Philosophy Now | a magazine of ideas
Welcome to Philosophy Now. the bi-monthly magazine for everyone interested in ideas. Published since 1991, it was the winner of the 2016 Bertrand Russell Society Award.
What is Freedom? | Issue 143 | Philosophy Now
Let’s look at this question through three lenses: ethical, metaphysical, and political. Ethically, according to Epicurus, freedom is not ‘fulfilling all desires’, but instead, being free from vain, unnecessary, or addictive desires. The addict is enslaved even when he obtains his drug; but the virtuous person is free because she doesn’t even desire the drug.
Why is Freedom So Important To Us? | Issue 164 | Philosophy Now
Articles Why is Freedom So Important To Us? John Shand explains why free will is basic to humanity.. Much has been written about whether or not we have free will. That is not my topic here, but it has a connection to it, in that I want to ask why so much has been written on the matter. Whether we are free or not seems very important to us.
Philosophers Exploring The Good Life | Issue 162 | Philosophy Now
The Search for Meaning Philosophers Exploring The Good Life Jim Mepham quests with philosophers to discover what makes a life good.. I have attended a number of funerals recently and it has got me thinking. Imagine after you’ve died, your loved ones are sitting around, reminiscing about your life.
Kant’s Theory of Human Dignity | Issue 150 | Philosophy Now
Immanuel Kant Kant’s Theory of Human Dignity Matt McManus explains why people have absolute worth. “What is related to general human inclinations and needs has a market price; that which, even without presupposing such a need, conforms with a certain taste has a fancy price; but that which constitutes the condition under which alone something can be an end in itself …
What Is Life? | Issue 101 | Philosophy Now
The following answers to this fundamental question each win a random book. Life is the aspect of existence that processes, acts, reacts, evaluates, and evolves through growth (reproduction and metabolism). The crucial difference between life and non-life …
What is a Person? | Issue 149 | Philosophy Now
The question of what a person is, isn’t exclusive to philosophy. Consequently, there are many answers. In a physiological and biological context, a person is a human with certain essential physiological and biological characteristics.
The Six Core Virtues | Issue 156 | Philosophy Now
The Art of Living The Six Core Virtues Massimo Pigliucci finds six ethical ideals shared by all cultures.. The notion of virtue was central to much ancient discourse in ethics, most obviously in the ‘virtue ethics’ tradition we usually associate with Greco-Roman philosophies such as Stoicism, Epicureanism, Aristotelianism and Skepticism.
Deism: Traditional & Contemporary | Issue 152 | Philosophy Now
God and the Philosophers Deism: Traditional & Contemporary Robert Griffiths looks into an anti-religion, pro-God way of thinking.. Deism is belief in the existence of a creator God who does not intervene in the universe, and in particular, in the lives of people.
What Makes A Philosopher? | Issue 128 | Philosophy Now
Knowing Nothing. Some definitions or approaches to philosophy and philosophers aren’t entirely persuasive. Bikrama Bahuguna argues that “if philosophy is search of truth, a philosopher is one who is perpetually busy with the search of truth” (Layman’s Introduction to Philosophy and Life, 2009, p.123).Linking philosophy and truth is a common approach; but I believe that philosophy …