We should avoid the unnecessary suffering of animals—no one but the most disturbed among us would disagree. Unfortunately, pointing out that this moral square peg doesn’t usually fit in the round hole of meat-eating is distasteful to many. The ideological zeal with which many ...read more
As the apocalypse descends, just enjoy the moment. What a beautiful reminder of the limits of our apish brains; how fragile our civilization, how transient each species on Earth; a testament to the fact that humans climbed out of the trees in Africa barely a second ago and ...read more
- “Orlando may be strongest example yet showing how mental illness is ignored as factor when mass shooter is non-white” - Glen Greenwald after Orlando shootings. - “Every country has homophobia and mental illness. Not every country has guns." - Gary Younge, Editor-at-large for ...read more
A dizzying number of publications recently ran a piece titled “Why It’s Impossible To Actually Be A Vegetarian”. Within it, philosopher Andrew Smith argued that because ecosystems tend to involve the transfer of matter from both plant to animal and animal to plant, plants are ...read more
A few days ago, my Twitter feed succumbed to a familiar trend. Firstly, scant rumours of a bombing trickled out - this time in Brussels. Minute by minute, details of the nature of the attack accumulated, until it became clear this was yet another jihadist terrorist attack. People ...read more
Have you heard of the Hygiene Hypothesis? It describes how our obsession with cleanliness and sterile homes may be causing the steep increase in allergies we've seen in recent decades. More than one in five children in industrialised countries now suffer from asthma, hay fever or ...read more
Are you a feminist? Unfortunately, the number of people who respond ‘yes’ to this question is currently falling off a cliff. The belief that men and women should have equal opportunities represents one of the most direct routes towards a more humane society, yet the name for this ...read more
I recently noticed a trend on my Facebook news feed: uncomfortably cute memes shared from the page of David Wolfe. “Your eyes are useless when your mind is blind.” “An easy life has never produced a powerful mind.” Who is David Wolfe? On casual investigation I was aghast to ...read more
I recently wrote two articles related to the ethics of meat-eating. The first, published in Salon, was called 'New atheists must become new vegans: Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins and the extra moral burden on moral leaders'. Due to a clear issue with the title, imposed by Salon ...read more
I have had a strange week. Last Sunday my very first popular article was published: ‘New Atheists Must Become New Vegans: Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins and the extra burden on moral leaders’. Until then my words had been constrained to my practically invisible blog, but Salon gave ...read more