth century within the military portraiture of Sir Joshua Reynolds
Get PDFDuring the latter half of the eighteenth century Britain was in her ‘Golden Age’ of empire. From the defeat of the French in the Seven Years War (1756-1763) until the British loss of the Revolutionary War (1775-1783), she claimed herself as the ‘premiere’ kingdom of the world. But during this period, a growing unease prevailed amongst her people. This was social, with an increasing middle-class born of capitalism, economic through her trade and dominance of the seas, and political through the rise of anti-imperialism against the prevailing absolutist monarchy.
In this essay I wish to examine how the sense of crisis in the aristocracy manifested itself in public depictions, namely the military portraits of Sir Joshua Reynolds, and to analyse through the social history of art the pictorial rhetoric that the artist employed for these paintings. I hope to be able to show that the determinations of these aristocratic patrons in asserting ‘heroism’ and ‘civic virtue’ through their portrayals unconsciously exposed their self-conscious condition. Their endeavours in creating a modern, patrician appeal reflected the fractured social and political circumstances of the period into which they desperately attempted to adjust, and maintain power
The significance of the changes that Sulla made to the Roman constitution, and to what extent these changes had been reversed by 70 B.C.
Get PDFThe time when Sulla rose to the dictatorship of the Roman Republic was one in which the power of the Senate was waning. On his accession Sulla implemented changes which sought to re-establish the authority of the Senate thus regaining stability within the state. Here I consider: the impact the reforms had on the existing Roman constitution; the reception of the reforms by different social groups; the political and social context surrounding their implementation and, where applicable, their reversal with the ultimate aim of establishing the reforms’ overall success in achieving the goals of their author
The evolution burial practice among the Ertebølle: an attempt to apply the concepts of agency and structure to the study of cultural change in the past
Get PDFArchaeology has traditionally failed to identify the ability of individuals in the past to make conscious decisions and act creatively. Individuals with the power to act are referred to as agents, with the ability and creativity to make decisions and act independently. They are however constantly influenced by structural norms: deeply ingrained ideas about how to live their lives properly. This tension can be observed archaeologically in the cemeteries of the Ertebølle of Denmark. While there are clear norms in the burial practice, such as the style of inhumation and the type of grave goods, there are also variations. One grave has the body of a young woman and a baby boy, the child laid on the wing of a swan; another burial has full male grave goods, but the body of a dog. It is suggested here that these variations are evidence of individuals reacting to unusual situations and personalities. When people act in ways which do not fit into the usual structure there is the potential for both the structure and, as a result society, to change
‘The blissful change’: Thomson’s Calvinist Scepticism in the Face of the Nineteenth Century Radical Progressive Agenda
Get PDFThis article traces the manifold satirical and poetic manifestations of James B.V. Thomson’s questioning and sceptical attitude towards the progressivist agenda of the Victorian Britain. It presents both Thomson’s proudly blazoned ‘healthy scepticism’ from his biting satirical works, and the dark, contradictory spirit of Thomson’s most accomplished poetical work, The City of Dreadful Night , as two faces of the same moral attitude
How has NATO enlargement impacted on NATO-Russia relations?
Get PDFRelations between NATO and the Russian Federation have been turbulent, particularly since the end of the Cold War and the ‘second wave’ of NATO expansion. Despite some initial evidence of cooperation between the two, this has not been present in the majority of cases, and Russian concerns have often been sidelined. Vital in understanding this relationship is the attitudes of both to the Baltic States, and the strain that their status brought to early Russo-NATO engagement. Indeed, perhaps the greatest tension has been caused by NATO expansion into those states, illustrating a central concern in contemporary international society
The Evolution of the Jihad Doctrine: Can Modern Islamic Terrorism Be Justified in Terms of Classical Jihad?
Get PDFThe proponents of modern Islamic fundamentalism draw on elements of the Islamic religion as a justification for terrorist acts. An examination of the sources of Islamic law – the Qur’an, the Sunnah and the principal Islamic schools of thought – questions the similarities between modern terrorism and the classical jihad doctrine. A distinction is drawn between the offensive and defensive theories of jihad and these are then applied to the modern context in which Islamic terrorism is perpetrated
Scotland is Fucked: Irvine Welsh, Andrew Drennan and the Deconstruction of Nationalism
Get PDFWelsh and Drennan’s work demonstrates significant changes in the literary depiction of the Scottish nation. Moving away from traditional counter-colonial and separatist rhetoric, they direct attention to the problem of consumerism as a new colonising power. Their discourse is permeated by violence, which is also made manifest on a thematic level. Drennan’s novel inverts the implications of the treatment of violence by suggesting that it can be both self-inflicted and self-indulgent
A new anti-paternalist theory: autonomy and self
Get PDFIf an agent acts so as to harm only himself, then is state interference with that action ever legitimate? Paternalistic legislation has been the subject of much debate. For John Stuart Mill, the only legitimate ground for state interference was the harm principle: state interference to prevent an actor harming others is legitimate; the state, however, may not interfere with actions which harm only the actor himself. I introduce a distinction between (1) long-term desires and short-term desires and (2) current desires and future desires. I will argue that state interference with current, long-term desires is never legitimate
The demise of state legitimacy: is globalisation the villain of the piece?
Get PDFThe legitimacy of the state has traditionally been a core element in how we understand the relationship between individuals and institutions in modernity. Its demise is therefore an important subject of analysis. The concept of globalisation has provided an important theoretical framework which explains many of the profound challenges to the legitimacy, and even existence, of the state. However, this framework risks perpetuating modernity’s tendency towards oversimplification by focusing too much on the state in particular and geopolitics in general, over other sites and processes of governance. The complexities of the problems must be reflected in theories proposing to answer them
WWSD: What Would Socrates Do? The modern dilemma of obedience
Get PDF“This is for your own good” is often the aphorism of governments and social institutions in their claims upon our freedoms. Our obedience is framed as collective self-preservation, but can it ever be so simple? Yet philosophical debate often seems to overcomplicate the issue. This article argues that the responsible protection of our rights arises, instead, with a constant reappraisal of citizenship. Freedom and obedience are ultimately two sides of an abacus with objective counters with subjective values; each individual’s calculations must be represented for there to be an accurate model of obligation