essay
Knowledge
Known unknowables
The ancient Sceptics used doubt as a way of investigating the world. Later thinkers undermined even that possibility
Mahdi Ranaee
essay
History of ideas
The herd in the head
It is enormously empowering – even intoxicating – to lose yourself to a crowd. That is why we need contrarians
Costica Bradatan
essay
Metaphysics
This essay isn’t true
Alethic nihilism is the theory that nothing is true. There is much to gain by taking this radical idea seriously
David Liggins
video
Knowledge
Yes, the Inuit have dozens of words for snow – but what does each one mean exactly?
6 minutes
essay
Economic history
Jesuits in the boardroom
As corporations struggle to survive in a more uncertain world, they should look to the success of the Society of Jesus
Paolo Quattrone
essay
Palaeontology
A dinosaur is a story
As Brontosaurus tells us, in science as in fiction, the stories we tell to understand the world are always being revised
Nathaniel Goldberg & Chris Gavaler
essay
Knowledge
A sliver of reality
Science and mathematics may never fully capture the physical universe. Are there hard limits to human intelligence?
David H Wolpert
video
Metaphysics
Knowing if you’re awake seems simple. Why has it vexed philosophers for centuries?
5 minutes
essay
Knowledge
Imaginology
We need a new kind of approach to learning that shifts imagination from the periphery to the foundation of all knowledge
Stephen T Asma
essay
Knowledge
Truth is real
For a century, the idea of truth has been deflated, becoming terrain from which philosophers fled. They must return – urgently
Crispin Sartwell
essay
Thinkers and theories
Scepticism as a way of life
The desire for certainty is often foolish and sometimes dangerous. Scepticism undermines it, both in oneself and in others
Nicholas Tampio
video
Knowledge
A poet’s ode to the Hubble Telescope – and to her father, who helped to build it
2 minutes
essay
History of science
Fringe theories stack
Believe in the Loch Ness monster and you’re more likely to believe the Apollo missions were fake. How do weird beliefs work?
Michael D Gordin
video
Philosophy of religion
What Zen Buddhist riddles reveal about knowledge and the unknowable
5 minutes
video
Cosmology
Revisiting ‘Powers of Ten’ – what we’ve learned about the Universe since 1977
7 minutes
essay
Knowledge
How do you know?
Correct information doesn’t always come with its own bright halo of truth. What makes something worth believing?
Nate Sheff
video
Knowledge
What can a Kurosawa classic tell us about reality, knowledge and truth?
5 minutes
essay
Social psychology
A good scrap
Disagreements can be unpleasant, even offensive, but they are vital to human reason. Without them we remain in the dark
Ian Leslie
essay
History of ideas
Philosophy’s lack of progress
For centuries, all philosophers seem to have done is question and debate. Why do philosophical problems resist solution?
Chris Daly
essay
Political philosophy
Against public philosophy
For Leo Strauss, public life was muddied by opinion and persecution, so philosophers should shield their work from view
Benjamin Aldes Wurgaft
essay
Knowledge
Philosophy with children
Kids don’t just say ‘the darndest things’. Playful and probing, they can be closer to the grain of life’s deepest questions
Jana Mohr Lone
video
Earth science and climate
‘Ice has a memory’ – an Inuit poem contemplates scientific exploration of Greenland
28 minutes
video
Knowledge
Want to think for yourself? Start with an agonising state of doubt, says Kierkegaard
7 minutes
video
Knowledge
Can you know everything about colour if you see in black and white? A thought experiment
5 minutes