Philosophy

Dostoevsky and American Despair: The Penalty of Nihilism 3
- Literature, Philosophy
- February 1, 2024
These chilling words, ringing with despair, come from one of the most striking characters in Fyodor Dostoevsky’s 1866 novel Crime and Punishment, Arkady Ivanovich Svidrigailov: We always imagine eternity as something beyond our conception, something vast, vast! But why must it be vast? Instead of all that, what if it’s one little room, like a
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Is Nihilism the Logical End of Atheism?7
- Philosophy, Featured, Religion
- January 31, 2024
What happens when nihilism is taken to its logical and philosophical conclusion? “Human rights are just like heaven and like God. It’s just a fictional story that we have invented and spread around. It may be a very nice story… but it’s just a story. It’s not a reality.” So says Noah Yuval Hariri, a
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Imagined Virtue: What News Can Make Us Miss 4
- Culture, Featured, Philosophy
- January 11, 2024
Clicking on my car radio, I hear two voices discussing—vehemently—a federal government conflict. Opening my podcast app, I find an entire category dedicated to “News,” or informing listeners of the latest scandals or controversies. And scrolling through YouTube, I find a host of suggestions for dogmatic political commentary. The mere volume of news outlets, encompassing
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My New Year’s Resolution: Have More Enemies 1
- Culture, Philosophy, Religion
- January 8, 2024
How are your New Year’s resolutions going? I rarely make them, but this year I have. Please do not mistake the title. I did not write “make more enemies,” though to be honest that might not be a bad one for some people. That would be a different essay, however. This is not an essay
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Educational Collapse and the Definition of Truth 8
- Education, Philosophy
- January 3, 2024
It’s no secret that America’s students are struggling. The latest Nation’s Report Cards have not been flattering, with average scores in both math and reading declining over recent years. It’s also no secret that pandemic restrictions have only exacerbated the learning decline in the U.S. However, scores have been falling since before the pandemic, signaling
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The Selfishness of the World-Saving Antinatalists 8
- Culture, Featured, Philosophy
- November 30, 2023
Have you encountered the antinatalists yet? This is a growing phenomenon in contemporary America, especially among the young. We might call them the “No Children Movement,” as they advocate a rejection of parenthood as a conscious political act, saying it is morally wrong to have children. You have only to plug the search term antinatalist
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