Little Atoms with Raymond Tallis

For rest of September, Little Atoms will be discussing ideas raised in a new series of books, entitled The Art of Living, edited by former Little Atoms guest Mark Vernon and published by Acumen Publishing.

The Art of Living - We live in a world where people are searching for new insights and sources of meaning. Religion often seems questionable; work and the consumer treadmill unbalanced; and self-help worthy but simplistic. Philosophy is the great untapped resource of our generation. From Plato to Russell philosophers have engaged wide audiences on matters of life and death. The Art of Living series aims to invigorate philosophy and open up the subjects riches to a wider public once again. Taking its lead from the concerns of the ancient Greek philosophers, the series asks the question "how should we live?" Authors draw on their own personal reflections to write philosophy that seeks to enrich, stimulate and challenge the reader's thoughts about their own life.

This Neil Denny will be talking to writer Raymond Tallis about Hunger.

Raymond Tallis was Professor of Geriatric Medicine at the University of Manchester until he left to become a full-time writer in 2006. Author of more than 250 medical publications, Tallis was, in 2007 presented with the Lord Cohen Gold Medal for Research into ageing and, in the same year, the Healthwatch Award for promoting evidence-based medicine. He was elected fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences for his research into stroke and epilepsy.

In addition to his medical works, Tallis is author of many works of fiction and poetry, and has written on the philosophy of the mind, philosophical anthropology, literary theory, the nature of art and cultural criticism. His books include The Kingdom of Infinite Space, Hippocratic Oaths: Medicine and its Discontents, In Defence of Realism, The Knowing Animal and Absence. 2007 Tallis was nominated in the Independent as one of "50 Brains of Britain" and in April appeared as a castaway on Desert Island Discs.