Thank you, Joshua Chawner, for such an interesting question! I liked this question because I distinctly remember being baffled by a Flemmish expression that is taken to mean the same thing: ‘you need to taste all the sauces’ (or: ‘ge moet van alle saze nekeer proeve’). I was baffled because the proposed principle is so […]
‘Don’t knock it untill you’ve tried it’ – really? Read More
Thank you, Roy Head, for such an interesting question! Hopefully this will help… Imagine you are in your house quietly watching your 10th episode of The Great British Baking Show while drinking wine out of a coffee mug when, all of a sudden, you hear a desperate knock on the door. You tear yourself away
Is honesty always the best policy? Read More
Thank you, Darlan Campos, for an interesting question! Beauty is usually deemed to be a superficial virtue in light of the fact that it is rarely everlasting and only gives rise to but an instance of aesthetic pleasure. The experience of beauty is incredibly short and seems to have no long-lasting effect. Natural beauty always
Thank you, Hannah Scollen, for a great question – this was fun to think about! The most important part of this question, the part that would most likely lead to an answer, the useful part (see what I did there?), is the relationship between utility and applicability. So, let’s have a look at that first,
Is knowledge useful if it isn’t applicable? Read More
Thank you, Tanay Baswa, for this wonderful question! I hope you won’t mind if I start by discussing something slightly different: Why did we start smiling in photos? If you look at Victorian photographs, you will instantly notice a difference to our modern-day selfies: nobody is smiling! Try going further back in time and look
Why do we smile in photos? Read More
Thank you, Will Baker, for a great question! I believe that it is based on two assumptions: first, that the wellbeing of the aggregate and the wellbeing of the individual are somehow opposed, thus leading us to the dilemma whether one should be chosen over the other; and, second, that wellbeing is somehow measurable. But
Thank you, Mora Kaufmann, for such a fundamental and important question! In this answer, I hope to show why, as a philosopher, I can’t help but consider myself an anarchist. Let me premise what is to follow by saying that this is a very dangerous question for me and for many others on this blog.
Thank you, Heather Bennett, for such a timely question… I happened to be watching Tiger King recently (along with everyone else, no doubt). It was episode 3. Carole Baskin was talking about an argument she had had with her first husband. She said, ‘I deal with stress the same way cats do: I just pace
Thank you, Alex Impey, for a great question! Let’s first try to understand the question a little better before attempting to answer it. The question involves two deeply loaded concepts: ‘art’ and ‘separation’. I will stick to an intuitive, common-sense understanding of ‘art’ and will take ‘separated’ to mean ‘treated independently’. It is also important
Should art be separated from the artist? Read More
Thank you, Cameron Tait, for such a significant question! The phrase “we are being taught” already suggests a system of values at work. These values are promulgated via education, entertainment, political discourse, artists, pundits etc. Each society produces and propagates its own values, principles, habits, prejudices and so on. A quick glance at history shows
Why are we taught that success means being wealthy? Read More
