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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Close-up photo of a circuit board with two CPU-like components showing classical portraits instead of standard chips.

essayPhilosophy of mind

Reason is more than a tool

If intelligence is merely optimisation then machines will outrun us. Kant tells us why human reason is so much more

Sasha Mudd

Photo of a naked man in a vast sunflower field with a distant house under a clear blue sky.

videoPersonality

Searching for a local legend, a filmmaker stumbles into a tragicomedy

21 minutes

Digital collage featuring a silhouette of a person with arrows pointing outward over a blurred monochrome crowd.

videoPhilosophy of mind

Beyond the mind-body divide – on the ‘affective turn’ in the humanities

12 minutes

Black and white photo of a man in glasses animatedly speaking to a group gathered around him in an indoor setting.

essayThinkers and theories

Reasoning together

Jürgen Habermas, the great defender of deliberative democracy, lived up to its demands: he never feared changing his mind

Emilie Prattico

Classical marble busts in a museum setting with focus on a detailed male figure in the background.

essayKnowledge

He was probably right

Cicero’s life and thought are a testament to the idea of probabilia: we should be confident in our beliefs, but never certain

Massimo Pigliucci

Painting of a spectacled owl with bright yellow eyes against a dark background, highlighting its feathers and beak.

videoMetaphysics

The alien worlds beside our own – a journey into animal eyes

14 minutes

Medieval painting of two men riding a donkey, a man is in a window, script beneath, with decorative clouds overhead.

essayHistory of science

Penchants of the polymaths

The fathers of Islamic science hold lessons for students: breadth over specialisation, and never let constraints get in the way

Mariam Sabri

Illustration of a robot reading with a thought bubble showing ancient cave paintings of hunters and a deer.

videoPhilosophy of mind

Could there ever be a viable test for artificial consciousness?

6 minutes

A suited man near a construction site, view of tall building and streetlight through wooden scaffolding.

essayPolitics and government

Upend the trickle-down

Neoliberal policies have hollowed out democracies and spawned unchecked oligarchs. Grasping their structure points to a fix

Les Coleman

A lively snowball fight with people in winter clothing throwing snow outside amidst a snowy background.

essaySports and games

More nothing now

We are most human when we play freely, imaginatively, pointlessly. Gamification risks atrophying that most precious capacity

Justin Neuman

Abstract painting with blurred blue, yellow and black shapes creating a soft, dreamlike texture.

videoMetaphysics

‘Repulsion, at the core of attraction’ – on the paradox of touch

7 minutes

Illustration of two people embracing while riding through green waters on a pink river dolphin wearing a hat, with houses and trees in the background.

essayAnthropology

Dolphins and other lovers

The Andoque of the Amazon know what we have forgotten: the forest’s most beautiful creatures are also its most dangerous

Eliran Arazi

Photo of a large petrified log with vivid red and brown hues in a desert setting with grass and a blue sky.

videoValues and beliefs

Thieves of ‘cursed’ rocks pen letters of remorse to a national park

14 minutes

Illustration of a chaotic procession with figures in historical costume, each with exaggerated expressions and dialogues.

essayPolitical philosophy

In praise of zealotry

Early feminists like Mary Astell and Catharine Macaulay refused their male peers’ advice to remain polite in debate. Why?

Geertje Bol

Aerial photo of Mecca’s Great Mosque at night, filled with pilgrims.

essayRituals and celebrations

Mecca and the mall

In a bid for spiritual renewal, I made a pilgrimage to Islam’s holy city. Almost everything I expected to see was gone

Azania Imtiaz Patel

A brown dog with ears up and tongue out running on grass towards the camera.

essayKnowledge

How we meet the future

If we couldn’t make generalisations, we would be paralysed by the world’s complexity. Does that ever excuse stereotyping?

Tom Ralston

Watercolour painting of two elderly men with detailed facial features on an abstract background.

essayStories and literature

Culture clash

C P Snow’s ‘Two Cultures’ lecture provoked a savage response from fellow critic F R Leavis. What was at the heart of it all?

Sam Dresser

A group of men sitting along a wall in a rustic room, engaging in conversation with visible gestures.

essayEthics

Towards an AI for Africa

Western-developed AI rides roughshod over Ubuntu values of connection and community that animate African ethical life

Fainos Mangena

An ancient Greek bronze helmet with eye cutouts on a black background.

essayWar and peace

Thucydides the perspicacious

Far from thinking that ‘might makes right’, the great historian’s analysis of war identifies a vice common to all states

David Polansky & Daniel Schillinger

Black and white photo of people in suits walking down a polished corridor in an office or conference setting.

essayPolitics and government

Resist the technocrats

Through international organisations, they wield power under the pretence of simply following the experts. Don’t believe them

Jan Eijking

Embroidered image of a solar system with orbits and planets on a dark background, featuring vibrant star patterns.

essayArt

How art invented humanity

When early humans first painted cave walls, they began to find out who they really were: our minds emerged from our images

J F Martel

Illustration of a magnifying glass in front of a beaker with liquid on a peach background.

videoPhilosophy of science

Three handy tools for separating pseudoscience from the real deal

6 minutes

A wooden African tribal sculpture covered with nails in a museum display case.

essayComparative philosophy

The taming of Black thought

Black philosophers now feature on Western curricula, but the European tradition diminishes their radicalism into reassurance

Takeshi Morisato

Painting of a abstracted figure resting their head on their hand, a sun, and cactus on a blue background.

essayArt

The savage bites back

Rooted in Brazilian modernism, anthropophagy devours and transforms culture, subverting colonial fears of cannibalism

Sofía Cándano