Election 2013 Essays: As the federal election campaign draws to a close, The Conversation asked eminent thinkers to reflect on the state of the nation and the challenges Australia – and whichever party…
- Philosopher, The University of Melbourne
We can readily be forgiven for thinking that these are the worst of times: our collective institutions seem feeble in the face of our needs and hopes. The Christian churches - which were once powerful…
WHAT IS AUSTRALIA FOR? Australia is no longer small, remote or isolated. It’s time to ask What Is Australia For?, and to acknowledge the wealth of resources we have beyond mining. Over the next two weeks…
Fundamentally, there are two big motives for research. On the on hand there is intellectual ambition: the desire to know and understand the word, to appreciate the best that has been said and thought on…
In his recent speech to the National Press Club Glyn Davis, Vice-Chancellor of The University of Melbourne and Chair of Universities Australia, made it clear that from now on higher education in Australia…
Following the publication of Alain de Botton’s new book Religion for Atheists, there has been a curious development: a fight between atheists. At one level the conflict looks crazy. The only condition…
Hard though it may be to believe, there has been a long-term, very significant decline in all kinds of violence around the world. In his most recent book, The Better Angels of Our Nature, Harvard evolutionary…
Conversation is civilized speech. It is more purposeful than chatter; more humane than gossip; more intimate than debate. But it is an elusive ideal. In our verbal exchanges we often flip from one topic…
Decent people take comfort in the idea that money is not profoundly connected with happiness. There are statistics that suggest that as income increases happiness does not rise to an equal degree; and…
Easter, ideally, is the time when we should turn our attention to the grandest themes of existence. The Easter sequence of Christianity interweaves four wonderful ideas. One: cultivation of the will through…
If we talk of ‘two cultures’ today, it’s not the divide between arts and sciences that we should have in mind. The crucial issue is the gulf between commerce and higher education - especially between business…
Contact John for
- General
- Media request
- Speaking request
- Consulting / Advising
- Research collaboration
- Research supervision
- Location: Melbourne, Australia
- Article Feed
- Joined
