Michael Gracey looks at how philosophers have pursued happiness. Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), whose theology was Unitarian, edited an abridged version of the New Testament that stripped the gospels ...

‘More songs about Buildings and Food’ was the title of a 1978 album by the rock band Talking Heads. It was about all the things rock stars normally don’t sing about. Pop songs are usually about ...

Matthew Hammerton points out that a meaningful life and a life that goes well for you might not be the same thing. Picture two people on their deathbeds. The first lived comfortably, surrounded by ...

Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860), the author of The World as Will and Representation, was a profound metaphysician who also advocated basing ethics upon compassion. He was a great philosopher, but ...

The controversial Australian philosopher defends the right to choose to die on utilitarian grounds. Matt Qvortrup recently asked him about it. The Northern Territory in Australia was the first place ...

Sailee Khurjekar argues that race is culturally constructed. We know what the human race is, but what about the different ‘races’ that comprise it? There are competing theories about the definition ...

Massimo Pigliucci studies the Stoic Emperor’s to-do list. Commandments are generally lists of things someone requires someone else to do, usually with the implied threat that something bad will happen ...

Amy Cools reminds us why science needs philosophy. There’s been some very public dig-taking between the science and philosophy camps lately. Lawrence Krauss, Neil DeGrasse Tyson, Stephen Hawking, and ...

The first English version of a classic essay by Peter Wessel Zapffe, originally published in Janus #9, 1933. Translated from the Norwegian by Gisle R. Tangenes. One night in long bygone times, man ...

Alan Haworth on Karl Popper, his vision of a pragmatic, liberal society, and his assessment of its philosophical enemies. It is now one hundred years since the birth of Karl Popper, and almost sixty ...

Van Harvey reflects on Huxley’s and Clifford’s reasons for not believing. In the struggle against obscurantism and the appeal to blind faith that was rampant in Victorian culture, it would be ...

Does free will exist? Michael Hauskeller reasons about reasons. Imagine you go to a restaurant. Looking at the menu, you discover that they serve your two favourite meals – say asparagus and spinach ...