AutoBioPhilosophy: An intimate story of what it means to be human

AutoBioPhilosophy: An intimate story of what it means to be human
Robert Rowland Smith

AutoBioPhilosophy is an astonishingly frank and original autobiography that explores the fundamental question of what it means to be human.Robert Rowland Smith’s life story involves a love triangle, office politics, police raids, illegal drugs, the academic elite and a near-death experience. It sees him grappling with the tragic fate of his father, going through a double divorce and encountering a living divinity. We witness him confronting his demons but also looking out for angels.A former Oxford don, Robert uses these deeply personal experiences to generate philosophical insights that will resonate with everybody. What are the recurring patterns, unconscious motives and social forces that govern our behaviour? Through his experiences, and referencing writers from Shakespeare to Freud, he offers new models and ways into human psychology.As we are led into Robert’s private world, we gain an understanding of what it means to be human that is relevant to all.

Copyright (#ulink_e63faee4-6e62-5ae7-8170-e2dd9766c345)

4th Estate

An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

www.4thEstate.co.uk (http://www.4thEstate.co.uk)

First published in Great Britain by 4th Estate in 2018

Copyright © Robert Rowland Smith Ltd 2018

Robert Rowland Smith asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

This book is based on the author’s experiences. Some names, identifying characteristics, dialogue and details have been changed, reconstructed or fictionalised.

Cover photograph by James Fulton.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

Source ISBN: 9780008218461

Ebook Edition © March 2018 ISBN: 9780008218485

Version: 2018-04-10

Contents

Cover (#u838447e2-0f2a-500e-8cc2-27a4d7fb89b3)

Title Page (#u0a0be6c6-79d3-5d73-8a4d-41308060a75c)

Copyright (#uab18c74d-b6b2-5c37-ac41-8a1972e1d9ab)

Foreword (#u7b30b35d-9346-5247-acd4-9bd38336eca1)

Author’s Note (#u1053db3a-22fa-54f2-8c9b-6a50e5d8bf24)

1 Blood and Water (#u3a0b125e-5ee9-5ea9-b5d6-3e8818a078c6)

2 The Dream of Three Daughters (#u5e5902e2-e5c0-5f02-93a6-99c8d138574d)

3 The Keys to the Tower (#uc7736465-fd18-5a32-b8c4-6bebef6e05c9)

4 A Love Quadrangle (#litres_trial_promo)

5 Going to California: a case of aller-retour (#litres_trial_promo)

6 Office Politics (#litres_trial_promo)

7 Near Death (#litres_trial_promo)

8 The Forms of Things Unknown (#litres_trial_promo)

9 Portraits of Love (#litres_trial_promo)

Afterword (#litres_trial_promo)

Acknowledgements (#litres_trial_promo)

Epitaph (#litres_trial_promo)

Illustration Credits (#litres_trial_promo)

Footnotes (#litres_trial_promo)

By the same author (#litres_trial_promo)

About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)

Foreword (#ulink_f39648fe-d181-5bab-b034-925f2b23c6fa)

When such a spacious mirror’s set before him

He needs must see himself.

William Shakespeare

What is it to be human? That is the question. This book offers nine answers, each mapping on to one of the nine chapters. Being human means:

1 Dealing with our fate

2 Standing in the flow of time

3 Needing a purpose

4 Living amongst others

5 Making mistakes