There is an essay I have wanted to write for years. The trouble is that the topic keeps expanding. It begins with the old philosophical idea of the “Ghost in the Machine”, Gilbert Ryle’s phrase for the imagined little self…
Keep readingThe middle of October is here, but we’ve enjoyed a few weeks of fine, dry weather. However it has now become very evident that the days are growing much shorter and cooler, especially when I have to head off to…
Keep readingIn recent months, various public figures on the British Right have attempted to dissect the meaning of Britishness and Englishness, and what political significance these identities ought to have. Beneath the disagreement lies a surprisingly difficult question: are these identities…
Keep readingOn Resilience, Anxiety, and Not Running Aground At the time of writing, my ordinary working life is passing through a period of instability. The details are less important than the general experience. A career setback, a period between jobs, uncertainty…
Keep readingBeing, Isness and Suchness: Towards a Relational Ontology Introduction Western philosophy has traditionally begun with the question: Why is there something rather than nothing? Yet this question assumes that “nothing” is a genuine possibility. It may not be. If non-being…
Keep readingIntroduction Political philosophy often searches for the ideal society or final political settlement. Whether in utopian socialism, liberal “end of history” narratives, or projects of national restoration, there is frequently an implied assumption that history is moving towards a final…
Keep readingIn my previous post, I described a conclusion that took many years to reach. The metaphysical ladder I had spent so long climbing does not top out in a personal deity. Natural theology, philosophy and mysticism may lead to an…
Keep readingFor much of my adult life, I assumed that philosophy and theology ultimately pointed in the same direction. As my confidence in evangelical Christianity declined, I did what many intellectually inclined believers do: I went looking for firmer foundations. I…
Keep readingBritish identity is a cake long in the making. One of the oddities of contemporary Britain is that everyone seems happy to acknowledge the existence of Welsh identity, Scottish identity or Irish identity, but many become noticeably uncomfortable once the…
Keep readingA curious thing happened recently. A Sunday School chorus escaped containment. After lying dormant somewhere in the deeper recesses of my mind for several decades, it suddenly resurfaced and began repeating itself without invitation: Jesus died for all the children,All…
Keep readingA completely unscientific self-assessment based on popular mythology, church folklore and several decades of accumulated ecclesiastical baggage. Tick all that apply. The Church Years Symptoms experienced whilst still living inside the ecosystem. □ You knew all the words to every…
Keep readingI grew up in a conservative Plymouth Brethren environment. More than that, I had one of the most hard-core evangelical childhood experiences: I was the preacher’s son and the pastor’s kid. When I finally emerged from evangelicalism it felt as…
Keep readingThe greatest obstacle to a genuinely federal United Kingdom has never been Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. It has always been England. England contains the overwhelming majority of the UK’s population, economic activity and political weight. Any federal system built…
Keep readingEvery successful political tradition knows where it ends. A movement that cannot define its own boundaries eventually has those boundaries defined by its most radical supporters. The modern Right is no exception. The debate is not whether a right-wing party…
Keep readingPreface The reflections below arose from a realization that several religious claims I had always treated separately may actually be connected by a single underlying assumption. The claim that believers have a personal relationship with God, the claim that scripture…
Keep readingWho Can Ask Free Citizens to Fight? As discussion grows about rearmament, military preparedness and the possibility of future conflict, an awkward question confronts Britain. Who can legitimately demand extraordinary sacrifice from free citizens? For generations Britain relied upon assumptions…
Keep readingThis is a work in progress and intended for discussion rather than as a finished constitutional proposal. Modern democracies often speak of “popular sovereignty”, yet in practice sovereignty is usually exercised through institutions such as parliaments, governments, courts and bureaucracies.…
Keep readingThe year is 1990 and 18 year old Paul Davies is heading to a Scottish University. Four hundred miles from home in Wales and his strict Fundamentalist family, he’s about to experience a major culture shock. Through all the highs…
Keep readingContrary to what saints and mystics have claimed down the ages, it is never a good thing to become interesting to the Gods. Trouble is brewing in the courts of Olympus. Two powerful goddesses have become intrigued by the love…
Keep readingThe life of a small forest community is thrown into turmoil when a strange new disease begins to spread, stirring fear, suspicion, and division. Yet fragments of ancient legend speak of the Old Ones – mysterious, seemingly magical beings who…
Keep readingPeople sometimes ask about my spiritual beliefs and I struggle to answer concisely. My views are not conventionally religious, yet neither are they atheistic in the straightforward sense. I find myself somewhere between mysticism, pantheism, symbolism, and philosophy. What makes…
Keep readingMuch political discussion becomes confused because it treats the state and the nation as the same thing. They are not. The state is an institution. Its legitimacy comes from the functions it performs. It exists to protect life, liberty and…
Keep readingNationalism has acquired a bad reputation. To some people it means xenophobia, ethnic exclusivity or hostility to outsiders. To others it means little more than patriotism. Neither understanding is quite correct. George Orwell drew a useful distinction between patriotism and…
Keep readingIntroduction In my earlier essay I argued that government is not sovereign but a delegated authority. Its legitimacy derives from a limited number of functions that require collective action, including security, dispute resolution, basic infrastructure, and certain public goods supported…
Keep readingFirst Principles 1. The individual is the primary moral unit Moral duties arise first from concrete relationships: to one’s children; to one’s parents; to one’s spouse or partner; to those with whom one has freely entered agreements. Government does not…
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