|
Letters
from Exile Observations
on a Culture in Decline Mediocracy is a new book which takes a satirical look at modern culture by Fabian new book
by Dr. Celia Green Wikipedia, the online
encyclopaedia, describes Celia Green as a British
intellectual and author, notable for her advocacy of comprehensive
philosophical skepticism, her critique of 20th-century thought, and her
psychological theories. All of these attributes are well in evidence in her
latest book, which contains trenchant analyses of education, collectivised
medicine, and modern ethics. The latter section introduces a provocative and
original distinction between tribal and territorial morality. It
is actually a principle of modern paternalism that if you want something you
should be stopped from having it
Most foods are harmful to some people if
taken in excess, and I expect the only reason that carrots are still
available without a prescription is that no one has got very excited about
them, or claimed that they might cure cancer. It is
easier to make people appear equally stupid than to make them equally clever,
so teaching methods are adopted which make it practically impossible for
anyone to learn anything. I
spent a couple of years between eleven and thirteen analysing the social
evaluations that were taken for granted, also acquiring a thorough scepticism
about processes regarded as causal, and the consistency of the physical
world, as well as the reliability of my own mental processes. By the time I was thirteen I was running
out of things to think about, so starting on a run of exam-taking seemed all
the more appropriate, as I was finding it difficult to make use of spare
time. It is
when the commercial factor enters into the situation that the possibility of
genuine individual liberty arises. Celia Green has been at various
times Senior Open Scholar at Somerville College, Oxford, holder of a Perrott
Warrick Studentship from Trinity College, Cambridge, and Honorary Research
Fellow at the Department of Philosophy, Liverpool University. She was awarded her doctorate by Oxford
University for work on causation and the mind-body problem. She is the author
of eight other books, among them The Human Evasion, The Decline and
Fall of Science, and Advice to Clever Children. Some comments on the book: 'Packed
with ideas, and completely original.' - Dr Charles McCreery 'Celia
Green dazzles with her usual lucidity on an enormous range of topics. A
trenchant, amusing and thought-provoking collection.' - Dr Fabian Tassano,
author of Mediocracy UK
£12.95 Published
by Oxford Forum ISBN
978 09536772 38 Letters from Exile is available from Blackwells Bookshop, Oxford (tel. 01865
792792) and Amazon UK. It can
also be ordered direct from the distributors by sending a cheque for £12.95
plus £3 p&p to: Book Systems Plus · BSP House · Station Road ·
Linton · CB1 6NW · UK Telephone: +44
(0)1223 894870 · Fax:+44
(0)1223 894871 Email: bsp2b@aol.com Click here for other books published by Oxford Forum |
