³ÉÈËÂÛ̳

We've a wonderfully heady show lined up for tomorrow. In addition to exploring the cultural riches of Byzantium (oh, yes!), we'll be taking a close-up look at a key modern thinker who remains uncelebrated in the land of his birth. Full disclosure requires me to fess up here: I have already created a Facebook appreciation group in honour of the philosopher Francis Hutcheson (for it is he), which boasts the sum total of 14 members. You know who you are.

The Francis Hutcheson Appreciation Society (catchy title, I know) describes itself as a group "for those who wish to celebrate the legacy of the Irish philosopher Francis Hutcheson (1694 - 1746), one of the founding fathers of the Scottish Enlightenment and an early defender of Utilitarianism. Born in Drumalig, in county Down, Northern Ireland, Hutcheson was educated at Glasgow University and served as professor of moral philosophy at Glasgow from 1729 until his death in 1746. His students included Adam Smith and Thomas Reid and he was one of the first academics to lecture in English rather than Latin."

That's the potted bio. But next week, at Stormont no less, a symposium will seek to build recognition for this remarkable thinker. And on tomorrow's programme, I'll be talking to two scholars of Hutcheson's work, Alexander Broadie and Michael Brown.