Most of what I write about could be broadly construed as philosophy, in the sense that I'm interested in how to live a good life, given the kind of creatures we are, and our contemporary context.
You can find out more on my New Slim Site - knowyogaireland.com
I've written three books! The first is based on my PhD thesis, Love is Green: compassion as responsibility in the ecological emergency, Vernon Press, 2020. I've finished editing (and am waiting the publication of) a second book, Philosophy as Practice in the Ecological Emergency: An Exploration of Urgent Matters, Palgrave Macmillan, forthcoming 2022. And I've just completed a third book, Yoga for Now: embodied philosophy in the ecological emergency). This should give you some idea of what I think the contemporary context is: the ecological emergency.
I'm interested in questions around agency - what kind of freedom do we have? - and I relate these to questions around the kinds of creatures we are - evolved living creatures. I'm also interested in the notion that Timothy Morton writes so beautifully about, which is the idea of enmeshment. I take this a step further than Morton and explore the internal/ external experience from a non-dualistic perspective: we are emerging into an experience of an emergency, en masse, because we urgently and critically need to deal with our own fragmentation and internal system collapse/ inability to integrate what is happening in our personal, social and political relationships.
I've worked in a refugee camp in Kenya, in an Islamic university in Indonesia, and in North Sudan (before it was North Sudan), as well as in Hungary, Ireland and the UK. I'm interested in how to live well, and how that relates to the idea of being, or doing, the right thing, or the good thing. What could that mean?
Like everyone else, I've got my very own set of issues, including long-standing pain that I have dealt with, periodically, with sometimes highly self-destructive self-medication. I also deal with it through meditation, yoga and philosophy, and writing helps too. So, expect me to get personal! I really hope you enjoy reading about my thoughts on where we are and what kind of explorations will be most beneficial, and that you contact me if you want to discuss anything in detail.