Philosophy and Life
Recent writing and occasional thoughts on assorted matters.
- August Angst. My BBC Thought For The Day Aug 1, 2026 - My Thought For The Day was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 this morning. This is the script. August angst” has begun. The phrase describes the stress caused by psychotherapists taking their summer break over the month beginning today. Though, breaks are part of the therapeutic work - and that explains why August angst is felt by more people than just… … Continue reading August Angst. My BBC Thought For The Day
- Odyssey’s homecoming, the Cave of the Nymphs, Raine and Blake Jul 30, 2026 - ‘Tis a much challenged reading, but Kathleen Raine interpreted William Blake’s “The Sea of Space and Time” as depicting the seemingly marginal, but perhaps pivotal, detail in Homer’s “Odyssey” of the Cave of the Nymphs on the beach of Ithaca where Odysseus is left by the Phaeacians, which Porphyry interpreted as a Neoplatonic key to his spiritual homecoming, or nostos. … Continue reading Odyssey’s homecoming, the Cave of the Nymphs, Raine and Blake
- When Gods Walked Amongst Mortals and Mortals Loved Violence Jul 25, 2026 - I’ve been reflecting on the discussion of the gods in The Odyssey, following the release of Christopher Nolan’s film, generally unsatisfied by what is made of the awareness of deities conveyed by Homer and the earlier parts of the Hebrew Bible, too. There is another story to tell. New article at my Substack, A Golden String. … Continue reading When Gods Walked Amongst Mortals and Mortals Loved Violence
- Sing For Our Time Too! The Divine Song Of The Odyssey Jul 18, 2026 - The new movie telling of the Odyssey epic is Nolan's epic telling. The opening title reads: “A time of apparent magic”, which is a clear signal. But the original tale asks more: who are we, not merely, how should we behave? New post at my Substack, A Golden String. … Continue reading Sing For Our Time Too! The Divine Song Of The Odyssey
- Art and the Sacred Today. A Dialogue between Rupert Sheldrake and Mark Vernon Jul 11, 2026 - Does art need to have a sacred dimension to be art at all? What are the sources of inspiration? In this dialogue, which is the 102nd in our series, Rupert Sheldrake and Mark Vernon, explore how meaning and beauty, truth and connection might be manifested in the arts. What is the role of reverence and empathy, place and intelligence? Conversely,… … Continue reading Art and the Sacred Today. A Dialogue between Rupert Sheldrake and Mark Vernon
- In Search of Lost Gods. Tales of Greek sexual cheating and election by democratic lot Jul 4, 2026 - Mary Beard has begun a new series of BBC radio programmes. In each episode of Being Greek, the Cambridge historian examines a character from ancient Athens or the city-state’s environs with the aim of glimpsing the lives of ordinary folk, not the elite. Beard is an excellent broadcaster, leading the listener along paths littered with revelations and uncertainties, deploying a… … Continue reading In Search of Lost Gods. Tales of Greek sexual cheating and election by democratic lot
- Anteros: the forgotten brother of love Jun 29, 2026 - Last weekend I was at St Giles House, Dorset, with the Realisation Festival, of which I am a director. The beautiful country house is the home of the Earls of Shaftesbury, one of the which, the 7th Earl, Anthony Ashley-Cooper, is remembered as a remarkable Victorian social reformer.When he died, it is said that half of London came onto the… … Continue reading Anteros: the forgotten brother of love
- The Art of Dialogue. What would Plato say? Jun 20, 2026 - New post at my Substack, A Golden String, found here! … Continue reading The Art of Dialogue. What would Plato say?
- “Give therefore no thought for the morrow.” Jun 13, 2026 - My Thought For The Day, broadcast on BBC Radio 4 Today programme on Friday 12 June, available on my Substack, A Golden String. … Continue reading “Give therefore no thought for the morrow.”
- Magnifica Humanitas In Temporibus Anxietatis Jun 6, 2026 - The Pope knows anthropology is key to contemporary troubles because Christianity redefined what it means to be human. The imagination available to embrace contemporary troubles, particularly when they are threaded with fatalism and declinism, rests much on the richness, or paucity, of the vision held about what it is to be human. New essay at my Substack, A Golden String. … Continue reading Magnifica Humanitas In Temporibus Anxietatis