This episode is part of our Meeting of the Minds series in which we bring together leading thinkers from different backgrounds to discuss topics of mutual interest.

The topic is “religion without belief” in which we explore to what extent it is possible to benefit from religious practices, without fully adopting the associated belief systems.

The speakers are Rupert Sheldrake, Paul Kingsnorth, and Philip Goff, and some of the key points discussed include:

— How they arrived at their current understanding and the spiritual experiences that have had the biggest impact on them

— What our culture’s increasing drive towards secularisation might be costing us - both individually and collectively.

— Whether it is possible to pick and choose ‘parts’ of a religion without adopting it fully

And more.

You can learn more about their work by going to www.sheldrake.org, www.paulkingsnorth.net, and www.philipgoffphilosophy.com.

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Rupert Sheldrake is a biologist and author of more than 85 scientific papers, who was named among the top 100 Global Thought Leaders for 2013. He studied natural sciences at Cambridge University, then philosophy and the history of science at Harvard, before returning to Cambridge, where he took a Ph.D. in biochemistry. He is the author of 13 books, including “The Science Delusion”, “Science and Spiritual Practices”, and “Ways to Go Beyond”.

Paul Kingsnorth is a former journalist and deputy editor of The Ecologist magazine who has won several awards for his poetry and essays. He is also the author of ten books: both fiction and nonfiction. In 2009, he co-founded the Dark Mountain Project, an international network of writers, artists, and thinkers in search of new stories for troubled times.

Dr Philip Goff is a Professor of Philosophy at Durham University, whose main research focus is consciousness, but he is interested in many questions about the nature of reality. Goff is most known for defending panpsychism, the view that consciousness is a fundamental and ubiquitous feature of the physical world. He has authored an academic book with Oxford University Press – Consciousness and Fundamental Reality – and a book aimed at a general audience – Galileo’s Error. He is currently working on a book exploring the middle ground between God and atheism.

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Interview Links:

— Galileo’s Error - Philip Goff: https://amzn.to/3EFCByV

— Why religion without belief can still make perfect sense - Philip Goff: https://psyche.co/ideas/why-religion-without-belief-can-still-make-perfect-sense

— Philip’s website: https://www.philipgoffphilosophy.com/

— Paul’s website: https://www.paulkingsnorth.net/

— The Cross and the Machine - Paul Kingsnorth: https://www.firstthings.com/article/2021/06/the-cross-and-the-machine

— The Abbey of Misrule (Paul’s newsletter): https://paulkingsnorth.substack.com/

— Science and Spiritual Practices - Rupert Sheldrake: https://amzn.to/3CBBNsj

— Ways to Go Beyond and Why They Work - Rupert Sheldrake: https://amzn.to/3TaqG0n

— Rupert’s website: www.sheldrake.org

— Rupert’s YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/RupertSheldrakePhD