Roger Scruton on Love and Sex

In this sermon by Roger Scruton, one of our best known and most loved public philosophers, we’ll consider the strangeness and wonder of sexuality.

What do innocence, passion, perversion and desire mean to us today? In this thought provoking intellectual adventure, Roger Scruton will consider what the great philosophers have had to say about sex and sexuality, and consider the unique challenges of love and sex for the age of Tinder and sexting.

Our culture is both more permissive and more censorious than before; internet pornography and social media have taken sex into public life, while a range of new crimes, from date rape to sexual harassment, now protect us from unwanted attentions. What insights can philosophy provide to help us understand this strange new world? What hope is there for the shy, devoted, and unattractive? How can we navigate through these waters and ensure that the path of true love runs smooth?

Since 2008 The School of Life has presented strictly secular Sunday Sermons exploring the values we should live by today. We ask maverick cultural figures to give us their take on the virtues to cling to or the vices to be wary of in our complex world. Expect persuasive polemics, pop-song hymns and artist-made buns and biscuits.

11.20 Doors open
11.40 Sermon starts
12.30 Refreshments served
13.00 End