-
James Macpherson, the man behind the myth: Highland clan champion and nouveau riche
Read more: James Macpherson, the man behind the myth: Highland clan champion and nouveau richeThomas Archambaud explores the life and reputation of writer, politician, clan champion and colonial agent James Macpherson.
The semantic dimension of Newtonian Power
By Asher Jiang The concept of physical power in its modern forms has been introduced by Sir Isaac Newton in his great work Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica. Although Newton has embedded this concept into a precise mathematical framework, the power…
Descartes in Scotland and pre-Enlightenment Scottish philosophy
By Giovanni Gellera Until recently, the question ‘What was philosophy like in Scotland before the Enlightenment?’ met a standard answer reminiscent of the famous Augustinian warning to those who dared to ask what was there before the beginning of time:…
Post-Politicisation and the Return of the Political
An Interview with Graham Harman
Multiculturalism Isn’t a Dirty Word
David Cameron has been avoiding the m-word. In his recent speech about extremism, the word ‘multicultural’ was noticeable by its omission for two reasons. First, Cameron said that Britain was a ‘successful multiracial and multi-faith democracy’ and a term like…
Politics – An Extract from The Badiou Dictionary
Cinema – An Extract from The Badiou Dictionary
Finding offence
How are we to assess the impact of activities (e.g. words, songs or gestures) associated with sectarianism in contemporary Scotland? In the increasing absence of easily attributable effects such as crimes or disorder, or blatant forms of discrimination in the…
Community Experiences of Sectarianism
In the August 2015 issue of Scottish Affairs, a team of researchers explore the findings of a study they carried out for the Scottish government on community experiences of sectarianism. Here, one of the authors, Kay Goodall, sets out some…