The spirit of Christmas doesn’t have to be Christian
How do we take Christmas seriously if we don’t take it literally? How do we stop it becoming just a childish fairytale, something to provide themes for Christmas cards and carol concerts
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Universities and the altar of profit
You might think that a university philosophy department facing closure in Hull is of as much interest to the average person as the shutting of a butcher’s in Wolverhampton is to a vegetarian in Totnes. But the events unfolding on Humberside are symptomatic of a deep malaise affecting not just universities but the wider culture. The crude pursuit of what is “practical”, “efficient” or “useful” is threatening everything of value that isn’t evidently profitable.
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A world of thought
We must acknowledge that the strict secularisation of philosophy is itself a philosophical position that requires justification. To simply stipulate that faith separates you from philosophy is as deeply unphilosophical as stipulating that a sacred text must have the last word.
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Reason in a Fractious Society
Video of my keynote talk at Integrity 20’18 presented by Griffith University
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Why your rivals are smiling at you
No one succeeds online by screaming “read me everyone!” Instead, we all act as though we are simply being sociable, sharing our thoughts freely, almost as though we were being generous rather than self-serving. We retweet and share the posts of others, not only because we find them genuinely interesting, but also because we know that is what cooperatition needs: its the cooperative side of the competition for attention.
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