Season's Greetings from Philosophy Now! In our archive issue 165, Jimmy Licon asks whether encouraging belief in Santa is naughty or nice, exploring the ethics of belief, truth, and how we actually learn to think for ourselves: philosophynow.org/issues/165/P...

Recent Philosophy Now pieces have asked whether happiness, self-improvement, and meaning really point in the same direction. This cartoon seems less sure. Art © Jon Carter 2025 Read what philosophers have to say on the topic: philosophynow.org

In "Marcus Aurelius’s Ten Commandments" Massimo Pigliucci studies the Stoic Emperor’s to-do list. Read the rest of the commandments and Pigliucci's commentary in issue 171: philosophynow.org/issues/171/M...

"To cling on to happiness is to cling on to a slippery rope dangling above an abyss" suggests Abdullah Rayhan in "Deconstructing Happiness" (issue 171), bringing in Boethius, Kierkegaard and Montaigne, and offers an alternative solution. Read full exploration here: philosophynow.org/issues/171/D...

Don't Worry Be Happy. What exactly is happiness? @philosophynow.bsky.social looks to tackle that question in their December/January issue. #Philosophynow #Happiness

Is happiness pleasure, effort, virtue, resilience, or something else entirely? What is happiness for you? Michael Gracey’s article "Hedonic Treadmills in the Vale of Tears" (issue 171) traces a long philosophical conversation: philosophynow.org/issues/171/H...

Is living happily the same as living meaningfully? And if not, what's more important? Matthew Hammerton explores "The Good Life Paradox" in issue 171: philosophynow.org/issues/171/T...

Philosophy Now magazine, @philosophynow.bsky.social, out now - with an article in which I argue #WilliamBlake would have found allies in philosophers of science from #DavidHume to #WernerHeisenberg…

The new 171 issue of Philosophy Now - The Happiness Issue - foregoes Chesterton's warning. Are we wrong? What do you think? Happiness rationalised here: philosophynow.org/issues/171

JUST OUT: Issue 171 dives into #Happiness: the pursuit of the #GoodLife, the tension between #pleasure and #purpose, and what it really means to #flourish today. With reflections on #Ethics, #Neurotechnology and philosophical classics re-examined. philosophynow.org/issues/171

In Philosophy Now Issue 170: an original dialogue between Emma Jones and Prof. Luce #Irigaray, the pioneering Belgian-French feminist philosopher and psychoanalyst. Their challenging, fascinating talk focuses on Irigaray's most recent book, "The Mediation of Touch" philosophynow.org/issues/170/T...

In "Macmurray on Relationship" (issue 170) Jeanne Warren presents John Macmurray’s philosophy, who argues that the fundamental unit of personal reality is not ‘I’, but ‘you-and-I’. Whose side are you on - Sartre 😈 or Macmurray 😇? Read full article: philosophynow.org/issues/170/M...

To celebrate the life and legacy of Tom Stoppard, read "Wittgenstein: Stoppard’s Muse" by Fergus Edwards @drfergusedwards.bsky.social in issue 154: philosophynow.org/issues/154/W...

For those who want to know more about philosophy in Stoppard: "Wittgenstein: Stoppard's Muse" is in the Feb 2023 edition of @philosophynow.bsky.social

Katharine Mullen interviews Karl Sigmund on his books "The Waltz of Reason" (the history of interplay between maths and philosophy), and "Exact Thinking in Demented Times: The Vienna Circle and the Epic Quest for the Foundations of Science". Read here: philosophynow.org/issues/170/K...

John P. Irish considers some principles of history through the history of the historian Edward Gibbon (1737-1794): philosophynow.org/issues/170/E...

In "Can AI Teach Our Grandmothers To Suck Eggs?" (issue 170) Louis Tempany wonders whether human life will become so diminished that we will require machines to do everything for us, and what that might mean for our humanity. Read award-winning essay: philosophynow.org/issues/170/C...

Philosophical fiction: In "The Primates" Samantha Neave visits a future where almost all animals have rights: philosophynow.org/issues/170/T...

Happy World Philosophy Day! For this special occasions, we are inviting you to revisit Aristotle's idea of life of (philosophical) contemplation as the ultimate happiness. Do you agree? Read for further context: philosophynow.org/issues/151/A...

In Philosophy Now's most recent issue 170, Raymond Tallis revisits Anselm's famous Ontological Argument for the existence of God, and contends that a definition of God cannot necessitate God’s existence: philosophynow.org/issues/170/R...

Read “The Mediation of Touch”, a conversation with Luce Irigaray, a philosopher, psychoanalyst and the author of many books, including "The Mediation of Touch" (2024), in issue 170: philosophynow.org/issues/170/T...

In "What My Sister Taught Me About Humanity", Lee Clarke powerfully argues that we need a more inclusive view of moral personhood. Picture: the author's sister Laura. Read Clarke's personal story and her proposed criteria for common humanity: philosophynow.org/issues/170/W...

“The observer isn’t just watching reality — but helping shape it.” Do you agree? #QuantumPhysics meets #IndianPhilosophy in a dialogue about consciousness, causality & the illusion of separateness. Art by Paul Gregory. Read in issue 170: philosophynow.org/issues/170/Q...

Marx, Nietzsche and Sartre walk into a cafe and order hot chocolate. Can you come up with a punch line? For inspiration, take a sip of "Philosophers on Chocolate" by Matt Qvortrup: philosophynow.org/issues/170/P...

Halloween special: Daniel Toré asks whether it’s morally wrong to enjoy horror (archives, issue 156). Do you like watching horror? And what do you make of it? philosophynow.org/issues/156/T...

Read "Alchemy, Mining, Speculation & Experimentation" by Okan Nurettin Okur in issue 170 if you’re curious about how ancient speculation, experiment and metaphysics still shape our thinking about nature. Art: Chemistry by Paul Gregory philosophynow.org/issues/170/A...

Is moral flexibility a virtue in the workplace, what do you think? Art by Steve Delmonte 2025

In Hit Man, Jason and Lauren Friend discuss the idea of reprogramming oneself as raised by Richard Linklater's film. Can we truly reinvent ourselves, or are we bound by who we’ve been? philosophynow.org/issues/170/H...

Spotted in the wild: Philosophy Now Issue 170 on the newsstand in Waitrose supermarket, Biggin Hill.

In "Living According To Nature", Massimo Pigliucci talks about how the Stoics and the Epicureans interpreted this idea, and how to reconcile our eudaimonic (character-cultivating) and hedonic (pleasure-seeking) objectives. Art: Woman in Nature by Paul Gregory philosophynow.org/issues/170/L...

In "Collective Action & Climate Change" Nevin Chellappah presents the argument that there is no moral reason to reduce our emissions formally, and proceeds to refute its foundational premises. Art © Chris Gill 2025 philosophynow.org/issues/170/C...

Can anyone come up with an alternative caption? Cartoon by © Harley Schwadron 2025 in the new issue of Philosophy Now

In "Forced Vaccination" Naina Krishnamurthy argues (employing social contract theory, utilitarianism and ethics of care) that during times of crisis, it is not merely justifiable but morally necessary. Do you agree? Art: Stephen Lahey philosophynow.org/issues/170/F...

In "Moral Decision-Making for a Job Search", Norman Schultz proposes three criteria for an immoral job: it harms people, it requires intentional deception and it plays a key role in a morally troubling industry. Do you agree? Art by Melanie Wu philosophynow.org/issues/170/M...

In the lead article of the new issue, "#DeExtinction: Bringing Back Beasts or Playing God?", John Kennedy Philip revives the #EthicalDebate around #resurrecting species. Art by Cameron Gray. philosophynow.org/issues/170/D...

JUST OUT: Issue 170's theme is Moral Issues, grappling with problems around #DeExtinction, #VaccineMandates, #DisabledRights, #ClimateCrisis and the #ethics of job searches. Also a dialogue with Luce #Irigaray on the mediation of touch. philosophynow.org/issues/170

In "A Crisis of Attention", Paul Doolan spells out the challenges of the "age of distraction" and guides the reader through the relevant philosophical perspectives and remedies (Weil, Nietzsche, Pascal, Lawrence, Thoreau etc). Art by Susan Auletta philosophynow.org/issues/169/A...

The Ultimate Guide's Editor, Alex Marsh, holding a copy in W.H.Smiths in Lewes.

Meet up fortnightly on Zoom with Dr Anja Steinbauer and other philosophers at midnight (UK time) for a candlelit hour of thinking about life, the universe and everything. The topic for tonight's session is "Zeno's Paradoxes". Come in from 23:45. Sign up at: www.meetup.com/london-philo...

JUST OUT: The Ultimate Guide to Ancient Greek Philosophy considers many of the profound new ideas central to the birth of Western philosophy 2500 years ago. It has 5 chapters: Pre-Socratics; Plato & Socrates; Aristotle; Epicurus & Hedonism; and Stoicism, Scepticism & Cynicism. philosophynow.org/shop

September 13 marked the Birthday of Mary Midgley, one of Britain’s most influential contemporary moral philosophers. Explore articles by and about Midgley in Philosophy Now archives. Find out what Midgley had to say in her last book "What is Philosophy For?" Photo by Martin Midgley 2011

Not everything is knowable: true or false? Michael D. McGranahan offers answers from mathematics, logic, and science in "Gödel, Wittgenstein, & the Limits of Knowledge". Link in comments. #limitsofknowledge #godel #wittgenstein #russell #hilbert #heisenberg Art: Reaching the Limit by Paul Gregory

How does Karl Popper's 'falsification' (refutability of scientific theories) pertain to politics? Read Brian King's "Popper, Science & Democracy" in the latest issue of Philosophy Now, link in comments. #karlpopper #falsification Art by Athamos Stradis

From our latest issue, on sources of knowledge. Maya Koka considers the #Gettier problem, with the help of ancient Chinese traveller Xuanzang. philosophynow.org/issues/169/X...

JUST OUT: Issue 169's theme is Sources of Knowledge. The #Gettier problem, the nature & #objectivity of science, and Gödel & Wittgenstein on whether knowledge has limits. Also an interview with Prof Susan Haack on Post-Truth. You know it makes sense. philosophynow.org/issues/169

Tomorrow’s is Kant’s Cave night: Keith Barrett will give a talk on ‘Philosophical Precursors of Psychoanalysis’. See you there?

Young & Meaningful: Elise Beal notes a Japanese philosophy of finding pleasure in the small things, and matches it with the online trend of #hopecore philosophynow.org/issues/168/Y...

Short story from Philosophy Now 168: "René Descartes Loses His Phone" by Judah Crow. The painting is by one of our regular artists, Stephen Lahey. philosophynow.org/issues/168/R...

In the digital philosophy section of our current issue Dr Amir Haj-Bolouri asks: does immersive Virtual Reality offer a meaningful kind of escapism? philosophynow.org/issues/168/I...

In the digital philosophy section of our current issue, this is perhaps the most pressing problem for academics & students. A very interesting take by Dr Max Gottschlich who thinks that the use of AI in university study is, in the end, self-defeating. philosophynow.org/issues/168/S...