Introducing Ethics - London, 22 October

Are human beings selfish and greedy or generous and kind? A discussion about the differences between moral laws and society's laws, the rights of the individuals against the rights of the state and whether our inner morality exists to some higher code or is just created by society. In discussion with Anthony O’Hear, author of Introducing Christianity, chaired by Ziauddin Sardar.

Starts at 6.30. Free, but reservation required. Details at the Foyles website (scroll down for the Introducing series box) and at Icon Books.

Wigtown Book Festival - 27 September

Talking about Should You Judge This Book By Its Cover at 1.30. Full details here.

Thought for the Day - BBC Radio Bristol

"It is a mistake to assume that his supporters are monsters glorifying terrorism. To do so is to make the same mistake as the terrorists we abhor: demonising those who take a different view from ourselves and thinking of them as less than fully human. That does not make as bad as those who actually kill, of course. But if we really want to do better than them, we should make sure we think better than them too."

You can listen again to this morning's thought for seven days by clicking here and fast forwarding to 1:44:35

How to fail better

"It is weaker to let things rot than risk a cure that might not completely work. It is the weak who neither learn from small mistakes nor own up to big ones. Taking responsibility for our mistakes and being prepared to make the right kind requires strength, and builds it."

Short piece in this week's New Statesman, based on my much longer Demos pamphlet, Mistaking Mistakes.

Newsnight - BBC One

I was on Newsnight last night talking about justice - divine and human - with Justin Thacker of the Evangelical Alliance and presenter Gavin Esler. You can watch again on the BBC iPlayer for seven days from broadcast by clicking here.

Distance lends disenchantment

"Bit by bit, my faith waned. I'm sure I'm not unusual in this. It tends to happen gradually because certain core beliefs seem so strong and certain that even if one supporting strut looks feeble, you survey the entire edifice and conclude that either that strut isn't required to hold it up, or the strut must be stronger than it looks. It takes time to see that, in fact, the whole thing is being held up by threads."

Latest post at Comment is Free

Food for Thought – Kimchi and Cabbage

"The first World Congress in Philosophy to be held in Asia will surely not be the last. There is without doubt a dynamism in the continent which contrasts strongly with the intellectual mood in Britain and America in particular, and much of Europe too. It can be seen in Mark Leonard’s book, What Does China Think? where he reveals the astonishing extent to which think tanks and intellectuals in China are debating and experimenting. Meanwhile, in the west, people lament the drop in electoral participation and the lack of choice between leading parties all of which look alike. Yet they do not look outside their own borders for fresh stimulation."

Article in latest Asia Literary Review

Today - BBC Radio Four

I was on Radio Four's Today programme this morning talking about my new Demos essay on making mistakes. You can listen again here - it's the last item on the page.

Mistaking Mistakes

"A common injunction of self-help and management advice over recent years has been to 'make more mistakes'. In the wake of the MPs’ expenses scandal and the credit crunch, enthusiasm for such bravado has evaporated, with some justification. Even the diluted version – that we all just have to accept, like grown adults, that mistakes will be made – is far too simplistic. Making mistakes is neither a virtue nor a vice in itself. Everything depends on the nature of the mistake: in particular, why it was made and what the alternatives were..."

A guest essay for the think tank Demos. Free to download here.

Radiocity - RAI 1 (Italy)

I was talking about complaint on this programme last Thursday (6 August). There doesn't seem to be any way of listening again. Some information is here. (The book is here)