Alan McManus, M.Theol.(hons), M.Phil, PGDE, M.Litt., Ph.D., wrote his doctoral thesis on the work of the creative and contrarian American Philosopher, Dr Robert M. Pirsig. "Life Choice" is the second book in a series of considerations of the ethical implications of his reading of pirsigian metaphysics (ontology) which started with "Only Say The Word: Affirming Gay and Lesbian Love", published by Christian Alternative in 2013. As well as publishing articles on political philosophy and WW1 remembrance in the online journal, Citizenship, Social and Economics Education, his 'Strange Attractors: Myth, Dream and Memory in Educational Methodology' is the final chapter of the "International Handbook of Interpretation in Educational Research" published by Springer in 2015. "Alchemy at the Chalkface: Pirsig, Pedagogy and the Metaphysics of Quality" is available at www.robertpirsig.org.
As Catholics are not committed to any particular philosophical expression of change and presence in the Eucharist, and Protestants resist that of transubstantiation, this book offers a new ecumenical interpretation – one that may also be helpful in the furious current debate over the assertion and denial of the reality of transgender. This interpretation concerns ontology, ‘the nature of nature’.
Spiritual reflections on dogs can teach us lessons that just might save our lives. Thank God for dogs who remind us to be happy in the moment, who get us out and about, who remind us that it’s not ‘all about me’, who teach us about injury and pardon, who lead us into friendship, who are kind, compassionate and do not judge us for our social situation. Thank God for these angels with hairy faces.
Well-meaning people dole out diet advice daily but, as an observant newcomer to nutrition, while writing my doctoral thesis I saw things differently. I’d like to share with you my vision of how to make the change from the depressing experience of poor health, low energy, unhealthy complexion and clothes that don’t fit to the exhilarating experience of looking good and feeling fine: Body-logic!
"Dreaming Anarchy" records my fieldwork and theoretical reflection in the autumn of 2001 on a back-to-nature community occupying a Pyrenean village in Spanish Territory. My methodology while in the community was to record and analyse my own dreams, a fitting form with which to study a utopia, interpreting them as sticky webs of meaning using Freud's "The Interpretation of Dreams" as a toolbox.
In an ideological conflict of immortal souls versus politicised bodies, "Life Choice" pleads for free expression of the contradictions of the human heart, challenges men to dismantle the machinery of misogyny and encourages women to find common ground in the material and moral support of women who want to continue with a pregnancy but experience great economic or social pressure not to give birth.