No-one imagined that it would take Muhammadu Buhari more than 100 days to form a cabinet. But, then again, Nigeria is no ordinary country and it has its own inherent logic.
Considerations of the moral case for coal must do far more than consider whether cheap fossil energy will lift people out of poverty. It must consider the pollution and harm to nature that come with it.
Proponents of Big History say science provides a better sacred story for humanity than traditional faiths. Will this lead to an era of better stewardship of the environment?
Scott Turner, State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry
They’re the soil-builders that allow Africa’s arid savannas to be lush grasslands. What do they do inside their huge mounds – and how does a collective mind allow them to do it?
Some scientists claim a pill that would have us living healthier lives for longer is less than a generation away. But many philosophers argue extended life may not be as good as it sounds.
We might hope that good arguments will eventually drive out bad arguments – in what Timothy Williamson calls “a reverse analogue of Gresham’s Law” – and we might want (almost?) complete freedom for ideas…
The film 13 Minutes dramatises an attempt by Georg Elser to assassinate Hitler in 1939, to prevent the war the Führer was preparing for. How clear-cut was the moral justification for that act?
Rather than hold on to the idea of equality of opportunity, it might be more accurate to say that we don’t really support it because it comes at too high a price.
Does God exist? Is piety worth it? Can violence be justified? Philosophy can offer a way to engage with these questions on which there are often widely differing beliefs.
A philosophy based on giving of ourselves to others may help us live more meaningful and fulfilling lives, while helping to bridge the extremes of our emotions and beliefs.
The pope’s encyclical on ecology addresses all individuals who want to live with integrity – and their ability to take personal actions on global problems.
The science behind an Italian doctor’s plans to give a man a whole new body might be advanced, but philosophers have been asking what makes a person for centuries.