Articles
Self-Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Ne te quæsiveris extra.” Man is his own star; and the soul that can Render an honest and a perfect man, Commands all light, all influence, all fate; Nothing to him falls early or [...]
Nihilism vs. Existentialism vs. Absurdism
The birth of Modernity’s Meaning Crisis and two responses to it
In the 19th and 20th centuries, modernity came into its fullness and with this maturation the vestiges of the religious worldview began to fall away revealing a crisis of meaning that we’ve come to [...]
The 20th Century’s Greatest Philosopher’s Struggle with Suicide
How Bertrand Russell Saved Ludwig Wittgenstein
Wittgenstein (image via Wikimedia: Public Domain) Ludwig Wittgenstein was one of the most brilliant geniuses of the 20th century and has been claimed by many as the greatest philosopher of his century. To those who knew [...]
The Living Philosophy of Simone Weil: Philosopher, Soldier, Saint
"the only great spirit of our times" - Albert Camus
Simone Weil (image via Wikimedia: Public Domain) The Philosopher is a category that encapsulates a number of different types. There’s the theoretical masterminds like Aristotle, Kant and Hegel and there’s the unsystematic lightning rods like Nietzsche, [...]
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 [...]
“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 [...]
How Advertising Killed the Internet and Ruined the World
Advertising Killed the Video Star (and has done the same to the internet)
Once upon a time in the 20th century, a new technology was born: the hope and dream of utopian educators everywhere. This new medium was more democratic than anything previously imaginable. Now we could reach [...]
Why Happiness is Nihilistic and Shouldn’t Be Your Goal
And why Meaning is a more meaningful ideal
In previous articles in this series, we have looked at the living philosophies of three ancient thinkers: Epicurus, Diogenes and Cato the Younger and explored their varying formulations of the good life. In the work [...]
Analytic vs. Continental Philosophy
The origins of the modern divide in philosophy
There is a chasm in modern philosophy so broad that only a handful of voices have managed to be heard on both sides. Each is a peculiarity to the other — something foreign and quaint. [...]