essay
Biology
The cell is not a factory
Scientific narratives project social hierarchies onto nature. That’s why we need better metaphors to describe cellular life
Charudatta Navare
essay
Social psychology
The magic of the mundane
Pioneering sociologist Erving Goffman realised that every action is deeply revealing of the social norms by which we live
Lucy McDonald
essay
Language and linguistics
Cathedrals of convention
Humans have a strong impulse to see things that are arbitrary or conventional as natural and essential – especially language
Reuben Cohn-Gordon
essay
Comparative philosophy
Folklore is philosophy
Both folktales and formal philosophy unsettle us into thinking anew about our cherished values and views of the world
Abigail Tulenko
essay
Information and communication
How to hate
The manifesto was always a hotheaded call to arms. Then it got a slick, digital makeover in the cause of coldblooded hate
Tyler Thier
essay
Thinkers and theories
Dancing and time
For Rachel Bespaloff, philosophy was a sensual activity shaped by the rhythm of history, embodied in an instant of freedom
Isabel Jacobs
video
Thinkers and theories
Henri Bergson on why the existence of things precedes their possibility
3 minutes
essay
Logic and probability
The patterns of reality
Some have thought that logic will one day be completed and all its problems solved. Now we know it is an endless task
Timothy Williamson
essay
History of ideas
Whither philosophy?
The discipline today finds itself precariously balanced between incomprehensible specialisation and cheap self-help
Siobhan Lyons
essay
Ethics
Wrestling with relativism
Bernard Williams argued that one’s ethics is shaped by culture and history. But that doesn’t mean that everyone is right
Daniel Callcut
essay
Thinkers and theories
The great, forgotten Wolff
Written for laymen, read by women and kings, Christian Wolff’s mathematical method made him a key Enlightenment philosopher
Michael Walschots
essay
Knowledge
The ends of knowledge
Academics need to think harder about the purpose of their disciplines and whether some of those should come to an end
Rachael Scarborough King & Seth Rudy
essay
History of ideas
Equality without compromise
Liberal philosophy has clipped the wings of the egalitarian ideal. We should return to the bolder ideals of Iris Murdoch
Christine Sypnowich
essay
Political philosophy
Liberalism against capitalism
The work of John Rawls shows that liberal values of equality and freedom are fundamentally incompatible with capitalism
Colin Bradley
essay
Philosophy of religion
Who was Duns Scotus?
His name is now the byword for a fool, yet his proof for the existence of God was the most rigorous of the medieval period
Thomas M Ward
essay
Thinkers and theories
Analytic women
Twin forces marginalised the women of early analytic philosophy. Correct those mistakes, and the next generation benefits
Jeanne Peijnenburg & Sander Verhaegh
essay
Information and communication
To converse well
A good conversation bridges the distances between people and imbues life with pleasure and a sense of discovery
Paula Marantz Cohen
essay
Thinkers and theories
Remember Richard Price!
Demonised by the political establishment for his radical, dissenting views, this 18th-century Welsh polymath deserves better
Huw Williams
essay
Economic history
A gospel of enjoyment
The French idea of the good life doesn’t always make rational economic sense. So much the worse for traditional economics
Charly Coleman
essay
History of ideas
The post-linguistic turn
Analytic and continental philosophers were once united in their obsession with language. But now new questions have arisen
Crispin Sartwell
essay
History of ideas
Self-satisfaction
The ancient Cynics taught that masturbation is about more than pleasure: it suggests how to live simply and autonomously
M D Usher
essay
History of ideas
Disorient yourself
Now associated with childhood fun, the swing has a near-universal history of ritual transgression and transformation
Javier Moscoso
essay
Virtues and vices
The virtue of discretion
When the rules break down, you must judge what to do on your own. Discretion is necessary for navigating the muddle of life
Lorraine Daston
essay
Economics
The empty basket
Economics is the language of power and affects us all. What can we do to improve its impoverished menu of ideas?
Ha-Joon Chang