Eric Comerford overhears Bilbo and Gandalf discussing happiness. After all their adventures, having now sailed to the Undying Lands, Gandalf and Bilbo sit on Bilbo’s front porch after dinner, ...

Michael Gracey looks at how philosophers have pursued happiness. Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), whose theology was Unitarian, edited an abridged version of the New Testament that stripped the gospels ...

‘More songs about Buildings and Food’ was the title of a 1978 album by the rock band Talking Heads. It was about all the things rock stars normally don’t sing about. Pop songs are usually about ...

The controversial Australian philosopher defends the right to choose to die on utilitarian grounds. Matt Qvortrup recently asked him about it. The Northern Territory in Australia was the first place ...

Sailee Khurjekar argues that race is culturally constructed. We know what the human race is, but what about the different ‘races’ that comprise it? There are competing theories about the definition ...

Abdullah Rayhan breaks down ‘happiness’ with Boethius, Kierkegaard & Montaigne. “Do you hear the whisper of the shadows? This happiness feels foreign to me. I am accustomed to despair.” Forough ...

Matthew Hammerton points out that a meaningful life and a life that goes well for you might not be the same thing. Picture two people on their deathbeds. The first lived comfortably, surrounded by ...

Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860), the author of The World as Will and Representation, was a profound metaphysician who also advocated basing ethics upon compassion. He was a great philosopher, but ...

Mark Vernon looks at the imaginative thinking of an imaginative artist. The painter, poet, and engraver, William Blake (1757-1827) is not usually categorized as a philosopher, but I think otherwise.

Massimo Pigliucci studies the Stoic Emperor’s to-do list. Commandments are generally lists of things someone requires someone else to do, usually with the implied threat that something bad will happen ...