Humans are notoriously, if understandably, self-centred. It takes long years of education to teach children to consider the needs of others, and even then the struggle between narcissism and altruism continues unabated. At present, we live under economic conditions, known as neo-liberal consumer capitalism, that promote self-interest rather than consideration of others. Unfortunately, since the […]
Bert Olivier
As an undergraduate student, Bert Olivier discovered Philosophy more or less by accident, but has never regretted it. Because Bert knew very little, Philosophy turned out to be right up his alley, as it were, because of Socrates's teaching, that the only thing we know with certainty, is how little we know. Armed with this 'docta ignorantia', Bert set out to teach students the value of questioning, and even found out that one could write cogently about it, which he did during the 1980s and '90s on a variety of subjects, including an opposition to apartheid. In addition to Philosophy, he has been teaching and writing on his other great loves, namely, nature, culture, the arts, architecture and literature. In the face of the many irrational actions on the part of people, and wanting to understand these, later on he branched out into Psychoanalysis and Social Theory as well, and because Philosophy cultivates in one a strong sense of justice, he has more recently been harnessing what little knowledge he has in intellectual opposition to the injustices brought about by the dominant economic system today, to wit, neoliberal capitalism. His motto is taken from Immanuel Kant's work: 'Sapere aude!' ('Dare to think for yourself!') In 2012 Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University conferred a Distinguished Professorship on him. Bert is attached to the University of the Free State as Honorary Professor of Philosophy.
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The obsession with money
Decades ago, renowned British novelist, John Fowles, wrote in a rare work of non-fiction, The Aristos, that “having, not being, governs our time”. In this sometimes startling statement of his personal philosophy, he further observed that “the great driving obsession of the last 150 years … is money”. This obsession, he further claimed, is “the […]