Being Human
Impossible choices
There is a famous paradox, the paradox of Buridan’s Ass, named after the 14th century French philosopher Jean Buridan. Imagine an ass which is…
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Happiness
Life is connection
“All the arts which belong to polished life have some common tie, and are connected as it were by some relationship.” - Cicero …
The Connection edition
“In nature everything is connected, everything is interwoven, everything changes with everything, everything merges from one into another.” – Gotthold Lessing In…
Philosophy and you
The limits of imagination
“Nothing is more free than the imagination of man; and though it cannot exceed that original stock of ideas furnished by the internal and…
News
The daily fix
The 24/7 news cycle serves up novelty each and every minute, filling our minds with information that would otherwise be inaccessible for us. Here’s…
Ideas to change your life
13 questions with ChatGPT
ChatGPT in conversation with Kelly Truelove, based on the "13 questions" section in each edition of New Philosopher magazine. Kelly Truelove: Provide an…
Ideas to change your life
The paradox of choice
Barry Schwartz is the Dorwin Cartwright Emeritus Professor of Social Theory and Social Action at Swarthmore College and since 2016 has been visiting professor…
Being Human
Nothing but change
“If you can in one day renovate yourself, do so from day to day. Yea, let there be daily renovation.” These words were reportedly…
Being Human
The Novelty edition
“Novelty has a tendency to make us philosophers.” – Virginia Woolf Constantly looking outwards, humans have crossed continents and oceans, invented technological wizardry, created…
Ideas to change your life
The impulse to novelty
“And I will capture your minds with sweet novelty.” - Ovid I recently re-read Annie Ernaux’s autobiographical masterpiece The Years ahead…
Philosophy and you
A dopamine-fuelled world
Daniel Z. Lieberman is a clinical professor of psychiatry and behavioural sciences at George Washington University. Lieberman is a recipient of the Caron Foundation…
Ideas to change your life
Imaginary realities
“Isn’t it true to say that ... Novelty is mistaken for Progress?” - Frank Lloyd Wright It’s a breezy crisp afternoon…