Not many books about philosophers become bestsellers, but one that did was David Edmonds and John Eidinow's Wittgenstein's Poker, which came out in 2002. Now there are plans to produce a short animated film inspired by it. The book tells the story of a famous encounter between Ludwig Wittgenstein and Karl Popper:On 25 October 1946, Sir Karl Popper (at the London School of Economics), was invited to present a paper entitled "Are There Philosophical Problems?" at a meeting of the Cambridge University Moral Sciences Club, which was chaired by Ludwig Wittgenstein. The two started arguing vehemently over whether there existed ...
The Welland, which only a few weeks ago was threatening to flood the town, is becoming overgrown for the summer. And here, posted yesterday, are an otter and her pups playing in the narrowing channel. Thanks to The hedge finding missile for the video.
Stress, anxiety, a bit of nervousness; there are a wide range of emotions in May, when our children are about to start their exams. Some of these feelings are amplified by the fact that it is also a very important time to choose their next career path. University? Work? Gap year? Maybe an apprenticeship? Our eldest daughter is about to embark on this crucial period, which in many ways, might determine her future. For those of us, who are blessed to be parents, it is also quite a delicate moment in terms of supporting our children in relation to their ...
The advantage, or disadvantage if you like, of having been a Liberal Democrat for so long is that you've seen triumph and disaster over the years. The pain of seeing friends and acquaintances lose seats not because they'd performed badly as individuals but because of a national swing against the Party, especially during the Coalition years, will never be forgotten. And so, whilst the past week has been extremely enjoyable, I'm trying not to get carried away. The one emotion that dominated our travails between 2010 and 2016 was sadness. We expected a kicking but accepted it as a penance ...
The Independent reports that warnings by the National Farmers Union that a combination of 18 months of bad weather, Brexit and other international events have left confidence in British farming at an all-time low. They say that NFU President Tom Bradshaw has warned that the collapse in confidence has seen 7,000 agricultural businesses close down since 2019 and is now imperilling food security in Britain: The NFU's annual Farmer Confidence Survey was taken between November 2023 and January this year, and Mr Bradshaw noted that if it had been taken today the word "crisis" would need to be added. He ...
Election night 1997. The tv room at the count in Chesterfield. Two people in the room – me and Tony Benn who was eating a white chocolate magnum and ignoring me. He might have been ignoring me because I was blubbing a bit because I was so happy that we were finally, after years of campaigning, going to have a Scottish Parliament. The cross-party co-operation that had built the case for that Parliament across political and civil society was a great model. The Conservatives opposed the idea but even the SNP were eventually persuaded to come on board. Fast forward ...
We recently received residents' requests for a handrail on the steep path from the west end of Menzieshill Road up to Ninewells Avenue. We raised this with the City Council and have had the following helpful feedback : "... it is on the list for future works. Hopefully we can have a railing installed."
