Iain McGilchrist (born 1953) is a

psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry, the branch of medicine devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, study, and treatment of mental disorders. Psychiatrists are physicians and evaluate patients to determine whether their sy ...

, writer, and former

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

literary scholar. McGilchrist came to prominence after the publication of his book ''

The Master and His Emissary ''The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World'' is a 2009 book written by psychiatrist Iain McGilchrist that deals with the specialist hemispheric functioning of the brain. The differing world views of the ri ...

'', subtitled ''The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World''. McGilchrist read English at

New College, Oxford New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as its feeder school, New College is one of the oldest colleges at th ...

, but having published ''Against Criticism'' in 1982, he later retrained in

medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pract ...

and has been a

neuroimaging Neuroimaging is the use of quantitative (computational) techniques to study the structure and function of the central nervous system, developed as an objective way of scientifically studying the healthy human brain in a non-invasive manner. Incr ...

researcher at

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...

in Baltimore and a Consultant Psychiatrist at the

Maudsley Hospital The Maudsley Hospital is a British psychiatric hospital in south London. The Maudsley is the largest mental health training institution in the UK. It is part of South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, and works in partnership with the ...

in south London. McGilchrist is a Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, and has three times been elected a Fellow of

All Souls College, Oxford All Souls College (official name: College of the Souls of All the Faithful Departed) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Unique to All Souls, all of its members automatically become fellows (i.e., full members of t ...

. According to his web site in 2009, at the time ''The Master and His Emissary'' was published, McGilchrist worked privately as a consultant psychiatrist in London. He still lives on the

Isle of Skye The Isle of Skye, or simply Skye (; gd, An t-Eilean Sgitheanach or ; sco, Isle o Skye), is the largest and northernmost of the major islands in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The island's peninsulas radiate from a mountainous hub dominated ...

, off the coast of

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

and continues to write, and to deliver many lectures and interviews. From the author's web site 'About' page. In 2019 it was reported that McGilchrist had been working on a new book of

neuroscience Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system (the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nervous system), its functions and disorders. It is a multidisciplinary science that combines physiology, anatomy, molecular biology, development ...

epistemology Epistemology (; ), or the theory of knowledge, is the branch of philosophy concerned with knowledge. Epistemology is considered a major subfield of philosophy, along with other major subfields such as ethics, logic, and metaphysics. Episte ...

and

metaphysics Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that studies the fundamental nature of reality, the first principles of being, identity and change, space and time, causality, necessity, and possibility. It includes questions about the nature of conscio ...

, ''

The Matter with Things ''The Matter with Things: Our Brains, Our Delusions, and the Unmaking of the World'' is a 2021 book of neuroscience, epistemology and metaphysics written by psychiatrist, thinker and former literary scholar From an introductory lecture at Schum ...

'', which was published on 9 November 2021 by Perspectiva Press, London.

Selected works

* (Hardcover) * * E-. Print . * (Hardcover) * (Kindle ebook) * (Paperback) * (Hardcover, 2 volumes)

References

External links

McGilchrist's official websiteMcGilchrist's profile at All Souls College, University of OxfordChannel McGilchrist web site''The Divided Brain'' documentary web site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mcgilchrist, Iain Living people 1953 births British psychiatrists Fellows of the Royal College of Psychiatrists Fellows of All Souls College, Oxford Philosophers of mind Cultural historians British science writers Alumni of New College, Oxford