Plutarch’s riddle is older than our language but no less urgent for its age. If every plank of Theseus’ ship were replaced, was it still the same vessel? The Athenians insisted that it was - because their pride needed it to be so. Hobbes, less sentimental, pressed the matter: what if the discarded planks were … Continue reading The Ship of Theseus: A Nation Adrift on Rotten Planks
Tag: politicians
Three Alchemists Walk into a Bar: A Philosopher, a Fraudster, and a Gothic Madman
“Alchemy: the science of turning lead into gold. Or more often, the art of talking a lot of nonsense and charging handsomely for it.” — An old undertaker’s proverb (probably) I’ve always had a fascination with alchemists. Maybe it’s the funeral director in me - the sense of cloaks, secrets, crucibles, and the unspoken transformation of … Continue reading Three Alchemists Walk into a Bar: A Philosopher, a Fraudster, and a Gothic Madman
A Referendum on Death
Foreword: A Note on Silence There are some things you are not supposed to say. That killing people, however nicely, is still killing people. That terminal illness does not grant others the right to pre-empt God. That what Parliament calls dignity might look suspiciously like abandonment in disguise. But here I am. And here, I … Continue reading A Referendum on Death
The Grand Theater of Election Season: Where Truth Takes a Holiday
Today (well, technically yesterday) in the UK, a General Election took place, sending every media outlet into a frenzy over the early exit polls – an embarrassing spectacle to behold. This cringeworthy display is matched only by the mendacious politicians clawing their way to the apex of power, peering down their ever-lengthening noses to patronise … Continue reading The Grand Theater of Election Season: Where Truth Takes a Holiday
Germinal
Émile Zola’s Germinal, published in 1885, is a hefty tome that plunges readers into the sooty, grimy world of French coal miners in the 19th century. With its bleak depictions of class struggle, social injustice, and the human spirit’s tenacity, it’s hardly the kind of book you’d expect to read at a comedy club. Yet, … Continue reading Germinal
Wording 