Though a significant minority across the world enjoy the gross material benefits of a prodigiously productive global economy, our planet is at the same time beset by escalating system-level crises. Deep economic inequality is intensifying both between and within national polities. Ecological degradation is calling into question the future of the earth as we know it, with disruptive climate change only the most prominent issue. Global (dis)order is stoking increased militarisation, including the possession of…
Charles Taylor is one of the world's most significant social philosophers. Nicholas Smith calls him 'the leading analytic exponent of Continental philosophy'. Taylor's book A Secular Age, developed from his Gifford Lectures, is an essential treatise for understanding our times. Taylor's approach is highly cross-disciplinary, drawing on philosophy, history, sociology and Catholic theology. Despite his vast range of philosophical influences and orientations - his analytical training, his interest in political philosophy and multi - culturalism,…
The quiet practice of monasticism has become surprisingly loud of late. First came the unexpected success of Philip Groning's meditative documentary 'Into the Silence' about a silent order of Carthusian monks in the French Alps. You might ask what does this have to say today. For some, plenty. If the white noise of all-consuming contemporary capitalism exercises a disciplining role over our desires, an equally strong discipline may be needed to prise us out of…
