It’s now over two years since 33-year-old Sarah Everard was kidnapped while she walked home and killed by a police officer in London. Since then, we’ve also seen the case of Sabina Nessa, a primary school teacher also from London, was also killed by a stranger while walking to meet a friend. And in early… Continue reading Stopping violence against women starts with learning what misogyny really is
It has been more than 50 years since astronomers first proposed “dark matter”, which is thought to be the most common form of matter in the universe. Despite this, we have no idea what it is – nobody has directly seen it or produced it in the lab. So how can scientists be so sure… Continue reading Dark matter: should we be so sure it exists? Here’s how philosophy can help
In 1624, a physician called Jean-Baptiste van Helmont told a strange story in his book of “magnetic cures” about a man from Brussels who had lost his nose. Having had his nose cut off “in combat”, the man went to a famous Italian surgeon, Gaspare Tagliacozzi, who promised to make him a new one “resembling… Continue reading His new nose grew ‘frigid and cadaverous’: the philosophy of the first nose job
By any reckoning, Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) is one of the most influential Western philosophers in history. No account of the modern era – not just modern thought – could ignore him. Few courses in political or social theory would think to omit him. It is therefore worth coming to grips with his thought and its… Continue reading The philosophy of Jean-Jacques Rousseau is profoundly contemporary
At a time when humans are threatening the extinction of so many other species, some people think that the extinction of our own species would be of benefit. Take, for example, the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement, whose founder believes that our extinction would put an end to the damage we inflict on each other and… Continue reading Solve suffering by blowing up the universe? The dubious philosophy of human extinction
Have you ever wondered if you’re just a character in some elaborate simulation? You shake the thought off because you’re a real person, living a real life, in a concrete reality. But can you be certain that you are? Isn’t it at least possible that your body and that the world around you are nothing… Continue reading The philosophy of the film Free Guy – could we just be lines of code in a grand simulation?
It is often said that we live in a “post-truth” era. It is unclear at times what role, if any, truth plays in politics. During the pandemic, world leaders dismissed the advice of experts and acted against empirical data. Democracies have felt precarious – in the US, during the Trump presidency, and in countries like… Continue reading Five lessons on bringing truth back to politics from Britain’s first female philosophy professor – Susan Stebbing
In 1845, Karl Marx declared: “philosophers have only interpreted the world in various ways; the point is to change it”. Change it he did. Political movements representing masses of new industrial workers, many inspired by his thought, reshaped the world in the 19th and 20th centuries through revolution and reform. His work influenced unions, labour… Continue reading Karl Marx’s philosophy explained
Icelandic startup Carbfix is the world’s first CO2 mineral storage operator, permanently sequestering CO2 by mixing it with water and injecting into basalt rock. Transcript CARBFIX CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, EDDA ARADOTTIR: “So Carbfix has developed a technology that mitigates climate change. What we do is we take CO2 that’s been captured either from point-source emissions… Continue reading Icelandic startup turns carbon dioxide into stone
What if carbon dioxide and methane emitted from landfill could power an aeroplane and reduce greenhouse gas emissions at the same time? Researchers at an Australian university said they have developed a chemical process that could produce sustainable aviation fuel from gases emitted from landfills and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. And it could help the… Continue reading Scientists are making jet fuel from landfill gas
