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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

Black-and-white photo of a man speaking into microphones held by the press outside a building, with a woman smiling at him in the background.

video

Political philosophy

The radical activist couple who fought for social change in the courtroom

21 minutes

Photo of a desert scene with tall cacti and a person standing, set against a sunlit rocky hill.

video

Human rights and justice

Can providing humanitarian aid be illegal? A troubling case from the US-Mexico border

17 minutes

Black-and-white photo of a woman in a lab coat examining maize at a table, baskets of maize to the side, in a laboratory.

essay

Virtues and vices

Against humility

Intellectual humility has recently been hailed as the key to thinking well. The story of Barbara McClintock proves otherwise

Rachel Fraser

Photo of a person wearing large sunglasses with outdoor scenery reflected, resting their fingers on their chin in a thoughtful pose.

essay

Ethics

Main character syndrome

Why romanticising your own life is philosophically dubious, setting up toxic narratives and an inability to truly love

Anna Gotlib

A person at night placing an object in a large bin labelled ‘TRASH ONLY’ on an empty street lit by streetlights.

video

Personality

A ‘dumpster archeologist’ reconstructs strangers’ stories via what they’ve discarded

14 minutes

Photo of an ancient male statue with a cloth draped over his shoulder and arm, three people are sitting on a bench to the side of the statue

essay

Thinkers and theories

The value of our values

When Nietzsche used the tools of philology to explore the nature of morality, he became a ‘philosopher of the future’

Alexander Prescott-Couch

A busy beach scene with children on donkeys, people in the sea, a man reading on a sun lounger, and a dog urinating on a sun shade.

essay

Virtues and vices

Make it awkward!

Rather than being a cringey personal failing, awkwardness is a collective rupture – and a chance to rewrite the social script

Alexandra Plakias

Two children hugging on the floor, one in a white shirt smiling with eyes closed while the other wears a red jacket.

video

Bioethics

Is it ethical to have a second child so that your first might live?

10 minutes

Elderly couple holding hands while standing in the street. The woman holds a colourful fan partially covering her face. A man in casual attire walks by on the right. Two trees and a white building with large windows are in the background, with three people looking out of one of the windows.

essay

Ethics

Moral progress is annoying

You might feel you can trust your gut to tell right from wrong, but the friction of social change shows that you can’t

Daniel Kelly & Evan Westra

Cyclists in a professional race riding in rainy conditions. The leading cyclist in a blue jersey raises his arms in victory, with other cyclists closely following behind on the wet road. Everyone is wearing helmets and sunglasses for protection.

essay

Sports and games

Performance-enhancing vices

Selfishness channels ambition, envy drives competition, pride aids the win. Does it take a bad person to be a good athlete?

Sabrina Little

A man and a woman in formal evening dress but with giant fish heads covering their faces are pictured beneath a bridge on the foreshore of a river

essay

The environment

Emergency action

Could civil disobedience be morally obligatory in a society on a collision course with climate catastrophe?

Rupert Read

Four smiling flight attendants in bright-blue uniforms and matching hats, wearing identification badges, stand in a row saluting. They are indoors against a neutral background.

essay

Ethics

The scourge of lookism

It is time to take seriously the painful consequences of appearance discrimination in the workplace

Andrew Mason

Pig walking down a narrow aisle between rows of stalls in a farming facility, with dim lighting and metal structures.

essay

Bioethics

The dangers of AI farming

AI could lead to new ways for people to abuse animals for financial gain. That’s why we need strong ethical guidelines

Virginie Simoneau-Gilbert & Jonathan Birch

A weary looking medical staff member in scrubs and face mask sits at a desk in a hospital room surrounded by medical paraphernalia

essay

Public health

It’s dirty work

In caring for and bearing with human suffering, hospital staff perform extreme emotional labour. Is there a better way?

Susanna Crossman

Drawing of a child pointing at a person carrying a giant cupcake, with an arm and hand emerging from the frosting.

video

Ethics

For Iris Murdoch, selfishness is a fault that can be solved by reframing the world

6 minutes

A footballer in the Manchester United red strip runs past cheering fans in the stadium

essay

Sports and games

The moral risks of fandom

Players, coaches and team owners sometimes do terrible things. What, if anything, should their fans do about that?

Jake Wojtowicz & Alfred Archer

A tree with exposed roots growing from an eroded cliffside, with dense foliage in the background.

essay

Computing and artificial intelligence

Frontier AI ethics

Generative agents will change our society in weird, wonderful and worrying ways. Can philosophy help us get a grip on them?

Seth Lazar

Spacecraft approaching a large, rocky asteroid in the dark expanse of outer space, with a distant star shining in the background.

essay

Space exploration

Capturing the cosmos

When self-replicating craft bring life to the far Universe, a religious cult, not science, is likely to be the driving force

Jay Olson

Portrait of a man in a red coat, seated, with his chin resting on his hand, an open book, and anatomical specimens in jars and bones in the background.

essay

History of science

The rights of the dead

From the Irish Giant to the Ancient One, is it ever ethical for scientists and museums to study bodies without permission?

Anita Guerrini

A man dressed in white robes with his face obscured is seen in a cave entrance carved from rock

essay

Comparative philosophy

Forging philosophy

A 17th-century classic of Ethiopian philosophy might be a fake. Does it matter, or is that just how philosophy works?

Jonathan Egid

A woman carrying a child walks past a burning structure in a smoky environment, appearing concerned and cautious.

essay

Ethics

Ethics has no foundation

Ethical values can be both objective and knowable – torture really is wrong – yet not need any foundation outside themselves

Andrew Sepielli

Human figures beneath a glass dome watch the launch of a rocket from the surface of Mars

essay

Space exploration

The final ethical frontier

Earthbound exploration was plagued with colonialism, exploitation and extraction. Can we hope to make space any different?

Philip Ball

Painting of a group of soldiers aiming rifles, preparing to shoot kneeling and fallen prisoners, with a person surrendering in the background. Dark, dramatic sky.

essay

Ethics

Wrestling with relativism

Bernard Williams argued that one’s ethics is shaped by culture and history. But that doesn’t mean that everyone is right

Daniel Callcut

Children playing on swings in a park on a rainy day, with a girl standing nearby. Terraced houses are visible in the background.

essay

History of ideas

Equality without compromise

Liberal philosophy has clipped the wings of the egalitarian ideal. We should return to the bolder ideals of Iris Murdoch

Christine Sypnowich