Are we optimists or pessimists?
Gloom is easily mistaken for intellectual depth. Have you ever seen a photo of a smiling existentialist?
ReadAuthor: Julian Baggini
In search of self
In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Polonius’s advice to the young prince – “To thine own self be true” – has become a self-help cliché. Yet far from being a glib platitude, these six monosyllables raise profound questions. Being “true to thine own self” is more easily said than done…
ReadThe black tie that binds
Like most dress codes worldwide, the evening suit is a symbol of elitism and exclusion. When people are required to put on special dress, you don’t need to be an anthropologist to recognise that it is designed to emphasise the difference in status between those who wear it and those who do not.
ReadShould we ever delay the inevitable?
In the 1986 film Hannah and Her Sisters, Woody Allen’s character Mickey has a moment of existential angst in Central Park. “Look at these people jogging,” he says, “trying to stave off the inevitable decay of the body.” You might dismiss this as the morose musing of a depressive. But I think that when most people watch the film, they can see Mickey has a point…
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British politics and the lost art of rhetoric
Hilary Benn and others were acclaimed for their speeches in the Syria debate in the Commons. But if this was the House at its best, its best is not good enough.
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