Philosophy Now

Philosophy Now is a magazine for everyone interested in ideas. It isn't afraid to tackle all the major questions of life, the universe and everything. It tries to corrupt innocent citizens by convincing them that philosophy can be exciting, worthwhile and comprehensible, and also to provide some light and enjoyable reading matter for those already ensnared by the muse, such as philosophy students and academics. It contains articles on all aspects of philosophy, plus book reviews, film reviews, news, cartoons, and the occasional short story.

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Philosophy Now

some of our Contributors

News • Sadly, our news round-up this time is dominated by the deaths of four well-known philosophers. This does at least give us a chance to briefly set out the ideas of these intrepid thinkers. Their overlapping interests and concerns reveal much about the course Continental philosophy took in the shadow ofthe Cold War and afterwards.

Philosophy Shorts

Thomas Duddy & Irish Philosophy • Tim Madigan travels through time to seek the essential nature of Irish thought.

Philosophical Haiku

Irish Philosophy & Me • Cathy Barry charts her journey through historical Irish thought.

Edmund Burke & the Politics of Reform • Jon Langford outlines conservative insights gained from revolutionary failures.

SiMON + FiNN

Philip Pettit & The Birth of Ethics • Peter Stone thinks about a thought experiment about how ethics evolved.

Philosophy & Hurling: Thinking & Playing • Stiofán Ó Murchadha knowing how we know.

Horseplay in Hibernia • Seán Moran explores equine escapades in Eire and elsewhere.

How to Have a Good Life • Meena Danishmal asks if Seneca’s account of the good life is really practical.

A Philosophical History of Transhumanism • John Kennedy Philip goes deep into the search for (post-) human heights.

Hume’s Problem of Induction • Patrick Brissey exposes a major unprovable assumption at the core of science.

Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) • Hilarius Bogbinder looks at a man who wanted to make Peace from Warre.

EXISTENTIAL COMICS • A comic by Corey Mohler about the inevitable anguish of living a brief life in an absurd world.

Towards Love • George Mason on love as shared identity.

The Philosophy of Work • Alessandro Colarossi has insights for the bored and understimulated.

Interview • Steven Pinker is the Johnstone Family Professor of Psychology at Harvard University, and a popular writer on linguistics and evolutionary psychology. Angela Tan interviews him about politics, language, death, and reasons to be optimistic.

Letters • When inspiration strikes, don’t bottle it up. Email me at rick.lewis@philosophynow.org Keep them short and keep them coming!

The Discipline of Assent • Massimo Pigliucci tells us to stop impulsively judging.

The Rigor of Angels • Leonid Bilmes considers the problems we face if we assume our theories match reality, Stephen Anderson is sad about modern writings on love, and in Classics, Shashwat Mishra introduces Ayn Rand’s massive novel promoting self-interest and laissez-faire capitalism.

Sad Love

Atlas Shrugged

Enjoy the Silence by Depeche Mode • Thomas R. Morgan hears more than silence.

Cogito, Ergo Sum? • Raymond Tallis has a long-postponed meeting with M. Descartes.

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Back Issues & Digital Editions

On Love • AmirAli Maleki looks at love from an Islamic perspective.

“Stand Out Of My Light” • Sophie Dibben watches Alexander the Great meet Diogenes the Cynic.

Greek Statue