Robert Rowland Smith

PHILOSOPHER

Robert Rowland Smith is a British author and philosopher. His books include Derrida and Autobiography (Cambridge University Press, 1995), Breakfast with Socrates: The Philosophy of Everyday Life (Profile Books, 2009), and AutoBioPhilosophy: An Intimate Story of What It Means to Be Human (4th Estate, 2018). He is a regular speaker at public and private events, addressing a wide range of topics that includes philosophy, psychology, politics, and art. Alongside his literary career, Smith works as a business adviser and practitioner of Systemic Family Constellations. The Simple Truths deck is based on the latter.

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Robert Rowland Smith Philosopher Digital Card Deck Creator SIMPLE TRUTHS
CARD DECKS BY ROBERT ROWLAND SMITH


SIMPLE TRUTHS

UNTANGLE HIDDEN ISSUES

SINGLE DECK

‘Simple Truths’ is a deck of cards designed to help you think about your relationships, be those relationships with people (partner, parent, colleague, etc) or things (money, work, the future, etc).

The deck is divided into two suits, each made up of 100 cards displaying a single sentence:

The red ‘tangled’ sentences represent the thoughts that may be holding you back in a relationship. For example, ‘There’s a limit to my love,’ ‘I would rather dream than act’, ‘I don’t deserve to win’.

The green ‘untangled’ sentences express thoughts that may be more constructive. For example, ‘I will open the door’, ‘I will share my secret’, ‘No more theories, just the facts’.

You are invited to focus on a particular relationship, and then choose up to three red ‘tangled’ cards and three green ‘untangled’ cards. You read the sentences and reflect on how they apply to the relationship in question. Where is the truth?

In some cases, the sentences might confirm what you were already thinking. In other cases, they might name something of which you were only dimly aware. They might challenge your assumptions. They might even get you to rethink the relationship altogether.

There is no limit to how many relationships you can think about with the cards. The two hundred sentences should give you everything you need to express what is hindering those relationships and how to help them.