Philosophy

Henri Bergson on why the existence of things precedes their possibility

3 minutes

Ethics has no foundation

Ethical values can be both objective and knowable – torture really is wrong – yet not need any foundation outside themselves

Andrew Sepielli

Both one and yet distinct

Being a twin (as our author knows) cracks open our ideas of the perfectly bounded self and might liberate us all

Helena de Bres

Why mathematical truths exist with or without minds to consider them

8 minutes

Purposeful universe

Neither atheism nor theism adequately explains reality. That is why we must consider the middle ground between the two

Philip Goff

Why seek self-realisation?

In the face of climate crisis it might seem myopic but philosophers from Spinoza to Næss argue it is the only way forward

Helen De Cruz

The post-linguistic turn

Analytic and continental philosophers were once united in their obsession with language. But now new questions have arisen

Crispin Sartwell

Patterns of the lifeworld

Machine learning theory is shedding new light on how to think about the mysterious and ineffable nature of art

Peli Grietzer

Are coincidences real?

I am an unequivocal rationalist and yet I still want to see something strange and wonderful in life’s weird coincidences

Paul Broks

Bertrand Russell wanted to kill off causation. Can contemporary philosophy rescue it?

8 minutes

We are interwoven beings

A dragon needs the clouds and the wind in order to fly. What happens when we too relinquish individualistic reasoning?

Mercedes Valmisa

Bernard Williams on Descartes’s audacious endeavour to prove knowledge is possible

43 minutes

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

The lethal act

The Buddha taught not to kill, yet his followers have at times disobeyed him. Can murderers still be Buddhists?

Martin Kovan

Is the question ‘Why is there something instead of nothing?’ even worth asking?

9 minutes

Is it more likely you’re a person with a past, or an ephemeral brain in a void?

6 minutes

Why read Fichte today?

Inspired by Kant, Fichte launched a radical philosophical system based on subjectivity and aspiring to freedom for all

Gabriel Gottlieb

Metaphysics and beyond – Martha Nussbaum on Aristotle’s indelible ideas

43 minutes

Knowing if you’re awake seems simple. Why has it vexed philosophers for centuries?

5 minutes

To see the Universe more clearly, think in terms of processes, not objects

6 minutes

Embodied cognition seems intuitive, but philosophy can push it to some strange places

14 minutes

Hegel today

Too dense, too abstract, too suspect, Hegel was outside the Anglophone canon for a century. Why is his star rising again?

Willem deVries