Mark Rowlands's Blog

I, and the rest of my family, had a brilliant time @HTLGIFestival - the annual festival of philosophy and music held at Hay-on-Wye. It's great to see the festival growing every year, despite some uncooperative weather this time around. And I was delighted to see so many faces from last year. Hope to see y'all next time.   

Here and here are a couple of talks from last year's Festival.

After a long hard academic year at the chalk face (although, even I don't use chalk any more) it’s that time of the year when the Rowlands family begins its summer European exodus. I’ll be speaking in various countries, and kicking the whole thing off will be some talks at How the Lights Gets In – the festival of philosophy and music, held annually in Hay-on-Wye, Wales. It’s a great festival:

“Bringing together world-leading scientists, musicians, philosophers and politicians including Roger Penrose, Simon Blackburn, Laurie Penny, George Galloway, David Nutt, Katie Derham, Molotov Jukebox, Owen Jones, and Mr. Scruff for debates, talks, and wild parties, this year’s programme uncovers the new heresies that might become the truths of the future.”

I had a blast there last year. And so if anyone fancies a few enjoyable days in the beautiful countryside of the Welsh-English border, I highly recommend it. My contributions to the Festival are below (descriptions lifted from the Festival’s website):

Memory and the Self (Tuesday, May 27th 11.00 a.m.) Do memories make us who we are? The bestselling author of The Philosopher and the Wolf seeks all our all-seeing 'I'.

Mummy's Little Secret (Tuesday, May 27th 12.00 p.m.) Doon Mackichan, Meg Rosoff, Mark Rowlands, Mark Salter. Afua Hirsch hosts. From Father Christmas to the tooth fairy we are charmed by the fantasies we tell our children. Yet we do not condone telling lies to adults. We no longer beat our children; is it time to start telling them the truth as well? Would this create a more honest open culture or tarnish childhood? How I Live Now author Meg Rosoff, Smack the Pony and Brass Eye star Doon Mackichan, bestselling philosopher Mark Rowlands, and psychiatrist and filmmaker Mark Salter weigh up the value of duplicity.

The Banality of Evil (Tuesday, May 27th 2.30 p.m.) Camila Batmanghelidjh, Sally Green, Mark Rowlands. Andrew Copson hosts. In this placatory age, we tend to believe in evil acts, but not evil people. Yet how can we separate a person’s actions from their nature? Could it be that, for whatever reason, some people are simply evil? Would this help us better understand the nature of wrongdoing, or is it simply a way of covering up the evil within ourselves? Bestselling author of The Philosopher and the Wolf, Mark Rowlands, founder of Kids Company Camila Batmanghelidjh, and Half Bad novelist Sally Green ask whether people can be born evil. In association with the British Humanist Association.

Animals: Minds, Morality, and Agency - IAI Academy Course (Thursday 29th May 10.00 a.m. – 1.00 p.m.) Do we radically misclassify animals? Miami based Professor of Philosophy Mark Rowlands challenges the boundaries between humankind and animals as minds and moral agents alike.

Part One: Animal Minds From emotion to beliefs, how do we delve into the minds of animals? Do they explore ours?

Part Two: Animal Rights What rights should animals have? Should their interests not be overridden by human concerns?

Part Three: Can Animals Be Moral? Do animals act with compassion? If animals are moral, what would it mean for humanity?

I'll be on Philosophy Talk radio today, 1.00 p.m. EST, talking about my book Can Animals Be Moral? Details here.

A short (optimum online attention span is apparently 105 seconds) video made by Open Road Media - the US publishers of the ebook of Running with the Pack (and The Philosopher and the Wolf too). 

Running with the Pack is published in the US in November. Pegasus Books (the publishers of The Philosopher and the Wolf) are publishing the printed version and Open Road Media the ebook. 

This is a video of an appearance I made at the How The Light Gets In Festival, in Hay-on-Wye, Wales, in May of this year. I was talking about my book, Can Animals be Moral? Hugo, the family dog, kindly agreed to accompany me. The video was made by the Institute of Arts and Ideas.

Here is a four part interview series I did for Lyric FM radio (Ireland) as part of their Culture File show. I'm talking about Running with the Pack and various sundry matters.

Nice review of Can Animals Be Moral? can be found here.

Oops! Completely forgot. I've a new book out, in fact it's been out for the past six weeks or so. I lost track in all the recent traveling. Entitled, Animal Rights: All That Matters. It's part of Hodder's All That Matters series. Details here. 

Here is an interview with Amanda Smith (recorded a while back when I was in London). It aired on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's radio show, The Body Sphere, on Sunday.

Also interviewed is the estimable Damon Young - philosopher, martial artist and, I gather, keen gardener. I highly recommend his book, Distraction, BTW.

Edit: Or if you prefer the printed word, try here.