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Philosophy

Essays and videos on philosophy, the history of ideas, ethics and life’s big questions
AC Grayling: Why not nothing? | Aeon
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Metaphysics

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

9 minutes

On Wittgenstein | Aeon
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Philosophy of language

For Ludwig Wittgenstein, language is a game, but not a frivolous one

43 minutes

Nil by page | Aeon
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Stories and literature

Nil by page

When a writer stares down a blank page, the whole of literature stares back. Why, then, leave the empty page as it is?

Andrew Gallix

Hegel today | Aeon
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Thinkers and theories

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

Typos, tricks and misprints | Aeon
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Language and linguistics

Typos, tricks and misprints

Why is English spelling so weird and unpredictable? Don’t blame the mix of languages; look to quirks of timing and technology

Arika Okrent

Why do we, like, hesitate when we, um, speak? | Aeon
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Language and linguistics

Ums, likes and y’knows get no respect – but they’re vital to conversation

6 minutes

The problem of now | Aeon
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Philosophy of mind

The problem of now

The injunction to immerse yourself in the present might be psychologically potent, but is it metaphysically meaningful?

John Martin Fischer

Thoughts into words | Aeon
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essay

Philosophy of language

Thoughts into words

Here’s the paradox of articulation: are you excavating existing ideas, or do your thoughts come into being as you speak?

Eli Alshanetsky

Hand to mouth | Aeon
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essay

Language and linguistics

Hand to mouth

If language began with gestures around a campfire and secret signals on hunts, why did speech come to dominate communication?

Kensy Cooperrider

Hypocognition is a censorship tool that mutes what we can feel | Aeon
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Language and linguistics

Hypocognition is a censorship tool that mutes what we can feel

Kaidi Wu

The ethics of speech acts | Aeon
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Philosophy of language

The ethics of speech acts

It’s one thing to say something. It’s quite another for a person to do (or not do) something because of what you’ve said

Guy Longworth

Making up stuff | Aeon
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essay

Philosophy of language

Making up stuff

A novel, by definition, tells a fictional story – but does that make its author a liar? On the space between stories and lies

Emar Maier

Why learning a new language is like an illicit love affair | Aeon
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Language and linguistics

Why learning a new language is like an illicit love affair

Marianna Pogosyan

The pointing ape | Aeon
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Animals and humans

The pointing ape

How a chimpanzee named Clint trained a psychologist to question human exceptionalism and reconsider the intelligence of apes

David Leavens

The way words mean | Aeon
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Philosophy of language

The way words mean

Words stand for things in the world, and they stand apart from it. Perhaps meaning is more sunken into words than we realise?

Alexander Stern

Can you step in the same river twice? Wittgenstein v Heraclitus | Aeon
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Thinkers and theories

Can you step in the same river twice? Wittgenstein v Heraclitus

David Egan

Malaphors: the art of mixing up your idioms | Aeon
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Language and linguistics

To all intensive purposes, you might have another think coming about how idioms work

4 minutes

At the end of the day, think outside the box about clichés | Aeon
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Language and linguistics

At the end of the day, think outside the box about clichés

Nana Ariel

Words as feelings | Aeon
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Language and linguistics

Words as feelings

A special class of vivid, textural words defies linguistic theory: could ‘ideophones’ unlock the secrets of humans’ first utterances?

David Robson

Sex talks | Aeon
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essay

Philosophy of language

Sex talks

The language of sexual negotiation must go far beyond ‘consent’ and ‘refusal’ if we are to foster ethical, autonomous sex

Rebecca Kukla

Why languages and dialects really are different animals | Aeon
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Language and linguistics

Why languages and dialects really are different animals

Søren Wichmann

Slaying the Snark: what nonsense verse tells us about reality | Aeon
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Stories and literature

Slaying the Snark: what nonsense verse tells us about reality

Nina Lyon

Who decides what words mean | Aeon
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Language and linguistics

Who decides what words mean

Bound by rules, yet constantly changing, language might be the ultimate self-regulating system, with nobody in charge

Lane Greene

Can apes really ‘talk’ to humans? | Aeon
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History of science

People have been trying to talk with apes for nearly a century. How far have we got?

8 minutes