The public image of charities has become dominated by their means, not their ends. When people think of charities today, they tend to think less of the good works they do than of direct mailings, cold calls and preternaturally chirpy young fundraisers accosting them on the street.
ReadAn unwillingness to prescribe simple remedies makes philosophers the best kind of guides. Give someone good advice and they’ll make a good choice today, teach them how to make good choices and they’ll keep on making them.
ReadEmotional suffering is real and that there should be no shame in seeking the help of others to diminish it. Whether it has an agreed name and a scientific definition is secondary.
ReadThe hope we might draw from history is that clear-eyed individuals can see beyond what is socially acceptable to what is morally right. If we get used to questioning even what is universally accepted, we might be able to avoid getting used to social norms that are well past their use-by date.
ReadHume understood that logic alone tells us nothing useful about how the world works and that the fundamental principles that underpin science cannot be given an objective justification. Yet he also understood that the proper use of reason was our only safeguard against pernicious superstition and false belief.
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