A C Grayling Discusses Democracy
At our latest Speaker Series event, pupils, parents and alumnae heard from the illustrious philosopher and author Professor A C Grayling, arguably one of most influential thinkers of our age.
Professor Grayling CBE (Master of the New College of the Humanities and Supernumerary Fellow of St Anne’s College, Oxford) has written over thirty books covering the theory of knowledge, philosophical logic, and the history of ideas. He is a columnist and contributor to various newspapers and periodicals and has made numerous appearances on TV and radio.
At our Speaker Series evening this week, A C Grayling delivered a profoundly enlightening and topical talk on the theme of democracy, encompassing history, philosophy and politics. His panoramic overview of the origins and evolution of the democratic process took in Plato, Cromwell, Locke, John Stuart Mills and Churchill before addressing the intrinsic problems connected with giving people a voice.
His detailed analysis of how democracy has been made to fail cited Trump and Brexit as symptoms of a system that has broken down. A thorough examination of the role of social media and its “toxic spout of false facts” ensued, with its power to harvest personal data and micro-message pockets of the electorate. He argued that it is, in part, this “weaponisation of spin” that has subverted the democratic process, delivering anomalous results. Asserting his view that democracy is in fact no longer truly serving the people, he delivered an impassioned argument for the urgent need of reform.
Following a wide-reaching and intellectually rigorous discourse, Professor Grayling fielded a range of incisive questions from the floor, particularly the younger members of the audience, covering issues such the legality of referenda, lowering the voting age, proportional representation and identity politics. He ended with a salutary reminder of the adage: ‘may we live in interesting times.’ Our thanks to Professor Grayling for a very interesting evening and a thought-provoking and illuminating talk.
The Speaker Series is one of the many initiatives introduced by Mrs Bingham to help open the minds of our pupils. Each term we invite the whole school community to hear from and quiz an array of distinguished guests with a myriad of different opinions. To date, we have welcomed a range of experts in their fields including the first female MI5 Director General, Dame Stella Rimington MBE, feminist science writer Angela Saini, and the Rt Hon Michael Gove.