In *Expecting the Earth*, Wendy Wheeler formulates a history and theory of biosemiotic and proto-biosemiotic thinking, drawing on philosophers like Charles Sanders Peirce and Jakob von Uexküll. The book explores how living organisms evolve in conversation with their semiotic environments, integrating biology, aesthetics, and technology. It argues for a shift beyond gene-centrism and mechanism, emphasizing the role of information and communication in biological systems.
This book provides a detailed analysis of the conservative case for religion by establishment, arguing that conservatism is rooted in a religious worldview. It critiques secular conservatism, particularly Roger Scruton's views, and explores alternatives through the works of Edmund Burke and Joseph de Maistre. The author integrates insights from psychology and theology to advocate for establishmentarian conservatism and the role of religious ideas in political communities.
This book provides a detailed analysis of the sources of Aquinas's thought and the reception of his realism, offering insights into the metaphysical structure of creation. It explores the analogy of divine creation with works of art, presenting the world as a 'picture' of God. The author carefully avoids pantheism, staying within Christian Tradition.
In 'A Secular Age', Charles Taylor explores the transformation of Western society from a pre-modern world where belief in God was inescapable to a modern secular age where believing in God is just one option among many. Taylor argues against the 'subtraction story' of secularization, which posits that religion has been removed from society. Instead, he describes a complex historical process involving the Reform movement in Christianity, the rise of disciplinary society, and the emergence of exclusive humanism. The book examines how these changes have affected the conditions of belief and unbelief, and how they have shaped modern social forms, moral orders, and spiritual experiences[1][3][4].
Ritual, Wisdom, and What’s Lost
Sebastian Morello was trained in philosophy by Sir Roger Scruton and Andrew Pinsent. He is a lecturer, columnist, and popular public speaker in the United Kingdom and throughout Europe. Morello has previously co-authored books on subjects of philosophy and education. He lives in Bedfordshire, England, with his wife and children.
Each quarter, John engages in thought-provoking extended conversations with a leading expert in psychology, philosophy, and spirituality. Each season offers a unique exploration, bringing together their diverse fields of knowledge to create fresh insights and understanding. These in-depth discussions, chaptered for your convenience, offer nuanced perspectives and integrative approaches to navigating our complex world.
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"What practices and philosophical frameworks can help us recover a sense of the sacred in an age dominated by disenchantment and institutional collapse?"
John Vervaeke and Sebastian Morello engage in an expansive dialogue that traverses the authority crisis in the Catholic Church, the enduring wisdom of Neoplatonism, and the transformative power of Hermetic practices. Anchored in Morello’s provocative new book, Mysticism, Magic and Monasteries, the conversation unpacks the “double crisis” of our time- one of meaning and one of sanctity, and argues that modernity functions like a spell that must be broken. Together, they examine how monasticism once offered a stable and embodied sanctity, and why recovering mysticism, ritual magic (in the Hermetic sense), and lived devotion might be essential for collective reawakening.
Notes:
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(0:30) John reconnects with Sebastian Morello
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(3:00) Sebastian Gives a Brief Introduction of Himself
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(6:00) Diagnosing the Double Crisis - Meaning and Authority
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(9:00) Critique of Modernity and the Catholic Church
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(12:00) The Loss of Embodied Wisdom in the West
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(20:00) Neoplatonism and the Need for Relational Ontology
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(26:30) Philosophical Anthropology and Cosmic Personhood
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(31:00) Modernity’s Ontological Truncation
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(38:30) Sacred Authority and the Failures of Clericalism
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(42:00) Monasteries as Alternatives to Institutional Collapse
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(49:00) Christian Liturgy as Baptized Theurgy
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(54:00) Hermetic Cognition - Practicing the Theocentric Vision
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(1:00:00) Recovering Sacred Imagery - Tarot, Ritual, and Mystical Space
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(1:04:00) Digital Gnosticism and the Threat to Embodiment
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(1:07:00) The Future of Privacy - Personhood, Property, and Charity
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(1:11:00) The Philosophical Silk Road - East-West Interpenetration
Dr. John Vervaeke 
