The Thinking Fix, Hume and Kant, with Kieran Sheedy - Barnes Philosophy Club Oct 2026

David Hume, one of the founding figures of modern humanist thought, argued that the popular idea of "conquering emotion with reason" misunderstands how the mind actually works: reason alone has no power to motivate anything. A well-ordered mind, for Hume, is not one where cold logic defeats feeling, but one where our better passions — empathy, curiosity, benevolence — guide reason toward good ends, keeping our more destructive impulses in check. Drawing on my new book, The Thinking Fix, I will argue that understanding our own thinking patterns does not turn us into unfeeling calculators — our nature will not let us go that far — but it does let us manage and moderate ourselves more wisely. I will also set out the opposing case: Kant's insistence that duty requires us to act from pure reason alone, overriding rather than trusting our passions. It is not a view I hold, but I think it deserves a proper hearing — and I am hoping to find a few Kantians in the room ready to make it. Kieran Sheedy trained as an architect in Dublin and London before becoming a Management Consultant specialising in Business Change. This led his interest in the study of psychology, with a particular focus on cognition and behavioural economics — engaging directly with leading thinkers in the field. His research is distilled in two books: Good Thinking, and Bad: Using the Science of Cognition to Make Better Decisions (2018), and the forthcoming The Thinking Fix: Rewire Thinking Patterns for Better Outcomes (2026, co-authored with Deri Hughes) Out on 06 Sep 2026. Find us at the OSO Arts Centre website under Philosophy Club, or at barnesphilosophy.org.uk.