Friction-free fictions
In Thus Spake Zarathustra, Nietzsche described what he called “The Last Men”. These are human beings who have overcome all[…]
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Thinking through film and music
The way in which film and music explore ideas is very different from the way in which philosophers do so, verbally and logically. But they are still doing philosophy.
ReadThe too-believable truth
The culture of self-promotion has turned many who in other times would have been modest and self-effacing into boasters and braggers. They take things about themselves which are technically true and make them sound more impressive than they are. Here are four of the tropes I find most grating.
ReadAbolish bank holidays
Bank holidays are a British idiosyncrasy that some former members of our empire continue to honour. Other countries don’t have more of them, they have public holidays instead. This is not a matter of mere terminology. A public holiday is a shared civic commemoration of something important for the society that celebrates it.
ReadThe enduring brilliance of Ludwig Wittgenstein
As the years pass, his stock only continues to rise. Card-carrying Wittgensteinians might be relatively thin on the ground but he pointed a direction for philosophy to head in that many are now following.
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