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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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Illustration of a blue baby with symbols of heart, ear, bone, eye, tooth, brain, and lips around it on a white background.

videoBioethics

When, if ever, is selecting a ‘designer baby’ ethical?

5 minutes

An ant on a twig against a pastel pink and purple background with its reflection on a glossy surface.

essayBioethics

The ant you can save

Should we simply assume that all animals can feel pain and are of moral concern? Or is that taking things too far?

Jeff Sebo & Andreas L Mogensen

A man in casual clothes observes an indoor exhibit with lifelike animal and human statues surrounded by tropical plants.

essayKnowledge

Valuable misunderstandings

Scientific progress depends on disagreement. So why are vaccine sceptics and other science critics not worth listening to?

Collin Rice & Kareem Khalifa

Painting of a man with a spear through his eye and head, showing a surreal and dramatic portrayal with detailed features.

essayHistory of science

Monstrification

For centuries we’ve used the declaration of ‘monster’ to eject individuals and groups from being respected as fully human

Surekha Davies

essayMedicine

Learning to not-know

From late-night calls to unsolved symptoms, uncertainty is woven into every doctor’s day. They should learn to embrace it

Zoe Cunniffe

Photo of a vibrant snack bar with colourful signs advertising beer, pizza, sausages and ice cream.

essayProgress and modernity

The explosion of choice

It’s only in recent history that freedom has come to mean having a huge array of choices in life. Did we take a wrong turn?

Sophia Rosenfeld

Painting of philosophers gathered in a grand classical building, featuring figures in colourful robes with an archway framing the sky in the background.

videoHistory of ideas

How to read ‘The School of Athens’ – a triumph of Renaissance art

25 minutes

A field of dry grass cluttered with computer company signboards.

essayKnowledge

Holes in the web

Huge swathes of human knowledge are missing from the internet. By definition, generative AI is shockingly ignorant too

Deepak Varuvel Dennison

Abstract painting with a vertical orange stripe on a dark red background.

essayArt

Art must act

Throughout decades of writing, Harold Rosenberg exhorted artists to resist cliché and conformity and instead take action

Blake Smith

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