The astonishing mind of Derek Parfit
Parfit often said, “If my arguments don’t succeed, my life has been wasted.” Fortunately he was wrong. He ultimately failed, but more brilliantly than almost all the rest of us could ever succeed.
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Tag: Ethics
Manners matter
To refuse politeness is to refuse to take your place in society, to throw grit into the wheels of social interaction. Like littering and petty shoplifting, what is harmless when done rarely by a few would be harmful if done regularly by the many.
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What does it mean to be human?
In Humanly Possible: Seven Hundred Years of Humanist Freethinking, Enquiry and Hope, Sarah Bakewell reflects on 700 years of humanist thought, perusing the work of various writers, thinkers, scientists and artists who have spent time trying to understand what it means to be truly human. She tells the story of humanism, explaining why it has continued to flourish for so many years in spite of opposition from other groups.
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The Author Archive podcast
In this conversation Julian wonders about the validity of monarchy, whether truth in politics is essential, if wisdom inevitably comes with age, why there is so much angst around trans people …… and much more! How does AC/DC fit in to all this, and…. does thinking like a philosopher make you feel better??
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How to Think Like a Philosopher Ep7
Julian Baggini and guests Myisha Cherry and Catarina Dutilh Novaes explore how the exemplary habits and principles of the best philosophers can help us to think better. Their focus today is on the role of anger in thinking and the need to defer to others.
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