“Naturalism” is the idea that there is only one world, the natural world, which follows the laws of nature and which can be investigated by scientific methods. The term “Poetic Naturalism” was introduced by theoretical physicist Sean Carroll in his 2016 book, The Big Picture. Carroll is perhaps the greatest…
In her early 90s my mother suffered from the early stages of dementia, and several other problems which gave her severe pain which could not be adequately treated. On several occasions, she asked me to help her to die. I sympathised with her condition. It seemed a rational request –…
Donald Trump’s conduct and temperament; his views and treatment of employees, women, Muslims, Latinos, and indeed anyone opposing him, ought to have ensured his electoral rejection, whatever his policies. So, boos all round. He was patently prepared to say anything to achieve office. But I believe he was telling it…
Jeremiads abound on the ‘end’ or the ‘death’ of modern universities. There are claims that they are been severely compromised by ‘neoliberalism’ and social changes and left behind by technological advances. An increasing number of writers believe the university has been transformed turned into ‘safe spaces’, an extended school environment,…
I am very sorry to report the sudden death of Terry Mullins on 11 October 2016 from necrotising fasciitis. He was 85 years old. There is to be a memorial meeting for Terry in our main Conway Hall on the morning of Sunday, 27 November 2016, when Terry’s many interests…
IN THE BEGINNING WAS RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION Until the 1970’s at least much Religious Instruction as it was known in the UK was confessional in character. This reflected the state of the nation in which many teachers of religion were in their posts for confessional reasons among others. With the publication…
In Jean Giraudoux’s play La guerre de Troie n’aura pas lieu, translated in English as Tiger at the Gates, one might recognize the affinities of the protagonists with the two sides of the campaign leading to the Brexit referendum. Acquiescence, bellicose rhetoric, false optimism, and incongruous reasoning define the juxtaposition…
To be human is to age. Many of us are already deep within the clasp of aging, with declining power and faltering memory. But is an ongoing downward spiral of feebleness, illness, and (perhaps) senility truly inevitable? Or could we take advantage of the remarkable ongoing progress in multiple fields…
The first time I visited a Magistrates Court, it was 1954, shortly after I moved to London. A friend who could not be at court, because he would be at work, asked me to observe the trial of a girl he knew. She was accused of standing in the street,…
The English historian Norman Stone once noted that doctoral dissertations are about amassing ponderous armies of facts to pursue a war of attrition on behalf of some trivial insight. The Evolution of Atheism, which is the result of Stephen LeDrew’s doctoral work, is an example of this genre. For the…
