Carrantuohill commands magnificent scenery of course, but it is a beast. From this walk you may still see the 40 foot "Free Tibet" banner draped from the peak leading up to the mountaintop and under which all manner of serious rock climbers ply their trade. A dizzying lot to behold. The highest mountain in Ireland may be best approached via the infamous Devil's Ladder but it is inadvisable to return on this path if it is raining as the steep and stony track can get very slippy. Having...

In the "God Delusion", Dawkins - himself in the grip of a rationalist fever reminiscent of the parched academia of George Eliot's Dr. Casaubon - maintains that the success and survival of religion requires for him a strictly Darwinian explanation. He expresses his dissatisfaction with several theories which attempt to do this; namely (1) the stress and placebo effect - it provides solace and comfort during trying times such as bereavement (2) it answers our fear of death and mortality...

Obviously its early days yet but it should be clear to everyone that the US is not the same player it has been traditionally now that we have an Obama administration. What exactly those differences are, whether they are strong enough to actually make a renewed peace process viable, the coming years will decide. Obama's decision, for instance, to make entreaties on the Saudi-owned al-Arabiya news channel to renew diplomatic relations with the Iranians has been viewed by the wider Arab and Muslim...

It is clear to me from reading Stephen Brookefield's 'The Power of Critical Theory for Adult Learning and Teaching' (2005) that modern Marxist theory is in especial need of a robust and pertinent model of subjective ontology if it is to satisfactorily explicate the relationship it insists exists between the repressive social structures produced by the deterritorializing encroachments of late capitalism and the subsequent generation of a false consciousness that blindly colludes in its own disempowerment....

What do we normally think about when it comes to making moral decisions? If it is a question of not wishing to be late for work or an appointment then the normative moral axis seems to pivot on the disrespect we do not wish to show to those who would otherwise expect us to be punctual. Yet, perhaps our tardiness bespeaks an altogether different type of morality awaiting to be born. We may be late for such occasions as we are unconsciously striving to be free from the unwanted bonds which such arrangements,...