Menu
Aeon
DonateNewsletter
SIGN IN

Philosophy

Essays and videos on philosophy, the history of ideas, ethics and life’s big questions
Photo of deep space with a pale blue dot in the distance against a dark background, featuring faint light streaks.

essay

Cosmology

Just a pale blue dot

When we see the Earth as ‘a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam’ what do we learn about human significance?

Tim Bayne

A dark building at night, the black building structure contrasting with a deep blue night sky, with many vertical rectangular windows, three windows are brightly lit.

essay

Philosophy of science

More-than-human science

When AI takes over the practice of science we will likely find the results strange and incomprehensible. Should we worry?

Brandon Boesch

Photo of dandelion seeds in flight against a blurred green forest background.

video

Meaning and the good life

Why Orwell urged his readers to celebrate the spring, cynics be damned

11 minutes

Ancient stone sculpture of a reclining female figure on a smooth surface against a grey background.

essay

Thinkers and theories

The truth about love

In Plato’s Symposium, Socrates shared a theory of love from the teachings of a ‘non-Athenian woman’. Who was she really?

Armand D’Angour

Black and white photo of a firing squad in a wooded area with snow on the ground, soldiers aiming rifles at standing figures.

essay

Death

The last letter

Condemned to death by firing squad, French resistance fighters put pen to paper. Their dying words can teach us how to live

Daniel R Brunstetter

Photo of people walking outdoors carrying trays of plants, surrounded by bushes and greenery.

essay

Meaning and the good life

Welcome to the Chaoscene

The climate crisis is here. In order to thrive in these dangerous and precarious times, we must build resilient communities

Rupert Read

Painting of two armoured warriors confronting three hooded witches under a turbulent sky, with one warrior holding a spear.

video

History

Hags, seductresses, feminist icons – how gender dynamics manifest in witches

13 minutes

Black and white photo of people wrapped in shawls sitting with light and smoke creating dramatic shadows and highlights.

essay

Philosophy of mind

By the light of brahman

Ideas from classical Indian philosophy help illuminate the enigmas of selfhood, consciousness and the nature of reality

Anand Vaidya & Manjula Menon

Black and white photo of a man in a suit sitting indoors with a vase and branches.

video

Meaning and the good life

Leading 1950s thinkers on the search for happiness in trying times

29 minutes

Photo of the Phaistos Disc, an ancient clay tablet with spiral symbols, on a black background.

essay

Language and linguistics

The lonely life of a glyph-breaker

The heroic days of deciphering hieroglyphics and cuneiform make for great stories, but will we ever see that happen again?

Francesco Perono Cacciafoco

A desert highway at dusk with cliffs and the moon visible and a rear-view mirror showing a road and sunset reflection behind.

essay

Physics

The stagnation of physics

Physicists today need to jettison the all-too-attractive myth that they are uncovering the hidden reality of our Universe

Adrien De Sutter

A cheetah cub playfully interacts with a brown dog on grass, with a toy in the background.

essay

Bioethics

Why the cat wags her tail

Here’s a puzzle: how could evolution favour such a costly, frivolous and fun activity as animal play?

Mathilde Tahar-Malaussena

An older man in a red cap and printed T-shirt looking into the distance.

video

Virtues and vices

Why Bennie tried to disappear, and what happened when he was found decades later

16 minutes

A child in a pink raincoat jumping in a puddle on a city street on a rainy day with terraced houses in the background.

essay

Philosophy of mind

Suffused with causality

Humans have a superpower that makes us uniquely capable of controlling the world: our ability to understand cause and effect

Mariel Goddu

A cupcake with pink icing topped with mealworms, surrounded by other cupcakes.

essay

Food and drink

Adjust your disgust

The future of food is nutritious and sustainable – if we can overcome our instinctual revulsion to insects and lab-grown meat

Alexandra Plakias

Painting of an angel in an orange glow flying with small birds across a night sky over a cityscape and bare trees.

essay

History of science

Legacy of the angels

When medieval scholars sought to understand the nature of angels, they unwittingly laid the foundations of modern physics

Rebekah Wallace

Black and white night photo of historic Gothic-style buildings with arched windows, towers and courtyards.

essay

History of ideas

Ghosts among the philosophers

Cambridge, home of analytic philosophy, was also a hotbed of psychical research. How did this spooky subject take root?

Matyáš Moravec

Black and white photo of people gathered by the Berlin Wall, a couple embracing in the foreground.

essay

Thinkers and theories

The necessity of Nussbaum

Martha Nussbaum’s philosophy is dynamic and challenging, but also elegant and lucidly written: she is the thinker of our time

Brandon Robshaw

Black and white photo of a man with glasses and a beard, resting his chin on his hand, wearing a suit.

video

Art

Background music was the radical invention of a trailblazing composer

17 minutes

A photo of a person walking on a snowy path beside an icy river with floating ice chunks.

essay

Thinkers and theories

The winter of civilisation

Byung-Chul Han’s relentless critiques of digital capitalism reveal how this suffocating system creates hollowed-out lives

Josh Cohen

A man speaking on stage with a headset microphone wearing glasses and a black sweater gesturing expressively with his hands.

video

Metaphysics

What do past, present and future mean to a philosopher of time?

55 minutes

Photo of a study with a wooden desk, red curtains, bust sculptures and a leather chair in a well-lit room.

essay

Psychiatry and psychotherapy

The art in the analyst’s room

The consulting office reflects the personality of the therapist, while also subtly shaping the experience of their patients

Anna Parker

Photo of a large crowd celebrating outdoors with a person waving a South African flag energetically in the foreground.

essay

Political philosophy

A right to exist?

Since states are founded on violence and expulsion, their existence is always bound up in thorny questions about justice

Andrew F March

Photo of fishermen in a circle on a lake using large nets at sunrise with a distant island and hills in the background.

essay

Human evolution

The commitment to collaborate

Though natural selection favours self-interest, humans are extraordinarily good at cooperating with one another. Why?

Saira Khan