Philosophy – Page 9 – General History

Wyclif & the Lollards

Wyclif or Wycliffe / en-wikipedia.org

The name is also spelled Wycliffe: he was a religious reformer born around 1330. An intriguing thing is that for hundreds of years Wyclif was assumed to be the sole translator of the Bible from Latin into English. This is logically now thought to be untrue, since one man translating the entire Bible (and writing down the translation) would require perhaps sixty years of daily work.

More sensibly, historians now regard him as being ‘one of a large group’ who took part in the enterprise. The result is known as the ‘Wyclif’ or ‘Lollard’ Bible, which was used as standard until the 17^th century ‘King James Version’.

He was at Oxford University as an academic and ecclesiastic, publishing various works of philosophy and logic, but became best known for his theological compositions. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2012-04-02T10:22:19+00:00 April 2nd, 2012|English History, English Language, Philosophy|0 Comments

Another Voice: by Dean Swift

Yesterday March 25 regional elections took place in two autonomous communities in Spain – Andalucía and Asturias. The results were more or less what were expected, in that the Andalusians voted slightly more for the Popular Party and J. Arenas than the PSOE led by Griñan. Arenas need fifty-five seats in the Andaluz parliament for the all-essential absolute majority. He did not achieve this, winning fifty to the forty-seven won by the PSOE. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2012-03-26T11:02:25+00:00 March 26th, 2012|Humour, Philosophy, Today|1 Comment

The Double Negative – Articulate or Annoying?

The double negative is a peculiarly English device very much used in what might be called ‘literary’ English. It is designed to give more emphasis to a phrase. For example, the writer of a novel could say, “She was unusually attractive.” The term is self-explanatory but not very advanced. Using the double negative, the same writer could say, “She was not unattractive to men, though not pretty.”

As far as I know, this literary device is unusable in the Romance languages. In Spanish, for instance, the double negative is used to emphasise the negative, not to negate it, ie. “Ellos no tienen nada que temer”. ‘no’ and ‘nada’ are both negatives. Sensitively translated into English, it would read, “They have nothing to fear,” with only one negative. Directly translated however, the phrase would be ungrammatical – “They don’t have nothing to fear,” which in English is unacceptable. In Spanish the phrase is perfectly acceptable. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2012-03-04T12:54:58+00:00 March 4th, 2012|English Language, Humour, Philosophy, Today|0 Comments

Right, Left or Centre?

In the course of publishing nearly two hundred short histories for General-History.com we have received many comments. They are a mixed bag indeed; some commentators have difficulty with elucidating their opinion of an article; some have no problem; others become a little mixed up when it comes to spelling, though that issue is being addressed at last by many Ministers of Education. Some are, as is the nature of things today, obscene. These can be treated with the humour they deserve. Others show with startling clarity that the commentator is incapable of separating his own deeply entrenched views on Life from the opinion of others. As the well- known philosopher observed – ‘El infierno es los demás’ (Hell is everybody else). Not to worry! Around 60% of the comments are complimentary, even flattering. Three lady history teachers at university, from France, South Korea and Alaska respectively use General-History.com as material in their classes. This is encouraging. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2012-03-03T12:17:36+00:00 March 3rd, 2012|English Language, Humour, Philosophy|1 Comment

The Crusades in brief

Probably the best known of all the crusaders – Richard I ‘Lionheart’ / masonicsourcebook.com

They were a series of military expeditions ranging from the 11^th to the 14^th centuries, meant to secure Christian rule over the holy places of Palestine controlled by the Muslims. It would not be too much to say that Islam has never forgiven the European Christian kings for what is still seen as presumption. In modern times, the term is extensively used to describe any war encouraged by a moral, religious or political movement. There was a ‘crusade’ recently when the West decided to assist Iraquis in their successful move to dislodge Saddam Hussein. George Bush Senior thought his defence of Kuwait against the same man and country was a ‘crusade’. It seems likely that the woman C. Kirchner, installed as President of Argentina, will shortly embark on a ‘crusade’ firmly to replace the term ‘Falkland Islands’ with ‘Las Malvinas’. Equally, Mr David Cameron will resist this, and employ the word ‘crusade’ as he launches what is left of the British Army and Fleet towards the South Atlantic. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2012-03-02T09:45:53+00:00 March 2nd, 2012|English History, French History, German History, Jewish History, Philosophy, Today, World History|1 Comment

The English Civil War 1642 – 1649 (updated)

Cavalier (left) and roundhead / talonsanthony.edublogs.org

The history of Britain includes only one genuine civil war. The Wars of the Roses (q.v.) do not come into this category because they were a private struggle between families, including dethroning of kings, usurpation of the throne, terrible violence, vengeance, and settling of accounts. Warlords sought to put their favourite in the Number One Spot, and thousands died as a result, but they were not necessarily civilians. In fact usually they were foreign mercenaries hired by the barons. The people of Britain watched with horror as the flower of the aristocracy tore into each other like wolves. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2012-02-12T11:53:23+00:00 February 12th, 2012|English History, Philosophy, World History|1 Comment

Separatism for all!

I am becoming all fired up with enthusiasm for the Pandora’s Box of separatism. In Cataluña, Catalunya and Catalonia, Mr Arthur More y More says Cataluña etc. is a Nation, speaking its own language, and must therefore be free of Spanish shackles. In the Basque Country terrorists have been murdering people for years because someone told them assassination was the best way to achieve secession. In Scotland, Mr Alexander Scottish-Salmon is all for independence because of the 1997 devolution referendum, and because the bloody Sassenachs have bullied the Scots since the Romans, though the latter were not actually Sassenachs. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2012-02-07T18:30:56+00:00 February 7th, 2012|Humour, Philosophy, Today, World History|0 Comments

Anti-Semitism

My inspiration to write more on this spiny subject came from one of the published Comments on this site. The Comment can easily be found under the subject heading Jewish History. One of my previous posts dealt with statistics connected with The Holocaust. The commentarist restricted himself to using American terminology inviting and requiring intimate oral relations. One assumes that the expression used – “Suck my dick” – indicates a certain disinclination to accept the usual 6-million-dead holocaust statistics. They were I admit wrong, because I had inadvertently left out figures of murdered Jews in Poland and many Soviet satellites, leaving a final figure that lacks substance and does not add up to 6 million. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2012-02-06T11:28:35+00:00 February 6th, 2012|English History, French History, German History, Jewish History, Philosophy, Russian history, Spanish History, Today, US History, World History|0 Comments

Two grand opera composers: Wagner & Verdi

Richard Wagner / javeriana.edu.co

Professional music critics tend to bicker over the greatness or otherwise of these two composers, born as almost exact contempories, within months of each other in 1813. Wagner was of course German, wrote opera principally, keeping wary of symphonies and concerti, though God knows what masterpiece he might have written if he had steered away from the human voice. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2012-01-11T18:00:33+00:00 January 11th, 2012|German History, Italian History, Philosophy, Today, World History|0 Comments

Disadvantages of being English and old

One of these (there are many others) is the question of communication if you are British and over fifty-five, with someone equally British but under thirty-five. Multitudes of Brits visit the Atlantic island where I live, tourists mostly. On my ultimate expedition to a favourite seafront restaurant, where the Atlantic actually rolls up and crashes against the seawall below the place, the tables to my right and left were crowded with large English families, an encouraging concept. (more…)

By Dean Swift| 2012-01-01T11:31:48+00:00 January 1st, 2012|Humour, Jewish History, Philosophy, Today|0 Comments