For better or for worse, many of us derive our meaning and identity through our work. The threat of AI and robots replacing human jobs, creating mass unemployment and a collective crisis of identity has been greatly exaggerated. Humans and technology …
A recent meta-analysis by three economists, commonly, if misleadingly, referred to as the Johns Hopkins study, suggested that lockdowns had little to no effect on Covid-19 mortality. Critics accused the authors of ideological bias in interpreting, or even …
Human families settled down in the early agricultural period. Networked individuals triumphed in the information era. Revolutions in technology have always revolutionised human relationships. Today, three technological shifts are setting the stage for the …
Putin has made thinly veiled threats about using nuclear weapons against those who interfere with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The logic of nuclear deterrence suggests that it’s never in the interest of a nuclear power to engage in war with another …
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has led to the biggest ever economic sanction response since World War II. Although economic warfare has been fought before, we are entering a new, unprecedented era of the weaponization of money, writes Alan Bollard. …
A cottage industry of books proclaiming that the end of western-style democracy is nye proliferated over the past years. Russia’s war against Ukraine, the revival of an authoritarian rival, could have been the nail in the coffin. Yet the opposite has …
Leading analytic philosophers, like Timothy Williamson and Derek Parfit, argue that common sense is a way of testing the truth of philosophical theories. If philosophy seems to contradict what we take to be commonsense knowledge, they argue, so much the …
It is tempting to think of beauty as being morally neutral. From an awe-inspiring sunset to a striking portrait, thinkers have often sought to categorise beauty as existing in its own unique space, offering artists the freedom to create without constraints …
During the invasion of Ukraine, we have heard frequently terms like ‘war crime’ and ‘just war’. In a fight to the death, when your aim is the taking of the life of another human being, the idea of there even being such a thing as a ‘crime’ or ‘justice’ in …
We are told to be wary of looking at the natural world through a human lens. From projecting human intentions onto animals or using language that suggests natural processes have purpose, scientists are taught to avoid “anthropomorphising”. Yet, this kind …
According to the usual story, analytic philosophy was born when Bertrand Russell revolted against a version of Hegel’s idealism that had dominated the Cambridge philosophy scene. So how is it that around 100 years later, Robert Brandom, an influential …
The present has a special status for us humans – our past seems to no longer exists, and our future is yet to come into existence. But according to how physicists and philosophers interpret Einstein’s Theory of Relativity, the present isn’t at all special. …
Billionaires are making regular trips to space for a reason: they want to harness the potential economic payoff. We need to come up with a framework for property rights in space that will benefit all of humanity, not just the super rich, argues Rebecca …
An influential analysis of Russia’s aggression towards Ukraine suggests that it’s NATO’s overreach in the region that’s to blame. Russia is simply defending itself from being encircled by Western power. But, pay attention to what Putin is actually saying, …
As the war between Russia and Ukraine continues, our panel of IAI contributors offer their analysis of the situation. Lawrence Freedman, Hew Strachan, Domitilla Sagramoso and Joseph Nye on what to expect in the short and long run, the role of nuclear …
Our personalities are not morally neutral. Temperament can make us act more or less morally and we thus have an ethical obligation to improve our personalities argue Andrea Lavazza and Mirko Farina. In many languages, to have character, means to have a …
At least since the appearance of Marcel Duchamp’s fountain, gallery audiences have been plagued by the question: why is this art? The problem originates in people’s adoption of an 18th century understanding of art as beautiful, pleasing to the senses and …
What do you call a network of neurons connected to electrodes that learn to play Pong? Even the scientists behind the experiment don’t know how to describe their creation. But the ethical questions that arise out of this fusion of neurons and silicon, are …
Nine leading thinkers interpret the meaning of Schrödinger’s famous thought experiment. Amanda Gefter; Sheldon Goldstein; Jenann Ismael; Chiara Marletto; Tim Maudlin; Alyssa Ney; Tim Palmer; Carlo Rovelli; Lev Vaidman. Introduction Contemporary versions …
We are all familiar with envy’s dark side. The perception of someone who is a superior version of us acts as a painful reminder of what we could have been. That emotion has a nasty side that can lead to hostility and aggression towards the object of our …
