Virtues and vices

essayVirtues and vices
David Hume vs literature
Hume distrusted literature and worked to discredit character sketches as legitimate forms of philosophy
Katie Ebner-Landy

essayVirtues 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

videoPersonality
A ‘little thief’ turned career criminal recounts a life on the wrong side of the law
5 minutes

videoVirtues and vices
Why Bennie tried to disappear, and what happened when he was found decades later
16 minutes

essayPublic health
A very American fear
Moral panics about erotica have coursed through the country’s history. Why do so many Americans think of porn as harm?
Rebecca L Davis

videoVirtues and vices
Why Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Adam Smith were divided on the virtues of vanity
5 minutes

videoInformation and communication
Coverage of the ‘balloon boy’ hoax forms a withering indictment of for-profit news
17 minutes

essayVirtues and vices
Against humility
Intellectual humility has recently been hailed as the key to thinking well. The story of Barbara McClintock proves otherwise
Rachel Fraser

essayVirtues and vices
Make it awkward!
Rather than being a cringey personal failing, awkwardness is a collective rupture – and a chance to rewrite the social script
Alexandra Plakias

essaySports and games
Performance-enhancing vices
Selfishness channels ambition, envy drives competition, pride aids the win. Does it take a bad person to be a good athlete?
Sabrina Little

videoEthics
For Iris Murdoch, selfishness is a fault that can be solved by reframing the world
6 minutes

videoLove and friendship
After his son’s terrorist attack, Azdyne seeks healing – and his granddaughter
25 minutes

videoHuman rights and justice
‘I know that change is possible’ – a Deaf prison chaplain’s gospel of hope
18 minutes

essayVirtues and vices
Be what you hope for
In the face of global challenges, Augustine offers a way between the despair of pessimism and the presumption of optimism
Michael Lamb

essayMood and emotion
The joy of sulk
Full of implicit rules and paradoxes, sulking is a marvellous example of intense communication without clear declaration
Rebecca Roache

essayMood and emotion
In praise of irritation
Unlike anger, irritation has neither glamour nor radicalism on its side. Yet it might just be the mood we need right now
Will Rees

essayVirtues and vices
The virtue of discretion
When the rules break down, you must judge what to do on your own. Discretion is necessary for navigating the muddle of life
Lorraine Daston

essayMental health
Secrets hurt their holders
Holding back the truth can take a huge toll on your relationships and your mental health. Why? And is there a better way?
Michael Slepian

videoVirtues and vices
From violent criminal to loving parent – a son’s story of his father’s transformation
23 minutes

essayVirtues and vices
The delights of mischief
Mischievousness requires humour, wit and a playful humaneness: qualities that make for a particular kind of virtue
Alex Moran

essayVirtues and vices
Look on the dark side
We must keep the flame of pessimism burning: it is a virtue for our deeply troubled times, when crude optimism is a vice
Mara van der Lugt

essayVirtues and vices
Is virtue signalling a vice?
Proclaiming one’s own goodness is deeply annoying. Yet signalling theory explains why it’s a peculiarly powerful manoeuvre
Tadeg Quillien

essayEthics
Forget morality
Moral philosophy is bogus, a mere substitute for God that licenses ugly emotions. Here are five reasons to reject it
Ronnie de Sousa

essayVirtues and vices
Lies and honest mistakes
Our crisis of public knowledge is an ethical crisis. Rewarding ‘truthfulness’ above ‘truth’ is a step towards a solution
Richard V Reeves