Regulars p. 3 Editor’s Note p. 6 The Q&A Turkish writer Ece Temelkuran p. 9 Witness News, comment and your letters p. 71 Crossword Set by Chaliapin p. 74 Endgame Seeking transcendence By Laurie Taylor Contents Winter 2016

p. 72 The Big Question What forms of “ancient wisdom” would you banish?

p. 73 Quiz Set by Chris Maslanka columns p. 8 Cosmos The search for a new planet By Marcus Chown p. 16 Lyrics Bob Dylan’s Nobel win By Yo Zushi p. 70 In a Word “Grammar” By Michael Rosen

Peter Adamson on Islamic philosophy, p. 42

“The brain is quite simply the most complicated object known” Clive Coen, page 34

Features p. 18 Reportage What the row over a student protest in India tells us about the dangerous rise of Hindu nationalism By Preeti Jha p. 22 Cover story The devastating effect climate change is having on our oceans By Mark Lorch p. 26 Memoir Why I quit my job as a Catholic priest By Richard Barton p. 30 Trauma The theatre director using Greek tragedy to help

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communities heal trauma and loss By Matthew Green p. 34 Biology Will we ever be able to freeze the brain and revive it? Probably not By Clive Coen p. 38 Ethics What’s behind the trend for “modesty” in fashion? By Angela Saini m ay y

: es p. 42 Ideas Jacques Derrida’s ideas provide a radical critique of rationalism By Peter Salmon cov e r i l lu st r atio n

New Humanist | Winter 2016