- When the world feels broken, Stoicism might seem to suggest we should turn inward and retreat to our inner citadel. But that is not the end of the story. Stoic cosmopolitanism demands we work on ourselves so that we can turn outwards again, and better work on the world. https://philosophybreak.com/articles/the-stoics-on-what-to-do-when-the-world-feels-broken/ 77 comments philosophy
- 60 years ago, Hannah Arendt provided a haunting critique of modernity. Society will become stuck in accelerating cycles of labor and consumption, she argued. Free human action will be replaced by instrumentalization, and meaning will be replaced by productivity… https://philosophybreak.com/articles/hannah-arendt-on-the-human-condition-productivity-will-replace-meaning/ 160 comments philosophy
- While Aristotle thinks the good life depends in part on ‘externals’ like health and access to resources, the Stoics think the value of someone’s life — and the limits of their happiness — should not be judged or imposed according to circumstances outside their control. https://philosophybreak.com/articles/aristotle-vs-the-stoics-what-does-happiness-require/ 53 comments philosophy
- 2,500 years ago, the Buddha offered his famous diagnosis & cure for suffering, the Four Noble Truths: that we live in an ongoing state of dissatisfaction, that this dissatisfaction has a cause, that it can cease, and that there is a path to bringing about its cessation. https://philosophybreak.com/articles/the-buddha-four-noble-truths-the-cure-for-suffering/ 139 comments philosophy
- Since the time of Socrates, Nietzsche claims that Western culture has generally been too biased towards the ‘Apollonian’ (representing order & rationality) over the ‘Dionysian’ (chaos & vitality) — to the great detriment of art, truth, and the human psyche. https://philosophybreak.com/articles/apollonian-and-dionysian-nietzsche-on-art-and-the-psyche/ 90 comments philosophy
- As many of us set New Year’s resolutions for 2024, MIT philosophy professor Kieran Setiya argues that we might better serve ourselves by focusing on the quality of processes, not just the result of projects. https://philosophybreak.com/articles/how-to-set-better-new-years-resolutions-focus-on-processes-not-outcomes/ 11 comments philosophy
- With his famous formulation, “the greatest happiness of the greatest number,” Jeremy Bentham suggests moral acts are those that have the highest positive impact on the world. The good life thus depends not on ‘duty’ or ‘virtue’, but simply on making a difference. https://philosophybreak.com/articles/the-greatest-happiness-of-the-greatest-number-what-bentham-really-meant/ 142 comments philosophy
- Schopenhauer’s dilemma of the prickly porcupine is his wistful parable on the fraughtness of human connection: in seeking intimacy, we inevitably push each other away. To overcome this, Schopenhauer suggests we should aim to cultivate a refined solitude. https://philosophybreak.com/articles/porcupine-dilemma-schopenhauer-wistful-parable-on-human-connection/ 43 comments philosophy
- In his 2015 work Burnout Society, the philosopher Byung-Chul Han argues a cult of individual achievement has led to mass burnout and depression across society. Resisting burnout is simple, but easier said than done: we must slow down, and rediscover how to think. https://philosophybreak.com/articles/byung-chul-han-burnout-society-our-only-imperative-is-to-achieve/ 47 comments philosophy
- Seneca argues that chasing things like wealth or fame will result in a life that feels perpetually unfinished: “if, no matter how far you travel, there always seems to be some further place you need to reach, that is a sure sign that the desire is contrary to nature...” https://philosophybreak.com/articles/seneca-to-find-peace-stop-chasing-unfulfillable-desires/ 88 comments philosophy
- Kierkegaard: Life Can Only Be Understood Backwards, But It Must Be Lived Forwards https://philosophybreak.com/articles/kierkegaard-life-can-only-be-understood-backwards-but-must-be-lived-forwards/ 34 comments philosophy
- In his famous 1841 essay Self-Reliance, Ralph Waldo Emerson argues that society is in conspiracy against our individuality. To really live good lives, we must have the courage to resist conformity & trust the “immense intelligence” of our own intuition & gut instinct. https://philosophybreak.com/articles/ralph-waldo-emerson-self-reliance-summary-and-pdf-become-your-own-person/ 129 comments philosophy
- Ill for much of his life, Nietzsche tried to make recovery more predominant than resentment in both his own attitude & his wider philosophy. But while he was in search of one kind of madness — i.e. the euphoric affirmation of life — he tragically fell victim to another. https://philosophybreak.com/articles/friedrich-nietzsches-life-insanity-and-legacy/ 13 comments philosophy
- Aristotle on why we should define ourselves less by our work, and more by our leisure activities https://philosophybreak.com/articles/aristotle-on-why-leisure-defines-us-more-than-work/ 215 comments philosophy
- The real practical value of philosophy comes not through focusing on the ‘ideal’ life, but through helping us deal with life’s inevitable suffering: MIT professor Kieran Setiya on how philosophy can help us navigate loneliness, grief, failure, injustice, & the absurd. https://philosophybreak.com/articles/life-is-hard-interview-with-mit-philosophy-professor-kieran-setiya/ 107 comments philosophy
- Only fragments of ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus’s writings remain. Among them are his Principal Doctrines: 40 brilliant, authoritative aphorisms that summarize the Epicurean approach to living a good life — an approach focused on removing pain & anxiety, & on emphasizing friendship & community. https://philosophybreak.com/articles/epicurus-principal-doctrines-40-aphorisms-for-living-well/ 114 comments philosophy
- The question of whether a falling tree makes a sound when there’s no one around to hear it exploits the tension between perception & reality. Answers to it can help us understand quantum physicist Max Planck’s assertion that consciousness is fundamental — that “we cannot get ~behind~ consciousness.” https://philosophybreak.com/articles/if-a-tree-falls-in-the-forest-and-theres-no-one-around-to-hear-it-does-it-make-a-sound/ 133 comments philosophy
- Nietzsche’s eternal recurrence is a litmus test for an individual’s capacity to affirm life. Your reaction to the prospect of living every single moment of your life over and over again in sequence is, for Nietzsche, a crucial measure of your ability to become who you truly are. https://philosophybreak.com/articles/eternal-recurrence-what-did-nietzsche-really-mean/ 244 comments philosophy
- The physicist David Deutsch argues that thinking there’s nothing significant about human existence ‘in the cosmic scheme of things’ is not just damaging, it’s completely false. https://philosophybreak.com/articles/david-deutsch-on-why-its-false-to-say-our-existence-is-insignificant/ 311 comments philosophy
- Often misunderstood as a call for a superior human ‘race’, Nietzsche’s Übermensch is actually a call for a personal project centered around self-overcoming. It’s a vision of what we each *could* be, were we not so bogged down by values derived from decadent & psychologically unhealthy religions. https://philosophybreak.com/articles/ubermensch-explained-the-meaning-of-nietzsches-superman/ 271 comments philosophy
- “The only thing I can be sure of with certainty is that my consciousness exists. Therefore, there are no logical grounds for asserting the existence of anything else” — quick introduction to the difficult logical puzzle of solipsism (as well as common counterarguments to it) https://philosophybreak.com/articles/solipsism-definition-your-mind-is-the-only-thing-that-exists/ 25 comments philosophy
- Interview with acclaimed Cambridge philosopher Clare Chambers on why, when everyone feels bad about their bodies, it’s not the bodies that are the problem, it’s the social context: Chambers introduces & defends a new political principle of the ‘unmodified body’... https://philosophybreak.com/articles/a-defense-of-the-unmodified-body-clare-chambers-interview/ 232 comments philosophy
- Nietzsche’s declaration “God is dead” is often misunderstood as a way of saying atheism is true; but he more means the entirety of Western civilization rests on values destined for “collapse”. The appropriate response to the death of God should thus be deep disorientation, mourning, and reflection.. https://philosophybreak.com/articles/god-is-dead-nietzsche-famous-statement-explained/ 464 comments philosophy
- “I think we need philosophy more than ever to try to rekindle meaning in our lives” — Interview with philosophy professors Meghan Sullivan and Paul Blaschko on what philosophy involves, why it matters today, and how it can help us deal with suffering, loss, and death. https://philosophybreak.com/articles/the-good-life-method-interview-with-meghan-sullivan-and-paul-blaschko/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=social 230 comments philosophy
- Seneca argues life itself is not short, but many people ‘make’ it short because they do not fully appreciate the preciousness of time, spend their days preoccupied with futures that don’t exist, and give away their lives to things that don’t matter (like the acquistion of possessions and status) https://philosophybreak.com/articles/seneca-on-coping-with-the-shortness-of-life/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=seneca 176 comments philosophy
- “Often misconstrued, existentialism simply argues that to fully understand human existence, we must go beyond the descriptions given to us by science. We must reclaim the first-person perspective in all its immediacy and complexity — and acknowledge how entangled this perspective is with the world.. https://philosophybreak.com/articles/what-is-existentialism-3-core-principles-of-existentialist-philosophy/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=existentialism 19 comments philosophy
- George Berkeley on why our sensory perceptions of the world cannot possibly ‘resemble’ or ‘represent’ reality itself, why the concept of ‘matter’ is incoherent or at best empty, and why minds (and their contents) are thus the only things in existence https://philosophybreak.com/articles/george-berkeley-subjective-idealism-the-world-is-in-our-minds/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=george-berkeley&utm_content=april2021 74 comments philosophy
- John Locke on why innate knowledge doesn't exist, why our minds are tabula rasas (blank slates), and why objects cannot possibly be colorized independently of us experiencing them (ripe tomatoes, for instance, are not 'themselves' red: they only appear that way to 'us' under normal light conditions) https://philosophybreak.com/articles/john-lockes-empiricism-why-we-are-all-tabula-rasas-blank-slates/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=john-locke&utm_content=march2021 569 comments philosophy
- On Why Philosophy Is Important Today: “The world is uncertain, and the value of philosophy lies precisely in facing up to this uncertainty — and in finding footholds for knowledge and progress in spite of it...” https://philosophybreak.com/what-is-philosophy-why-is-it-important-today/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=what-is-philosophy&utm_content=march2021 3 comments philosophy
- Lucretius On Why Death is Nothing to Fear: "When we shall no longer exist, and the final breaking up occurs for the body and spirit, nothing whatever will be able to happen to us, or produce any sensation — not even if the the earth should collapse in to the sea, or the sea explode in the sky…" https://philosophybreak.com/articles/why-death-is-nothing-to-fear-lucretius-epicureanism/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=lucretius&utm_content=june2020 445 comments philosophy
- Hannah Arendt On the Banality of Evil: “The sad truth is that most evil is done by people who never make up their minds to be good or evil” — and How We Can Overcome Complicity https://philosophybreak.com/articles/hannah-arendt-on-standing-up-to-the-banality-of-evil/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=arendt&utm_content=may2020 201 comments philosophy
- Thomas Nagel On Why Humor is the Best Response to Life's Absurdity: "If sub specie aeternitatis there is no reason to believe that anything matters, then that doesn't matter either, and we can approach our absurd lives with irony instead of heroism or despair." https://philosophybreak.com/articles/thomas-nagel-why-humor-best-stance-towards-life-absurdity/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=nagel&utm_content=april2020 177 comments philosophy
- On Why Kierkegaard Saw Busyness as a Vice: "Of all ridiculous things the most ridiculous seems to me, to be busy — to be someone who is brisk about their food and work." https://philosophybreak.com/articles/kierkegaard-on-why-busy-people-are-ridiculous/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=kierkegaard&utm_content=march2020 74 comments philosophy
- Daniel Dennett on AI: “The real danger, I think, is not that machines more intelligent than we are will usurp our role as captains of our destinies, but that we will over-estimate the comprehension of our latest thinking tools, prematurely ceding authority to them far beyond their competence.” https://philosophybreak.com/articles/what-happens-when-machines-become-smarter-than-people/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=ai&utm_content=december2019 391 comments philosophy
- Bertrand Russell on why philosophy matters: opening the mind beyond the 'tyranny of custom' https://philosophybreak.com/articles/bertrand-russell-why-philosophy-matters/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=bertrandrussell&utm_content=october2019 44 comments philosophy
- Using Cucumbers to Introduce the 'Hard Problem' of Consciousness – and Leading Solutions to it https://philosophybreak.com/articles/what-is-consciousness/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=consciousness&utm_content=august2019 27 comments philosophy
- Socrates on what we know, and how asking 'why' led to his death https://philosophybreak.com/articles/socrates-on-what-we-know/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=socrates&utm_content=july2019 6 comments philosophy
- Biologist Frans de Waal argues against 'top-down' systems of morality, from religions to Kant https://philosophybreak.com/articles/where-do-morals-come-from/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=dewaal&utm_content=june2019 166 comments philosophy
- Camus on Coping with Life’s Absurdity https://philosophybreak.com/articles/absurdity-with-camus/?utm_source=social&utm_medium=reddit&utm_campaign=camus 27 comments philosophy
- Why You Probably Don’t Have Free Will https://philosophybreak.com/articles/free-will-illusion-sam-harris/?utm_source=social&utm_medium=reddit&utm_campaign=free-will 50 comments philosophy