Philosophers and psychologists throughout history have tried to define and elucidate the human species by referring to certain basic drives that we all have. One that I would like to suggest, which I believe reflects the trajectory of humanity, is the will to novelty – the desire to seek out what is new and innovative.…
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I really do consider this a truly paradigm-shifting book even though I didn’t buy into all of the assumptions written here. Author David Abram admits that even though there might not be any ‘literal truth’ to the animistic claims of indigenous cultures, he says this is irrelevant because for Abram truths can be ‘literal’ only…
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Critical thinking is a skills-based subject, as opposed to a content-based subject. The majority of what kids learn at school is content-based and little (if anything) is taught about how to think critically. You will have to wait until AS/A Levels until studying critical thinking becomes a subject option and even then only a handful…
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Physicalism is a philosophical position which asserts that everything that exists is physical. This philosophy is commonly referred to as materialism, which has a distinct definition, but I will use these terms – as well as ‘physical’ and ‘material’ – interchangeably for the sake of this discussion. The physicalist outlook is contested by many in the ‘psychedelic’…
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For some, the question of whether we have moral obligations to the dead seems easy. How can we have duties towards people who do not exist? However, the debate is a bit more nuanced and complex than that. For example, some ethicists argue that we have moral obligations towards future generations, even though, like the…
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