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+12 +2
I taught philosophy to prisoners, and I know it can help end the damaging macho prison culture
Teaching prisoners philosophy may sound unconventional, but my research has shown that it not only helps people survive the prison experience but it could also help reduce levels of violence and intimidation. Studies have shown that prisoners get through their incarceration by putting on a front or a prison persona which helps them to navigate life behind bars. But by sitting down and talking through philosophical issues, I was able to provide a space where they could drop their macho fronts and learn to talk with each other about life, morality and identity.
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+16 +4
The copy is the original
In China and Japan, temples may be rebuilt and ancient warriors cast again. There is nothing sacred about the ‘original.’ By Byung-Chul Han.
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+18 +3
Did Science Kill Philosophy?
From neuroscience to cosmology, Hawking to Dawkins, many argue science can do away with philosophy. Yet science is replete with philosophical puzzles. Should we see science as one metaphysics amongst others? Or is this to swap the megalomania of science with that of philosophy?
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+14 +5
Voltaire and the Buddha
Donald S. Lopez, Jr. looks at Voltaire's early reflections on Buddhism and how, in his desire to separate the Buddha's teachings from the trappings of religion, the French Enlightenment thinker prefigured an approach now familiar in the West.
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+15 +4
As If!
Thomas Nagel reviews “As If: Idealization and Ideals” by Kwame Anthony Appiah.
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+14 +5
The Letter From Teller That Changed My Life
Hello, I'm Brian Brushwood, creator of The Modern Rogue and co-host of the videos. I've logged over 2,000 performances of an award-winning stage magic show nationwide, hosted TV Specials and had my own National Geographic series, released four Billboard chart-topping comedy albums, and taught a quarter-billion people a few cool magic tricks. Oh, and I'm Teller's bastard son.
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+17 +6
How a blind artist is challenging our understanding of colour
For centuries, people who were born blind have been the intellectual curios of philosophers studying consciousness. This is particularly true for those exploring the way our consciousness is effected by our bodies, especially our eyes, which Leonardo da Vinci described as the “window of the soul”.
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+28 +9
When do you know you’re old enough to die?
With her latest book, Natural Causes, Barbara Ehrenreich notes that there’s an age at which death no longer requires much explanation.
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+14 +3
Descartes Is Not Our Father
History tells us he invented modern philosophy. That history is wrong. By Christia Mercer. (Sept. 25, 2017)
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+10 +2
The Observer at Infinity: J.W. Dunne vs. the Volcano
“Mystery has its own mysteries, and there are gods above gods. We have ours, they have theirs. That is what’s known as infinity” – Jean Cocteau. By Aaron Dabbah.
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+13 +4
Seven thought experiments to make you question everything
Philosophers love to use thought experiments, here are seven of the most useful for making you reflect on everything around you. By Scotty Hendricks.
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+8 +3
The alt-right is drunk on bad readings of Nietzsche. The Nazis were too
The alt-right is obsessed with the 19th-century German philosopher. They don’t understand him. By Sean Illing.
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+3 +1
Did Math Kill God?
A new book on Renaissance mathematics makes a bold case. By Josephine Livingstone. (April 27, 2018)
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+7 +2
Ten Questions for, and about AI
By Roger Schank. (Jan. 10, 2017)
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+10 +3
Spinoza's philosophy of freedom
Steven Nadler on Spinoza.
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+2 +1
How Long Until a Robot Cries?
Identifying the mechanics of emotions. By Neil Savage.
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+13 +2
Democracy is not a truth machine
"That means for example that if all the climate scientists in the world were wiped out by a freak meteor at a conference, climate science would quickly reappear and say basically the same things again, as more or less happened when the Catholic Church tried to suppress heliocentricism." By Thomas R. Wells.
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+9 +2
What is beauty if not a jolt that awakens us to the world?
Rather than a golden ratio or a moral judgment, beauty is more like a radical jolt that awakens us to the world, By Shahidha Bari.
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+5 +1
Why Hopelessness Is Conservative
Those who defend the established order want you to believe that you’re stupid and can’t change anything. By Nathan J. Robinson.
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+13 +1
Questioning Truth, Reality and the Role of Science
In an era when untestable ideas such as the multiverse hold sway, Michela Massimi defends science from those who think it hopelessly unmoored from physical reality. By Philip Ball.
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