Sedbergh Festival of Ideas

Think of this presentation as a journey around the part of your anatomy to which you feel most attached, your head. In a unique fusion of biological science and philosophical interrogation, Ray Tallis takes the head apart in search of the place where our souls, and consciousness, reside. From the act of blushing and the amount of manganese in our tears to the curiousness of a kiss, Ray’s talk will explore the astonishing range of activities that go on inside our heads.

Raymond Tallis was Professor of Geriatric Medicine at the University of Manchester. He has played a leading role at a national level in the health care of the elderly. In 2000 he was elected Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences in recognition of his contribution to medical research. Parallel to his career in medicine, Ray has published fiction, three volumes of poetry and books on the philosophy of mind, philosophical anthropology, literary theory, the nature of art and cultural criticism. Together these books offer a critique of current predominant intellectual trends and an alternative understanding of human consciousness, the nature of language and of what it is to be a human being. For this work, he has been awarded two honorary degrees. His books include The Explicit Animal: A Defence of Human Consciousness; Enemies of Hope: A Critique of Contemporary Pessimism; On the Edge of Certainty and other essays in philosophy (all Macmillan). His major philosophical work is a trilogy on human consciousness published by Edinburgh University Press. His novel Absence (Toby Press) is available in paperback. In 2004 Ray Tallis was identified in Prospect Magazine as one of the top 100 intellectuals in the UK and in 2007 he was nominated in The Independent as one of 50 ‘Brains of Britain’.

(Hear Raymond Tallis read his poems at tonight’s Late Night Poems & Pints event in The Dalesman at 10.30pm)