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Values and beliefs

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

A round pot encircles a hole in the soil, around the hole are dried leaves, a stone and a stick.

essay

Anthropology

Spider divination

Life is complicated. In Cameroon, initiated diviners read the messages of spiders to untangle possible futures

David Zeitlyn

Black and white photo of a woman and man sitting at a kitchen table appearing deep in thought or conversation.

essay

Virtues and vices

Awkward silences

What is it about lulls in conversation that make them so very uncomfortable? It has to do with how we connect with each other

Rebecca Roache

Black and white photo of a woman and man sitting on a sofa holding a newspaper with a front-page story about a UFO sighting.

essay

History of science

Incredible testimonies

In the 1980s, thousands of Americans began to suspect they may have been abducted by aliens. What happened?

Greg Eghigian

Street food vendor cooking skewers on a grill as people gather to eat and buy in a bustling outdoor setting.

essay

Comparative philosophy

A cure for individualism

It runs deeply through the Western outlook, hailed and condemned in equal measures. For a corrective, look to Confucius

Tim Connolly

A silhouetted figure sitting on a chair behind frosted glass partitions in a waiting room with overhead lights.

essay

Illness and disease

Permission to be ill

It took months for my functional neurological disorder to finally be diagnosed. It’s a condition that must be recognised

Kevin Aho

Abstract digital collage with classical statue overlayed by red lines, geometric shapes and layered images on a textured background.

essay

Stories and literature

Our narrative prison

The three-act ‘hero’s journey’ has long been the most prominent kind of story. What other tales are there to tell?

Eliane Glaser

Ancient Chinese painting of a man under a tree with a trail of smoke coming from his mouth containing scenes of various figures, surrounded by miniature figures.

essay

Religion

Demonology

By turns benign and malign, powerful and vulnerable, earthbound and aerial, daimons across the world resemble one another

David Gordon White

Photo of a framed picture with colourful string art overlays, featuring plants in the foreground and other photos around.

video

Values and beliefs

Why a single tree, uprooted in a typhoon, means so much to one man in Hanoi

7 minutes

Black and white photo of a man in a suit sitting indoors with a vase and branches.

video

Meaning and the good life

Leading 1950s thinkers on the search for happiness in trying times

29 minutes

Abstract photo of tree branches with a dreamy overlay of yellow and blue light creating a soft, ethereal effect.

essay

Metaphysics

Many worlds, many selves

If it’s true that we live in a vast multiverse, then our understanding of identity, morality and even God must be reexamined

Emily Qureshi-Hurst

Photo of colourful light reflections on a dark tiled floor, possibly from a stained glass window in a dimly lit interior space.

essay

Values and beliefs

My leap across the chasm

After years of debate and contemplation, I’ve come to think a heretical form of Christianity might be true. Here’s why

Philip Goff

Two children hugging on the floor, one in a white shirt smiling with eyes closed while the other wears a red jacket.

video

Bioethics

Is it ethical to have a second child so that your first might live?

10 minutes

Black-and-white photo of three Black men sitting at a table with microphones during a press conference. One of the men has a bandage on his head.

essay

History of ideas

All that we are

The philosophy of personalism inspired Martin Luther King’s dream of a better world. We still need its hopeful ideas today

Bennett Gilbert

A close-up drawing of a face with detailed patterns and a hand touching the face, using earthy tones and texture on a brown background.

essay

Meaning and the good life

Beyond authenticity

In her final unfinished work, Hannah Arendt mounted an incisive critique of the idea that we are in search of our true selves

Samantha Rose Hill

Black and white image of Japanese soldiers in battle gear marching with a Rising Sun Flag, superimposed with large Japanese calligraphy characters on a plain background.

essay

Nations and empires

Chastising little brother

Why did Japanese Confucians enthusiastically support Imperial Japan’s murderous conquest of China, the homeland of Confucius?

Shaun O’Dwyer

Two men sit talking on a wooden beam by a dock. One is in jeans, the other wears a coat and holds a small item. A cargo ship, a bridge and a warehouse are in the background.

essay

Stories and literature

Do liberal arts liberate?

In Jack London’s novel, Martin Eden personifies debates still raging over the role and purpose of education in American life

Nick Romeo

A smiling family group stands in a living room posing for a photo. The table is adorned with red candles, a mirror, apples, and a green plant.

video

Rituals and celebrations

A beginner’s guide to a joyful Persian tradition of spring renewal and rebirth

3 minutes

A dark, hazy scene of a figure in a top hat walking near a building with large columns. The background features a dimly lit path alongside water, with street lamps illuminating the night. The setting appears lonely and atmospheric, with distant hills visible under an overcast sky.

essay

Stories and literature

Terrifying vistas of reality

H P Lovecraft, the master of cosmic horror stories, was a philosopher who believed in the total insignificance of humanity

Sam Woodward

A sepia photo of a shirtless man, a woman, and a child sitting on a beach; the child and woman wear shell necklaces.

essay

Thinkers and theories

A man beyond categories

Paul Tillich was a religious socialist and a profoundly subtle theologian who placed doubt at the centre of his thought

Ted Farris

Painting of a scene in a historic European street with men dressed in colourful Renaissance attire, with hats and capes, and women in period clothing.

essay

Political philosophy

The battles over beginnings

Niccolò Machiavelli’s profound insights about the violent origins of political societies help us understand the world today

David Polansky

Elderly man in a cap and jacket sits on concrete steps outdoors holding a cup, with greenery and trees in the background.

video

Love and friendship

After his son’s terrorist attack, Azdyne seeks healing – and his granddaughter

25 minutes

A man wearing a knit hat, facing sideways in a misty outdoor setting, with a stack of balanced stones in the background.

video

Values and beliefs

A Zen Buddhist priest voices the deep matters he usually ponders in silence

5 minutes

Medieval illustration of a crowned figure, holding a sceptre, wearing a blue cloak over an intricately patterned robe, seated against a parchment background.

video

Religion

Hear from blasphemes, sceptics and free-thinkers in this ‘tour of medieval unbelief’

52 minutes

Black-and-white photo of two men standing behind a sign that reads “What is the line between us?”, gesturing towards a partition with another person’s hand visible.

video

Art

The irreverent duo who thumbed their noses at the Soviet Union and the US art world

11 minutes