Festival Of Ideas: Raymond Tallis
Please note: This event took place in March 2016
On Life and Death and The Black Mirror
Life is finite. Doctor and writer on many subjects, Raymond Tallis reflects on this fundamental fact of existence with a personal meditation on life and living. Tallis invites us to look at our lives from a unique standpoint: one's own future corpse. From this perspective, he shows that the world now vacated can be seen most clearly in all its richness and complexity, the meaning it provided for us and how we acquired meaning for others. Blending lyrical reflection, humour and philosophical argument, Tallis explores his own post-mortem recollection and helps us to appreciate anew the precariousness and preciousness of life. The Observer called Tallis’ The Black Mirror wise, original and enlightening. By considering the idea of death in this way, Tallis provides an intriguing vantage point from which to view life.
Speaker biography:
Raymond Tallis trained as a doctor before going on to become Professor of Geriatric Medicine at the University of Manchester. He was elected Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences for his research in clinical neuroscience. He retired from medicine in 2006 to become a full-time writer and has written over a dozen books, including The Kingdom of Infinite Space, Michelangelo's Finger, Aping Mankind, In Defence of Wonder and The Black Mirror. In 2009, The Economist's Intelligent Life magazine named him as one of the world’s top living polymaths. Follow him on Twitter @ProfRayTallis