Saul Kripke passed away earlier this year. His work changed philosophy forever. Inspired by Leibniz’s possible worlds, he ushered in the return of metaphysics, while remaining very much with his feet on the ground, writes Timothy Williamson. Saul Aaron …
Creativity, we are told, is the key to problem-solving and success. But the concept has become an empty buzzword of the corporate world, glorifying rampant individualism. We need to reclaim creativity as a collective attribute of communities, not …
Whether we realize it or not, we live in the shadow of postmodernism. Contemporary philosophy is a response to the postmodernist challenges to Enlightenment thought. And yet, nearly all the proposed alternatives fail to go beyond the postmodernist …
Russia, China, Saudi Arabia, these are all countries that the West has moral qualms over. And yet, despite some selective economic sanctions, Europe and the US continue to heavily trade with them. Is this a sign of hypocrisy and weakness on the part of …
We think of our tendency to forget as a cognitive defect. When it comes to Artificial Intelligence, we could eradicate this human limitation by creating machines with infallible memories. But forgetting is in fact crucial both for smoothing out social …
Modernity is not all it’s cracked up to be. Loneliness, anxiety, restlessness and precarity are all prominent features of modern existence. This has led many to overarching critiques of modernity, arguing for its complete overhaul, often accompanied by …
Inflation is up the world over and Central Banks are doing the one thing they can do to combat it: they’re raising interest rates. But as recently demonstrated in the U.K., government budgets can sabotage the work Central Banks try to do: increases in …
Distinguished cosmologist and Stephen Hawking co-author, George Ellis, in an interview about the limits of cosmology, and why we can never know whether the universe had a beginning or has existed forever. Most people today believe in The Big Bang theory …
The response of the intellectual left to Russia’s war against Ukraine has largely involved blaming NATO, an aversion to any kind of military involvement, and generic calls to pacifism. But understanding this war involves recognizing some realities that the …
Only recently has the topic of psychedelics fully broken through into the public consciousness. An exciting area of new enquiry for scientists and philosopher alike, we are now beginning to understand how they can be used to help us solve mysteries …
Utilitarianism is an ethical theory with a long and distinguished history. It is a species of consequentialism, the theory that tells us we should seek to act in ways that will maximize the goodness or value of the consequences of our actions. As G. E. …
Abstract art is often made a mockery of. The apparent discovery that a painting by Piet Mondrian has been displayed upside for 75 years has provided vindication to those that mock. But the idea that there is a right way round is as out-dated as the idea, …
The pandemic brought out a key contradiction at the heart of human nature.Different living arrangements meant that those stuck on their own during lockdowns felt a profound sense of isolation, while those who were living with family lost any sense of …
Since at least Einstein we have seen spacetime as fundamental. But modern physics, from quantum field theory to gravity, now suggests spacetime is doomed. So, what lies beyond spacetime? We, ourselves, might be part of the answer, writes Donald D. Hoffman. …
With the current Russia-Ukraine war, and the escalating tensions between China and Taiwan, the West’s attention has been transfixed. Yet a group of countries accounting for 30% of global GDP, containing Russia, China and Iran, known as the SCO and …
Economics students are taught that banks lend money that comes from the deposits of their customers. In other words, banks just circulate money - passing it from those who save, to those who borrow. This, however, completely misunderstands how banks …
Logical positivism famously dismissed metaphysics as meaningless. It failed to satisfy the verification criterion, according to which for any statement to be meaningful, it has to be able to be verified empirically. As positivists like A.J. Ayer argued, …
“My genes made me do it” encapsulates how many geneticists, following the footsteps of Richard Dawkins, think of our genome’s relationship to us: complete control over our mind and body. That seemingly leaves no room for free will, relegating it to a mere …
‘Longtermism’ and ‘Effective Altruism’ have become buzzwords within certain circles. While concern for future people sounds morally intuitive, nothing concrete is being offered by those who claim we should care for the distant future, writes Ben Chugg. …
Most of us will know, or have known, a loved one with dementia. As memory slips away, it can take with it language, knowledge and even selfhood. But something beautiful can still remain, writes Noga Arikha. The experience of dementia is sadly common. …
