T.M. Luhrmann on small acts of real‑making November 11, 2020 The most important question to ask about religion is not why but how. “Why” is a skeptic’s question—a puzzle around the seemingly absurd ideas (a talking snake, a virgin birth) that we find in religions. Read More
Voting freely in a rigged election November 02, 2020 Can a person act freely in a system that is completely rigged, in which every action is determined from the outset? Maybe you are haunted by this question as you slog off to Town Hall to vote. Maybe it is so bothersome that you just stay home. Maybe you’ve already sent in your ballot, but you feel somehow unsatisfied. Read More
How to be content: The contemporary lessons of an ancient poet October 20, 2020 The poet Horace (65-8 BCE) is one of the most celebrated writers of Latin literature. His work has been copied and preserved over the centuries for both its sparkling form and its enlightened content. Read More
The Murder of Professor Schlick book trailer October 13, 2020 On June 22, 1936, the philosopher Moritz Schlick was on his way to deliver a lecture at the University of Vienna when Johann Nelböck, a deranged former student of Schlick’s, shot him dead on the university steps. Read More
Spinoza’s guide to life and death October 01, 2020 How should we face our mortality? Whether death is—as we all hope—a far off eventuality or, through age or illness, imminent, what is the proper attitude to take? Should we fear death? Read More
Our worst fears: Conspiratorial fictions and the unremitting assault on democracy September 13, 2020 Two years ago, we put the final revisions on our book about conspiratorial thinking in American politics: A Lot of People are Saying: the New Conspiracism and the Assault on Democracy. Read More
A look inside Just Giving July 24, 2020 “Your fortune is rolling up, rolling up like an avalanche! You must keep up with it! You must distribute it faster than it grows! If you do not, it will crush you, and your children, and your children’s children!” So wrote Frederick Gates to sixty-seven-year-old John D. Rockefeller in 1906. Read More
Idleness at a time of crisis May 13, 2020 Most of us probably never realized the speed with which large elements of the familiar world could disappear. Governmental orders have required changes in behaviour, changes that have generated remarkably similar kinds of experience across the globe. Read More
Escape from quarantine May 12, 2020 Like many professional intellectuals, books were my original escape. I was a strange child with abrasive manners, and real life was lonely and chaotic. I read ceaselessly, anything I could get my hands on. Read More
J. David Velleman on On Being Me May 06, 2020 We’ve all had to puzzle over such profound matters as birth, death, regret, free will, agency, and love. How might philosophy help us think through these vital concerns? Read More
The case for hierarchy April 20, 2020 Imagine a country with no social hierarchies: let’s call it Equality. People in Equality treat each others as equals regardless of age, sex, ethnicity, religion, family background, class, or position in the workplace. Read More
Should an old man engage in politics? April 07, 2020 Around noon on March 5, 2020, Elizabeth Warren suspended her campaign for president of the United States, leaving Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders to run (essentially) a two-man race for the Democratic nomination. Read More
In defense of hierarchy April 06, 2020 The seating arrangements for formal meals in Shandong province—the home of Confucian culture, with a population of nearly 100 million people—are rigidly hierarchical. Read More
COVID-19 crisis: What we owe each other March 17, 2020 What do we owe each other in this crisis? Let’s tackle one aspect of this question. A person might think as follows: If I know I am sick, then I understand why I am obligated to self-quarantine. Read More
A leadership class from the ancient world March 03, 2020 For the ancient Greeks and Romans, leadership was studied through examples. One of the best books ever written on the subject, Xenophon’s Education of Cyrus, appears to be a biography of the Persian king Cyrus the Great. In fact, it is a manual of statecraft and strategy. Read More