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Philosophy

Essays and videos on philosophy, the history of ideas, ethics and life’s big questions

Beauty and aesthetics Bioethics Comparative philosophy Cosmopolitanism Death Ethics History of ideas Knowledge Logic and probability Meaning and the good life Metaphysics Philosophy of language Philosophy of mind Philosophy of religion Philosophy of science Political philosophy Thinkers and theories Values and beliefs Virtues and vices

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An empty room with a chair against a wall on the right, scrunched paper on the floor by a bin, and electrical sockets on the wall.

essayWork

Fuck work

Economists believe in full employment. Americans think that work builds character. But what if jobs aren’t working anymore?

James Livingston

A person stands with arms crossed, looking into the distance on a dune in a vast, foggy desert. The image is in black and white.

essayMeaning and the good life

Indifference is a power

As legions of warriors and prisoners can attest, Stoicism is not grim resolve but a way to wrest happiness from adversity

Lary Wallace

Close-up of a yellowish amphibian embryo with black markings inside a transparent egg, on a dark background.

videoBiology

Watch a single cell become a complete organism in six pulsing minutes of timelapse

6 minutes

Adolf Eichmann in court with headphones, wearing a suit and tie, looking to the side, against a plain background.

ideaWar and peace

What did Hannah Arendt really mean by the banality of evil?

Thomas White

A large group of people in bikinis and swimwear, body-painted in bright colours, posing and flexing muscles outdoors.

essayGender and identity

Gender is not a spectrum

The idea that ‘gender is a spectrum’ is supposed to set us free. But it is both illogical and politically troubling

Rebecca Reilly-Cooper

A spacecraft orbiting Saturn with its rings visible above and the planet’s atmosphere below, in dark space.

ideaPhilosophy of science

Why philosophy is so important in science education

Subrena E Smith

A woman in a yellow saree standing among large piles of colourful clothes outdoors, with trees in the background.

videoBeauty and aesthetics

This is the final resting place of your cast-off clothing

14 minutes

Close-up photo of a woman’s freckled face focusing on green eyes and blonde hair strands.

essayPhilosophy of mind

The problem of mindfulness

Mindfulness promotes itself as value-neutral but it is loaded with (troubling) assumptions about the self and the cosmos

Sahanika Ratnayake

A giant video screen displaying a face in a snowy city park, with two people under a red umbrella nearby.

essayKnowledge

Escape the echo chamber

First you don’t hear other views. Then you can’t trust them. Your personal information network entraps you just like a cult

C Thi Nguyen

Illustration of a man in a shirt, tie and braces pointing with both hands, showing a crooked smile, set against a red background

essayEthics

A theory of jerks

Are you surrounded by fools? Are you the only reasonable person around? Then maybe you’re the one with the jerkitude

Eric Schwitzgebel

Silhouette artwork of three birds standing in shallow water with reflections, minimalistic style with thin orange horizontal lines.

essayLogic and probability

Beyond true and false

Buddhist philosophy is full of contradictions. Now modern logic is learning why that might be a good thing

Graham Priest

Photo of an empty playground with a slide, swings and climbing frame on a foggy, frosty morning, creating an eerie atmosphere.

essayEthics

Kids? Just say no

You don’t have to dislike children to see the harms done by having them. There is a moral case against procreation

David Benatar

Diorama depicting astronauts on the Moon’s surface with a lunar module, US flag and filming crew under studio lights.

ideaKnowledge

You don’t have a right to believe whatever you want to

Daniel DeNicola

Medieval painting of three individuals in robes, one holding a sword and shield, another stirring a pot over a fire, while the third person watches on.

ideaHuman rights and justice

Why the trial by ordeal was actually an effective test of guilt

Peter T Leeson

Close-up photo of a human eye with the word “Google” reflected on the pupil, showing the website’s homepage on a computer screen.

essayInformation and communication

The new mind control

The internet has spawned subtle forms of influence that can flip elections and manipulate everything we say, think and do

Robert Epstein

An elderly couple sitting on a bench reading newspapers, both are wearing glasses and dressed warmly in jackets.

ideaHistory of ideas

A philosophical approach to routines can illuminate who we really are

Solmu Anttila

A naked woman in a bed with a man partially visible, in a room with red walls and a wooden bed frame, clothes on the floor and a light fixture on the wall.

essaySex and sexuality

Pornucopia

Critics say that porn degrades women, dulls sexual pleasure, and ruins authentic relationships – are they right?

Maria Konnikova

Black-and-white photo of a bald man with glasses who is Michel Foucault sitting on a couch, hand on his face, with bookshelves in the background.

essayPolitical philosophy

The power thinker

Original, painstaking, sometimes frustrating and often dazzling. Foucault’s work on power matters now more than ever

Colin Koopman

Black and white photo of a lively gathering, people laughing and conversing around a table with wine bottles and glasses.

essayMeaning and the good life

The meanings of life

Happiness is not the same as a sense of meaning. How do we go about finding a meaningful life, not just a happy one?

Roy F Baumeister

Abstract painting of a face with two red eyes, geometric shapes in pastel colours and a textured orange background.

essayPhilosophy of mind

I am not a story

Some find it comforting to think of life as a story. Others find that absurd. So are you a Narrative or a non-Narrative?

Galen Strawson

Painting of a man sitting on a porch wearing a flat cap holding a rake with a brown dog lying beside him and trees in the background.

ideaHistory of ideas

Before you can be with others, first learn to be alone

Jennifer Stitt

A vibrant abstract painting depicting chaos and movement with swirling colours, figures, and shapes blending together dynamically.

essayNeuroscience

The real problem

It looks like scientists and philosophers might have made consciousness far more mysterious than it needs to be

Anil K Seth

Black and white photo of a man in a suit and tie, looking slightly to his right, with a textured wall as the background.

ideaHistory of ideas

How Camus and Sartre split up over the question of how to be free

Sam Dresser

Film still from Grease showing a young crowd in 1950s-style diner, with Olivia Newton John in a yellow dress smiling at John Travolta in a booth.

ideaPleasure and pain

Psychogenic shivers: why we get the chills when we aren’t cold

Félix Schoeller