If Just One Thing is Not Socially Constructed
May 24, 2014
What is Objective Truth anyway? What is Reality? Anyone who has defended a remotely realist philosophy will no doubt have faced a familiar challenge: it’s all a social construction. Take money. That couldn’t exist without a society giving it meaning, imbuing it with value. And God is surely socially constructed rather than a real being …
Diversity
May 11, 2014
While in some ways there is a commonality that holds us together as a species – all of us wanting love, freedom and personal growth – we also exhibit a great diversity. There is no denying this. As well as the very apparent differences in race, sex and culture, we are diverse in our politics, …
Losing our Minds
January 12, 2014
A further sadness about death is the loss of mind. A mind collects memories, experiences and learning. All those skills of intellect, painstakingly acquired, all those beliefs and values, all those habits and affections. They once made a person: an entirely unique individual shaped by their experiences and education; now gone into the past. They …
True Stories?
November 3, 2013
Yesterday was a remarkable day. It was not just that it lasted 32 hours, spent mainly on my way from Kuala Lumpur to Nottingham with an 8-hour time difference. But on the flight and since, I have come to think afresh on the question of truth in fiction and the place of storytelling in our …
The Metaphysics of Chess
October 6, 2013
As soon as the necessities of life are secured, we turn to the arts but also to games. Arts and games are alike in having no immediate practical value but their very pointlessness reveals their intrinsic value to us. Games are sometimes called pastimes. It might look as if their purpose is merely to pass …
The Political Power of the Idea
June 2, 2013
Because they can contain ideas, the tyrant will always fear the power of words and images. It may be force that ultimately topples them, but it is always an idea that motivates people to threaten such force. Ideas may be vague or mean many different things – freedom, equality, fairness, change – but if enough …
Dancing
December 17, 2011
Why dance? A sociobiologist might say it’s a mating ritual. Many people indeed find partners at discotheques, we have to grant that. But is such an explanation all too reductionist? Children like to dance, happily married people and even your granny will have a go. I doubt that it is all about gaining a reproductive …
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