Immanent Transcendence

1970 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-97
Author(s):  
Leslie Stevenson
Keyword(s):  
Philosophical Theology ◽  
Sonata Form ◽  
Theme And Variations ◽  
Concepts Of God ◽  
Philosophical Paper ◽  
Pure Logic ◽  
Controversial Concept

The form of this paper is unconventional. Just as composers sometimes want a change from the traditional sonata form and write a movement in the form of theme and variations, so I would like to depart from the orthodox form of philosophical paper, which contains a closely reasoned discussion of some particular problem, by stating a theme which will be a principle of pure logic, then sketching a number of applications of it in different areas of philosophy. But the variations on my theme will not be entirely disconnected with each other, for I suspect that it is a theme which could have especially important applications in philosophical theology. So my later variations on it will be increasingly oriented to concepts of God, and I will close with a coda which will consist of some controversial remarks about the controversial concept of transcendence.

Two Concepts of God

1966 ◽  
Vol 59 (3) ◽  
pp. 227-240
Author(s):  
John Lachs
Keyword(s):  
Religious Tradition ◽  
Religious Language ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Philosophical Theology ◽  
Existence Of God ◽  
Religious Traditions ◽  
God Concepts ◽  
Scientific Curiosity ◽  
Concepts Of God ◽  
Theology Proper

Philosophers have long debated the question of the existence of God. This is one of many philosophical issues in which the motivation for inquiry has come more perhaps from the side of human feeling than from disinterested scientific curiosity. Powerful emotions appear to prompt thinkers to devote effort to the attempt to prove or disprove the existence of God. The urgency of this task has made some of these philosophers pay less than adequate heed to the concepts they employ. It appears to have escaped the attention of many of them that the word “God” does not have a single meaning either in religious language generally or in philosophical theology. It is obvious that one of the important ways in which religious traditions differ is in their conceptions of the Deity. But a considerable number of different God-concepts may be distinguished in the Judeo-Christian religious tradition itself, and not even in Christian theology proper is the word “God” free of ambiguity.

Sonata Form in the Orchestral Works of Liszt: The Revolutionary Reconsidered

1984 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 142-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Kaplan ◽  
Franz Liszt
Keyword(s):  
Sonata Form ◽  
Orchestral Works

Variations on a Theme by a Rogue A.I.: Music, Gameplay, and Storytelling in Portal 2 (Part 1 of 2)

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven Reale
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Theme And Variations ◽  
Scientific Experimentation ◽  
Game Developers ◽  
Variations On A Theme

This two-video series explores how the scoring to the video game Portal 2, published by Valve Corporation, not only helps tell the game’s story, but also comments on the game developers’ philosophy of puzzle design. The first video explores how the game’s title theme 9999999, including its texture, voice leadings, and chord qualities, musically enacts dual aspects of the character of the game’s central antagonist GlaDOS: once human, her personality was uploaded into a computer mainframe where she has become a sociopathic, homicidal artificial intelligence who takes delight in subjecting humans to hazardous scientific experimentation. The second video demonstrates that 9999999 serves as the theme for a set of double variations in the game’s middle act. Since Valve’s philosophy of player training centers on iterative puzzle-design that systematically increase in complexity, and the musical accompaniments for these puzzles feature coordinated developments in musical complexity, the scoring here lets us parse the puzzle design into a kind of set of gameplay theme-and-variations.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document