How existential philosophy can help you to cope with anguish: Automat by Edward Hopper (1927). Des Moines Art Center “Am I with the right person?” Most of us have probably asked ourselves this question at least once in our life. I certainly have. To help you out, your friends might ask: “Well, do you love …
Radical Optimism is Dua Lipa’s philosophy for dealing with life’s chaos – but radical openness is a better approach: In a teaser video for her third album, Radical Optimism, Dua Lipa explained that every track has that “through-the-struggle-you-are-going-to-make-it” optimistic feeling. She has also said that the album “taps into the pure joy and happiness of …
AI makes Silicon Valley’s philosophy of ‘move fast and break things’ untenable: yhelfman / Shutterstock The unofficial motto of Silicon Valley has long been “move fast and break things”. It relies on the assumption that in order to create cutting edge technology and to be ahead of the competition, companies need to accept that things …
Past Lives: inyeon is a Korean philosophy of how relationships form over many lifetimes: “There is a word in Korean – inyeon. It means providence or fate. But it’s specifically about relationships between people.” So writer Nora Lee tells her American lover when they meet on an artists’ retreat in director Celine Song’s new film, …
Education in Zimbabwe should strive for inclusion — how the philosophy of ubuntu can help: Inclusive education is about far more than accommodating learners with disabilities, but teachers don't seem to know this. Wilfred Kajese/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images The notion of inclusive education began to emerge during the 1950s and 1960s. At first it …
Oscars 2023: The philosophy of Everything, Everywhere, All at Once explained: Warning: the following article contains spoilers for Everything, Everywhere, All At Once. Having enlisted an old friend to babysit our little girls, my husband and I hopped on the bus to see Everything, Everywhere, All at Once as our almost once-in-a-year date film. In …
How philosophy can help mothers avoid judgment, guilt and shame: Parenting is tough: the lack of sleep, the baby that cries for hours for no reason, the toddler that has a tantrum for all too many reasons. But being a mother is often especially hard. This isn’t just because mothers often do the lion’s share …
Philosophy can help us deal with failures that seem insurmountable: GoodStudio/Shutterstock Philosophically speaking, some kinds of failure are more interesting than others. Failing to make a meeting on time or not being able to get out of bed without hitting snooze at least once on your alarm would fall in the “less interesting” camp. You …
How the philosophy behind the Japanese art form of _kintsugi_ can help us navigate failure: Marco Montalti/Shutterstock In our 20s and 30s, there can be immense pressure to measure up to the expectations of society, our families, our friends and even those we have for ourselves. Many people look back and feel disappointed that they …
Dark matter: should we be so sure it exists? Here’s how philosophy can help: The galaxy cluster Abell 520, with suspected dark matter highlighted in blue. NASA 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 …
Can we ever fully separate our work and home lives? Philosophy suggests we should stop trying: Photobank.kiev.ua / Shutterstock If you could take work-life balance to its most literal extreme, what would it look like? That’s the central theme of Severance, the sci-fi series that has just finished airing on Apple TV. Employees working for …
Kwasi Wiredu cleared the way for modern African philosophy: Kwasi Wiredu focused on bringing an African understanding to the study of philosophy. Global Echo Kwasi Wiredu, often called the greatest living African philosopher, passed on 6 January 2022 in the US at the age of 90. Wiredu was a central presence in the discipline by …
The Matrix: how conspiracy theorists hijacked the ‘red pill’ philosophy: Shutterstock The Matrix is among the most influential science fiction films of all time. Nearly 20 years since the third film in the series premiered, a fourth chapter, The Matrix Resurrections, was released in December to great excitement. But one of The Matrix’s most enduring …
Combating COVID-19 anti-vaxxers: lessons from political philosophy: Shutterstock Challenging the scepticism and resistance in the public response to the COVID-19 vaccine is deeply important to the state of public health. This is a critical conversation because people are protesting the COVID-19 vaccines not just in South Africa, but globally too. As a teacher of political …
The philosophy of the film Free Guy – could we just be lines of code in a grand simulation?: :20th Century Studios/Allstar 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 …
Five lessons on bringing truth back to politics from Britain’s first female philosophy professor: Susan Stebbing's 1939 work is just as relevant today as it was then. National Portrait Gallery, London via Creative Commons, CC BY-NC It is often said that we live in a “post-truth” era. It is unclear at times what role, if …
Should cyberwar be met with physical force? Moral philosophy can help us decide: seaonweb/Shutterstock In conventional warfare, it’s accepted that if a state finds itself under attack, it’s entitled to respond – either with defensive force, or with a counterattack. But it’s less clear how countries should respond to cyber-attacks: state-backed hacks which often have …
His new nose grew ‘frigid and cadaverous’: the philosophy of the first nose job: © Wellcome Collection, CC BY-SA 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”, …