Explore philosophy through its most famous quotes! Today: Philosopher and Theologian Albert Schweitzer on the Reverence for Life. (more...)

A history of philosophy in its most famous quotes. Today: Jeremy Bentham on the suffering of animals: “The question is not, Can they reason? nor, Can they talk? but, Can they suffer?” (more...)

Explore philosophy through its most famous quotes! Today: Socrates on knowing that you know nothing. (more...)

Tartaglia’s sometimes uneven exploration of how philosophy could be popularised is hugely amusing and entertaining at places, but it also has parts that don’t quite live up to its promise. (more...)

Christopher Hamilton’s “Rapture” is a very pleasant, well-written, intelligent, and inspiring essay on the many meanings of human lives. (more...)

Superhero Thought Experiments, by Chris Gavaler and Nathaniel Goldberg, is a very enjoyable book that presents classic arguments from philosophy by discussing examples of superhero comics. (more...)

My father spent at least 40 years of his life working to develop an internally-driven perpetual motion machine. (more...)

A cashless society seems convenient, but it has severe drawbacks, especially for the least privileged in society. (more...)

Sweetgreen CEO Jonathan Nemen sparked a firestorm in October 2021 when he posted on Linkedin that America hadn’t been paying enough attention to obesity’s role in aggravating Covid’s dangers. (more...)

Robert Rodriguez’ “The Book of Hermits” is a work of impressive scholarship, covering the global history and lore of eremitism from antiquity to the present. (more...)

We visit three very different hermits: Agafia Lykova in remote Siberia, Mauro Morandi on a Mediterranean island paradise, and Lincolnshire nun Rachel Denton. What unites them and gives their lives meaning? (more...)

Tom Neale spent a total of fourteen years alone on a little island in the Suwarrow Atoll in the South Pacific, where he found peace and happiness in solitude. We have a look at this extraordinary life. (more...)

We all want our money to serve the right cause – but how can we make sure that it will? Catherine Greene on what is involved in ethical investing and ESG considerations. (more...)

If you explain to a friend that Hedonistic Egoism advocates the pursuit of one’s own pleasure, the first reaction you may get is: “so why not kill a person, steal his money and buy a new phone?” If you do get this reaction, it may be time to get a new friend. (more...)

This a systematic survey of the arguments and counterarguments that are most commonly in play when considering the ethical rights and wrong of euthanasia and whether it should be legally permitted. (more...)

A hundred years ago, activists were building parks and libraries and community centres so that workers would put the newly found free time to good use. (more...)

Are the people who perform evil acts ordinary or extraordinary? Just like other people or exceptional people? (more...)

In this episode, Ezechiel and Andy finish their discussion of moral relativism. If we don’t want to be relativists, what ways are there to know whether one country or system is better than another? (more...)

Michelstaedter has been one of the few geniuses in human history who attempted to come to the very core of human suffering. (more...)

Gilbert Ryle (1900-1976) was a British philosopher, primarily concerned with the nature of the mind and the role of philosophy in the world. (more...)

Descartes admired her intelligence and Leibniz stood at her deathbed, but during most of her life, she was a penniless refugee. Meet Elisabeth, Princess of Bohemia. (more...)

The photograph captures what the eye measures. Van Gogh captured what the mind feels the sky to be. Whose account of the night is truer? (more...)

In collectivist societies, personal failure is rarely experienced privately. One person’s choices are seen as reflecting upon the entire family. (more...)

The tragedy may be less about desire than we assume, and more about origin, order, and the wrong inner position. (more...)

Humans are the only species that can both cause and contemplate their own extinction. Our enormous technological and philosophical abilities put us in a unique existential situation. (more...)

Instead of pretending that animal rearing is a just endeavour, may we face the real nature of this practice. (more...)

Luca Guadagnino’s After the Hunt renders this shift visible through a sexual misconduct allegation at Yale University. (more...)