Welcome to Simon Blackburn's Web Page

Welcome! This is the page for those of you who want to know about the philosopher Simon Blackburn, who is a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, half-time Research Professor at UNC Chapel Hill, and Professor at the New College of the Humanities. Other Simon Blackburns are elsewhere in cyberspace, such as this homonymous mathematician, Link who kindly put a link to me, or nowhere in cyberspace, although let us hope somewhere in physical space. Students should scroll down to find Holman Hunt's painting The Awakening Conscience, which is the link to notes (but as I am not conducting a course at present, there are no notes to be seen).

Here is a picture of me
in a native habitat:
follow it for a brief biography

My most reent book is a small book on Truth, published in their "Ideas in Profile" series by Profile Books. I had the idea of calling it "Post-truth: fake news" since it claims that we cannot be post-truth, at least while we need to live and breathe. But it's not really about Brexit and Trump, so this was deemed inappropriate. It is about much more interesting things, to me at any rate

My previous book was a meditation on emotions directed at the self. It was to have been called "Because You're Worth It" but there was fear that L'Oreal might object. Since the book is partly about the perils of vanity I cannot unfortunately mention the brilliant review by Shahidha Bari in the THE, March 2014 although you could try clicking on the picture

Here too is my second collection of essays. Anybody finding it in bookshops under household pets, zoology, etc. please tell the management.

The site now gives you seven distinct options, one for each day of the week

There is a bread and butter place for students in my current courses, or at least those whose consciences are awakened, to find notes when I have suggested that they are here to be found:
You can browse several recent papers by following this route: The picture shows you how much pleasure reading can give .
This image of the Government Command Economy Gauleiters is inadequate to the horrors awaiting you if you follow the link and learn about Higher Education in the UK.
Next, You can see an assortment of other books, remembering that Nietzsche said that a philosopher is an explosion waiting to happen.
A recent addition is the portfolio of black & white photographs with, I hope, philosophical themes, that I have taken over the years. The diagonal arrow bottom right brings up the full screen instead of the slide list.
Another thing you might want to do is to look at a bibliography to see what the fearless undaunted wanderer above the sea of fog, gazing resolutely into the Heart of Being, bringing back reports from outside the Cave, has managed to tell:
The last option is to look at reviews I have written in various organs, particularly the New Republic. These include reviews of works by Heidegger, Eco, Nussbaum, Pinker, Dawkins, Parfit and others. The ladder is to enable us reverently to approach these commanding presences, and then, with a smile or a tear, to climb down again.

Here is a picture of me in a native habitat: follow it for a brief biography
My most reent book is a small book on Truth, published in their "Ideas in Profile" series by Profile Books. I had the idea of calling it "Post-truth: fake news" since it claims that we cannot be post-truth, at least while we need to live and breathe. But it's not really about Brexit and Trump, so this was deemed inappropriate. It is about much more interesting things, to me at any rate
My previous book was a meditation on emotions directed at the self. It was to have been called "Because You're Worth It" but there was fear that L'Oreal might object. Since the book is partly about the perils of vanity I cannot unfortunately mention the brilliant review by Shahidha Bari in the THE, March 2014 although you could try clicking on the picture
Here too is my second collection of essays. Anybody finding it in bookshops under household pets, zoology, etc. please tell the management.