The world in 2020: A glimpse into the future

"The throwaway culture of the previous 20 years had become little more than a guilty memory. However, what is necessary quickly becomes a virtue, which is why "quality", "enduring" and "slow" became buzzwords. The best-selling cookbook of the decade was Real Slow Food, while the self-help sensation was Enduring Happiness: The Science and Spirituality of Well-Being."

Article in today's Independent

Chapters in two new books

Rather belated news of two contributions to two very different recent books. "Atheism, obviously" is in 50 Voices of Disbelief: Why We Are Atheists by Russell Blackford and Udo Schüklenk. It is about the sense one has tat the truth of atheism (or theism) is in some sense obvious, and why this is problematic. Rather different is "The First Honest Christmas Round Robin Letter" in The Atheist's Guide To Christmas, edited by Ariane Sherine. With only 360 shopping days until Christmas, now is the time to buy. Click on covers for more information.

Complaint now available as audiobook

Complete and unabridged, you can download from Amazon (but check you have a compatible device first - their audible.com system is a bit annoying if you don't). It's also available as 4 CDs, but I'm not sure where. Some reviews of the book are listed here.

Sorry, Father, thou still shalt not steal

"We do not become better people by embracing the anonymity of corporate culture and using it to justify theft. Rather, we simply encourage habits of thought that remove the human element from our interactions with the world. Far from being a resistance to the corporate culture, Father Tim’s response actually adopts its worst aspects."

Column in today's Times

The fairytale farce of the monarchy

"Here we are, a decade into the early 21st century, and we're still having to talk about fairytale royal successions. "The Palace" has just issued a denial that Prince William is being groomed as the "shadow king", as Elizabeth II starts to reduce the number of her foreign visits. Royal denials aren't really worth the wax they're sealed with, but in this case that's hardly the point. The real question is, why on earth should we even be having to think about the lineage of the house of Windsor at all?"

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Reason defined

This is a very short video of me made by wordia.com, talking about the meaning of reason. They do a word a day like this...

The Moral Maze - BBC Radio 4

I was a "witness" on yesterday's programme, which asked, how do you have a merry and a moral Christmas? See if you understood what I was saying better than Michael Buerk, whose question at the end of the programme missed the point. Listen again is available here for a week.

December podcast

In the last Philosophy Monthly of 2009, I’m featuring previously unreleased extracts salvaged from the cutting room floor from six of the best interviews of the year: Michael Frayn, AC Grayling, Jonathan Sacks, Peter Singer, Timothy Williamson and Tony Wright MP.

Click here to listen or download now, or download from

Our World Twenty Years On - 3 December

I'm taking part in a celebration of 20 years of Wallace at Gromit tonight at @Bristol, 19:00. Just some short thoughts on Gromit, AI and the problem of other minds, with great clips. Plenty of non-me W&G stuff too, plus a Wensleydale break. Full details here

The dangers of a closed mind

"Value-laden words are often rejected as merely showing the prejudices of the people using them. One man's terrorist is another's freedom fighter. What you call rudeness I call refreshing candour. And a fanatic is just a dedicated enthusiast whose cause we disapprove of. I beg to differ. What's more, I don't think this is a mere matter of opinion. There is such a thing as fanaticism, it is always wrong, and if you disagree you're wrong too."

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