ፍትህ ለሁሉም / Justice for All
On paper, we’re supposed to realize that identity categories aren’t that big a deal, that all those boundaries that supposedly divide us are in fact rather porous: Race is more or less a constructed fiction, male and female brains overlap a great deal, the very concept of the nation-state, and therefore nationalism itself, is a …
Is there any such thing as the Cusan view of the relationship between faith and reason? That is, does Nicholas present us with clear concepts of fides and ratio and with a unique and consistent doctrine regarding their interconnection? If he does not, then the task before us is surely an impossible one: viz., the …
Interacting with the divine is outside of the realm of normal human experience. The supernatural is, by definition, outside the limits of what can be quantified, measured, examined scientifically, or understood from coldly academic foundations. That does not make it any less real or vital to the human experience. Augustine points out “Thou awakest us …
What if I told you that there’s no such thing as an individual action? That every time you eat, walk up the stairs or read a book, you are not the sole agent behind what you are doing, but are engaged in a process of co-creation – as much acted-upon as acting? Read more
Deep in the south of Egypt, on the west bank of the Nile facing the historic capital Thebes, stand two 60-foot-tall statues of the pharaoh Amenhotep III (14th century BCE). By the time the Romans annexed Egypt in 30 BCE, these colossi were an ancient remnant of the grandeur of the pharaoh’s mortuary temple, doomed by the Nile’s floodwaters, that …
Two weeks ago—when the election of Donald Trump was still, to many people, an almost comedic idea—Charles Taylor, the Canadian philosopher, visited the Social Science Research Council, in Brooklyn, to talk about the fate of democracy with some graduate students. He had just won the Berggruen Prize, which is awarded, along with a million dollars, …
Archaeologists have been exploring our planet for centuries trying to find evidence of prehistoric Civilizations all around the world. And while some believe there are no more of these Civilizations left to discover, a recent Discovery deep in the Amazon jungle proves that some ancient Civilizations have yet to be uncovered. In today’s video, we’ll …
The ‘Axial Age’ (500–300 BCE) refers to the period during which most of the main religious and spiritual traditions emerged in Eurasian societies. Although the Axial Age has recently been the focus of increasing interest,1-5 its existence is still very much in dispute. The main reason for questioning the existence of the Axial Age is that …
Becoming a world record holder in pull-ups surely requires dedication and resolve. One might not expect a person who has accomplished that feat to be averse to a life focused on goals and achievement, but one might not expect the pull-up record holder to be a philosopher, either. Read more
Iwant to start with a proposition: if Earth had never come alive, it would be a profoundly different world. Conversely: the planet of today has, to a remarkable extent, been made what it is by the activities of lifeforms. Over the course of the planet’s long history, a history that extends back more than 4.5 billion years, …