Philosophy

The man who helped to invent modern liberalism also had some distinctly illiberal ideas – including on slavery

The best political performers are the ones who convince us there’s no performance at all

There needs to be much stricter controls on who can access the genetic data of viruses. AI is making that situation all the more urgent

Anthony Kenny saw the future PM’s flaws close-up at Oxford University

Karl Popper identified the problem of how tolerant we should be towards intolerant people. Where do you draw the line?

Both Immanuel Kant and Ann Widdecombe believed in capital punishment – but it is barbarous and absurd

The De Hogeweyk project offers a normal life for elderly sufferers. But sceptics call it a dystopian Truman Show

The Proms is a reminder that the stirring quality of organised sound defies all reason

We really don’t have to do it – but the law is so badly drafted that sometimes there’s only one outcome, and everyone is left devastated

AI firms have been hiring philosophers to deal with the moral questions thrown up by their platforms. But are they just window-dressing?

If your country caused suffering and if identifiable victims are still alive, then apologetic statements may not be enough

It would be a cruel twist – but Silicon Valley doesn’t care about copyright and trains its AI systems using the work of writers who see no benefit. If that continues, the role of the writer may cease to exist

Philosophical writer Jorge Luis Borges loathed international football. He was wrong about the sport, but right about the nationalism it engenders

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

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

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

Nigel Farage’s party waves the Bible but opposes loving thy neighbour and helping those in need

Our society does horrendous things to animals, but this one taboo is regarded as sickening and wrong above all others – and people find it hard to say exactly why

Wittgenstein designed a house thinking it would be something of deep significance. It turns out that it wasn’t

A beautiful new memoir by novelist Siri Hustvedt, the writer’s widow, is full of philosophical insights

Philosopher Immanuel Kant said you should always tell the truth no matter the consequences. It’s too much to expect that from politicians

The promise that everyone can benefit from science rings hollow in a world of inequality and exclusion

You’ll never have a two-sided conversation with a cherry tree – but it probably has a far simpler sentience of its own

You can be an expert in logic and still espouse the worst values

The Tory claims a Muslim ceremony was about ‘domination and division’. Is his intervention really about British values, or something darker?

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

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?

Thinkers have suggested that we see through photographs, back to the reality that they depict. But really their power is symbolic

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

The dissident artist has been targeted by China – but On Censorship reveals a wider world of control

Sorry, but leaving the universe to right itself is just misguided wishful thinking

It Wittgenstein had written a Tractatus Logico Humurous, would we have learned anything from it?