This week I want to go back to evolution and examine one of the very momentous events that impacted on the development of humankind. Darwin, to the chagrin of many of his Victorian contemporaries, proposed that we all are the descendants of a prehominid species whose ancestry we share with the apes. The event I […]
There is an old joke that went something like this. Out on the Serengeti Plane there is a little knoll. The knoll is a favourite observation point for the senior members of a pride of lions. Close by is a waterhole where many animals come to drink. In the late afternoon the head lions wait […]
Once many years ago I came across a fictional exam paper with questions designed to amuse. One question for example was: “Captain Cook had three voyages to the Pacific. On which voyage was he killed?” And another question more germane to this week’s blog essay, was: “Define the universe and give three examples?” Notwithstanding that […]
One of the more dramatic shifts in understanding human psychology can be demonstrated in the contrasting views of Aristotle compared with his mentor, Plato. There is a famous painting by the old master Raphael of Plato and Aristotle. In the painting Plato points to the heavens whereas Aristotle points to the ground. This was a […]
As I have written previously, Aldous Huxley in his wonderful introduction to the Bhagavad-Gita expounded on the notion of the Perennial Philosophy – the underlying principles common to most of the major religions. A natural outcome from these fundamental beliefs is what Christians have come to call “The Golden Rule”. “All things whatsoever ye would […]
Well what a to-do! Bin Laden is dead and our newspapers and news bulletins have been dominated with commentary on this extraordinary event. (It is with some perversity that I only wished it had happened on the same day that Bill got hitched to What’s Her Name!) There is no doubt that Bin Laden was […]
I suppose I should be grateful for some light relief. For months the headlines have been full of natural disasters (tsunamis, floods, cyclones, hurricanes, and mudslides) not to mention the instability in the Middle East, Afghanistan and so forth. But I can’t help thinking the gravity of those things only goes to highlight the trivialness […]
I have been thinking a little about writing, its diversity, its attractions and its mysteries. I am going to attempt a little essay to explore a number of such facets particularly as it relates to poetry. Although I am not Christian in belief, I do admire the work of the Jesuit, Gerard Manley Hopkins. So […]
Well despite hundreds of requests to tell you the story of Mucky the Turtle instead, I am going to be willful and perverse and take you back to the body-mind problem. Last week I explained that there seemed to be two principal responses to this vexing problem which has engaged philosophers over the millennia. I […]
Most of us believe that we think, feel, act have desires, purpose and experiences. We believe that we are conscious, thinking acting persons. In fact I have often stated that what makes us human is our consciousness (learned many years ago from the good Dr Phil) – not only can we make decisions and think […]