Neuromania, Humanism, & Transcendence

Why You Are Not Your Brain.

Philosopher & Physician Raymond Tallis in conversation with Saad Ismail on the intellectual diseases of
'Neuromania' and 'Darwinitis', on the insufficiency of naturalism in explaining consciousness, on
humanism & anti-humanists, on God & transcendence, on the soul & afterlife, and on straddling multiple
intellectual identities.

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Professor Raymond Tallis is a philosopher, poet, novelist, and cultural critic and was until recently a
physician and a clinical scientist.

Raymond Tallis trained in medicine at Oxford University and at St Thomas’ Hospital London before
becoming Professor of Geriatric Medicine at the University of Manchester. He was elected a Fellow of
the Academy of Medical Sciences for his research in clinical neuroscience and he has played a key role in
developing guidelines for the care of stroke patients in the UK. From 2011–14 he was Chair of Healthcare
Professionals for Assisted Dying.

He retired from medicine in 2006 to become a full-time writer. His books have ranged across many
subjects – from philosophical anthropology to literary and cultural criticism – but all are characterised by
a fascination for the infinite complexity of human lives and the human condition. The Economist’s
Intelligent Life magazine lists him as one of the world’s leading polymaths.