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Aug 11, 2025 Posted by Samuel Alexander

Interview with Samuel Alexander

The following interview appeared originally in the Sufficiency and Wellbeing Magazine: Vlad Bunea: You write in Homo Aestheticus (2025): “Material abundance is preferable to material destitution, of course, but ultimately the superfluities of consumer lifestyles are spiritually beside the point, representing a failure of imagination, a mistaken idea of wealth and freedom. Consciously or... read more

Aug 2, 2025 Posted by Samuel Alexander

Creative Evolution

Recently I published Homo Aestheticus: Philosophical Fragments on the Will to Art, available at most online bookstores in paperback, hardback, and also as a pdf (on a pay ‘what you want’ basis, edit the price as you wish). In coming days and weeks I’ll post some of the chapters here on the Simplicity Collective. Here is chapter 3. Creative Evolution 85. At the... read more

Aug 1, 2025 Posted by Samuel Alexander

The Will to Art

Recently I published Homo Aestheticus: Philosophical Fragments on the Will to Art, available at most online bookstores in paperback, hardback, and also as a pdf (on a pay ‘what you want’ basis, edit the price as you wish). In coming days and weeks I’ll post some of the chapters here on the Simplicity Collective. Each chapter is a collection of philosophical fragments, thematically... read more

Jul 31, 2025 Posted by Samuel Alexander

The Aesthetic Universe

Recently I published Homo Aestheticus: Philosophical Fragments on the Will to Art, available at most online bookstores in paperback, hardback, and as a pdf (on a pay ‘what you want’ basis). In coming days and weeks I’ll post some of the chapters here on the Simplicity Collective. Each chapter is a collection of philosophical fragments, thematically arranged, which over the course... read more

Jul 28, 2025 Posted by Samuel Alexander

Homo Aestheticus: Philosophical Fragments on the Will to Art

In 2023 I published a book of political aesthetics called SMPLCTY: Ecological Civilisation and the Will to Art (the preface, ‘the Apocalyptic Sublime’ is available on Resilience here). In this large volume of collected essays I presented an ‘aesthetics of existence’, which arose out of metaphors of art and creativity, and I explored the relationship of this new aesthetic cosmology to... read more

Jul 14, 2023 Posted by Samuel Alexander

Industrial Aesthetics: A Critique of Taste

Below I have posted the latest in my collection of essays called S M P L C T Y: Ecological Civilisation and the Will to Art. This new essay is called ‘Industrial Aesthetics: A Critique of Taste’. The PDF is also available here. ‘Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers.’ – William Wordsworth Every individual and every society are enactments of stories we tell ourselves... read more

Jun 28, 2023 Posted by Samuel Alexander

Answering Estragon: Art, Godot, and Utopia

Below I have posted the latest in my new collection of essays S M P L C T Y: Ecological Civilisation and the Will to Art. This new essay is called “Answering Estragon: Art, Godot, and Utopia.” The PDF is also available below. Answering EstragonDownload ‘Vladimir: Say you are, even if it’s not true. Estragon: What am I to say? Vladimir: Say, “I am happy.” Estragon: I am... read more

Jun 28, 2023 Posted by Samuel Alexander

Art Against Empire: Marcuse on the Aesthetics of Revolt

Below I have posted the latest in my new collection of essays S M P L C T Y: Ecological Civilisation and the Will to Art. This new essay is called ‘Art Against Empire: Marcuse on the Aesthetics of Revolt.’ The PDF is also available below. Art Against EmpireDownload ‘Art cannot change the world, but it can contribute to the changing the consciousness and drives of the men and women who... read more

Jun 13, 2023 Posted by Samuel Alexander

Making Art While the World Weeps: Political Reflections on Aesthetics

Below I have posted the latest in my collection of essays called S M P L C T Y: Ecological Civilisation and the Will to Art. This new essay is called ‘Making Art While the World Weeps: Political Reflections on Aesthetics.’ The PDF of the essay is also available. Making Art While the World WeepsDownload ‘Politics is aesthetic in... read more

Jun 13, 2023 Posted by Samuel Alexander

Banish the Poets! The Power and Politics of Aesthetic Education

Below I have posted the latest in my collection of essays called S M P L C T Y: Ecological Civilisation and the Will to Art. This new essay is called ‘Banish the Poets! The Power and Politics of Aesthetic Education.’ The PDF is also available below. Banish the PoetsDownload ‘The development of man’s capacity for feeling is… the more urgent need of our... read more

Jun 12, 2023 Posted by Samuel Alexander

Bad Faith and the Fear of Freedom: Can Art Shake Us Awake?

Here is the latest in my collection of essays called S M P L C T Y: Ecological Civilisation and the Will to Art. This new essay is called ‘Bad Faith and the Fear of Freedom: Can Art Shake Us Awake?’ The PDF is also available below. Bad Faith and the Fear of FreedomDownload ‘Modern man lives under the illusion that he knows what he wants, while he actually wants what he... read more

Jun 6, 2023 Posted by Samuel Alexander

The Politics of Beauty: Schiller on Freedom and Aesthetic Education

Below I have posted the latest in my new collection of essays called S M P L C T Y: Ecological Civilisation and the Will to Art. This new essay is called ‘The Politics of Beauty: Schiller on Freedom and Aesthetic Education.’ The PDF is also available below. The Politics of BeautyDownload ‘If we are to solve the political problem in practice, [we must] follow the path of aesthetics,... read more

Jun 5, 2023 Posted by Samuel Alexander

Giving Birth to Oneself: Ethics as an ‘Aesthetics of Existence’

Below I have posted the latest essay in my new collection, S M P L C T Y: Ecological Civilisation and the Will to Art. This new essay is called ‘Giving Birth to Oneself: Ethics as an “Aesthetics of Existence.”‘ I have also posted the PDF below. Giving Birth to OneselfDownload ‘In our society art has become something which is related to objects, and not to individuals or to... read more

Jun 5, 2023 Posted by Samuel Alexander

Homo Aestheticus, the Artful Species: An Evolutionary Perspective

Below I have posted the latest essay in my new collection, S M P L C T Y: Ecological Civilisation and the Will to Art. This new essay is called ‘Homo Aestheticus, the Artful Species: An Evolutionary Perspective.’ I have also posted the PDF below. Homo Aestheticus, the Artful SpeciesDownload ‘What are humans for?’ – Wendell Berry In... read more

Jun 1, 2023 Posted by Samuel Alexander

Rescuing Aestheticism from the Dandies: Critical Distinctions

Below I have posted the latest essay in my new collection called S M P L C T Y: Ecological Civilisation and the Will to Art. This new essay is called ‘Rescuing Aestheticism from the Dandies: Critical Distinctions’. I’ve also posted the PDF below. The Introduction and the other essays are available from the link above. Rescuing Aestheticism from the DandiesDownload ‘All art is... read more

Invitation / Incitation

The Simplicity Collective is founded upon the idea that a 'simpler life' of reduced resource and energy consumption is a viable and desirable alternative to consumer culture.

Our position is that simple living will improve not only our own lives, but the lives of others, as well as help save our planet from the environmental catastrophe towards which we are so enthusiastically marching.

We must not just fall in line, then, and continue the march ‘business as usual.’ We must explore alternative ways to live. We must experiment creatively, like the artist. We must be the poets of our own lives and of a new generation.