If you’re looking for ways to bring more positive changes into your life, TikTok recommends jumping on the “lucky girl syndrome” trend. The hashtag links countless videos, all claiming this new form of positive thinking can help you achieve your goals. If you haven’t already come across one of these videos, many of them involve… Continue reading Lucky girl syndrome — the potential dark side of TikTok’s extreme positive thinking trend
There is a striking photo, taken in 2015, of a deactivated nuclear missile at an air and space museum in Tucson, Arizona. Written in dust on this missile are the words: “Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds”. These words, from the Sanskrit scriptural text the Bhagavad Gita, are famously attributed to J.… Continue reading “Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds” — the Bhagavad Gita explained
Do you remember what it was like to discover the magic of a city for the first time? Do you remember the noises, smells, flashing lights and pulsating crowds? Or do you mostly remember cities through the screen of your phone? In 1967, French philosopher and filmmaker Guy Debord publicised the need to move away… Continue reading The art of “getting lost” — how re-discovering your city can be an antidote to capitalism
Dry conditions and impending drought mean millions of people endure hosepipe bans each year. There is a “temporary use ban” in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, with Kent and Sussex to follow. It’s virtually impossible for water suppliers to enforce this ban themselves, so some are reportedly urging customers to report if they spot… Continue reading Hosepipe ban — should you snitch on your neighbour’s water use? A philosopher’s take
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 it exists?… 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 legacy. But like any… 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 the world around you are nothing but… 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
