In Defence of Wonder and Other Philosophical Reflections

by Raymond Tallis

In these lively and provocative essays, philosopher, polymath and all-round intellectual heavyweight, Raymond Tallis debunks commonplace truths, exposes woolly thinking and pulls the rug from beneath a wide range of commentator whether scientist, theologian, philosopher, or pundit. Tallis takes to task much of contemporary science and philosophy, arguing that they are guilty of taking us down every narrowing conduits of problem solving that only invite ever more complex responses and in doing so have lost sight of "wonder" — the metaphysical intoxication that first gave birth to philosophy 2,500 years ago.

Tallis tackles some meaty topics — memory, time, language, truth, fiction, consciousness — but always with his characteristic verve, insight and wit. These essays showcase Tallis's skill for getting to the heart of the matter and challenging us to see, and wonder, in different ways. Wonder is the proper state of humankind, and as these essays show, it has no more forceful a champion than Raymond Tallis.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, Essays

256 pages, Paperback

First published April 26, 2012

About the author

Professor Raymond Tallis is a philosopher, poet, novelist and cultural critic and was until recently a physician and clinical scientist. In the Economist's Intelligent Life Magazine (Autumn 2009) he was listed as one of the top living polymaths in the world.

Born in Liverpool in 1946, one of five children, he trained as a doctor at Oxford University and at St Thomas' in London before going on to become Professor of Geriatric Medicine at the University of Manchester and a consultant physician in Health Care of the Elderly in Salford. Professor Tallis retired from medicine in 2006 to become a full-time writer, though he remained Visiting Professor at St George's Hospital Medical School, University of London until 2008.

Prior to his retirement from medicine to devote himself to writing, Raymond Tallis had responsibility for acute and rehabilitation patients and took part in the on-call rota for acute medical emergencies. He also ran a unique specialist epilepsy service for older people. Amongst his 200 or so medical publications are two major textbooks - The Clinical Neurology of Old Age (Wiley, 1988) and the comprehensive Brocklehurst's Textbook of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology (Harcourt Brace, co-edited with Howard Fillitt, 6th edition, 2003). Most of his research publications were in the field of neurology of old age and neurological rehabilitation. He has published original articles in Nature Medicine, Lancet and other leading journals. Two of his papers were the subject of leading articles in Lancet. In 2000 Raymond Tallis was elected Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences in recognition of his contribution to medical research; in 2002 he was awarded the Dhole Eddlestone Prize for his contribution to the medical literature on elderly people; and in 2006 he received the Founders Medal of the British Geriatrics Society. In July 2007, he received the Lord Cohen Gold Medal for Research into Ageing, and in November 2011 he was honoured with the International League Against Epilepsy's Special Excellence in Epilepsy Award. He is a Patron of Dignity in Dying.

Over the last 20 years Raymond Tallis has published fiction, three volumes of poetry, and 23 books on the philosophy of mind, philosophical anthropology, literary theory, the nature of art and cultural criticism. Together with over two hundred articles in Prospect, Times Literary Supplement and many other outlets, 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, Professor Tallis has been awarded three honorary degrees: DLitt (Hon. Causa) from the University of Hull in 1997; LittD (Hon. Causa) at the University of Manchester 2002 and Doc (Med) SC, St George's Hospital 2015. He was Visiting Professor of English at the University of Liverpool until 2013.

Raymond Tallis makes regular appearances at Hay, Cheltenham, Edinburgh and other book festivals, and lectures widely.

Raymond Tallis's national roles have included: Consultant Advisor in Health Care of the Elderly to the Chief Medical Officer; a key part in developing National Service Framework for Older People, in particular the recommendations of developing services for people with strokes; membership of the National Institute for Clinical Excellence Appraisal Committee; Chairmanship of the Royal College of Physicians Committee on Ethics in Medicine; Chairman of the committee reviewing ethics support for front-line clinicians; and membership of the Working Party producing a seminal report Doctors in Society, Medical Professionalism in a Changing World (2005). From July 2011 to October 2014 he was the elected Chair, Healthcare Professionals for Assisted Dying (HPAD).

In 2012 he was a member of the judges' panel for the Samuel Johnson Prize.

In 2015 he judged the Notting Hill Essay prize.

Reviews

[Todd · Rating 3 out of 5]

I felt he was at his strongest when arguing in the areas of philosophy of science, philosophy of time, and epistemology in general. These areas took up the first 10 or so essays in the book. He presents strong, logical (and perhaps phenomenological) arguments against the scientism of people like Sam Harris, but once he ventures outside of these subjects I found his arguments to be less appealing. For most of the rest of the book (27 essays in total) he wrote from his position of what I would term Mainstream Western Liberalism. I felt two of the more unfortunate habits of that ideology - elitism and authoritarianism - were undercurrents in most of the remaining 17 essays. He would frequently deflect a criticism of X by pointing out that Y was no better, or adopt pithy neologisms to describe his ideological opponents ('miserablists' for one example). I enjoyed the first 1/3 or so, but I couldn't even finish the final 3 or 4 essays as I had completely lost interest in what he had to say by that point.

[Tristan Sherwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Raymond Tallis remains one of my favourite writers, and each of the essays within *In Defence Of Wonder: And Other Philosophical Reflections* demonstrates his intellect, critical thinking and brilliance as a communicator.

My personal favourites in this would those entitled: “The Soup and the Scaffolding”, “My Bald Head: The Ethics Of Hair-Splitting”, “The Mystery and the Paradox of Scientific Medicine”, and the final essay in this set, “Why I am an Atheist”.

Each essay is only a few pages long, but I’d give yourself a good twenty minutes or so after reading to allow your thoughts to both wander and wonder.

—Tristan Sherwin, author of *Love: Expressed*

[Bob Cymber · Rating 1 out of 5]

Has little to do with wonder whatsoever. The introduction talks about the psychology of wonder, and it is not revisited in any of the essays. Very confusing and misleading.

[Kristin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A collection of essays by British polymath Raymond Tallis, this book truly does "defend wonder", exploring a huge diversity of topics (among them: physics, language, truth, science and God) and ranges from heavy intellectual treatments on the nature of time to witty (though equally profound) commentary on the when and where of bathroom visits (ie. "pisstemology"). Tallis' speculations are bound by the common theme of combating reductionism and restoring our wonder in the unnoticed complexity of everyday existence.

Tallis first became an important thinker for me several years ago when he helped me out from under the shadow of the problem of determinism (Aping Mankind: Neuromania, Darwinitis and the Misrepresentation of Humanity). An ardent humanist, Tallis' arguments against "neuromania" and "Darwinitis" gave me new eyes to see the astonishing and invisible world of what he calls "thatter". Unlike material matter, thatter is the invisible world created by humans minds and language, built by our collective assertions of truths and falsehoods, our ability to say "that".

Some of my favourite essays in the collection:
Zhuangzi and that Bloody Butterfly - exposes the biases that guide our thinking, even of radical skepticism
The Professor of Data-Lean Generalizations - addresses our propensity to make sweeping generalizations from absurdly little data
"I Kid You Not": Knowingness and Other Shallows - on "the flawed genius" of language; how it unlocks the tremendous power to create shared world out of air
My Bald Head: The Ethics of Hair-Splitting - treats "the problem of the heap": trying to apply a dichotomy to a continuum, which applies to a huge variety of ethical dilemmas
The Mystery and the Paradox of Scientific Medicine - explores the profound discrepancy between our experience of disease and the scientific description of it
Making Use of Death - a meditation on the spectre of death as an opportunity for increased wonder in our everyday lives

[Russell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I remember really liking this book. Then again I only have vague recollections of its specific points. It certainly was energizing to read but such as what happens with books that are short and yet cover a huge horizon it's hard to hang your hat on something in particular. Other than.... We just don't have the answers.

[pausetowonder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sad to finish this one.

This is not a book of empty intellectual fireworks (like that produced by some modern philosophers that shall not be named), but of carefully thought through essays on a wide variety of subjects. Serious, truly interesting and occasionally hilarious.