Logan: We've been encouraged for a long time to think by ourselves. My concern is that that has become it's gone too far in a sense. To get these views you need other people there are so many things I don't know about and other people are really smart about, he says. Logan: One of the ways you don't want to be like philosophers is that sometimes philosophers get too convinced of their own hype if you like. He argues against cognitive speed bumps because most bad thinking is a consequence of just going that little bit too fast.
The writer Sarah Bakewell explores the long tradition of humanist thought in her latest book, Humanly Possible. She celebrates the writers, thinkers, artists and scientists over the last 700 years who have placed humanity at the centre, while defying the forces of religion, fanatics, mystics and tyrants.
But placing humans at the centre isn’t without problems – critics point to its anthropocentric nature and excessive rationalism and individualism, as well its Euro-centric history. The philosopher Julian Baggini guides the listener in unpicking the tenets of humanism. His latest books is How to Think Like a Philosopher: Essential Principles for Clearer Thinking.
Humanism may have relegated the divine to the side lines, but for the characters in Leila Aboulela’s novels faith and devotion are integral to their sense of themselves. In her latest book, River Spirit, set in Sudan in the 1880s, her young protagonists struggle to survive and find love amidst the bloody struggle for Sudan itself.
Producer: Katy Hickman