EGGHEAD CHOICE – Crack open for a hard boiled think

Sarah Bakewell (About | Sarah Bakewell) has provided the reader with a really useful and enjoyable history of humanist freethinking over the past 700 years in this book. Be prepared to meet a large cast of characters who have contributed to the humanist outlook: Giovanni Boccaccio, Francesco Petrarca, Leontinus Pilatus, Niccolo Niccoli, Poggio Bracciolini, Aldus […]

The Nature of Normativity presents a complete theory about the nature of normative thought – that is, the sort of thought that is concerned with what ought to be the case, or what we ought to do or think. (Normativity in Metaethics (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)). Ralph Wedgwood (Sir Ralph Wedgwood, 4th Baronet – Wikipedia) defends

Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) (https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/schopenhauer/) was scornful of those who could not look at the fundamentals of the human situation squarely. By this he meant the pervasive presence of dissatisfactoriness, suffering and death. Instead, humans manufacture a myriad of avoidance techniques. His view was that if we dare to peer over the perimeter fence of our

George Monbiot (George Monbiot) is a British journalist, author, environmental and political activist. He writes a regular column for The Guardian. Peter Hutchison is a critically acclaimed filmmaker, New York Times bestselling author, educator and activist. In this book the authors argue that we live under an ideology that dominates every aspect of our lives: our education and our

We normally believe that human life is precious and priceless. This is a moral standard cherished since at least the authors of Jeremiah and Luke set pen to parchment. Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you.” Luke 12:7 “Why even the hairs

In February 2021 concerns across the globe are rightly focussed on the COVID-19 pandemic. Humans will survive this disease, and so far the global death toll is nowhere near the estimated 50 million dead of the 1918 flu pandemic.(1918 Pandemic (H1N1 virus) | Pandemic Influenza (Flu) | CDC) Once the virus has been tamed the

At the start of July 2020 we have enjoyed one hundred days of lockdown in Britain. This has been ample time in which to fail to re-assess our priorities in life. Already we’re urged to get out and spend, spend in order to re-ignite the big engines of the economy. Economic development, population growth, material

02 June 2020. There has been a lot of crying recently. The pandemic of 2020 has released a flood of emotion. Many TV viewers also, during the lockdown in April and May, have admitted to weeping over the BBC Three drama ‘Normal People‘ (https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/p089g8rs/normal-people) The memory of having being young once, in love, and the

Such is the relentless commercialisation of Christmas as a winter festival that the tinsel and all other orgiastic necessities have been appearing for sale since September. By this measure we’re bounding close to the day of Christ’s Mass. ‘Tis the season in which neither Amazon’s little helpers nor their billions of gratified gift recipients have