We hear a lot about self-obsessed New Yorkers with their mandatory shrinks, with the UK opinionators bewailing the imminent import of this kind of navel-gazing to our famously repressed shores. We also hear that Blessed are the Poor, but Maslow suggests we can’t attain spiritual ‘self-actualising‘ until our material needs have been met. Read More
Ashridge has kindly granted me a study break to catch up on my PhD, which I am taking at Douai Abbey. Spring is sneaking out around the Abbey, with star-shaped daffodils and shy blossom wherever I look. Our meals here are silent, and over lunch and supper we are read to. At the moment we are working our way through Simon Winchester’s Krakatoa, from which I have learned about the vital role volcanoes play in our biosphere. Today I am reading about philosophy, from Pythagoras to Wittgenstein (the Carlisle Red Cross charity shop was kind enough to sell me Anthony Kenny’s marvellous A Brief History of Western Philosophy for 50p – a fitting reward to mark the end of our walk along Hadrian’s Wall). Read More
