While starting with a view of the Judaic/Christian religion, as the cultural background to Western thought, the essay proceeds to examine the nature of reality as perceived by the human mind, and how that mind fits into a current culture developing within a scientific and technological environment. Readers are led along paths of logic to the point where logic seems to cease to function, then left to consider the issues themselves. However, it is claimed to be reasonably well proven that a free society cannot be permanent within a social structure deriving from a pleasure pain philosophy. The work evolves this proposal logically with outcomes which question much that is accepted by society as a whole, before returning to the theme of what reality is. Given the subject matter, the writing style is light and conversational, even, in its examination of mathematical definitions, sometimes bordering on the whimsical. Yet, the content is undeniably serious, the character of the presentation reflecting the need for objectivity and respect for proven fact which was implicit to the ethos of the early humanists. It is, clearly, aimed at a wider audience than the academic reader.