The European MonEUlith: Nietzsche and Nationalism
What can Nietzche’s geophilosophical modes of thought offer us for understanding globalization in his time and pan-European politics today?
How Upper Lips Got Stiff
The truism that “boys don’t cry” is a Western social convention. Colonialism and imperialism made sure it spread East.
Adam Smith, Revolutionary?
By 1800, Smith—once considered a friend of the poor and an enemy of the privileges of the rich—was already being refashioned into a icon of conservatism.
The South Asian Human Rights Tradition
Human rights discourse drawing on ancient Sanskrit texts focuses more on the responsibilities of individuals and states than on the rights themselves.
Does Law Exist to Provide Moral Order?
Is social cohesion possible in plural societies? Philosopher H. L. A. Hart weighed in amid debates on abortion and same-sex relationships.
Do We Actually See Shadows?
In a blackout, you do not hear or taste the darkness; you see it. It looks a certain way. On the philosophy of shadows.
John Gray: Cats Can Teach Us about the Meaning of Life
Philosopher John Gray on why he is critical of prevailing ideas of progress, his friendship with Isaiah Berlin, and the wisdom of cats.
Harriet Taylor Mill, At Last
When you're married to John Stuart Mill, whatever you do or say may be held against you. And so it was.
D.T. Suzuki’s Very American Zen
Zen was a conservative form of Buddhism in Japan that eventually became a way for Americans to find inner peace.
Discovering the Joy of Solitude While Social Distancing
Does the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century Romantic notion of solitude offer a lesson for those practicing social distancing?