August 2020

What does it take to be honest?

Thank you, Agar Mayor Gai-Makoon, for this crucial question. The word “honesty” designates a virtue, or a settled and stable disposition to think, feel, and choose appropriately in some sphere of human experience. The particular sphere of experience in which honesty can be located seems to be that of truth-telling. There are three principal types […]

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Why is metaphysics so difficult to comprehend?

Where can one start at a basic level and then continue to develop understanding and love for the subject? Thank you, Nazzarene Zen, for such a heuristic question. In one sense, I cannot answer the question, because “difficult to comprehend” is very personal, as is the development of love. But I will offer some general

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How does philosophy work in our day-to-day life?

What’s the role of philosophy in our life and could it bring new innovation to our life like science? Thank you, Li Kelvin, for such a crucial question. As is to be expected, the answer hinges on what we take philosophy to mean. If we think it’s just a 9-5 job of detached concept-mongering or

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Is it better to live for ourselves or others?

Thank you, Ehab Syed, for this fascinating question. The question is full of interesting ambiguity. What does it mean to live for others or ourselves? And in what sense of ‘better’? Are we asking which form of life is better? I will assume that to live for others or ourselves means to embrace one of

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How would knowing there is life after death affect our daily lives?

Thank you, Al Esperida, for such a profound question. We would all love to know what happens when our hearts stop beating. Even here in the secularized West, where the afterlife is dealt with only through horror movies and too-good-to-be-true TV mediums, it is a question which privately gnaws at most thinking people. But let’s

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Why has dualistic cosmology become so powerful in our world?

Why do we classify perceptions in opposite categories (either good/bad, black/white)? Thank you, Orsolya Kárpáti, for these two great questions. They are so deep that they require books worth of answers, which would draw from fields of history, technology, religion, culture studies, and psychology. Why? Let’s start with a better understanding of what cosmologies are.

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