Freedom within boundaries
“The easy thing is just to conform. If you look at the history of intellectuals back to the earliest times, every society that I have…
Freedom
Essays, interviews and ideas from New Philosopher on Freedom.
Explore Freedom
13 questions with Michael Leunig
1. What is the biggest threat to our minds? Our minds. 2. What is freedom? Non-compliance and creativity. 3. What illusion do you suffer from? Other…
The identity toolkit
Sum yourself up in a couple of words. Users of social media do it to introduce themselves online. “Surfer, father, writer, film director.” “Yogi, vego, humanitarian.”…
How are you smart?
The original scene: Paris, 1900‚ La Belle Epoque. The city fathers approached a talented psychologist named Alfred Binet with an unusual request. Many families were flocking…
If I’m free, why can’t I do what I want?
By Katarzyna de Lazari-Radek I woke up my son Jan (9) for school, as I do every morning. He was very unhappy and started to complain…
8 questions: Genís Carreras
ABOUT THE ARTIST: Genís Carreras, a Spanish graphic designer based in London, produced the acclaimed "Philographics" series. 1. What prompted you to do the Philographics series?…
Freedom of thought: the media and propaganda
Please answer True or False: 1. During World War I, the Germans ran a factory to boil down the battlefield corpses of their own soldiers, extracting the…
The dizziness of freedom
The path laid out for Australian-born Tim Cope was to go to university, get a job, a career, a house and a mortgage; he took the…
Our surveillance society
In the perfect prison, I am bathed in light. I don’t languish in the dark – I am put to work. There are no wardens, at…
The Splendid Mess of Personal Identity
Think of the earliest memory you have. For me, it’s looking at the sea through a glass door at about the age of two years old.…
Are we free? 6 philosophers’ views
THE CONCEPT OF FREEDOM IN ITS MYRIAD FORMS - BE IT FREE WILL, FREEDOM OF THOUGHT, PHYSICAL OR PERSONAL FREEDOM - HAS BEEN SUBJECT TO EARNEST…
Bringing thinkers into focus: Steve Pyke
It’s a dismal affair when the faces of people we don’t wish to remember - such as modern-day celebrities - easily spring to mind, while it’s…
5 Ideas: Is there a solid core that makes you you?
Ideas are powerful things. Even a little one can change the way you look at the world. And the big ones can change the world itself.…
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 no-one has…
Shorts: Epictetus and external events
Think about what usually makes you angry, frustrated, anxious; most likely it has something to do with external events that are beyond your control. Your boss,…
The news – why do we subject ourselves to it?
Every night at 6.00 pm, I want you to sit in a room for half an hour. During that time I will speak to you, but…
J.S.Mill’s dedication to his wife Harriet: “On Liberty”
To the beloved and deplored memory of her who was the inspirer, and in part the author, of all that is best in my writings --…
On Shadows and Realities in Education (Plato’s Cave)
The Republic, Plato, Book VII AND now, I said, let me show in a figure how far our nature is enlightened or unenlightened: Behold! human beings…
