The study of the unique characteristics of human beings.
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
Thank you, Ela Özcan, for such a topical question! Online trolling is a tricky issue, and your question needs to be analysed carefully for a proper answer. We need to start by defining exactly what we mean by trolling. Many use the term just to describe aggressive behavior online: trolls, here, are people who tend
Why do people troll? Read More
Thank you, Heather Bennett, for sending us this beautiful painting. I appreciate that you have not posed any specific questions about this picture. This not only gives me a lot of flexibility on how to approach it, but it is also very respectful to art itself. Is it not that art can produce its meaning
What do you make of this picture? Read More
Thank you, Alex Impey, for such an alien question! There are of course no straight philosophical answers to big questions. Everything is a matter of first uncovering the unconscious or implicit premises of the question, and then making further qualifications about what is being asked in order to sketch out the possibilities. This interesting question
Does it matter if aliens exist? Read More
Thank you, Alex Impey, for such a profound question! I take the worry to be that Alex A (AA), who wants to eat less fast food (say), feels as though she is alienating her ‘true self’, Alex B (AB), who wants to eat as much fast food as she wants. A full treatment of the
Does self-improvement come at the cost of being true to oneself? Read More
This is a fun question, sent in by Rebecca Reboo, and there are a few things we want to do with it. First, we have to consider what brainwashing is. Then we can discuss what thinking for oneself is. Finally, we can answer the original question. We hear the word ‘brainwash’ in media and the
Can someone be brainwashed into thinking for themselves? Read More
Thank you, Amir Ayazbayev, for a great question! This question concerns two important philosophical problems: What does it mean to be human? And, what should be the limits of medical intervention? In the case of genetic engineering, we can distinguish three main perspectives. The first, called bioconservatism, suggests that there is an undefined ‘X factor’ somewhere
Would introducing genetic engineering of humans as a medical practice be that bad? Read More
Thank you, Lewis Cornelius, for a great question! In response to your question (and it’s key to remember that philosophy often offers responses and not answers), I thought we could break it down a bit and see what it is we’re really looking for. This is certainly a question of ethics and morality, yet I
Is stretching the truth ever really okay? Read More
Thank you, Olivia Rose Brown, for such a pressing question! Fake news is not just fake; it is also a product of fabrication, circulated by agents or groups in order to deceive and manipulate for financial or political gain. And fake news is itself a contestable concept. For example, there is the question of whether
Does fact-checking solve the problem of fake news? Read More
