All Desire Springs From A Lack, Which

Most Students Of Literature Can Pick Apart A Metaphor Or Spot An Ethnic Stereotype, But Not Many Of Them Can Say Things Like: 'the Poem's Sardonic Tone Is Curiously At Odds With Its Plodding Syntax.

We Face A Conflict Between Civilisation And Culture, Which Used To Be On The Same Side. Civilisation Means Rational Reflection, Material Wellbeing, Individual Autonomy And Ironic Self-doubt; Culture Means A Form Of Life That Is Customary, Collective, Passionate, Spontaneous, Unreflective And Arational.

All Desire Springs From A Lack, Which It Strives Continually To Fill.

It Is Easy To See Why A Diversity Of Cultures Should Confront Power With A Problem. If Culture Is About Plurality, Power Is About Unity. How Can It Sell Itself Simultaneously To A Whole Range Of Life Forms Without Being Fatally Diluted?

Men And Women Do Not Easily Submit To A Power That Does Not Weave Itself Into The Texture Of Their Daily Existence - One Reason Why Culture Remains So Politically Vital. Civilisation Cannot Get On With Culture, And It Cannot Get On Without It.