Philosophy and Life
Recent writing and occasional thoughts on assorted matters.
- Pope Francis and the Greatest Sin. Uncertainty and the discovery of God Apr 25, 2025 - There is a pivotal moment early in the movie Conclave, the drama about the election of a new pope. The man in charge of the arcane procedures behind the Vatican’s sealed doors, Cardinal Lawrence (played by Ralph Fiennes), preaches a sermon. The prelate says he will speak from the heart. The scarlet-clad princes of the church assembled before him sit… … Continue reading Pope Francis and the Greatest Sin. Uncertainty and the discovery of God
- The Unity of Being – and the very great things that Ibn ‘Arabi makes of it! Apr 25, 2025 - An audio version of this talks is at my podcast, Inner Life, available via podcast feeds. Ibn ‘Arabi is arguably the greatest philosopher in the Islamic world, though controversial; Seal of the Mohammedan Saints, as he is known, alongside Shaykh al-Akbar, he is becoming more important again, especially against a backdrop of fundamentalism. Born into a noble family in Anadalusian,… … Continue reading The Unity of Being – and the very great things that Ibn ‘Arabi makes of it!
- Jesus is the only God. And so am I and so are you. William Blake’s mystical Christianity Apr 12, 2025 - New post on my Substack, A Golden String. I am now beginning in earnest to promote my new book, Awake! William Blake and the Power of the Imagination, out in June/Sept (UK/US). Do have a read! And/or do consider pre-ordering! (Thanks: it really helps early sales and so bookshop notice.) “The best overall study of Blake I have encountered in… … Continue reading Jesus is the only God. And so am I and so are you. William Blake’s mystical Christianity
- Andalusia and machine anxiety. How the Iberian philosophers can help us now Apr 7, 2025 - https://youtu.be/tctjngsCfe8 An audio version of this talk is at my podcast, Inner Life, available via podcast feeds. The extraordinary spread of Islam after 632 - from Central Asia to North Africa in a century - reached Europe in the eighth century, generating issues that still matter to this day. Not ones of religion, though, but of technology. Within a few… … Continue reading Andalusia and machine anxiety. How the Iberian philosophers can help us now
- Christ at the turning point of history. Owen Barfield in a secular age Mar 31, 2025 - Owen Barfield was the genius Inkling, said CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien. But why does he so much matter today?They consider how Owen Barfield addresses the idea of secularism developed by CharlesTaylor and why that might matter in a cultural moment that feels like a fork in the road.They speak personally of how Barfield touched them and why his… … Continue reading Christ at the turning point of history. Owen Barfield in a secular age
- Why Humanity Evolves and Civilisations Pivot. But collapse and crisis are poor catalysts of change Mar 31, 2025 - Jerusalem rises as Albion falls asleep. William Blake understood that the modern mentality was uncoupled from the inside of the world New post on my Substack, A Golden String. Every so often the human imagination changes. Deep switches tend not to happen following major events, because people are inclined to react to wars and pandemics, environmental concerns and technological… … Continue reading Why Humanity Evolves and Civilisations Pivot. But collapse and crisis are poor catalysts of change
- Living in an Age of Spiritual Crisis. A conversation with Rupert Sheldrake & Mark Vernon Mar 5, 2025 - An audio version of this conversation is at my podcast, Inner Life, available via podcast feeds. Much of the modern world has become uncoupled from the transcendent in a cultural experiment Nietzsche called the death of God. But might this spiritual crisis prove to be a time of rebirth? In this episode of the Sheldrake-Vernon Dialogues, recorded live at an… … Continue reading Living in an Age of Spiritual Crisis. A conversation with Rupert Sheldrake & Mark Vernon
- The Abolition of Man, That Hideous Strength, Till We Have Faces. The importance of CS Lewis today Feb 14, 2025 - An audio version of the conversation is at my podcast, Inner Life, available via podcast feeds. A discussion with Jason Baxter, Nicholas Colloff and Mark Vernon. The Abolition of Man is a series of three lectures given by C.S. Lewis in defence of objective value, arguing that modernity has undermined our humanity by uncoupling intellect from instinct. With hearts divorced… … Continue reading The Abolition of Man, That Hideous Strength, Till We Have Faces. The importance of CS Lewis today
- Evolution. From natural selection to omega point. A conversation with Rupert Sheldrake Jan 29, 2025 - An audio version of this conversation is at my podcast, Inner Life, available via podcast feeds. Darwinian evolution shapes modern biology, but the notion of evolution has a wider history, too. In this episode of the Sheldrake-Vernon dialogues, Rupert Sheldrake and Mark Vernon explore linear and cyclical conceptions of human and cosmic evolution and ask what they can mean in… … Continue reading Evolution. From natural selection to omega point. A conversation with Rupert Sheldrake
- Physics and reality. Francis Lucille on the nature of matter, the flaws of panpsychism & God Jan 23, 2025 - An audio version of this conversation is at my podcast, Inner Life, available via podcast feeds. Francis Lucille is teaching of Advaita Vedanta who brings together nonduality with science, amongst other subjects, his past having been in physics. Here, he talks with Mark Vernon about the universality of consciousness and how that fits with modern physics, theories of consciousness and… … Continue reading Physics and reality. Francis Lucille on the nature of matter, the flaws of panpsychism & God