Review: Ultimate Questions by Bryan Magee
Plato and Aristotle claimed that philosophy begins with wonder. Bryan Magee is proof that for some, the wonder never dies, it only deepens.
ReadTag: Ethics
Recipe for success
Most of us can honestly say we have no desire to be on the cover of Hello! magazine, yet almost all of us crave recognition, believing that it validates our endeavours. A myth of our age is that talent, dedication and ambition bring such recognition – and its associated rewards – in gastronomy as in everything else. Tiziano Gérard is living proof that this just isn’t true
ReadShould we share our troubles with others?
‘A problem shared is a problem halved’ is not a maxim that finds much favour in global politics. Governments earn their mandates, democratic or not, by acting in the interests of their citizens, not those of foreigners. Efforts to counter this parochialism with more universal, benevolent principles have had extremely limited effect…
ReadIs it better to give or to receive?
There is a great deal of truth in the idea that we all tend to gain from co-operation, which perhaps helps explain why this belief has survived the widespread secularisation of society. Nor does the mere fact that goodness tends to pay prove our motivations are always fundamentally selfish: compassion and kindness can still be sincere, even if they are repaid with interest.
ReadAt the Existentialist Café: Review
Sarah Bakewell’s new book is a kind of collaboration between her exhilarated younger self and the more measured, adult writer she has become. These co-authors are as generous with each other as they are with their subjects, resulting in a work that is both warm and intellectually rigorous.
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