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Philosophy

Essays and videos on philosophy, the history of ideas, ethics and life’s big questions

Beauty and aesthetics Bioethics Comparative philosophy Cosmopolitanism Death Ethics History of ideas Knowledge Logic and probability Meaning and the good life Metaphysics Philosophy of language Philosophy of mind Philosophy of religion Philosophy of science Political philosophy Thinkers and theories Values and beliefs Virtues and vices

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Photo of a man in a colourful patterned shirt lying in water looking upwards with a focused expression.

videoArt

Finding the spirit of Haiti through a tour of its contemporary art

20 minutes

Graphic with a vertical split between a red and brown background, with a brown circle at the centre of each half.

essayNeuroscience

Brain man

How can you have a picture of the world when your brain is locked up in your skull? Neuroscientist Dale Purves has clues

Asif Ghazanfar

Abstract painting with two large, nearly identical white panels divided by a thin vertical line.

essayMetaphysics

From nothing, everything

The idea of nothing pushes at the limits of thought, spawning paradoxes that have long nourished art, philosophy, and science

Victoria Wohl

Silhouette of a person sitting against a bright window with lens flare effects and a partial view of the outside city.

essayIllness and disease

I made it fun

Warren met his cancer diagnosis with tenacious optimism. But can positive thinking really affect the course of the disease?

Kirtan D Nautiyal

A person reading an open book with a blue scarf and hands resting on the pages in a calm setting.

essayPhilosophy of religion

Revolutionary tolerance

In an age of ferocious religious bloodletting, Sebastian Castellio argued that everyone seems like a heretic to someone else

Michael W Bruening

A man and a woman on a path next to a grassy area, both holding phones; the man is shown from behind and appears to be taking a selfie while a large stag walks behind him.

essayTechnology and the self

Record everything!

Our memories are precious to us and constitute our sense of self. Why not enhance them by recording all of your life?

Yannic Kappes

Illustration of two figures holding hands with colourful reflections on a blue surface.

videoEthics

A deathbed scenario raises the question: how much power should a promise hold?

5 minutes

Black and white photo of a child chasing a rolling tyre on a cobblestone street with a blurred motorcycle passing by.

essayPhilosophy of science

Breaking the chain

The role of the conscious observer has posed a stubborn problem for quantum measurement. Phenomenology offers a solution

Steven French

A Buddhist temple with a golden, intricately decorated roof amid modern skyscrapers under a partly cloudy sky.

essayEconomics

Divine dividends

In China, companies that are closer to temples are more generous to shareholders: religion subtly shapes economic behaviour

Zhangxin (Frank) Liu

Photo of a person sitting in a boat on a river surrounded by lush green jungle under a cloudy sky.

videoKnowledge

A Kichwa activist on ayahuasca’s rise – and what it really means to her people

15 minutes

Painting of three 18th-century men in discussion, one holding an illustration. A dog lies on the floor.

essayVirtues and vices

David Hume vs literature

Hume distrusted literature and worked to discredit character sketches as legitimate forms of philosophy

Katie Ebner-Landy

Ancient Chinese painting of a scholar in robes resting on a mat outdoors by cliffs and sparse vegetation on brown silk canvas.

essayMetaphysics

Essence is fluttering

As Zhuangzi saw, there is no immutably true self. Instead our identity is as dynamic and alive as a butterfly in flight

Alexander Douglas

A woman and four children inside a car, under an orange sky. A boy is in the driver’s seat, the woman in the passenger seat.

essayMetaphysics

Reality is evil

Everything eats and is eaten. Everything destroys and is destroyed. It is our moral duty to strike back at the Universe

Drew M Dalton

Painting of a black bird with a red tail on a white tree branch set against a blue sky and yellow landscape.

videoNature and landscape

Scenes from Aboriginal Australian pottery chart the turn of the seasons

7 minutes

A lively classroom with smiling people, one person standing while holding a paper, posters in the background.

essayKnowledge

Socrates would be pleased

With a class of college students and inmates, teaching philosophy in prison is a rowdy, honest and hopeful provocation

Jay Miller

Black and white photo of a thoughtful woman and two children, one holding a crying baby, indoors near wooden doors.

essayEthics

Why love matters most

For Iris Murdoch, morality is not about duties and rules but stopping our ego fantasies and attending to others with love

Cathy Mason

A surfer in a wetsuit emerging from a large turquoise wave with white foam crashing around.

essaySports and games

The secret

At the heart of surfing, whether you’re a kook or a famous charger, is the pursuit of moments so pure they clean you out

M M Owen

Abstract digital art with geometric shapes in various colours, forming the shape of a person’s head and shoulders, featuring black glasses in the centre.

essayEthics

The incompleteness of ethics

Many hope that AI will discover ethical truths. But as Gödel shows, deciding what is right will always be our burden

Elad Uzan

Illustration of a brain with a tap attached, with yellow liquid flowing out against a grey background.

videoEthics

What’s an idea worth? How prominent thinkers have understood intellectual property

6 minutes

Photo of three people in traditional robes, two holding wooden staffs, standing outside a wooden building in sunlight.

essayRituals and celebrations

A life in Zen

Growing up in countercultural California, ‘enlightenment’ had real glamour. But decades of practice have changed my mind

Anshi Zachary Smith

Black and white photo of a man in a suit speaking passionately at a podium with microphones.

essayBiography and memoir

The story of Malcolm X

Alex Haley co-wrote The Autobiography of Malcolm X but Haley left out some profound elements of Malcolm’s political thought

Alex White

Photo of a woman wearing sunglasses, gesturing in front of a large stone monument with carved figures.

videoThinkers and theories

The prison abolitionist who dares to envision a world without ‘unfreedoms’

16 minutes

A round pot encircles a hole in the soil, around the hole are dried leaves, a stone and a stick.

essayAnthropology

Spider divination

Life is complicated. In Cameroon, initiated diviners read the messages of spiders to untangle possible futures

David Zeitlyn

A crocodile underwater with mouth open wide showing teeth in a cloudy green environment.

essayThe environment

Beyond food and people

Nietzsche shows us how to embrace our connection with nature – without denying its essential conflict, strife and suffering

Nicholas E Low