Feature
Rupert Read: Local Democracy And Philosophy
About this feature
In this episode of Community Chest, Dominik interviews Rupert Read, a Green Party city councillor and UEA philosophy lecturer. The conversation focuses on local democracy and philosophy, featuring a proposal to webcast Norwich council deliberations for transparency, a discussion of Read's book 'Philosophy for Life', and a comparison between the United States' exercise of power and the character Sauron from Lord of the Rings.
Dominik interviews Rupert Read, a Green Party city councillor and UEA philosophy lecturer. The discussion covers local democracy in Norwich, including a Green Party proposal to webcast council deliberation chambers for transparency. Read discusses his book 'Philosophy for Life', published by Continuum, noting its accessible cover featuring the title burned into toast. He describes his philosophy work as theory and his political activism as practice. The conversation further explores Read's perspectives as a practicing Quaker and Buddhist, his views on religion without a God-type figure, and a comparison between the United States' exercise of absolute power and the character Sauron from Lord of the Rings.
Topics
- Local democracy and transparency in Norwich
- Popularization of philosophy
- The nature and difficulty of forgiveness
- Religion without belief and the public role of religion in politics
- Political power and the allegory of Lord of the Rings
- Urban planning and water features in Norwich
Participants
- Dominik
- Rupert Read
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In the same way, I want this book to be philosophy for life, philosophy on the side of life, philosophy coming together with ordinary people and trying to help us to solve some of the big problems of our day. So, for example, in in my book, I discuss I discuss religion, I discuss dangerous climate change, I discuss all sorts of things.
In anything, in the sense of believing in the existence of some super powerful being or anything like that, belief can mean many different things. So, for example, if I say that I believe in you to somebody, I don't mean I believe that you exist. It means something more like I trust you.
A controversial use of philosophy. I think that's clear. I don't think that anyone's going to kind of roll over and just believe every word I say. People have to think about it for themselves. And I would be happy if my book made people convinced of some of the things that I said. But I'd also be perhaps even more happy if it encouraged people to think for themselves.