Robert Talisse on Civic Solitude

There is a long tradition of caste in South Asia. In this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast Nilanjan Das discusses a pre-modern philosophical critic of the whole system, and particularly of its underlying metaphysical assumptions. This episode was supported by the Ideas Wor ...  Show more

What is a question? It seems obvious, but perhaps it isn't. Lani Watson has just published a book on the topic. She thinks that true questions can be identified by their function, not by their form. She explains what she means by this and why questions matter so much in philosoph ...  Show more

…totalitarian domination as a form of government is new in that it… bases itself on loneliness, on the experience of not belonging to the world at all, which is among the most radical and desperate experiences of man.  Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism Many people hav ...  Show more

In this loud world there seems to be a panic when people decide to spend time alone. Like somehow its a horrible thing all the time to not always be with other people. I'm calling that BS. There are a lot of instances where we need to spend time with just ourselves. For our healt ...  Show more

We all love some alone time. But there are times when it can be bad. There is a term for people who never go out and can’t really function in society in Japan called hikikomori—the Japanese recluse. It can be easy to slip into this. There are some signs to look out for yourself a ...  Show more

With the increasing changes and threats to global democracy, writer and researcher Max Rashbrooke outlines the ways citizens can help protect society by being involved in everyday political decisions. This talk was filmed at TEDxAuckland. All TEDx events are organized independent ...  Show more