Philosophy and Life
Recent writing and occasional thoughts on assorted matters.
- Awake! William Blake and the Power of Imagination. A conversation with Jane Clark and Nikos Yiangou Jul 15, 2025 - https://youtu.be/59fNU5ieYcA An audio version of this talk is at my podcast, Inner Life, available via podcast feeds. In my book, I want to draw out two facets of William Blake, which I think get routinely sidelined now. My conversation with Jane Clark and Nikos Yiangou enabled us to explore these dimensions. One is that Blake was a very sharp thinker.… … Continue reading Awake! William Blake and the Power of Imagination. A conversation with Jane Clark and Nikos Yiangou
- A World Where Dust Breathes Forth Its Joy Jul 12, 2025 - A new essay at my Substack, A Golden String. … Continue reading A World Where Dust Breathes Forth Its Joy
- An implosion of light. Talking mystical experiences with James Harpur and Mark Vernon Jul 6, 2025 - https://youtu.be/sw6HiwHIDpY An audio version of this conversation is at my podcast, Inner Life, available via podcast feeds. James Harpur’s new book, "Dazzling Darkness: The Lives and Afterlives of the Christian Mystics", begins with an account of a mystical experience that happened to him - “an implosion of light”, as he describes it. That led to his book, Dazzling Darkness, in… … Continue reading An implosion of light. Talking mystical experiences with James Harpur and Mark Vernon
- The Rebellion of the Lover of the Living God Jul 6, 2025 - Marks of the mystic's way There’s a new essay at my Substack, A Golden String, looking at William Blake’s love of Teresa of Avila and Dante, as well as Thomas Merton’s love of William Blake. … Continue reading The Rebellion of the Lover of the Living God
- Real Worlds of Imagination, Collapse and Chaos Jul 1, 2025 - William Blake on tools for a time of turbulence. A new post at my Substack, A Golden String. It’s become a commonplace that liberals are struggling to understand contemporary politics. Individuals such as Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin escape rational analysis. These presidents don’t obey the rules when it comes to international relations or the post-war settlement. Commentators harrumph.… … Continue reading Real Worlds of Imagination, Collapse and Chaos
- The most insightful poet that ever lived. Iain McGilchrist & Mark Vernon on William Blake Jun 24, 2025 - https://youtu.be/A5pwwIZVqYE An audio version of this talk is at my podcast, Inner Life, available via podcast feeds. Iain McGilchrist calls William Blake “the least cosy of poets and one of the most insightful that ever lived.” Blake is cited more often than most figures in Iain’s great book, "The Matter With Things". So what did Blake express that might much… … Continue reading The most insightful poet that ever lived. Iain McGilchrist & Mark Vernon on William Blake
- William Blake’s Clairvoyance. Consciousness is not a private possession but the inside of the whole world Jun 18, 2025 - How can we understand Blake's second sight? Why might it matter to us today? What is the philosophical background to the uncoupling that Blake so resisted? These questions and more considered in a new essay at my Substack, A Golden String. … Continue reading William Blake’s Clairvoyance. Consciousness is not a private possession but the inside of the whole world
- How to Live like William Blake! Jun 13, 2025 - An audio version of this conversation is at my podcast, Inner Life, available via podcast feeds. A conversation from History with Chris Harding. In Mark Vernon's new book "Awake!", he argues that we’re missing something from our view of the great visionary artist William Blake. It’s that word - ‘visionary.’ Mark argues that Blake’s extraordinary art reveals an expanded experience… … Continue reading How to Live like William Blake!
- Top 10 William Blake quotes! The full countdown Jun 12, 2025 - An audio version is available at my podcast, Inner Life, available via podcast feeds. A taste of Blake’s genius and what he might mean for us. Celebrating the release of "Awake! William Blake and the Power of the Imagination" by Mark Vernon. The full countdown:10. I’ll sing to you to this soft lute, and shew you all aliveThe world, where every… … Continue reading Top 10 William Blake quotes! The full countdown
- On the Right Track. William Blake’s path of perceptual expansion Jun 7, 2025 - Acknowledging that there are complementary modes of perception has become commonplace. But left-hemisphere analysis can diagnose the problem without offering much sense of how better to incorporate the right. Which is where William Blake comes in. New essay at my Substack, A Golden String. … Continue reading On the Right Track. William Blake’s path of perceptual expansion