Forum for European Philosophy LSE Literary Festival lecture: The Soul of the Marionette: a short inquiry into human freedom

John Gray draws together the religious, philosophic and fantastical traditions that question the very idea of human freedom. We flatter ourselves about the nature of free will and yet the most enormous forces – biological, physical, metaphysical – constrain our every action. Many writers and intellectuals have always understood this, but instead of embracing our condition we battle against it, with everyone from world conquerors to modern scientists dreaming of a ‘human dominion’ almost comically at odds with our true state.

John Gray is the author of a number of highly regarded books including False Dawn, Straw Dogs and most recently The Silence of Animals. He has taught at Oxford, Harvard, Yale and LSE. This event marks the publication of The Soul of the Marionette.

Chair: Danielle Sands is a Fellow at the Forum for European Philosophy.

Suggested hashtag for this event for Twitter users: #LSElitfest