Nigel Warburton
03 June 2026
Calling it a “tradition” is no defence
Every year, in the Faroe Islands, pods of whales are trapped and hacked to pieces in the water. Just because it has been done for centuries does not mean it has to continue
Read the full article27 May 2026
When tech bros predict the future, boo loudly
The bosses of Nvidia and Google think their companies are building the future. The trouble is, if they keep saying it and we keep believing it, one day it might actually come true
Read the full article20 May 2026
The strange phenomenon of “an agreeable kind of horror”
In a new book, Cal Flyn describes the competing feelings she has on approaching the edge of a live volcano. It is a reminder of the power and mystery of the sublime
Read the full article13 May 2026
Can Reform really call themselves Christians?
Nigel Farage’s party waves the Bible but opposes loving thy neighbour and helping those in need
Read the full article06 May 2026
Wittgenstein’s intellectual experiment that went wrong
Wittgenstein designed a house thinking it would be something of deep significance. It turns out that it wasn’t
Read the full article29 April 2026
Living with the ghost of Paul Auster
A beautiful new memoir by novelist Siri Hustvedt, the writer’s widow, is full of philosophical insights
Read the full article22 April 2026
This man tried never lying for a year - it went about as well as expected
Philosopher Immanuel Kant said you should always tell the truth no matter the consequences. It’s too much to expect that from politicians
Read the full article15 April 2026
Are plants conscious?
You’ll never have a two-sided conversation with a cherry tree – but it probably has a far simpler sentience of its own
Read the full article01 April 2026
Do we need more philosophers in public life? It’s complicated - and this is why
You can be an expert in logic and still espouse the worst values
Read the full article25 March 2026
You're on your own, Nick Timothy
The Tory claims a Muslim ceremony was about ‘domination and division’. Is his intervention really about British values, or something darker?
Read the full article18 March 2026
Jürgen Habermas – brilliant, influential and stupefyingly tedious
He argued for the importance of communication within society, but his works were relentlessly inaccessible. Despite this, he was central to Germany’s post-war moral recovery
Read the full article11 March 2026
The moral minefield of water cremation
For thousands of years, philosophers have disagreed over what to do with mortal remains. Some wanted a solemn burial, others to be eaten by dogs, while others jumped into a volcano. What would they have made of a modern, water-based method?
Read the full article04 March 2026
The photographs worth far more than a thousand words
Thinkers have suggested that we see through photographs, back to the reality that they depict. But really their power is symbolic
Read the full article25 February 2026
The Epstein scandal will create a wave of conspiracy theories
The problem is that the secret international network of powerful men that Epstein created around himself will only convince the paranoid fantasists they were on to something
Read the full article11 February 2026
Ai Wewei wants you to know that the west censors too
The dissident artist has been targeted by China – but On Censorship reveals a wider world of control
Read the full article04 February 2026
Karma is the world’s worst policeman
Sorry, but leaving the universe to right itself is just misguided wishful thinking
Read the full article28 January 2026
Can philosophy be funny?
It Wittgenstein had written a Tractatus Logico Humurous, would we have learned anything from it?
Read the full article21 January 2026
How do ordinary people become evil?
Dehumanisation, obedience and lack of empathy: what drives people to commit the worst acts imaginable
Read the full article14 January 2026
How to stop AI slop from killing the internet
Legislation or an unexpected saviour could help – but the tech giants will try to crush them
Read the full article13 January 2026
The philosophy behind the BBC’s Waiting for the Out
Andy West, the man who inspired the hit new drama, on nature, change and the ‘terrible, dehumanising’ life behind bars
Read the full article07 January 2026
Why I don't have a favourite philosopher
I'm an admirer of John Stuart Mill, David Hume and Diogenes the Cynic. The problem is, I cannot endorse any one of them without reservation
Read the full article31 December 2025
Why New Year’s resolutions are the hardest promises to keep
Promises to ourselves have a superficially similar structure to promises to other people – but with a kind of double lock
Read the full article17 December 2025
How the world forgot James Hutton
A Scottish geologist made a discovery that altered the way we see ourselves, and our planet. And yet his name is widely forgotten
Read the full article10 December 2025
Schopenhauer’s one redeeming feature
He was a master of misery who sometimes argued it was better never to have been born. But his love of the flute suggests the philosopher wasn’t all gloom
Read the full article03 December 2025
CS Lewis and the truth about grief
When we lose someone it distorts everything - even the world around us
Read the full article26 November 2025
Everyday philosophy: Welcome to our terrifying surveillance state
Cameras and digital tracking make our lives more convenient – but at what cost?
Read the full article19 November 2025
Virtual friends don't belong in the real world
If we reach the point where real friends seem retro, life will have lost all its meaning
Read the full article12 November 2025
The super-rich are just super-lucky
Luck has played a part in how the world’s billionaires gathered their wealth. The issue arises when they don’t quite see it this way
Read the full article01 November 2025
Is the universe conscious? Philip Pullman thinks so…
It’s fun to entertain the possibility of panpsychism – that all the physical things around you have some level of experience. But that doesn’t mean it’s how reality works
Read the full article22 October 2025
There should be a Nobel prize for philosophy
Harvard philosopher Michael Sandel won the closest philosophy has to the accolade and, even if you disagree with him, it's easy to see why
Read the full article15 October 2025
How to love our pets
The prevalence of dog attacks points to an underlying moral failing: too many owners are shirking their basic responsibilities
Read the full article08 October 2025
Philosophers can't tell you how to live
There is, so far, no philosophical consensus about how we should go about our lives. We have to keep thinking for ourselves
Read the full article