Happiness
Are you your job and nothing more?
What do you do? I’m a mechanic; I’m a horticulturalist. It’s the first question we ask others, and the way we define ourselves. What’s…
Articles
Essays, interviews and ideas from New Philosopher.
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Money & Consumerism
Is less more?
Clean lines, absence of decoration, avoidance of clutter, simplicity, and above all functionality – these are the characteristics of modernist architecture that were encapsulated…
Happiness
Shorts: why do it in prison?
“Why do it in prison? Well, why do it anywhere? I do it in prison because I was asked, and I carry on because…
Philosophy and you
Seeing the good
After reading moral philosophy for a while, you may come to suspect that being a moral philosopher must be utterly exhausting. Not just because…
Being Human
Outsourced memories
There is a tradition in philosophy that makes our memories the core of our personal being, essential to what we are, and the basis…
Philosophy and you
Being well distracted
At the tail end of breakfast at a hotel in Lourdes, France, a man enters the room accompanied by a cacophony of glass-shattering screams…
Ideas to change your life
The courage to be different
If Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard were alive today, and had his own social media account, he probably wouldn’t get many likes. The eccentric writer…
Ideas to change your life
Mental decluttering
Despite his short life, the nineteenth century American author Henry David Thoreau has become an enduring symbol of not one, but two popular tropes.…
Ideas to change your life
The Classic of Filial Piety
Once, when Zhong Ni was unoccupied, and his disciple Zeng was sitting by in attendance on him, the Master said, “The ancient kings had…
Ideas to change your life
Conflicting views
If you’re lucky enough to have several million dollars more than you need, what should you do with this money? One answer is that…
Ideas to change your life
Working against the clock
The office man runs his ‘security pass’ through the turnstiles of the corporate building and clocks on for the day; his presence is recorded…
Being Human
Winners of the 50 prizes for our 50th edition
To celebrate the publication of our 50th edition, we're giving away 50 prizes to subscribers, with first prize a 50-edition subscription (up to our…