Steven Colborne

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Steven Colborne (born 1982) is a philosopher and author from Oxfordshire, England. He is the author of The Philosophy of a Mad Man, and writes regularly about philosophy, spirituality, religion, and mental health, on his personal blog. [1]

Life and career

Colborne was born in Cambridge, England, but moved with his family to Abingdon in Oxfordshire when he was four years old. He was a bright child and achieved highly at school, but his teenage years were troubled by his parents’ turbulent relationship and eventual separation. He moved to London to study in 2000, and achieved a 1st class BA (hons) degree in Commercial Music from University of Westminster in 2003.

Colborne’s career began in the music industry, where he worked as Head of Online Promotion for the Beggars Group of independent record labels. He promoted many number one selling artists, including Basement Jaxx, The White Stripes, Prodigy, Dizzee Rascal, and Pixies.

Following the death of his mother after a lengthy battle with cancer, Colborne had a severe psychological breakdown and quit his job at Beggars Group in 2005. He began to focus his attention on philosophy and spirituality as he battled to come to terms with the suffering that his mother had endured.

Colborne’s mental health problems persisted, and over the next few years he had three significant episodes of psychosis that resulted in hospitalisation, and in 2009 he was diagnosed with the condition Schizoaffective disorder. These frequent periods of mental ill health interrupted Colborne’s working life, but when able to work he focused his energies mainly on the charity sector, taking up positions at Age UK, Greenpeace, and Imagine Mental Health between 2006 and 2010.

During his second spell in psychiatric hospital in 2009, Colborne converted to Christianity and made a decision to return to University to study a postgraduate course in Philosophy and Religion. During this period he began to write about his life and philosophy, and his first book The Philosophy of a Mad Man was born.

A further episode of psychosis in 2011 interrupted Colborne’s studies and the completion of his book, but he eventually signed a publishing contract with SilverWood books and submitted the final manuscript of The Philosophy of a Mad Man for publication in April 2012

Published works

The Philosophy of a Mad Man (SilverWood Books 2012)

Part One of the book recalls the story of Colborne’s spiritual struggles and mental health problems. Part Two expounds Colborne’s unique philosophy, exploring the God/world relationship and the meaning of life.

External links

Steven Colborne’s Official Website Steven Colborne’s Philosophy Blog Amazon Author page