Essay Goodbye, Europe May 12, 2022 Depending on how you look at it, the timing was either fortunate or ill-fated.聽The Fifth International Congress for the Unity of Science met at Harvard from 3鈥�9 September 1939. Read More
Essay Why tech innovation alone isn鈥檛 good enough April 20, 2022 The list of crises we face today seems to grow daily. As if inequality and civil wars and global warming and refugee crises weren't enough, we have also grappled with a global pandemic and the sudden threat of nuclear war. Read More
Interview Zeynep Pamuk on Politics and Expertise January 31, 2022 Our ability to act on some of the most pressing issues of our time, from pandemics and climate change to artificial intelligence and nuclear weapons, depends on knowledge provided by scientists and other experts. Read More
Podcast Grief: A Philosophical Guide January 28, 2022 Experiencing grief at the death of a person we love or who matters to us鈥攁s universal as it is painful鈥攊s central to the human condition. Surprisingly, however, philosophers have rarely examined grief in any depth. Read More
Essay The pandemic has flooded the world with grief, but we鈥檙e not in a 鈥榞rief pandemic鈥� January 21, 2022 In a span of less than two years, Covid-19 infections have killed 4.5 million people worldwide. Experts estimate that each person who dies is significantly grieved by nine others. Read More
Podcast Listen in: Rescuing Socrates January 19, 2022 What is the value of a liberal education? Traditionally characterized by a rigorous engagement with the classics of Western thought and literature, this approach to education is all but extinct in American universities, replaced by flexible distribution requirements and ever-narrower academic specialization. Read More
Podcast When Bad Thinking Happens to Good People November 22, 2021 There is an epidemic of bad thinking in the world today. An alarming number of people are embracing crazy, even dangerous ideas. Read More
Essay Rediscovering friendship November 12, 2021 Plagues and pandemics are nothing new in history with the classical world of ancient Greece and Rome certainly having their share. Read More
Essay So what鈥檚 new? Innovation in ancient Greek experience October 29, 2021 When I worked in business in the 1980s I was struck by the constant demand for the new. The company I worked in produced and stocked a wide range of well-designed products for a varied international market, but customers would regularly pass over existing designs鈥攅ven the most recent ones鈥攁nd ask 鈥淲hat鈥檚 new?鈥� Read More
Essay Plant-based dietetics in Plato鈥檚 city for pigs October 20, 2021 The first thing to know about pigs is that they are not vegetarians. They are omnivores and their food choices pose no ethical dilemmas for them. Read More
Essay Conspiracy theories and the value of philosophy October 20, 2021 When you hear a claim that runs counter to mainstream thinking, like that the Sandy Hook school shooting was a hoax, or that close contact with a person who has been vaccinated against COVID-19 can make you sterile, or that the Holocaust never occurred, what should you think about in order to evaluate the claim? Read More
Interview Book Club Pick: Lost in Thought August 26, 2021 In an overloaded, superficial, technological world, in which almost everything and everybody is judged by its usefulness, where can we turn for escape, lasting pleasure, contemplation, or connection to others? Read More
Essay How washing dishes restored my intellectual life August 05, 2021 Midway through the journey of my life, I found myself in the woods of eastern Ontario, living in a remote Catholic religious community called Madonna House. Read More
Podcast Listen in: The Great Guide July 19, 2021 David Hume (1711鈥�1776) is perhaps best known for his ideas about cause and effect and his criticisms of religion, but he is rarely thought of as a philosopher with practical wisdom to offer. Read More
Podcast What do the ancients have to teach us? July 15, 2021 Marshall Poe recently had a fascinating conversation with聽Rob Tempio, the talented editor behind the聽Ancient Wisdom for Modern Readers series.聽The聽books in this series present聽the timeless and timely ideas of classical thinkers in lively new translations. Read More
