video
Philosophy of religion
How a devout Catholic philosopher approaches the problem of evil
8 minutes
essay
Philosophy of science
Why not scientism?
Science is not the only form of knowledge but it is the best, being the most successful epistemic enterprise in history
Moti Mizrahi
essay
Philosophy of religion
A new paganism
Now is the time to revitalise our relationship with nature and immerse ourselves in the little wonders of the universe
Ed Simon
essay
Ethics
The ethics of human extinction
Why would it be so bad if our species came to an end? It is a question that reveals our latent values and hidden fears
Émile P Torres
essay
Ethics
If not vegan, then what?
A vegan diet can be hard to adopt, even if you’re convinced it’s the right thing to do. What are the next-best options?
Peter Godfrey-Smith
essay
Mental health
Under the mkone tree
When I returned to Kenya, where I grew up, I found biomedicine and traditional medicine in conversation about mental health
Priya Basil
essay
Thinkers and theories
Forgotten existentialist
Sartre gets much of the credit for existentialism. Karl Jaspers not only preceded him, but offered a way out of despair
Deborah Casewell
essay
Life stages
Family passages
Each new generation learns from its elders. But familial voices now compete for influence with a chorus of urgent others
Elizabeth Svoboda
essay
Self-improvement
Many wisdoms
There are no transcendent insights that rise above human difference. Yet wisdom exists if we look in the right places
Avram Alpert
essay
Metaphysics
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
essay
Economic history
Jesuits in the boardroom
As corporations struggle to survive in a more uncertain world, they should look to the success of the Society of Jesus
Paolo Quattrone
essay
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
essay
Religion
The imperative betrayal
The mystery of why Judas forsook Jesus goes to the heart of Christianity. A newly translated gospel offers a new view
David Brakke
essay
Religion
Blue-eyed Buddhist
The story of a working-class radical from Ireland who became a celebrated monk and challenged the British Empire in Asia
Laurence Cox
essay
Human rights and justice
Exhuming the truth
Thousands of victims of political executions lie in anonymous graves. Forensics offers hope for the ‘forgotten’ ones
Nicole Iturriaga
essay
Thinkers and theories
Democracy or apocalypse
Eric Voegelin and Hans Kelsen fled the Nazis. In the US, they clashed over the nature of modernity and government
David Dyzenhaus
essay
Religion
Buddhist missionaries
Buddhist monks have mostly escaped the label of proselytisers, but they’ll still spread the word to those who seek them out
Brooke Schedneck
video
History of ideas
Tantra is, and was, a subversive philosophy of feminine power
19 minutes
essay
History of ideas
Reasons to be cheerful
A cheery mood, you might think, is a terribly self-absorbed response to serious times. But history tells us otherwise
Timothy Hampton
essay
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
essay
Ethics
Through the eyes of another
It’s impossible to shed our individual biases. So the best way to establish objectivity is by taking on new perspectives
Heidi Maibom
essay
War and peace
The will to fight
Throughout history, the most effective combatants have powered to victory on commitment to core values and collective resolve
Scott Atran
video
Values and beliefs
How a God-fearing Jewish woman found atheism – and bacon – in her later years
9 minutes
video
War and peace
Before he leaves to go to war, Artem, 18, says goodbye to the man who raised him
12 minutes