| Visual Philosophy |
Most philosophy concerns
words and meanings, arguments and debates. But wisdom is also a matter
of perception and intuition. Images can convey what words cannot.
Here are my reflections on a particular image. Please feel free to
e-mail me your own, and I will include them (provided they are
reasonably brief!).
New images are included each
month. Scroll down for this year's images, or for previous years, just
click the links on the left.
February
At this time of year I like nothing
better that walking out on a bright morning along the seashore, wrapped up
against the wind, sensing the clean saltiness of the air and the sound of the
waves breaking on the shingle. The shoreline is the point at which our habitable
world meets an environment that has not been our natural home since the first
amphibians crawled onto land. The beach can be a place to go to
contemplate life, to ask the questions that don't get asked until our
preoccupations are replaced by the long, withdrawing roar of waves on the
shingle. For me, a 'beach' moment is any break from the routine of life and the
opportunity to take stock and ask questions. Hence The Philosopher's
Beach Book, to be published in May.
January
Another old car
rotting away in someone's back yard - perhaps awaiting
restoration, but certainly not fit for the road. One of my
projects for the new year is to start a collection of of
photographs of old cars, garages, road signs and other
automotive paraphernalia. Provisionally entitled 'Autolegacy' it
will explore what might happen if the domination of our lives by
the car (mine too - I'm as locked onto the steering wheel as
anyone) finally comes to an end. I'm inspired to to this by a
book of images of disused buildings (Abandoned Places by
Henk Van Rensbergen) which gives an weird but quite moving
glimpse into places which were once important within the human
landscape but now lie deserted.
All images on this
site © Mel Thompson
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