Philosophy and Life
Recent writing and occasional thoughts on assorted matters.
- Splashdown. Now Comes The Greatest Danger Apr 11, 2026 - Apollo astronauts suffered much after their return to Earth. Will those on Artemis? My third year undergraduate physics project was to measure the heights of mountains on the Moon. I didn’t get to go to the Moon, but, instead, had to take the best photographs I could through the university telescopes and calculate the heights from the lengths of… … Continue reading Splashdown. Now Comes The Greatest Danger
- As Above, So Below. Christian Hermeticism, Easter mysteries and enjoying the inside of the whole world Apr 2, 2026 - https://youtu.be/8W7GuYIVitg Ancient Egypt is much associated with the origins of western perceptions of God. In the Corpus Hermeticum, the Black Land is called a “temple of the cosmos” and a “consecrated statue”. The orientation of the Nile from North to South, highlighting the passage of the Sun from East to West, so wonderfully manifests the principle: “As Above, So Below”.… … Continue reading As Above, So Below. Christian Hermeticism, Easter mysteries and enjoying the inside of the whole world
- Is There A There There? Testing Re-enchantment Mar 21, 2026 - The play of the medieval infinite scroll evoked divine presence. Might it do so again? Human beings had lived with, and loved, the infinite scroll long before the electronic version was rolled out a couple of decades back. The earlier type took the form of illuminated manuscripts and Books of Hours. These colourful parchments captivated the eyes of our forebears… … Continue reading Is There A There There? Testing Re-enchantment
- “I will not cease from Mental Fight” Widening the war in the time of mercurial Trump Mar 7, 2026 - Various types of bombardment are a feature of war. The worst kind is, of course, being directly in the line of fire, unprepared and innocent. “What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans, and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty or democracy?” observed Mahatma Gandhi:… … Continue reading “I will not cease from Mental Fight” Widening the war in the time of mercurial Trump
- Transhumanising! Dante in a Technological Age Feb 28, 2026 - Dante Alighieri died in September 1321 and it seemed that his masterpiece, The Divine Comedy, was incomplete, his first biographer, Boccaccio, relates. The Renaissance humanist’s Life of Dante reports that, at the time of Dante’s passing, the final, culminating thirteen cantos of the Paradisowere missing, presumed unfinished. But then, a full eight months after his death, Dante appeared in a… … Continue reading Transhumanising! Dante in a Technological Age
- Privileged persons in the modern age. A thought on a momentous arrest Feb 22, 2026 - In the UK at least, there is, right now, really only one piece of news doing the rounds, which is the arrest of the former Prince Andrew, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. It set me thinking about why this is such momentous news. In a way, that's obvious. The fallout from the Epstein files has been building and the need for justice,… … Continue reading Privileged persons in the modern age. A thought on a momentous arrest
- What is your spiritual path? Ways of affirmation and negation Feb 21, 2026 - One thing is necessary on any spiritual path, many traditions say. Or rather, that one thing is found in two ways which, at root, join together. The approaches are affirmation and negation - also called fullness and emptiness, praise and silence, knowledge and love, activity and contemplation. But which way is yours? New essay at my Substack, A Golden String.… … Continue reading What is your spiritual path? Ways of affirmation and negation
- The King’s Philosophy of Harmony, Explained. The 100th Sheldrake-Vernon Dialogue Feb 19, 2026 - An audio version of the talk is at my podcast, Inner Life, available via podcast feeds. For the 100th episode of The Sheldrake-Vernon Dialogues, Rupert Sheldrake and Mark Vernon considered the role of harmony, wholeness and hope in the modern world. The event was held in-person as well as streamed online. The evening took as its inspiration the work of… … Continue reading The King’s Philosophy of Harmony, Explained. The 100th Sheldrake-Vernon Dialogue
- “Our wars are wars of life & wounds of love.” Feb 14, 2026 - Sexual drives wreck lives. And yet, the erotic opens paths to paradise. Christianity doesn’t do well with erotic love. The unease stems, in part, from the fact that the word “eros” doesn’t appear in the New Testament. The lacuna means that points of reference for discussions about sex are typically inadequate and thin. Command stands in for clear thinking. Then,… … Continue reading “Our wars are wars of life & wounds of love.”
- Prisons are built with stones of Law. A thought on the rules-based order Jan 24, 2026 - Much talk doing the rounds about “might is right” and the “rules-based order”. I wish commentators would read - no, really read - the source document for the might-is-right arguments: Plato’s Republic. Because then, they might realise that rules are not a constrainer of might at all. Rather, Plato advocates for justice - which, back then, wasn’t to do with… … Continue reading Prisons are built with stones of Law. A thought on the rules-based order