Category Archives: Philosophy
Metaphysics – the problem of Free Will
One of the major sub-fields of philosophy is Metaphysics. It is difficult to define exactly what metaphysics is; it began as the search for first causes or the study of … Continue reading
Monty Python’s Argument clinic
The boys from Monty Python do it again. In philosophy, an argument isn’t just contradiction, it’s “a connected series of statements intended to establish a proposition”. The series of statements … Continue reading
John Stuart Mill: the Harm Principle
Mill’s aim The subject of this essay is . . . the nature and limits of the power which can be legitimately exercised by society over the individual . . … Continue reading
Peter Singer on our obligation to alleviate suffering
Karl Marx stated, ‘the philosophers have merely interpreted the world in various ways. The point, however, is to change it’. Marx’s sentiment is, I think, shared by many; philosophy can be seen to … Continue reading
Political Philosophy
In 399 BC, when he was over seventy, Socrates was accused before the Athenian assembly of impiety and corrupting the young, and was sentenced to death. Plato, in his Crito dialogue, presents … Continue reading
Plato’s Cave and the Cinema
In his Cave Allegory (Republic, c.360 BCE), Plato presents a strikingly visual account of the distinction between knowledge and belief and, in doing so, provides us with what may be … Continue reading
Morality and Blindness in Woody Allen’s Crimes and Misdemeanors
Why should we act morally? Why should we ‘do the right thing’ if we could do the wrong thing and get away with it? Imagine a situation where you find … Continue reading
Examined Life: philosophy in the streets
Astra Taylor’s Examined Life may just appear to be just another philosophy documentary (not that there are nearly enough of them). What I mean by this is that we may be … Continue reading
Aesthetics
Aesthetics is an area of philosophy sometimes taken to be synonymous with the philosophy of art. This, however, is a mistake. Although aesthetics is for the most part concerned with … Continue reading
What is Philosophy?
Philosophy begins with questions and, as such, a good place to start is with this often overlooked question concerning the nature of philosophy itself. Strangely, for a discipline that places … Continue reading
Steve Martin does Socrates
Steve Martin is no stranger to philosophy, appearing in such philosophical comedies as All of Me and The Man with Two Brains. Here, we see him take on the role … Continue reading
Philosophy football
There’s not much philosophical humour out there but the best of it comes from Monty Python. Socrates, when he’s not drinking hemlock, is a great header of the ball.
