Answering the biggest question of all
Leibniz thought that the fact that there is something and not nothing requires an explanation. The explanation he gave was that God wanted to create a universe – the best one possible…
Artificial intelligence is a totalitarian’s dream
Individualistic Western societies are built on the idea that no one knows our thoughts, desires, or joys better than we do. And so we put ourselves, rather than the government, in charge…
Jorge Luis Borges and his infinite worlds
Each culture, like each man, creates its paradises. The Egyptians who built the pyramids aspired to a modest little house surrounded by fertile land. Dante composed for himself a triumphal reception at…
Coronavirus won’t kill globalisation – but a shakeup is inevitable
Although the global economy was fragile at the start of 2020, many hoped for increased international trade following the US-China Phase One trade deal. COVID-19 has scuppered those hopes, bringing the world’s…
What’s the point of grief?
Most people associate grief with losing someone they love, but in reality people can grieve for all sorts of reasons. In essence, knowing what to expect and feeling secure and stable is…
Marxism and Ethical Socialism – Soon in Dialektika
One of the principal legacies of analytical Marxism has been a moralization of Marxism, for some of the most influential analytical Marxists came to endorse the view that the Marxist condemnation of…
What is populism – and why is it so hard to define?
The first reason for the conceptual confusion is that words don’t neatly map onto their referents. There is a struggle over the meaning of key political terms and the predominant use of…
Slavoj Žižek on Coronavirus: “Communism or barbarism, it’s that simple” – Video
In his most recent conversation with Renata Ávila from DiEM25 TV, Žižek talks about the Coronavirus pandemic.…
Will coronavirus be the turning point for globalisation?
There is a widespread belief that nothing will ever be the same after the coronavirus pandemic, with society, the role of government and the economy changing forever.…
Philosopher in Italian coronavirus lockdown on how to think positively about isolation
There are worries with taking a broader perspective though. One is that it may ignore individuals. Some environmentalists claim to dislike humans from the perspective of the whole planet and the damage…