QA 54. #What rises?

Posted by Helen Douglas
On October 26, 2015

The student movement that flashed into life this year in South Africa, from #Rhodesmustfall at the University of Cape Town to the extraordinary #Feesmustfall protests last week in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Stellenbosch, Grahamstown and Pretoria, is a complex and dynamic phenomenon. Lots going on there. But there are two things I’ve been trying to think about. Two […]

Posted by Helen Douglas
On April 5, 2015

Participants in last year’s “Archives of the Non-racial” mobile workshop through South Africa and Swaziland were asked to submit fragments of our notebooks – doodles, notes, reflections, poems, coffee stains. These have been gathered in the JWTC’s online journal, The Salon. Check out all the loveliness here. This is my bit. Solidarity and the non-racial (Political struggle 1) “I’m not […]

Posted by Helen Douglas
On December 1, 2014

One image that can be seen in two distinct ways, but never both at once. Faces or a vase? Duck or rabbit? Crone or maiden? Someone shows you: See, the old woman’s chin is the young woman’s throat! All of a sudden, you do see. You start to switch the two back and forth, grinning like […]

Posted by Helen Douglas
On October 26, 2014

A funny thing happened at the Philosophy Café last month. I got lost. We all set sail on a conversation about “sadness”, but I didn’t know what they were talking about. My mind was clear and present. I just couldn’t relate, couldn’t get a grip, couldn’t participate. And the good ship “we” sailed on without me. […]

Posted by Helen Douglas
On October 6, 2014

“But if they’re interested in being able to work out their life, with someone who is going to keep them company, keep them safe, and not do anything to them while they’re doing that, then they stay. And then we work.” Ran Lahav interviewed me and several other participants at the recent 13th International Conference on Philosophical […]

Posted by Helen Douglas
On August 1, 2014

Did you miss the bus? Do you miss the bus? Here are two next-best things. My talk at Kalk Bay Books about my trip and the ideas that grabbed me is here. And the documentary film by Tjasa Kancler and Kirk Sides, featuring interviews with many of the participants, speakers and organisers, is up on Vimeo here.

Posted by Helen Douglas
On June 26, 2014

A motley crew is a cliché for a roughly organized assembly of characters. Typical examples of motley crews are pirates, Western posses, rag-tag mercenary bands, and freedom fighters… characters of conflicting personality, varied backgrounds and, usually to the benefit of the group, a wide array of methods for overcoming adversity. Traditionally, a motley crew [that]… […]

Posted by Helen Douglas
On April 28, 2014

This paper has just been published in Philosophical Practice, the journal of the American Philosophical Practice Association. You can find it here and there … PHILOSOPHICAL COUNSELLING AS A PRACTICE OF EMANCIPATION Helen Douglas, Philosophy in Practice, Cape Town Abstract: This is a second ‘field report’ of a Levinassian philosophical counseling practice. The first part elaborates the practice by […]

Posted by Helen Douglas
On August 24, 2013

dig ni ty [L. dignus ‘worthy’] n. the state or quality of being worthy of honour or respect “Dignity comes from using your inherent human resources, by doing things with your own bare hands – on the spot, properly and beautifully. You can do that even in the worst of the worst situations, you can still make your life elegant.” Chögyam […]

Posted by Helen Douglas
On July 28, 2013

But the poet’s task, Kafka says, is to lead the isolated human being into the infinite life, the contingent into the lawful. Anne Carson The contingent: what sommer happens to be and could just as well be otherwise. South Africans drive on the left side, Canadians on the right. Some people wear black for mourning […]

QA 54. #What rises?

QA 53. The wheels in my head go round and round

QA 51. Optical illusions, the political economy of

QA 50! Thoughts at sea

The ethics and politics of life: An interview about philosophical counselling

Archives of The Bus (#JWTC2014 Archives of the Non-racial)

QA 49. A motley cruise? (JWTC 2014: Archives of the non-racial)

New essay: PHILOSOPHICAL COUNSELLING AS A PRACTICE OF EMANCIPATION

QA 44. Thinking about dignity

QA 43. The meaning of transgression