Find your ‘inner mystic’: Is this the answer to modern melancholy?
Unthinkable: English philosopher and author Simon Critchley suggests we can learn to enjoy ‘idiot glee’ from medieval Christianity
Unthinkable
Unthinkable coumns by Joe Humphreys
This column is not for cynics: In praise of political innocence
Unthinkable: Was the general election a victory for ‘grown ups’ or a defeat for idealism?
‘It’s cool’ isn’t a good reason for scientists to develop harmful technologies
Unthinkable: Regulating generative AI is important in its own right, but it’s also a dummy run for the existential threat of artificial general intelligence. This will go beyond mimicking human intelligence to conquering it
A philosophical guide to voting: Three big issues to think about
Unthinkable: In the case of voting, the critical question is not the “mom litmus test” but the “child, or future citizen, litmus test”
We are united by common urges: Freedom. Justice. The need to go to the toilet
Unthinkable: Looking for the meaning of life? You may be sitting on the answer
Enoch Burke is someone I’d like to hug
Unthinkable: Ahead of International Men’s Day, it’s clear many young men are not in a happy place
This could be a crazy week. Here’s one way to stay sane
The best way to stay sane this week is, as Marcus Aurelius recommended, to extend more generosity to other people’s crazy
Should it bother you if you’re not as rich as your neighbour?
Five arguments can be put forward in defence of economic inequality
‘God doesn’t make mistakes. If I was trans, it was because I was meant to be’
Unthinkable: Philosopher and author Sophie Grace Chappell believes ideology is the wrong starting point for public discussion
Some people believe animals should have political representation. But which animals?
Unthinkable: Should pigs have a voice but not ants? Should XL Bully dogs have a voice on whether or not they should be banned?
Why ‘they’re eating the dogs’ was a stroke of political genius by Trump
Unthinkable: Politicians who tell lies have an advantage because of what psychologists call the ‘false consensus effect’
I enjoy going to Mass occasionally, an embarrassing admission for an atheist
Praying can allow people to vocalise suppressed emotions or fears, and several studies indicate health benefits
In times of war, ‘we have a duty to hope, as without hope all is lost’
Unthinkable: Always treat humanity not as a means but as an end, said the philosopher Immanuel Kant
Spiritual inspiration after a nasty review drove me to write one of my best songs
Rite & Reason: Melody and lyrics come to the musician in mysterious ways. And sometimes the humble pie of criticism can fuel great artistic triumph
Why is ‘news avoidance’ on the rise? The nocebo effect may be playing a part
Unthinkable: The ‘evil twin’ of the placebo effect could shed light on why people say consuming the news makes them feel worse
If you’re already planning your next holiday, read this first
Unthinkable: ‘Leisure’ has replaced ‘rest’ in our capitalist society. Even burnout is being monetised
For the sake of your mental health, stop trying to have an opinion on everything all the time
Unthinkable: People are panicking, theorising and condemning on social media in every imaginable direction. But it’s all right not to have a view on everything all the time. In fact, it’s healthy
Gary Lineker’s ‘bald patch’ jibe hurt Frank Lampard - luckily, there is one treatment for hair loss
Unthinkable: Here’s a three-step programme to deal with cruel comments about your appearance
Tommy Tiernan is on a mission to revive ‘radical’ Christian Irish philosopher
Kerry writer John Moriarty, who died in 2007, called for ‘the abandonment of the western way of life’
If you could meet your dead parent again through virtual reality would you?
Unthinkable: Technology is throwing up new moral dilemmas - “screen studies” may help us to answer them
The Irish philosopher who was father of ‘cathedral thinking’
Edmund Burke is associated with conservatism but his political outlook is more radical than he is given credit for
Are you a citizen of the world or of your own nation? The answer may determine your politics
There are 193 nation states in the world, with Palestine waiting to become the 194th
Are we making ourselves anxious, or is the world making us that way?
Unthinkable: Karl Marx and Herbert Marcuse could help treat your anxiety
Are we over-using terms like ‘far-right’, ‘racist’ and ‘fascist’?
Concerns are being raised about ‘conceptual inflation’ whereby ‘use of a term expands too much relative to its meaning’
Should you have children? These five philosophical questions can help you decide
Unthinkable: Procreating to ‘save the West’ is probably a bad idea, but what’s a good reason to have children?
‘No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs’: How common were such notices in Britain?
Unthinkable: The only known photograph of such a sign is from an unknown source
Politics is all about managing the present. What people need is a story of the future
Unthinkable: Individuals and society at large need a coherent storyline to give us hope for the future
How to end the culture wars: Stop looking for people to blame
‘Because structural injustices are beyond our control it is wrong to blame ordinary people for them,’ argues political philosopher Maeve McKeown
A question for Willie O’Dea and Sharon Keogan: What exactly do you mean by ‘woke’?
Unthinkable: It’s worth learning to spot linguistic devices to avoid plain speech, which can have real impacts on Irish society
Navalny’s death shames those of us who merely ‘fornicate and read the papers’
Unthinkable: Killing of the Russian opposition leader shames all of us who merely ‘fornicate and read the papers’
Are you being played by Netflix? Why tech giants do not want us to be nostalgic
Unthinkable: Powerful organisations may be trying to ‘suppress emotions that threaten capitalism’
Would you kill one person to save five? It depends what age you are
Unthinkable: Changing morals may explain differences between age groups on the Israel-Palestine conflict
What a Tesla driver in a VR headset can teach us about empathy
We can’t be sure technology is making people less empathetic, but the signs are not good
Love is . . . ‘the extremely difficult realisation that something other than oneself is real’
Unthinkable: Philosopher Iris Murdoch provides us with a model of love that is both highly demanding and devilishly complex
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