Looking for the meaning of life? Just call the 24-hour philosopher-in-a-van

It sounds like the perfect antidote to credit-crunch gloom: a 24-hour emergency philosopher on call to deal with your existential angst at a moment’s notice. That’s the vital service being promised by a silver-grey van that has been spotted on Britain’s streets.

At first glance, it appears to be the transport of an ordinary plumber or electrician but the company name emblazoned on its side - Grey Matters Ltd - hints at the higher purpose.

Beneath is a telephone number and the exhortation: ‘Don’t even think about it, call us instead’, followed by a promise to consider all thoughts ‘from an inkling to a eureka’.



However, any lingering doubts that the enterprise could be anything other than an elaborate joke are dispelled by the final sentence. It reads: ‘Ten per cent discount when you mention Tarski’s argument that the moral theoretic characterisation of logical consequence is more basic than its characterisation in terms of a deductive system.’

The hoax van is the brainchild of Paul Hocker, 40, who came up with the idea when he was an ‘immature mature student’ five years ago.

Mr Hocker sold the van a year ago to two Asian grocers who run a fruit and vegetable stall in East London. ‘They kept the design - and my phone number - on it, and I still get at least two calls a month,’ said Mr Hocker.