Over the coming months Iain will be taking part in both in-person events, retreats and online discussions. Below you will find a list of the events coming up which largely focus on expanding conversations and discussions around his latest book, The Matter with Things.
Tuesday Talks at The Arthur Conan Doyle Centre with Dr Iain McGilchrist
22nd March 2022 | 7.30pm until 9.00pm | £6 | Online
‘Iain McGilchrist in dialogue with Lance Butler about his new magnum opus The Matter with Things‘
World famous philosopher, author and psychiatrist Iain McGilchrist, joins Professor Lance Butler for a discussion about his new two-volume book The Matter with Things.
This text is a sustained critique of reductive materialism from McGilchrist’s educated and varied perspective. In this landmark new book, Iain McGilchrist addresses some of the oldest and hardest questions humanity faces – ones that, however, have a practical urgency for all of us today:
- Who are we?
- What is the world?
- How can we understand consciousness, matter, space and time?
- Is the cosmos without purpose or value?
- Can we really neglect the sacred and divine?
In addressing these questions, he argues that we have become enslaved to an account of things dominated by the brain’s left hemisphere over the more intuitive right hemisphere. Through this we have been blinded to an awe-inspiring reality that is all around us.
McGilchrist suggests that in order to understand ourselves and the world we must employ science and intuition, reason and imagination, not just one or two- and that these modes of thinking are not in conflict. To read more and to book click here.
An in person event at The Arthur Conan Doyle Centre, Edinburgh
The Matter with Things: A Day’s Seminar with Iain McGilchrist
9 April 2022, 10:00 am – 6:00 pm
What to expect from the day
An Introduction to the Hemispheres
Everything you thought you knew about hemisphere differences is false. The truth is far more interesting – indeed fascinating and revelatory; and helps make sense of what is happening to us in the modern world.
The Sense of the Sacred
The sacred is simultaneously the profoundest aspect of human experience and the hardest to articulate. What can knowledge of the hemispheres contribute to our understanding?
For more information and to book click here.
The Divided Brain and the Sense of the Sacred – With Theos
Free Event, Thursday 21st April 2022, 12:30 – 13:30 (UK time) online
Iain McGilchrist will be in conversation with Nick Spencer to discuss science, religion, the brain, the sacred, and the future of humanity.
Iain McGilchrist’s The Master and his Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World is already an acknowledged classic. His recently published follow up The Matter with Things: Our Brains, Our Delusions and the Unmaking of the World is destined to become one.
Covering an astonishingly wide intellectual range, its final chapter – 60,000 words long – focuses in on what his thesis about divided brain has to say about our “sense of the sacred” (Spoiler alert: the answer is a lot).
For more information and to book, click here.
A Sense of the Sacred with Dr Iain McGilchrist
Sunday 24th April 2022 3.00pm – 4.30pm (UK Time) via Zoom
In this seminar, Dr Iain McGilchrist draws on his new work, The Matter with Things, and addresses some of the oldest and hardest questions humanity faces – ones that have a practical urgency for all of us today. Specifically, what has happened to our sense of the sacred and divine? Does it matter any longer? Is it true that it has been driven out of our world by science and reason? How could an understanding of the structure and function of the human brain even begin to make sense of what has happened – and is still happening? And should we be concerned?
This seminar will be followed by a Q&A with Iain.
For those people who cannot attend live, this event will be recorded and all links to the recordings will be sent to everyone who has purchased a ticket.
For more information and to book click here.
Re-Visioning Consciousness, Pari Center Retreat in Italy
5th – 12th June, 2022 – In Person event
Speakers: Harald Atmanspacher, Gary Lachman, Iain McGilchrist, John Pickering, William Seager, Shantena Augusto Sabbadini, Angelita Valencia Borbon and Beverley Zabriskie. Guests Federico Faggin and Roberto Miller
About the Event: When we move beyond the ‘hard problem of consciousness’ by recognizing the primacy of consciousness, a vast panorama of questions opens up. How do we understand matter, time and space, individual consciousness, birth and death, free will? Are all things alive and conscious in some sense?
Join us at the Pari Center and let us explore together the tip of the iceberg of these challenges, perhaps the closest that philosophical enquiry comes to our existential questions and emotional involvement.
Participating in an event at the Pari Center means not only meeting with scholars and experts but living for a week in a medieval village, mingling with the tiny local population, eating local dishes and drinking local wines, appreciating the beauty of the surrounding countryside, and participating in a very gentle way of life far from the frenzy of work and city living. David Peat compared Pari to an alchemical vessel—a place where transformation can come about—as well as an opportunity to pause for a moment and re-assess one’s life. It’s a unique opportunity open to everyone.
Please contact Eleanor if you would like more information about this event at eleanor@paricenter.com and click here for The Pari Center’s website and more information about this event.
Live Q&A session with Iain on Channel McGilchrist
Thursday 5th May 6.00-7.30pm UK time
The next live Q&A session with Iain for members will take place on Thursday 5th May from 6.00-7.30pm UK time. Members are asked to submit questions beforehand in the Ask Iain form or come with questions ready to post in the chat. Iain will not be able to respond to all questions. If you would like to find out more about becoming a member click here.
Thank you for reading
The Team at Channel McGilchrist
