A life in Zen
Growing up in countercultural California, ‘enlightenment’ had real glamour. But decades of practice have changed my mind - by Anshi Zachary Smith Read at Aeon]]>
Showing 99 articles in Philosophy
On democracy
Democracy, by Midjourney.These days there is a large volume of writings, podcasts, and what not being put out concerning the general concept of democracy, particularly in the United States, where it is (allegedly) in peril. Perhaps we need to step back a little and briefly explore what democracy is,
There Are Crazy People On Both The Left And Right: On The Right, They're The Heads of Government
There are crazy people on both the left and the right. On the left you have people who work in Universities and sometimes write papers with titles like "the queer non-binary body's decolonial resistance politics." On the left you have random people with no political power on TikTok melting down over
Inheritance Tax Is Largely Irrelevant to the Problem of Economic Inequality
Lots of people think that a few people controlling a very large share of a society's economic power is a bad thing. It is unfair that some should have so much while so many have so much less. It is inefficient that so much wealth lies in the hands of people who already have everything they could rea
Should Strong Gods Bet On GDP?
Francis Fukuyama is on Substack; last month he wrote Liberalism Needs Community. As always, read the whole thing and don't trust my summary, but the key point is:According to R. R. Reno, editor of the magazine First Things, the liberal project of the past three generations has sought to weaken the "
The Urgent Need For Revolutionizing Economic Statistics
After a busy day at work as a prompt engineer for a marketing agency — working from your laptop in your own living room — it’s time to relax. You scroll through TikTok for a while, and then upload a video about the novel you discovered recently from a Threads post. After ordering dinner through Door
More on analyzing concepts
I wrote a post about what action is while also attempting to convey some general lessons about analyzing concepts; one of those "Flo thinks Lovers of Wisdom should be quiet until they have mastered real analysis" posts. Stacker of Subs Jack Thompson wrote a post replying to it. Here I do not so much
Tom Lehrer Dies At 97
Tom Lehrer died earlier today, on July 27, 2025. He was 97 years old. If you're young, you probably don't know Tom Lehrer. He was active from the 1950s to the 1970s. For you youngsters, he was the analogue of Bo Burnham though far funnier and cleverer. Consider, for instance, his song Wernher von Br
Joris Hoefnagel: the artist who painted bugs like jewels
The little-known painter who found beauty in bugs, transforming pests into wondrous creatures and works of art - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon]]>
Spider divination
Life is complicated. In Cameroon, initiated diviners read the messages of spiders to untangle possible futures - by David Zeitlyn Read at Aeon]]>
The Idealist and the Dogmatist
People forget that I am in love with a man named Johann Gottlieb Fichte. When I read Kant, it's like reading Newton: a really smart guy conveying important truths that I wouldn't have been able to figure out by myself. But when I read Fichte, it's like I'm reading my own thoughts. This man is my sou
The Federal War On Animal Welfare
The federal government is carrying out a multi-part war on overwhelmingly popular state-level animal welfare laws. These laws include California's Prop 12 and Massachusetts' Question 3 which require egg laying hens, pigs, and other animals to have enough space to lie down, stand up, extend their lim
Two quick announcements
Quick post for just two announcements!I'm nearing 1k subscribers, and conditional on me getting that, I'll do an AMA. If you want to ask a question, either leave a comment here or reply to my post on X (formerly Twitter), which you can find here. You are allowed to ask me anything, though I will not
Open Thread 392
This is the weekly visible open thread. Post about anything you want, ask random questions, whatever. ACX has an unofficial subreddit, Discord, and bulletin board, and in-person meetups around the world. Most content is free, some is subscriber only; you can subscribe here. Also:1: Comment of the we
The 20th Century Is the Only Century
Subscribe now1.For eons there were only the Ancestors. They wore fedoras, called women "dames", and lived out their lives entirely in black and white. Then the Youth came, and made things colorful, and declared: if it feels good, do it. This is not of course the true history of the world, but it is
The End of Solitude
I was watching an interview with David Foster Wallace, author of the famous best-seller Infinite Jest (which, due to its excessively long sentences, perhaps should have been called Infinite Sentence Length). In the interview, Wallace complained about the decline in the national attention span—the di
Why Modern Sincerity
In May I read and posted on the 2008 book Ritual and Its Consequences: An Essay on the Limits of Sincerity. I've since recorded two discussions on the topic, one with Agnes Callard at MindsAlmostMeeting, and another with Stephen Adubato at Interintellect. And I've watched two talks by the book's aut
Contra Sam Kriss on Truth, Goodness, and Utilitarianism
1 Introduction The Rationalists are a group of people, largely in the Bay Area, who spend their time on the internet site LessWrong and make a great show out of trying to come to their beliefs rationally. They're disproportionately utilitarians, atheists, physicalists, moral anti-realists, and fans
Suddenly, Trait-Based Embryo Selection
[see footnote 4 for conflicts of interest]In 2021, Genomic Prediction announced the first polygenically selected baby.When a couple uses IVF, they may get as many as ten embryos. If they only want one child, which one do they implant? In the early days, doctors would just eyeball them and choose whi
The battle that started western civilization
The tumulus where the Athenians who fell at Marathon are buried, photo by the Author.Civilizations do not start on a specific date, though the question is still open on whether they can end in one day (future nuclear or astronomic catastrophe, perhaps?). And yet, an argument can, and has been made t
Introducing Noema VI: Paradigm Shifts
When a concept that organizes our reality is replaced by an entirely different and incommensurate worldview, it is called a “paradigm shift.”The theme of this edition of Noema was conceived in early 2024. At that time, we had in mind the epochal shift from the paradigm of globalization, in which mar
Proof that God doesn't exist
I come with unfortunate news: in my investigations, I have stumbled on a completely decisive proof of atheism. I know, me even saying this is proof enough to convince you, but you should at least read the argument since it's a good maxim to think for yourself. Take some time to emotionally adjust, a
The Gulf World That Air Conditioning Wrought
As host-country Qatar took the pitch against Ecuador during the 2022 men’s World Cup opener, machines thrummed in the bowels of Al Bayt Stadium.Outside, it was a humid 75 degrees Fahrenheit, but inside the open-air stadium, the crowd of more than 67,000 fans enjoyed ambient temperatures of about 68
Metaphysics Resurrected (Part 2)
This August at The Portal we host philosopher Dylan Shaul for a series of reflections under the theme of "Metaphysics Resurrected". Throughout this month you are invited to four events designed to introduce you to the history of metaphysics, including: the core of the metaphysical tradition, from Pl
A Bayesian Analysis of God's Existence
1 Introduction Bayes theorem is the mathematical theorem used to revise probabilities in light of new evidence. For example, suppose that you think that some hypothesis has a 50% probability. Then you learn some fact that is twice as likely if the hypothesis is true as if it's false. Now you should
Letters To A Young Philosopher 5: Getting Caught Up In Abstractions About Philosophy
This time around I'm going to write to you about a problematic approach that a person might easily think will contribute to their understanding philosophical thinkers, movements, schools, traditions, or perspectives, but which really gets in the way and leads one astray. It's one I know very well bo
Is Stoicism politically conservative?
Cicero, played by David Bamber, speaking to the Roman Senate in the excellent HBO series, "Rome." Image from hbo-rome.fandom.com.Do Stoicism and politics go together? And if so, how? I have recently published two essays criticizing both US President Trump and his Vice President, J.D. Vance, from a S
The Staggeringly Strong Case That You Should Save Infinite Shrimp Instead of One Person
1 Introduction Science often discovers surprising things. Who would have thought that your great^30-billion grandfather was a prokaryote? So does philosophy. Any particular example of something that philosophers have discovered will be controversial, but I think pretty undeniable examples of discove
How We Shape Our Character: Epictetus on Reason, Reasons, and Prohairesis (part 2)
Below is the second part of the transcript of my invited presentation to the Emmy Noether Research Group at the University of Würtzburg. If you would like to watch or listen to the presentation, here is the videorecording. You can read the first part here.This post is public so feel free to share it
Camp Widow
People who’ve lost an intimate partner often feel completely alone in their experience – Camp Widow helps them connect - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon]]>
Bless the Phone
PAN IV, 2023, by Ross SimoniniLast year, I developed the unexpected habit of blessing my phone. I now do this ritual any time I answer a call, send a text, or enter the drooling state of the scroll. I do it even if I'm not feeling particularly grateful for my device, because blessing isn't a way of
Catastrophic Starvation In Gaza
My position on Israel's war in Gaza has been the same for quite a while: while a military response was appropriate in the wake of October 7th, the war should have been over a long time ago. It has gone on for far too long, and cost the lives of tens of thousands of Gazans—probably near 70,000. About
Short Videos On Stoicism, The Cardinal Virtues, and the Subordinate Virtues
I've started a new series of short videos, generally under 90 seconds long, providing thumbnail sketches of some key ideas in Stoic virtue ethics. Each of these is uploaded in three different platforms: as YouTube shorts, Facebook reels, and LinkedIn videos.At present, I'm midway through teaching an
A film is a goodbye that never ends
How do you say goodbye to a beloved dog who will never understand what that means? A meditation on the limits of language - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon]]>
The meaning of life, or lack thereof?
Thinking about the meaning of life. Or is it the goal of life? Image by MidJourney.I seem to be preoccupied, of late, with the meaning of life. More precisely, with the fact that so many people, including a number of philosophers and scientists, appear to be determined to show that there is such a t
Spores
"Justin Smith-Ruiu's speculative fiction is consistently as sumptuous as it is demanding." —Dmitri Bezmozgov, The Oort Cloud Review, vol. 2. Get 25% off for 1 yearNever say never. Until a few years ago I "never" thought my partner and I would end up installing a Gro-Pad in front of our open window i
What Searching For Aliens Reveals About Ourselves
As an astrobiologist, I am often teased about my profession. Some people believe that astrobiology is just a catchy buzzword used to garner headlines and secure funding. Others view it as mere science fiction — or worse, a pseudoscience — because it lacks a subject of study. The most common question
The physics of dissonance
Dissonance and harmony might seem straightforward, but a deep dive into the physics reveals their delightful complexity - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon]]>
Stubborn Interdependence
Amid the swirling confusion over ever-shifting American tariff levels, threats of protectionist countermeasures and talk of imminent global trade wars, it was easy to miss the most significant shift of late in the strategic rivalry between the United States and China. Following the logic of export c
Exclusive Video 15: What Does Being "Productive" Really Mean?
I often get people expressing surprise or admiration at the level of "productivity" that it seems to them that I have or exhibit. This is typically said in relation to the various activities I post about, which include not just producing videos and podcasts but writing as well, teaching classes, and
Showing 40 of 99 articles