Ultimate Questions

Bryan Magee has had a long and distinguished career as a philosopher, music and theatre critic and BBC broadcaster, where he hosted a series on central questions in philosophy. Now in his 80s, this is his philosophical testament reflecting on the human predicament and the limits of knowledge. It is clearly and fluently written from a broadly humanist perspective that rejects transcendence and sees in religion an unjustified evasion. His position is a questioning and radical agnosticism, where he wonders if we actually have the equipment to go beyond a limited sensory understanding. He shows no sign of being acquainted with the literature of mysticism and survival of consciousness and, although he has a sense that consciousness transcends the material world, this does not affect his view of death most probably as oblivion.

Movingly, he experiences the prospect of death in terms of grief and loss, summarising his view as: 'I know that I have a persisting self for as long as I am in this world, but I am unable to fathom its inner nature, and I have no idea what happens to it when I die.' (p. 119) Magee's horizons are an illusory security of faith on the one hand and a full acknowledgement of ignorance on the other, but without considering the possibility of gnosis as a deeper way of knowing. He speculates that even when we depart from the world we will be in the same state of ignorance and uncertainty, which is not consistent with the survival literature (for instance as studied by CD Broad – see also Private Dowding below). I don't personally see this as 'grasping at the supernatural' but rather as a way of extending our knowledge and reducing our ignorance. Nevertheless, this is a moving and profound reflection on life.