The Medieval Cosmos as Permanent Apocalypse with Jonathan Pageau
Release Date: 06/24/2024
Dr Iain McGilchrist on the Cultivation of Wisdom
The Ralston College Podcast
A conversation between Dr Iain McGilchrist, neuropsychiatrist, philosopher, and literary critic, and Dr Stephen Blackwood, President of Ralston College, on the occasion of Dr McGilchrist’s March 2024 visit to Savannah to deliver Ralston College’s annual Sophia Lectures. Dr McGilchrist discusses his experience spending time with Ralston College students, his reasons for accepting the College’s invitation to deliver the Sophia lectures, and the necessity of leisure for deep thought. Applications for Ralston College’s MA in the Humanities program are now open.
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The Education of Iain McGilchrist, Part II: Medical School and Beyond
The Ralston College Podcast
The second part of a conversation between the renowned literary scholar and psychiatrist Dr Iain McGilchrist and Ralston College president Dr Stephen Blackwood about Dr McGilchrist’s remarkable educational trajectory. In this episode, Dr Iain McGilchrist explains how he left his successful career as a literary scholar to pursue training as a psychiatrist and how his combined study of literature, philosophy, and neuroscience informed his later academic work, including his books The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World (Yale University Press, 2009) and...
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The Education of Iain McGilchrist, Part I: From Winchester College to All Souls
The Ralston College Podcast
A conversation between Dr Iain McGilchrist, the renowned polymath, and Dr Stephen Blackwood, President of Ralston College, about Dr McGilchrist’s formative experiences at Winchester College, the prestigious British public school, and his subsequent training as a literary critic at Oxford University and his appointment as a Fellow at All Souls. Drs McGilchrist and Blackwood emphasize the vital role of freedom, friendship, and the expectation of excellence in providing students with an authentic education. This conversation was recorded during Dr McGilchrist’s visit to Ralston College in...
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We Live in the Flicker: T. S. Eliot and Dante on the Spaces Between
The Ralston College Podcast
Ralston College presents a talk by Christopher Snook, Lecturer in the Department of Classics at Dalhousie University, on the influence of Dante’s Purgatorio on two of T.S. Eliot’s most important works: The Waste Land and Four Quartets. Mr Snook attends, in particular, to how Eliot’s treatment of fragments represents at once both a departure from and a return to medieval understandings of the whole. This medieval understanding is evidenced in the “manifold articulation” of particulars within the architecture of the Gothic cathedral, the literary shape of the Divine Comedy, and the...
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The Other Side of Despair: The Search for Meaning in T.S Eliot’s “The Waste Land”
The Ralston College Podcast
Ralston College presents a talk by Christopher Snook, Lecturer in the Department of Classics at Dalhousie University, on T.S. Eliot’s modernist masterpiece The Waste Land. The lecture explores the personal, historical, and literary contexts of Eliot’s poem. Through an engagement with the Western tradition that is simultaneously rich and fragmented, The Waste Land confronts cultural and personal crises that have atrophied both memory and desire. Snook finds in Eliot’s work a mournful modernism that serves as a serious and searching rejoinder to the more frivolous and enervated...
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Jay Parini on Why Poetry Matters
The Ralston College Podcast
A conversation between Dr Jay Parini, a prolific author and the D.E. Axinn Professor of English and Creative Writing at Middlebury College, and Dr Stephen Blackwood, the founding president of Ralston College, recorded on the occasion of the release of a Ralston College short course, “Robert Frost: The American Voice,” taught by Dr Parini. Dr Parini discusses the film adaptation of his most recent book Borges and Me (2020), shares stories of his friendships with literary figures including Jorge Luis Borges, W. H. Auden, and Iris Murdoch, explains why poetry matters, and shares the fruits of...
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Polytheism and the Polis: The Drama of the Individual Before the Self with Paul Epstein | Ralston College
The Ralston College Podcast
Dr Paul Epstein is a distinguished classicist and Professor Emeritus of Classics at Oklahoma State University, renowned for his extensive knowledge of Greek and Latin literature. In this lecture and discussion—delivered in Savannah during the x term of the inaugural year of Ralston College’s MA in the Humanities program—classicist Dr Paul Epstein considers how Sophocles’s tragedy Women of Trachis and Aristophanes’s comedy Frogs arise from—and reflect upon—the polis-centered polytheism of ancient Greece as it appeared during the Athenian flourishing of the fifth...
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Levels of Intelligibility, Levels of the Self: Realizing the Dialectic with Dr John Vervaeke | Ralston College
The Ralston College Podcast
Dr John Vervaeke is a cognitive scientist and philosopher who explores the intersections of Neoplatonism, cognitive science, and the meaning crisis, focusing on wisdom practices, relevance realization, and personal transformation. Ralston College presents a lecture titled “Levels of Intelligibility, Levels of the Self: Realizing the Dialectic,” delivered by Dr John Vervaeke, an award-winning associate professor of cognitive science at the University of Toronto and creator of the acclaimed 50-episode “Awakening from the Meaning Crisis” series. In this lecture, Dr Vervaeke identifies...
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Knowing God in the Book of Job | Dr David Novak with Ralston College
The Ralston College Podcast
Dr David Novak is a distinguished professor at the University of Toronto, renowned theologian, and esteemed rabbi. He has authored numerous books, delivered the prestigious Gifford Lectures, and bridges ancient philosophical traditions with modern ethical issues. Recorded live at Ralston College in Savannah, GA in November of 2022. Dr David Novak—Professor of Philosophy and Jewish Studies at the University of Toronto—offers a lecture on the Book of Job followed by an extended question and answer session with students enrolled in Ralston College’s Master’s in the...
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Unlocking Consciousness with Dr Stephen Wolfram: AI & Philosophy | Ralston College
The Ralston College Podcast
Dr Stephen Wolfram is a renowned computer scientist, physicist, and entrepreneur who earned his PhD in particle physics at 20 and became the youngest MacArthur Fellow at 21. As the founder of Wolfram Research, he has developed groundbreaking technologies widely used by university researchers in engineering, physics, mathematics, and computing. How can computational thinking and philosophy together unlock the mysteries of human consciousness and the universe? In this Q&A session, conducted in February 2024 with students enrolled in Ralston College’s MA in the Humanities...
info_outlineIn his lecture, Jonathan Pageau presents a thoughtful examination of the Last Judgment through the lens of a late-11th-century mosaic, challenging the traditional view of it as solely an end-time event. He suggests that this imagery symbolizes an ongoing process of identity formation, where every entity acts as a judge, continually evaluating its alignment with its essence. This interpretation casts the Last Judgment in a new light, with the ideal human being as the ultimate measure of this alignment. Pageau further delves into how this imagery interacts with its placement within the church, enhancing the narrative of creation and ultimate fulfillment. He draws attention to the layered symbols within the scene, such as the crucifixion and harrowing of Hades. By exploring the cosmic symbolism—Christ as the source, the sheep and goats as symbols of inclusion or exclusion, and the strategic placement of figures—Pageau encourages a view of the Last Judgment not as a daunting reckoning but as a powerful allegory for the continuous formation and evaluation of identity against a higher ideal. This perspective not only demystifies the traditional fears associated with the Last Judgment but also prompts a personal reflection on how we align with broader, universal truths.
Jonathan Pageau is a renowned artist and the host of The Symbolic World podcast. He specializes in the interpretation of symbolic patterns across various cultural and historical contexts. Learn more about Jonathan Pageau and embark on a journey into the symbolic universe by visiting his podcast at http://thesymbolicworld.com and his website at http://www.pageaucarvings.com.
Glossary of Terms
Iconography: The visual images and symbols used in a work of art or the study or interpretation of these.
Byzantine Art: A style of art developed in the eastern Mediterranean, characterized by its religious themes and extensive use of icons.
Resources
Ralston College
Website: https://www.ralston.ac/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@RalstonCollegeSavannah
X: https://twitter.com/RalstonCollege
Images
The Church of Santa Maria Assunta, Torcello, Italy: The Last Judgement, Apse Mosaics
Church of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna, Italy: 6th century Mosaic
The Basilica of Saint Sabina, Rome, Italy: Wooden door panels depicting The Ascension
Ascension of Christ, Rabbula Gospel Book (fol. 13v)
The Monastery of Apollo at Bawit, Egypt
Chapel of the Domus Galilaeae, Israel
Russian the Last Judgment Icon (Novgorod version, 15th century)
Quotes
"I believe that the image of the Last Judgment is actually a way to understand how identity formation functions." - Jonathan Pageau [00:09:00]
"We have to transform people; that's real. And that is undeniable when you meet someone that is transformed." - Jonathan Pageau [00:57:00]
Chapters
00:00:00 - Introduction to the Medieval Cosmos and Jonathan Pageau
00:06:30 - The Image of the Last Judgment and Its Significance
00:13:40 - Exploring the Fractal Nature of Medieval Symbols
00:17:40 - Understanding the Last Judgment and Its Structure
00:24:40 - Iconographic Representation of Christ, the Virgin, and Saints
00:29:00 - The Right Hand and Left Hand of Christ in the Last Judgment
00:37:00 - The Hetoimasia and the Prepared Throne
00:39:20 - Depictions of Paradise and Hell in the Last Judgment
00:50:20 - The Problem of Fragmentation and the Nature of Sin
00:55:00 - From Division to Unity: The Path Forward
00:57:50 - Q&A Session: Symbolism, Imagery, Rationality, and Integration