Philosophy

Adam Smith Thought This Was His Most Important Book 2
- Economics, Featured, Philosophy
- August 8, 2024
Adam Smith is best known for writing The Wealth of Nations, but in a way, his work in economics took a back seat to his moral philosophy. In fact, Smith thought that his first book, The Theory of Moral Sentiments, was more important than his economic theory. It’s in this book, for example, that Smith
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What Jerry Seinfeld Learned While Reading Marcus Aurelius 0
- Culture, Entertainment, Featured, Philosophy, Politics
- July 29, 2024
Emperor of Rome from 161–180 AD, Marcus Aurelius is remembered as the “Philosopher King,” largely because of his classic work Meditations, a cornerstone of Stoic philosophy that delves into such themes as reason, virtue, self-control, self-improvement, and finding peace in a turbulent world. The book might seem like an odd choice for a comedian, but Seinfeld
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Our Universe: Chaos, or Cosmos?0
- Culture, Featured, Philosophy
- July 23, 2024
Is the universe a meaningless collection of lifeless matter? We live on a small planet in an out-of-the-way corner of an insignificant galaxy, and though our lives might feel real and important, is that just a delusion? After all, the only thing that’s really going on is that atoms are randomly careening off of one
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Freedom: It’s Not About What You Want1
- Philosophy, Featured
- July 15, 2024
Is a king free if he can’t control his own passions? This question has puzzled philosophers for thousands of years. In an age when most people in the West have standards of living markedly higher than the kings of ancient times, it’s worth returning to this puzzle to try to get to the heart of
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In Defense of the Freedom to Be Wrong 0
- Philosophy, Education, MomThink
- June 27, 2024
It is the rare fortune of these days that one may think what one likes and say what one thinks. —Tacitus It’s very important for institutions of concentrated power to keep people alone and isolated: that way they’re ineffective, they can’t defend themselves against indoctrination, they can’t even figure out what they think. —Noam Chomsky
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Who Was Jean-Jacques Rousseau?2
- Philosophy, Education
- May 30, 2024
“Masochist, exhibitionist, neurasthenic, hypochondriac, incapable of normal or parental affection, incipient paranoiac, narcissistic introvert … pathologically timid, a kleptomaniac, infantilist, irritable, and miserly.” This is how one scholar has diagnosed Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Harsh though this may sound, the details of Rousseau’s life (1712–1778) bear out this description. Rousseau’s ideas are at the foundation of the
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