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Philosophy

Essays and videos on philosophy, the history of ideas, ethics and life’s big questions
The scar of identity | Aeon
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Thinkers and theories

The scar of identity

Alexandre Kojève was an immense influence on many French thinkers. What was so compelling about his lectures on Hegel?

Samantha Rose Hill

Stuck with the soul | Aeon
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Consciousness and altered states

Stuck with the soul

The idea of the soul is obviously a nonsense, yet its immaterial mysterious nature has deep hooks in the human psyche

David P Barash

Where went the wolf? | Aeon
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Animals and humans

Where went the wolf?

The very attributes that make small dogs cute and popular are slowly strangling their ability to function as real animals

Jessica Pierce

The panopticon | Aeon
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Thinkers and theories

Jeremy Bentham was consumed by creating a perfect prison. Here’s the result

4 minutes

Masham and me | Aeon
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Thinkers and theories

Masham and me

Were it not for her friendship with John Locke, the radical feminist gems of philosopher Damaris Masham might be unknown

Regan Penaluna

Wielding death | Aeon
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Politics and government

Wielding death

When everyday life is marked by oppression and violence, can a martyr’s death truly be an act of freedom and resistance?

Umar Lateef Misgar

The ethics of human extinction | Aeon
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Ethics

The ethics of human extinction

Why would it be so bad if our species came to an end? It is a question that reveals our latent values and hidden fears

Émile P Torres

Selected before birth | Aeon
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Bioethics

Selected before birth

Embryo risk screening could lower the odds of illnesses ranging from depression to diabetes. Can it be ethically done?

Todd Lencz & Shai Carmi

How to outsmart the prisoner’s dilemma | Aeon
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Logic and probability

Chew over the prisoner’s dilemma and see if you can find the rational path out

6 minutes

Secrets hurt their holders | Aeon
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Mental health

Secrets hurt their holders

Holding back the truth can take a huge toll on your relationships and your mental health. Why? And is there a better way?

Michael Slepian

The impossible architecture of Étienne-Louis Boullée | Aeon
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Architecture

The radically impractical 18th-century architect whose ideas on beauty endure

19 minutes

If not vegan, then what? | Aeon
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Ethics

If not vegan, then what?

A vegan diet can be hard to adopt, even if you’re convinced it’s the right thing to do. What are the next-best options?

Peter Godfrey-Smith

Under the mkone tree | Aeon
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Mental health

Under the mkone tree

When I returned to Kenya, where I grew up, I found biomedicine and traditional medicine in conversation about mental health

Priya Basil

Super-cooperators | Aeon
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Philosophy of mind

Super-cooperators

Clear and direct telepathic communication is unlikely to be developed. But brain-to-brain links still hold great promise

Gary Lupyan & Andy Clark

Known unknowables | Aeon
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Knowledge

Known unknowables

The ancient Sceptics used doubt as a way of investigating the world. Later thinkers undermined even that possibility

Mahdi Ranaee

Barry Loewer on causation | Aeon
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Metaphysics

Bertrand Russell wanted to kill off causation. Can contemporary philosophy rescue it?

8 minutes

Goodbye Pixel | Aeon
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Animals and humans

Goodbye Pixel

Although it felt more like bereavement for a person than the loss of a thing, the death of a pet isn’t exactly like either

Julian Baggini

Ethical dilemma: whose life is more valuable? | Aeon
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Ethics

How many monkeys is it worth sacrificing to save a human life?

6 minutes

Forgotten existentialist | Aeon
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Thinkers and theories

Forgotten existentialist

Sartre gets much of the credit for existentialism. Karl Jaspers not only preceded him, but offered a way out of despair

Deborah Casewell

Second shot | Aeon
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Human rights and justice

Thirty years after one teenager shot another, is it time to forgive?

28 minutes

Family passages | Aeon
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Life stages

Family passages

Each new generation learns from its elders. But familial voices now compete for influence with a chorus of urgent others

Elizabeth Svoboda

Philosophy’s blindspot | Aeon
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Philosophy of mind

Philosophy’s blindspot

Education has long been ignored by contemporary philosophers. That is a myopic view that must change

David Bakhurst

Chemical somnia | Aeon
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Chemistry

A square inch in a Petri dish becomes a grand stage for chemical transformations

4 minutes

The politics of pain | Aeon
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History

The politics of pain

Medical science can only tell us so much. To understand pain, we need the cultural tools of history, philosophy and art

Rob Boddice