The Thinking Body

Many people find modern life distressing. I argue that this is caused by the quality of our thinking. Our minds play tricks on us. This is because our minds are not anchored in our bodies, which gives the impression that minds live a life of their own. Only when we return mind to its bodily 'home' will human beings live in harmony with the world. I suggest a number of ways this can happen. Yet lying behind mind is an even stronger force, which I call the socio. Only after mind has been anchored in the body can we begin to understand this complex and pervasive force. Philosophy has not been a great help. It has become a bookish exercise located in libraries. I argue philosophy should return to where it arose - at the centre of our lived lives in conversations in groups of friends, in the way of Socrates in the Greek Agora or in private homes. Brave, open-minded discussion can harness philosophy's powerful tools. Problems of mind and the socio become manageable and human harmony with the world achievable.