#79 Dr. Raymond Tallis - The Nature of Consciousness: Curiosity and Wonder

Update: 2025-07-21

Description

Professor Raymond Tallis is a philosopher, poet, novelist and cultural critic and is retired as 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.

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 three honorary degrees: DLitt (Hon. Causa) from the University of Hull in 1997; LittD (Hon. Causa) at the University of Manchester 2002 and Doc (Med) SC, St George's Hospital 2015. He was Visiting Professor of English at the University of Liverpool until 2013.

In this conversation,

Dr. Raymond Tallis discusses the nature of consciousness, the complexities of human existence, and the interplay between science, philosophy, and poetry. He emphasizes the extraordinary aspects of ordinary life and the importance of imagination in shaping our experiences. The dialogue explores themes of free will, the role of language, and the critiques of reductionist views in neuroscience and Darwinism. Tallis describes his humanist perspective and recognizes the richness of human experience and the interconnectedness of all beings.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Consciousness and Wonder

04:44 Exploring Explicitness in Consciousness

09:31 The Brain and Consciousness: A Complex Relationship

14:50 The Limitations of Reductionism in Science

19:33 The Nature of Consciousness: Human vs. Non-Human

24:27 Language and Its Impact on Human Consciousness

29:22 The Role of the Hand in Human Evolution

34:46 Psychoactive Plants and Consciousness Development

38:53 Exploring Psychedelics and Perception

41:30 Challenges in the Scientific Community

46:09 Understanding Humanism and Free Will