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Tallis in Wonderland

How Did We Get To Be So Different?

Raymond Tallis grasps the grip our hands have on our humanity.

Readers with long memories may recall that your columnist has a special affection for the human hand. Way back in 2001, he reflected on ‘Carpal Knowledge: The Natural Philosophy of the Caress’ in Issue 33. In 2008, he raised ‘Some Points About Pointing’ in Issue 70. And more recently (but how distant it now seems!), at the beginning of the Covid pandemic, he took the opportunity provided by reflections on handwashing to invite readers to use their hands to applaud those very same structures (Issue 138, ‘Philosophy in the Time of Plague, Pt.1’).