Author: Mark Vernon

The first part of radio series I’ve written and presented, In Doubt We Trust, goes out next Sunday on BBC Radio 4 – March 6, 1.30pm. We spoke to a wide range of people in the making of it, exploring doubt not just in science and religion, but politics and economics, at a personal and… Continue reading In doubt we trust

I suspect it is virtually heresy to say so in some circles. But I found the memoir of theologian Stanley Hauerwas, Hannah’s Child, odd. It’s certainly engaging, and I wanted to read it as I know Hauerwas is inspirational for some whom I admire. So I’ve been trying to work out why it feels as… Continue reading What it is to be a Christian

My PhD thesis was a reading of Plato’s Lysis, the great philosopher’s exploration of friendship. And so it was exciting, to me at least, to yesterday read Martha Beck’s book, The Quest for Wisdom in Plato and Jung, and realise that the dialogue could be read in a parallel way to how I’d done, namely… Continue reading Interpreting Plato's Lysis

A Manchester historian has cracked the ‘Plato code.’ Writing in the journal Apeiron, and using stichometry, Jay Kennedy has apparently shown that the Republic is ordered by twelfths, following the 12-note scale, and that at each of these nodes, are located either consonant or dissonant ideas. The line numbers of the reassembled manuscripts of other… Continue reading Wanna crack the Plato code? Read Plato

One of the most striking details to read in Iain McGilchrist’s The Master and his Emissary for me, concerned the nature of the relationship between the two hemispheres of the brain. The exchange between them is essentially negative. Both can either fail to permit, by saying ‘no’, or permit, by not saying ‘no’, what the… Continue reading The brain's negative way

I’m still digesting Iain McGilchrist’s The Master and His Emissary, a book I heartily recommend if you enjoy some for the common themes of my blog. And thought I’d try a little analysis of this picture by Renaissance artist Domenico Ghirlandaio, An Old Man and His Grandson, by way of exploring some of McGilchrist’s themes… Continue reading The right distance of the right brain

At last! A book on neuroscience that is a thrilling read, philosophically astute and with wonderful science: Iain McGilchrist’s The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World. The running metaphor is the division between one worldview that is detail-attending, mechanistically-minded and self-interested; and another that is other-interested, whole-perceiving… Continue reading What the other half doesn't know

There’s something that makes me wary of Susan Neiman’s Moral Clarity: A Guide for Grown-Up Idealists. The basic theory is, in a way, unexceptional. The left needs ideals, to bridge the gap between what is the case in the world and what ought to be. She argues that in the modern world, such idealists must… Continue reading Moral clarity or breezy philosophy?

Out of Our Heads, Alva Noë’s new book on consciousness, is a must read for anyone interested in this debate. It’s subtitled ‘Why You are not Your Brain, and Other Lessons from the Biology of Consciousness.’ You can tell where it’s coming from by the reductionist Daniel Dennett’s endorsement: ‘Those of us who disagree with… Continue reading Changing your mind about consciousness

The question of whether we have free will is rising up the media agenda again, partly as a result of Jonah Lehrer’s new book, The Decisive Moment. Or there’s the chapter on the matter in 13 Things That Don’t Make Sense by Michael Brooks. That chapter stands out in the book as the one which… Continue reading Holding on to free will