Articles
The Forgotten Father of Roman Stoicism
The Living Philosophy of Cato the Younger — the Roman Socrates
There are many fruitful comparisons between Socrates and the Roman Senator/Stoic philosopher Cato the Younger. Some of these are amusing superficial comparisons: both men were partial to bouts of heavy drinking and philosophising — something [...]
Why the Masterpiece of Medieval Philosophy was Never Finished
The Epiphany of Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas was the shining light of medieval philosophy; he is commonly held to be one of the greatest philosophers of the Western tradition. He was the pinnacle of the Scholastic school of philosophy — [...]
The Difference Between Guilt and Shame
The difference between success and stagnation
You might expect the difference between guilt and shame to be a trivial, semantic distinction but nothing could be further from the truth. Research has shown that shame is highly correlated with addiction and [...]
Monkey-mind to Monk: The Life Cycle of a Meditation Habit
From the seeds of preaching to the fruits of practice - the 3 phases of meditation
“You have now finished another day. You have only these days left to work diligently, diligently. To work aaaaaaardently. To work paaaaaaaatiently and persistentlyyyy” After eleven hours meditation, the smooth Indian baritone of the teacher’s [...]
Do We Live in a Simulation? | Jean Baudrillard
The meaning of simulation from Baudrillard's Simulation and Simulacra
Are we all living in a simulation? If you were to ask the French philosopher Jean Baudrillard this question, his answer would be a resounding yes. Although what he means by simulation and what you [...]
What is Phenomenology?
The Philosophy of Husserl and Heidegger
Phenomenology is a school of philosophy that originated in the late 19th century and early 20th century with the writing of the German philosopher Edmund Husserl. It was a radical new development in philosophy. What [...]
On Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau (Full Text)
The full text of Thoreau's 1849 essay that inspired a wave of peaceful revolutionaries
I heartily accept the motto, "That government is best which governs least"; and I should like to see it acted up to more rapidly and systematically. Carried out, it finally amounts to this, which also [...]
“Twin Souls” — Nietzsche’s Constant Love of Ralph Waldo Emerson
Zarathustra and the Sage of Concord
The profound influence of American philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson on Nietzsche is one of the most underestimated connections in the history of philosophy; as American philosopher Stanley Cavell has put it: “no matter how often [...]
Albert Camus vs. Jean-Paul Sartre
Their Friendship and the Bitter Feud That Ended It
In the wake of the Second World War, it was not only the urban landscape of Europe that was in ruins but the intellectual landscape. In this intellectual crater, several great thinkers debated the blueprint [...]