Once upon a time a headmistress said of me, ‘It will be good for her not to be treated as an exception.’ I found it very difficult to under...

The following is part of a recent email sent by my colleague Dr Charles McCreery to Nigel Rees, presenter of the Radio 4 programme Quote ......

The following fragments have been found in Wittgenstein's wastepaper basket ( Papierkorb ): * What does a person mean when he says he is...

Communism and Capitalism Capitalism depends on certain aspects of the conditions in which we live – on the structure of time and the conserv...

Supposing that the physical world may be taken at face value and that the inferences drawn from it about the past of the planet are correct,...

Each individual finds himself involved in a strange and complicated story. He cannot remember exactly how it began. If he believes what t...

First introductory scenario You are perceiving things, but the status of your perceptions is entirely indeterminate. You do not know the sig...

Compassion It is alleged that a wicked judge, sentencing a man who had stolen a loaf, replied to his explanation that he had to live, ‘Je n...

Beethoven's housekeeper Beethoven had a housekeeper. She did the cooking and housekeeping while he composed music. I am sure the moder...

The social contract The power of society depends on the power of the lie. The power of the lie is very great. The power of the individual de...

The object of modern science is to make all aspects of reality equally boring, so that no one will be tempted to think about them. (from The...

I am not concerned that Society should try to do me good; I should only like it to try to do me less harm.

The true object of aggression is the unknowability of existence.

The belief in society It is clear that before any change in human psychology, either individual or collective, could take place, it would be...

The concept of a good social structure is a contradiction in terms. A good escape committee in a prison camp is recognised by the speed with...

‘ La raison du plus fort est toujours la meilleure ’ ... is as true today as ever it was. Only now ‘le plus fort’ is always the agent of the...

The only way most people show evidence of a brain is in the cunning of their stupidity. (from the forthcoming book The Corpse and the Kingdo...