Philosophy
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Comparative philosophy
How to become wise
Practice is at the heart of Korean philosophy. In order to lead a good life, hone your daily rituals of self-cultivation
Kevin Cawley
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Beauty and aesthetics
Attuned to the aesthetic
The ultimate value of the world can be discovered if you are sensitive to what is beautiful
Tom Cochrane
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Meaning and the good life
You’re astonishing!
Life can be better appreciated when you remember how wonderfully and frighteningly unlikely it is that you exist at all
Timm Triplett
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Virtues and vices
Look on the dark side
We must keep the flame of pessimism burning: it is a virtue for our deeply troubled times, when crude optimism is a vice
Mara van der Lugt
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Travel
The end of travel
Driven by the need for a storied life, I relished the opportunity for endless travel. Is that a moment in time, now over?
Henry Wismayer
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Meaning and the good life
To know or not to know? Lillian weighs the costs of a life-changing genetic test
10 minutes
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Meaning and the good life
Albert Camus built a philosophy of humanity on a foundation of absurdity
6 minutes
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Love and friendship
Treasure them
Sure, lovers and children are great. But friends are more than ever the heart of happiness, of family and of love itself
Anna Machin
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Meaning and the good life
Authenticity is a sham
From monks to existentialists and hipsters, the search for a true self has been a centuries-long project. Should we give it up?
Alexander Stern
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Meaning and the good life
Amid the chaos of being, Nietzsche believed that plants offer us inspiration for living
8 minutes
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Pleasure and pain
After losing his sight, a skateboarder takes an unexpected path to realising his dreams
12 minutes
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Meaning and the good life
Final thoughts
Do deathbed regrets give us a special insight into what really matters in life? There are good reasons to be sceptical
Neil Levy
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War and peace
Reading John Gray in war
As a soldier, I was hard-wired to seek meaning and purpose. Gray’s philosophy helped me unhook from utopia and find peace
Andy Owen
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Ethics
The right right thing to do
The ethical life means being good to ourselves, to others, and to the world. But how do you choose if these demands compete?
Irene McMullin
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Meaning and the good life
Maria’s life work is counting the pilgrims passing by on Spain’s Camino de Santiago
16 minutes
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Values and beliefs
‘I’m just measuring myself with myself’ – ping pong as a route to Sufi spiritual practice
11 minutes
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Meaning and the good life
Humanity at night
A violinist plays in a concentration camp. A refugee carries a book of poetry. Art sustains us when survival is uncertain
Sarah Fine
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History of ideas
For proof that love is timeless, consider how long philosophers have debated it
6 minutes
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Cognition and intelligence
The science of wisdom
Psychological science can now measure and nurture wisdom, superseding the speculations of philosophy and religion
Igor Grossmann
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Thinkers and theories
Why read Boethius today?
Written while awaiting execution, the Consolation of Philosophy poses questions about human reason that remain urgent today
John Marenbon
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Thinkers and theories
The semi-satisfied life
Renowned for his pessimism, Arthur Schopenhauer was nonetheless a conoisseur of very distinctive kinds of happiness
David Bather Woods
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Knowledge
Orson Welles’s psychedelic 1973 adaptation of Plato’s timeless allegory of the cave
9 minutes
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Thinkers and theories
Laughter is vital
For philosopher Henri Bergson, laughter solves a serious human conundrum: how to keep our minds and social lives elastic
Emily Herring
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Love and friendship
Can you love someone for life? – and other eternal questions on romantic devotion
13 minutes