Welcome to my site!
You'll find notes for students, articles and books on philosophy, religion and ethics, along with examples of my travel photography.
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Out on the Naze, on the Essex coast, today we walked past so many bushes absolutely laden with blackberries, now unpicked and past their best. What a shame fewer people seem to bother to gather them in recent years! With cream / ice cream / blackberry and apple crumble - heaven! And free food at that! As a kid, it was a seasonal joy to go out blackberrying.
Matthieu Ricard's 'Thought of the Week' (September 14th):
If one were to summarize the Buddha's teaching in one word, we would have to say that it is universal interdependence, of which nonviolence is a natural consequence. Since we are all dependent on each other and all other beings want to be happy and not suffer, just as I do, my personal happiness and suffering are inextricably linked with those of others. This nonviolence does not mean weakness or passivity. It is the deliberate choice of altruism in all our thoughts and actions, so that it becomes inconceivable to knowingly harm others.
Dalai Lama: teachings in Amaravati, India, 2005
On the photographic front ...
This is the Tongarino Alpine Crossing in New Zealand. Click the image to go to my webpage of photographs.
Why 'Philosophy and Ethics'?
I believe that there is nothing more important than exploring the fundamental existential questions. Who am I? What is the purpose of life? What should I do? How can I find and promote happiness? How should I relate to those around me and the natural world? Such questions are crucial, urgent and universal, whether they are asked from a religious perspective or a secular one. They impact on morality, politics, sociology, psychology and the environment.
Where religious questions touch on the issue of what it means to be human, I believe they deserve to be examined carefully (but also critically) by secular thinkers. But I think it is equally important for religious thinkers to pay attention to secular questions, for they embody the exploration of meaning and value that is universal and relevant, irrespective of a person's cultural or religious background.
I take a broadly secular and humanist approach, but have been, at different times, both an ordained Anglican and a practising Buddhist. If you think that's weird, just read 'About Me'!
Doing A-Level?
Looking for a readable but substantial introduction?
I've re-published my former Hodder textbooks in cheap paperback and e-book editions for students and for anyone interested in getting to grips with the subject. Click any cover for more information.
In June 1916, two remarkable religious thinkers found themselves on opposite sides of the battle of Verdun; for both the experience was uniquely formative, but they responded to it very differently. It transformed their ideas of God, their careers and their lives.
A German Lutheran chaplain and a French Jesuit stretcher bearer, although separated by only a few hundred yards of mud and barbed wire, tried to cope with, and make sense of, that horror of death and destruction on an unprecedented scale. They – Paul Tillich and Pierre Teilhard de Chardin – reflect a century of thinking about religion, politics, humanism, existential angst and the global future.
It's the story of two men and their struggles with religious belief, but also of the whole way in which ideas about God and religion have been shaped and re-shaped during the last hundred years. Paperback @ £7.99 / $11.50 | Kindle ebook @ £1.99 / $2.99
Click here for more information and a sample section.
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Fancy a trip to Bali? Click the image to see some of my travel photography, or here for the whole range of destinations.
