Spontaneous thought, or mind wandering, occupies up to 50% of our time awake. In a time of COVID, the unruliness and unboundedness of our minds might be a great escape.
The horrific death of Samuel Paty, a history and geography teacher, highlights the importance of the work of educators who are, more than ever, on the front lines of the fight for freedom of expression.
The education philosopher Paulo Freire would have denounced the pandemic-fueled proliferation of online schooling as an affront to democracy and a further entitlement for those in positions of power.
Through his work, the Argentinian cartoonist Joaquin Salvador Lavado Tejon, known to all as Quino, engaged in pointed social critique on a range of topics that are even more relevant today.
An 11th-century Persian philosopher, physician, pharmacologist, scientist and poet had a profound influence on both European thought and the Islamic world.
We’re supposed to suppress feelings of envy. But what if the kind spurred by school shutdowns, frontline work and cramped apartments are worth exploring – and acting upon?
One of the hard things about life during a pandemic is the all encompassing lack of certainty. The Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard can help us make our peace with this situation.
Challenge trials – purposefully exposing volunteers to the coronavirus – could speed up the development of a vaccine. But there are serious ethical concerns with this approach.
The problem with hypocrisy is that it shatters truth. If we believe in a principle, but don’t apply it ourselves, that principle is essentially meaningless.