Raymond Tallis

”I am a humanist and see my work as a doctor and as a philosopher as respectively an expression of, and as setting out the case for, my humanist convictions.”

Professor Raymond Tallis is a philosopher, poet, novelist and cultural critic and was until recently a physician and clinical scientist. In the Economist's Intelligent Life Magazine (Autumn 2009) he was listed as one of the top living polymaths in the world.

Born in Liverpool in 1946, one of five children, he trained as a doctor at Oxford University and at St Thomas' in London before going on to become Professor of Geriatric Medicine at the University of Manchester and a consultant physician in Health Care of the Elderly in Salford. Professor Tallis retired from medicine in 2006 to become a full-time writer, though he remained Visiting Professor at St George's Hospital Medical School, University of London until 2008.

Ray is married to Terry, a social worker, and they have two sons, one 31 and one 27.

Over the last 20 years Raymond Tallis has published fiction, three volumes of poetry, and 23 books on the philosophy of mind, philosophical anthropology, literary theory, the nature of art and cultural criticism. Together with over two hundred articles in Prospect, Times Literary Supplement and many other outlets, these books offer a critique of current predominant intellectual trends and an alternative understanding of human consciousness, the nature of language and of what it is to be a human being. For this work, Professor Tallis has been awarded two honorary degrees: DLitt (Hon. Causa) from the University of Hull in 1997; and LittD (Hon. Causa) at the University of Manchester 2002. He is Visiting Professor of English at the University of Liverpool.

His recent publications include: The Enduring Significance of Parmenides: Unthinkable Thought (Continuum, 2007) which examines the nature and origin of the cognitive revolution the inaugurated Western thought; The Kingdom of Infinite Space: A Fantastical Journey Round Your Head (Atlantic, 2008) in which he reflects on the mystery of embodiment; and Hunger (Acumen, 2008) which explores the complex drives that make human life what it is. The Kingdom of Infinite Space has been translated into Dutch, Italian and Russian; Spanish and Korean translations are in the pipeline.

In June 2011 he published Aping Mankind: Neuromania, Darwinitis and the Misrepresentation of Humanity (Acumen), a critique which exposes the exaggerated claims made for the ability of neuroscience and evolutionary theory to explain human consciousness, behaviour, culture and society. It was chosen as one of the books of the year 2011 in the Guardian (David Lodge), Observer, and Evening Standard (George Walden).

Raymond Tallis makes regular appearances at Hay, Cheltenham, Edinburgh and other book festivals, and lectures widely. In 2004, he was identified in Prospect Magazine as one of the top 100 public intellectuals in the United Kingdom.

Prior to his retirement from medicine to devote himself to writing, Raymond Tallis had responsibility for acute and rehabilitation patients and took part in the on-call rota for acute medical emergencies. He also ran a unique specialist epilepsy service for older people. Amongst his 200 or so medical publications are two major textbooks - The Clinical Neurology of Old Age (Wiley, 1988) and the comprehensive Brocklehurst's Textbook of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology (Harcourt Brace, co-edited with Howard Fillitt, 6th edition, 2003). Most of his research publications are in the field of neurology of old age and neurological rehabilitation. He has published original articles in Nature Medicine, Lancet and other leading journals. In recent years, two of his papers have been the subject of leading articles in Lancet. In 2000 Raymond Tallis was elected Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences in recognition of his contribution to medical research; in 2002 he was awarded the Dhole Eddlestone Prize for his contribution to the medical literature on elderly people; and in 2006 he received the Founders Medal of the British Geriatrics Society. In July 2007, he received the Lord Cohen Gold Medal for Research into Ageing, and in November 2011 he is to be honoured with the International League Against Epilepsy's Special Excellence in Epilepsy Award. He is a Patron of Dignity in Dying.

Raymond Tallis's national roles have included: Consultant Advisor in Health Care of the Elderly to the Chief Medical Officer; a key part in developing National Service Framework for Older People, in particular the recommendations of developing services for people with strokes; membership of the National Institute for Clinical Excellence Appraisal Committee; Chairmanship of the Royal College of Physicians Committee on Ethics in Medicine; Chairman of the committee reviewing ethics support for front-line clinicians; and membership of the Working Party producing a seminal report Doctors in Society, Medical Professionalism in a Changing World (2005). In July 2011 he was elected Chair, Healthcare Professionals for Assisted Dying (HPAD).

Forthcoming Talks, Appearances and Broadcasts

Tallis is appearing on Private Passions with Michael Berkeley, BBC Radio 3 on Sunday 12th February, 12.00: "Music is deeply important to Raymond Tallis. He has chosen the last movement of Beethoven's Quartet Op.135, which asks the existential question 'Must it be?', to which he thinks we may find an answer in the Beatles' classic 'Let it Be'. Wagner's Wesendonck Lieder explore the celebration of death and sex, while Tallis's great motet 'Spem in alium' creates an awesome wall of sound. FInally,the opening aria of Bach's cantata BWV 82 (Es ist genug) is related to Raymond Tallis's own views on assisted dying when an individual feels that 'it is enough.'" (From the BBC programme notes.)

The Francis Bacon Lecture 2012: Aping Mankind: Neuromania, Darwinitis and the Misrepresentation of Mankind. Free public lecture: Wednesday 29 February 2012, 18:30 for 19:00, de Havilland Campus, University of Hertfordshire.

 

New Book

Aping Mankind: Neuromania, Darwinitis and the Misrepresentation of Humanity (Acumen) has just been published.

 

Work in progress

In addition to regular columns for Philosophy Now, The Reader and articles in a wide variety of outlets, Raymond Tallis is working on:

Of Time and Lamentation: Reflections on Transience;

A Smile at Waterloo Station: Essays on Consciousness, Language and Literature.

His review of Seamus Heaney's The Human Chain is about to be published in The Lancet.

A translation of The Kingdom of Infinite Space in Russian has just been published, and translations into Spanish and, Korean are in course of preparation.

In Spring 2012 Acumen is to publish a collection of Tallis's philosphical essays: the provisional title is Everyday Light.

Julian Spalding has compiled an anthology of Tallis's writings, which is currently being submitted for publication.