Philosophy at Play

Consumption

I was in a hurry. I had to get to work before the meeting began. But I was way down on my quota, and not for the first time this month. So I entered the first Buy Here shop I saw and looked around for something to buy. The stockings were convenient – right near the... read more

Is Political Apology a Sorry Affair?

On eternal life: why an anti-ageing pill might sour the pleasures of existence

It’s remembrance day – so what do we owe the dead?

What we risk as humans if we allow gene-edited babies: a philosopher’s view

Should parents be allowed to build their babies by design?

‘Let no man count himself happy’

‘Let no man count himself happy until his end.’ This saying pops up again and again in classical Greek writings. Oedipus utters it when he discovers that he has unwittingly killed his father and committed incest with his mother. The philosopher Solon refuses to call...

Why virtual reality cannot match the real thing

Suppose you were offered the opportunity to hook yourself up to a machine that would give you all the experiences you desire. Using this technology you could have the sensations of climbing Mt Everest, enjoying great sex with a good looking partner or visiting the Taj...

The moral value of wilderness

Pause and reflect on what really makes wilderness valuable.

Alan Roberts: Physicist, Environmentalist, Activist

One of my friends Alan Roberts died late last year. He was 92. Alan was born in Brisbane in 1925. His father died of injuries from his service in World War I in the months before he was born and he was raised by his mother in difficult circumstances. He was just old...