Philosophy
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Global history
Geopolitics is for losers
The concept of geopolitics comes from German and Russian attempts to explain defeat and reverse loss of influence
Harold James
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Ethics
Moral mathematics
Subjecting the problems of ethics to the cool quantifications of logic and probability can help us to be better people
Elad Uzan
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Metaphysics
We are interwoven beings
A dragon needs the clouds and the wind in order to fly. What happens when we too relinquish individualistic reasoning?
Mercedes Valmisa
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Thinkers and theories
Bernard Williams on Descartes’s audacious endeavour to prove knowledge is possible
43 minutes
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Stories and literature
Was Colin Wilson a fascist?
For thousands of fans, he made philosophy thrillingly relevant. Yet there is a deep unsavoury undercurrent to his worldview
Jules Evans
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Ageing and death
When his elderly parents make a suicide pact, Doron struggles to accept their choice
19 minutes
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Metaphysics
This essay isn’t true
Alethic nihilism is the theory that nothing is true. There is much to gain by taking this radical idea seriously
David Liggins
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War and peace
Trenches in Chernobyl
Disturbing and inhaling radioactive dust, in their haste Russian soldiers unburied the wrecked, undead Earth itself
Michael Marder
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Knowledge
Yes, the Inuit have dozens of words for snow – but what does each one mean exactly?
6 minutes
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History of ideas
The invention of free love
Percy Shelley thought romantic love freed men and women from the strictures of monogamy, but did it free them equally?
Neil McArthur
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Economic history
Jesuits in the boardroom
As corporations struggle to survive in a more uncertain world, they should look to the success of the Society of Jesus
Paolo Quattrone
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History of science
How one of history’s most beautiful books was used to find fate in the cosmos
6 minutes
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Beauty and aesthetics
Attuned to the aesthetic
The ultimate value of the world can be discovered if you are sensitive to what is beautiful
Tom Cochrane
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Evolution
Symmetry rules life on Earth – but it comes with many fascinating exceptions
9 minutes
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Ethics
The lethal act
The Buddha taught not to kill, yet his followers have at times disobeyed him. Can murderers still be Buddhists?
Martin Kovan
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Thinkers and theories
The generous philosopher
Bruno Latour showed us how to think with the things of the world, respecting their right to exist and act on their own terms
Stephen Muecke
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Beauty and aesthetics
What does art do?
Good art, laced with irony, ambiguity and suspense, is not obviously political. That’s what makes it politically interesting
Vid Simoniti
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Human rights and justice
Beyond ‘guilty’ or ‘not guilty’ – could a range of verdict options be more just?
9 minutes
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Comparative philosophy
Medieval but not Christian
It’s shocking that histories of medieval philosophy celebrate only Christian thinkers, ignoring Islamic and Jewish thought
Yitzhak Y Melamed
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Palaeontology
A dinosaur is a story
As Brontosaurus tells us, in science as in fiction, the stories we tell to understand the world are always being revised
Nathaniel Goldberg & Chris Gavaler
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History of science
A singular scientist
James Lovelock was a visionary whose greatest ideas were made possible by his unshakeable independence
Roger Highfield
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Religion
The imperative betrayal
The mystery of why Judas forsook Jesus goes to the heart of Christianity. A newly translated gospel offers a new view
David Brakke
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Metaphysics
Is the question ‘Why is there something instead of nothing?’ even worth asking?
9 minutes
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Logic and probability
Is it more likely you’re a person with a past, or an ephemeral brain in a void?
6 minutes