Arts & Ideas Humility
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Mar 27, 2026 Dr Dan Taylor, Spinoza scholar; Ceri Sullivan, Shakespeare and Renaissance expert; Aaron Reeves, sociologist of elites; Sir Robert Buckland, former Lord Chancellor and barrister; Lamorna Ash, writer on contemporary Christian life. They debate humility as inward virtue, ritual and religious practice, Spinoza’s critique, performative ordinariness by elites, and humility’s role in politics and public service.
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Bukayo Saka's Team First Return
- Robert Buckland noticed Bukayo Saka crediting medical staff and teammates after returning from injury, framing success as collective rather than individual.
- Buckland called this “unconscious humility,” an example of someone thanking the team instead of seeking personal spotlight.
Eating Humble Pie Over A Place Name
- Dan Taylor recounted misnaming a Fenlands place as “Happysburg” until a local gently corrected him to Haysborough, forcing him to eat humble pie.
- He used this to illustrate how small local knowledge errors expose the outsider's blind spots.
Spinoza Warned Against Feigned Humility
- Dan Taylor explained Spinoza rejected humility as a virtue because it can devalue human striving for knowledge and be weaponised as submission.
- He quoted Spinoza listing humble behaviours then arguing true human nature resists such abasement and that feigned humility masks ambition.