A comic by Corey Mohler about the inevitable anguish of living a brief life in an absurd world. Side note: The existentialists in this episode are philosopher, novelist and playwright Jean-Paul Sartre ...

The most famous book by Plato did not win its fame by accident. Plato’s Republic has something to say to every reader, whether advanced in philosophy or a beginner. It has so many layers, and has been ...

Musa Mumtaz meditates on two maverick medieval Muslim metaphysicians. Islam’s scriptural foundation, the Quran, unequivocally asserts as its core metaphysical tenet tawhid – the uncompromising and ...

In The Exorcist films, and other theological horror stories, the Devil is the ultimate enemy within, penetrating the family and even the body of the possessed child. As philosophers George Lakoff and ...

Raymond Tallis wonders what the world is made from. There is a much-quoted passage near the opening of Richard Feynman’s famous Lectures on Physics (1963): “If in some cataclysm all of scientific ...

Dave Hangman on a crucial lawsuit taking place the day after tomorrow. “Mrs Portman, we regret to notify you that our company will not be paying the sum insured for your husband’s death,” the suited ...

Raymond Tallis argues intently against universal intention. The idea of a cosmic purpose is one which many of us are familiar with from religion. What happens in this world, so the story goes, is ...

Oliver Waters asks, is retributive justice justified in a modern society? “When I woke up, I went on what the movie advertisements refer to as a ‘Roaring Rampage of Revenge’. I roared, and I rampaged, ...

Michael Allen Fox wonders whether life really is ‘a precious gift’. What is life worth? Questioning the value of our existence has the utmost significance, but no response seems likely to fully ...

Arianna Marchetti reflects on the limits of political freedom. Freedom “is my right to have my own opinion, my own conscience. Many can perfectly live without freedom, as the freedom of having ...

David Ashton finds that the Stoic view of anger needs updating. Stoics have a well-known aversion to strong emotions, but anger seems to fill them with a particular dread. Seneca, one of the ...

‘More songs about Buildings and Food’ was the title of a 1978 album by the rock band Talking Heads. It was about all the things rock stars normally don’t sing about. Pop songs are usually about ...