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New Year, new ACTivism

I'll be leading a demo at Norwich train station at rush-hour in the morning of Jan. 2nd, to protest at the state of our nation's trains and the fares we have to pay on them. Goto http://oneworldcolumn.org/  to read more!

Beyond Growth/Degrowth

Discussion moderated by Rupert Read and Jean Lambert -  19th Dec,  Europe House, 32 Smith Square, London, SW1P 3EU.  

A Wittgensteinien Way with Paradoxes - MY NEW BOOK, FOR SALE NOW!!

RR's new book, out this week!

My new book,  A WITTGENSTEINIAN WAY WITH PARADOXES, is out in print this week. :-) I've blogged about it here, at the Philosopher's Magazine site: http://blog.talkingphilosophy.com/?p=6272 See also the book's own site, here: https://rowman.com/ISBN/9780739168967   Let me know what you think of it!   p.s. The book's publication this week, given that it contains a lot of philosophy of mind/consciousness, helped get me onto the BBC yesterday: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p010f4ds  . Go one and a half hours in, to listen.

Powerful revolutionary graffiti art in Tunis

The 'communique' from the Partie Verte Tunisien from the training event that I ran last week, funded by the Westminster Foundation for Democracy.

Parti Tunisie Verte                                                                   Tunis, le 23 octobre 2012 Séminaire du Parti Tunisie Verte et du Parti Vert Anglais et Gallois Le 20 et 21 octobre 2012 s’est tenu à Mahdia (Tunisie) un atelier de travail organisé par le Parti Tunisie Verte et le Parti Vert Anglais et Gallois. Cet atelier a été animé par deux camarades délégués du Parti Vert Anglais et Gallois, des responsables des fédérations, des membres du bureau national et du coordinateur national du Parti Tunisie Verte. Ce séminaire a été soutenu par la fondation « Westminster » pour la démocratie. Un débat démocratique et franc s’est engagé entre les présents sur les thèmes suivants :  La vision d’avenir du « Parti Tunisie Verte », La structuration des partis et leur rapport avec les autorités politiqu...

Green Party Leader to Visit UEA

I’ll be doing a photocall with @NatalieBen at the start of this event:  The Green Party society at UEA are hosting a speaker event with the leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, Natalie Bennett. Natalie Bennett was elected leader of the Green Party in September 2012, having previously worked as a journalist during which time she edited the international newspaper The Guardian Weekly.  Natalie will be delivering a talk on fair pay at 3.30pm in Congregation Hall 01.20 on Wednesday 31st October.

#GreenParty announces its MEP candidates, with a clarion call for clean politics

The Green Party is the first to announce its candidates for the 2014 Euro-elections. The Green Party's list of candidates for the 2014 European elections in the East of England will be officially announced this weekend at the Green Party's Regional Annual General Meeting in Cambridge . The list as follows:   Dr. Rupert Read of Norwich, Co-ordinator of Eastern Region Green Party, is 1 st on the list - followed by C'llr. Mark Ereira-Guyer of Suffolk County Council; Jill Mills of St. Alban's, who   represents Eastern Region on the Green Party's governing body; C'llr. Ash Haynes of Norwich, one of the 15 Norwich Green City Councillors; Eroica Mildmay, renowned anti-Tesco campaigner from Sheringham; Marc Scheimann of Luton, long-time Green campaigner; & Robert Lindsay, former Times journalist, of Babergh in Suffolk.   Leading the Green Party's list of candidates here in the East of England is Rupert Read, who in 2009...

Party-funding reform proposals for the real world

    Why should the public purse fund a two-party political elite?     A new report that I've co-authored, on party funding, argues that the problems of a failing political system need urgent attention and that only then can the question of equitable party funding be resolved.     The report, published by the independent think tank Green House  (that I chair), is being launched on 13th October, at a conference in London timed to mark the exact 40 th anniversary of the meeting that led to the creation of Britain 's Green Party. Strangled by the Duopoly argues that if we take the needs of voters as our starting point, instead of simply serving the existing party system, this will take us beyond isolated discussions of how parties are funded to the wider crisis of UK democracy – including questions of electoral system, participation-rates and corporate power: ·          ...

International Society for Environmental Ethics Conference 2013

Cafe Conversations - Autumn 2012

Do come along, all welcome!

Philosophers at the Cinema comes to 'Cinema City' :-)

I am running this new series; all welcome; do come along!:   http://www.picturehouses.co.uk/cinema/Cinema_City/news/item/Uea_Philosophers_At_The_Cinema/     UEA Philosophers at Cinema City Cinema City is teaming up with the   University of East Anglia   for a season of films with philosophical themes. The screenings are followed by a Q&A with a philosopher, and informal drinks in the bar where the discussion can continue. No prior knowledge of philosophy required!   MAN ON WIRE (12A) Monday 8 October, 6.00 Introduced by Tom Greaves. Director: James Marsh. Featuring: Philippe Petit. UK 2008. 94 mins.   This documentary recounts how, on 7 August 1974, a 24-year-old French high-wire artist named Philippe Petit performed one of the most astonishing stunts of the late 20th century: he strung a thin cable between the two towers of the World Trade Centre and walked across from one building to another, s...

Top 15 philosophy-psychopathology films

My top 15 philosophical films relevant to psychopathology: Lord of the Rings trilogy (see 'LOTR', here: http://www.uea.ac.uk/~j339/publications.htm  ) Prospero's Books Total Recall (original version) ( http://www.facebook.com/notes/rupert-read/the-new-total-recall-an-enjoyable-disappointment/10152105590670301  ) Hiroshima mon amour L'annee dernier en Marienbad Manhunter Memento (see http://rupertread.fastmail.co.uk/Memento-A%20Philosophical%20Investigation.doc  ) Avatar (see http://www.radicalanthropologygroup.org/old/journal_04.pdf  - p.35f.; see also http://rupertread.fastmail.co.uk/Avatar%20and%20cinema.doc ) Persona (See http://rupertread.fastmail.co.uk/BERGMAN%20AS%20PHILOSOPHER.doc  ) Fight club Melancholia (see http://www.facebook.com/notes/rupert-read/an-allegory-of-a-therapeutic-reading-of-a-film-of-melancholia/10150882831905301  ) Breaking the waves Festen Vertigo Donnie Darko      And fi...

I will stand for election to Brussels in 2014, for the Greens.

The green party in the Eastern Region are pleased to announce that RUPERT READ will be their lead candidate in the European elections in 2014. Read received very strong support from Green Party members in Eastern England in the member's ballot, that has just been counted, and so will head the list again in 2014, as he did in 2009.   Rupert Read is a teacher and educator. He lives in Norwich with his wife Juliette. He works with UEA's environmental scientists on political philosophy, environmental philosophy and on philosophy of economics. He is chair of Greenhouse (www.greenhousethinktank.org ) and leads the Green Party in the East of England. He is a former Green Councillor on Norwich, having served two terms there.   Read said "My top priority, if I become an MEP here in the East in 2014, will be to work for a big investment in green jobs: good jobs for the future, in areas like sustainable local agriculture, public transport, and renewable energy ...

My INDY letter on Syrian

Check out my multi-signed letter, along with a bunch of Syrian and Arab intellectuals, laying into Fisk's sad piece on Syrian jails: http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/letters/ios-letters-emails--online-postings-9-september-2012-8120055.html?origin=internalSearch Scroll down for it.

CLIMATE IS CULTURE

Climate is Culture =================================== David Buckland, the Director of Cape Farewell, will be giving this talk on Thursday 20 September at 5.30 in E Fry 01.05. It is organised to mark the commencement of the new UEA MA/MSc Degree (that I am Course Director of) , between HUM and SCI, in Environmental Sciences and Humanities , and all are welcome to attend. David Buckland is an artist, writer, curator and film director who created and now directs the international Cape Farewell programme. The Cape Farewell project has over the past 12 years involved some of our best creative minds to create a different language of engagement and begin to vision what a sustainable future might look like. During this presentation, David Buckland will show films and artworks from the international artists and present just why we need a cultural shift and how this is a positive and exciting opportunity.

Greens welcome publicinquiry on incinerator

  The Green Party welcome the Government's decision yesterday to hold a planning Public Inquiry on the proposed  incinerator near King's Lynn. County Councillor Andrew Boswell, Green Party spokesperson for Environment, Transport and Development said: "This is fantastic news.  I've fought the Conservative administration's pro-incineration policy since becoming a Councillor in 2005.  There were many uncertainties and unanswered questions in the application that were not resolved at the Planning Committee meeting - these can now be looked at objectively by the Planning Inspector.   These include the air quality model and carbon emission footprint being seriously flawed, the risks to public health and from flooding, and that the incinerator would prevent Norfolk using more innovative waste treatment methods and suppress our recycling rates."     The Green Party helped stop the planned incinerator for Norwich/Coste...

2012 #UEA Philosophy PublicLecture Series:

PHILOSOPHY AND THE ECONOMIC CRISIS: 27 September: Prof. Nassim Taleb, author of The Black Swan – "What is the opposite of a 'fragile' system?: Comprehending the true origins of the financial crisis" [This will be AMAZING] 11 October: Panel discussion, moderated by Dr. Judith Mehta (ECO): Prof. Shaun Hargreaves-Heap (ECO), Dr. Alex Haxeltine (ENV) & Dr. Rupert Read (PHI) bringing different disciplinary perspectives to bear on "The current state of play of the Euro-crisis" 25 October: Prof. Catherine Rowett (PHI) – "Learning from Greece: thinking about austerity and monetary union in Pythagorean and Platonic politics" 8 November: Prof. Raymond Geuss, Cambridge – "The political philosophy underlying our financial and economic system" 22 November: Prof. Shaun Hargreaves-Heap vs Prof. Bob Sugden in debate over "The rationality of 'rational choice theory' and of contemporary economics" 6 December:...

New rail links from Oxford and Aylesbury to MK and Bedford finally approved by the government

On Monday we had the fantastic news that the Western Section of the Oxford – Cambridge railway, from Oxford and Aylesbury to Milton Keynes and Bedford, has been approved by the UK government. The line will be electrified and is expected to open in 2017. [If you would like to read the details in the government documents, they are on the internet here: http://www.dft.gov.uk/publications/hlos-2012/ ] This campaign has been successful through the support of many over a period of many years, including Eastern Region Green Party. Of course, the campaign continues for the Central Section from Bedford to Cambridge, and for the connection and upgrade of the Eastern Section from Cambridge into East Anglia. . .

Now #Damascus shells #Lebanon!

A new low for #Assad: #Syria is now shelling Lebanon...: http://www.lbcgroup.tv/news/39860/syrian-artillery-strikes-north-lebanon-three-kille http://edition.cnn.com/2012/07/07/world/meast/lebanon-syria-attack/ http://www.yalibnan.com/2012/07/07/one-lebanese-killed-5-injured-by-syrian-shelling/ It is time for Hizbollah and anyone who fancies themselves a Lebanese patriot to decide whether this criminal regime in Damascus is tolerable, let alone worthy of support, for a moment more...

Climate talk to launch ENV-HUM Masters, our new course here at UEA

'Climate Is Culture' David Buckland, Director of Cape Farewell 5.30pm, Thursday 20 September, 2012 Elizabeth Fry Building, Room 01.05, UEA Our scientists have done a brilliant job to make us aware of the seriousness of the climate challenge, but the cause of climate change belongs to how our lifestyles have evolved over the past 200 years. Climate change is about culture, our values, our economies and our consuming lifestyles. We need a cultural shift to begin to address the seriousness of the threat. The Cape Farewell project has over the past 12 years involved some of our best creative minds to create a different language of engagement and begin to vision what a sustainable future might look like. During this presentation, David Buckland will show films and artworks from the international artists and present just why we need a cultural shift and how this is a positive and exciting opportunity. David Buckland is an artist, writer, curator and film director who created and now ...

UK GHGs up since Kyoto, not down

As readers of Rupert's Read will have been aware for some years, there is a horrible disconnect between the British government's CLAIMS about Britain's carbon emissions, and the dirty reality. See below for more information - from our new Green House report on this: UK Greenhouse Gas Emissions Actually Rising Official Figures 'Misleading' Claims green think tank The British delegation at the Rio Conference will hold their heads up high: the UK, we will be told, has made great strides in reducing its greenhouse gas emissions. Yet analysis from environmental think tank Green House based on government figures demonstrates that this is a misleading claim and that, in reality, UK emissions have been rising. The official figures will leave two important contributors to greenhouse gas emissions out of the picture: Emissions from air travel and shipping, that together have doubled since 1990, from 3.2% of total UK em...

My debate victory at #Hay

Geoff Lean's reporting in the Telegraph of my Hay debate with Mike Hulme: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/hay-festival/9308587/Hay-Festival-2012-day-three-as-it-happened.html#  : 19.15 Geoffrey Lean   has sent this report from a "vigorous debate" at the Hay on Earth tent on   philosophy, politics and communication with Mike Hulme and Rupert Read: If climate scientists are partially responsible for beating they have taken over the last two and a half years, how much are they themselves to blame? Two academics from the University of East Anglian - at the heart of the storm since thousands of emails were leaked in November 2009- give very different answers. Mike Hulme, professor of climate science, believes that scientists ascribed too much certainty to their findings and went beyond the constraints of their discipline to make value judgements and recommendations for action. Rupert Read, reader, in philosophy, says that , on the con...

The #GreenParty Case for challenging Economic 'Growth'

A resume of the talk I gave at the recent Cambridge 'beyond economic growth' Conference:        1970s 'The Limits to Growth' , Club of Rome.   The report was 'discredited' because it predicted that certain resources would run out before they have done.   However, the report's predictions about pollution were in fact too conservative.   Saral Sarkar 'The Crises of Capitalism' 2011 – limits to growth is a causal factor in the financial crisis – the Return on Investment on 'real' products declines as the availability of resources becomes more limited.   This means money has to be made through speculation, debts etc.   http://www.oekosozialismus.net/The+Crises+of+Capitalism.+Saral+Sarkar.+2011.pdf   Hegemony of growthist discourse.   But this conference has over 100 ambassadors who can challenge the presumption in favour of economic growth.   We need to stop the the economy pl...

Sheffield lecture on guardians for future generations, next week

Guest lecture: A Superjury to Safeguard the Future Against Eco-threats 23rd May 2012 S ynopsis 'Democracy' means 'government by the people'; but who are 'the people'? Society exists over time and decisions taken today can have significant consequences for people yet to be born. In his recent report, Rupert Read argues that the interests of future generations should be formally represented within our existing parliamentary democracy. This will form the main subject of the talk, with time allocated for a debate. The report can be viewed   here .  Speaker Biography   Rupert Read is Reader in Philosophy at the University of East Anglia. Rupert ( www.rupertread.net ) works closely with environmental scientists, in eco-philosophy, at UEA, including on a new multi-disciplinary Masters course. His publications include his popular book, 'Philosophy for Life: applying philosophy in politics and culture'. He was a Norwich Green P...

Glasman in #Norwich!: Philosopher-Kings series continues

Glasman is a genius – if you haven’t heard him speak, then you MUST come to this: Lord Maurice Glasman talks about the politics of Blue Labour   On Thursday 17 May, Lord Maurice Glasman will give a lecture entitled Transgressive and Faithful: The Politics of Blue Labour as part of the new PSI/PHI lecture series – Philosopher Kings? How philosophy informs real politics today .   Lord Glasman was appointed a Labour life peer in 2011. He is Director of the Faith and Citizenship Programme at London Metropolitan University.   A response to the talk will be given by UEA’s Professor Alan Finlayson.   The lecture, which is free to attend, will be held in Lecture Theatre 1, UEA at 6.00pm.   www.uea.ac.uk/phi/eventsnews/events/maurice-glasman Glasman is a genius – if you haven’t heard him speak, then you MUST come to this event, in this seies which I co-created…                   ...