The study of goodness, beauty and justice.
Thank you, Jong Camallere, for this very interesting question. Courage is a central element of many lists of virtues and it is certainly not difficult to understand why: people willing to take a stand for what they think is right serve as great role models. The adventures of great warriors also make for more exciting […]
Is courage the most important virtue? Read More
Not just tangible possessions, but more generally positive life happenings, e.g. to fall in love, to have children, etc. Thank you, Gracie Mrry, for such an interesting question. This is an interesting question for people like me who find themselves in a condition of relative privilege, but questions of desert can apply to anyone’s life,
Do we deserve things? Read More
Thank you, Heather Bennett, for a very important question. When we ask whether we should hold historical figures to the standard of modern morality, there is perhaps an implicit premise that the societies of the past and our own society have different moral standards. This may assume that moral standards are sensitive to different cultures
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, 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, 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
