Walter Benjamin's Aura and Mechanical Reproduction of Art
This essay discusses Benjamin's notion of a work's aura, using an image of Benjamin himself as a case study. Benjamin argues that a work's aura is dependent on its particular time and space, and that mechanical reproduction erases this aura by allowing that work to occupy any time and space. While this may or may not be a good thing, understanding how reproduction allows an image to transcend time and space is crucial for understanding how cultural transmission works in the age of digital reproduction.
Carl Rogers: Humanistic Psychology and Person-Centered Therapy
Carl Rogers was probably the most important psychologist and psychotherapist of the 20th Century apart from Sigmund Freud, and his humanistic, person-centered approach has been applied to many fields outside of psychology, such as education, business, nursing, medicine and social work. Many of the basic textbooks in all of these fields reflect his influence, including the concept of learner-centered education and the use of the term ‘clients' instead of ‘patients'. He wrote over 100 academic books and articles, the most famous one being On Becoming a Person (1961) which clearly describes his main ideas and is summarized below.