In aesthetic matters, saying that it is only a matter of opinion that Gustav Mahler is better than Bob Marley is at least democratic and non-elitist. But when you take that to its logical conclusion and say that Prokofiev is objectively no better than David Hasselhoff, the eye of the beholder is exposed for the unreliable organ that it is.
ReadInfractions of personal liberty can be justified when they improve the welfare of individuals on the whole, even when they on occasion diminish the welfare and freedoms of particular people. The argument against assisted suicide on these grounds is not that your doing it directly harms others, but that your having the right to do it requires changing the social ecology in such a way as to diminish the ability of all individuals to thrive in it.
ReadIn the western world, we fear missing out more than we do excess. Living life to the full means filling it as much as possible, and so spaces are hard to tolerate. The radically counter-cultural view is that it is better to have too little than too much.
ReadIn the latest microphilosophy podcast I talk to the author of The Atheist’s Guide to Reality, philosopher of Science Alex Rosenberg, about what science has to tell us about how we should live. We’re also joined by Samir Okasha, author of Philosophy of Science: A Very Short Introduction. The discussion was recorded live at Foyles bookshop in association with the Bristol Festival of Ideas.
ReadThe kind of philanthropy most of us practise is little more than the sharing of leftovers, not something that requires us to give up anything we value.
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