Philosophy

Shahab Ahmed.

How Has Islamic Orthodoxy Changed Over Time? How Has Islamic Orthodoxy Changed Over Time?

A new book by the late scholar Shahab Ahmed reveals the capaciousness, complexity, and contradictions of Islam.

Dec 23, 2015 / Books & the Arts / Elias Muhanna

Joseph LeDoux.

Is Anxiety the Price We Pay For Freedom? Is Anxiety the Price We Pay For Freedom?

The neuroscience of fear is incomplete without an account of philosophy and politics.

Dec 23, 2015 / Books & the Arts / Simon Wolfe Taylor

December 4, 1975: Hannah Arendt Dies

December 4, 1975: Hannah Arendt Dies December 4, 1975: Hannah Arendt Dies

“Man is basically alone with his ‘revolt’ and ‘clairvoyance,’ that is, with his reasoning.”

Dec 4, 2015 / Richard Kreitner

Letters Icon

Letters From the December 7, 2015, Issue Letters From the December 7, 2015, Issue

Quantum of science… misreading progress… crack up, fall down…

Nov 19, 2015 / Our Readers and David Rieff

“At certain times of the day,” wrote Karl Kraus, in a critique of the mass media taken up by Walter Benjamin, “a particular quantity of work has to have been procured and prepared for the machine.”

Nothing Remains Unchanged but the Clouds Nothing Remains Unchanged but the Clouds

With his worries about the gigantic power of technology and the minuscule moral illumination it can afford, Walter Benjamin remains our contemporary.

Nov 18, 2015 / Books & the Arts / Neima Jahromi

Indian Premier Jawaharlal Nehru (left) and Vietminh President Ho Chi Min in Hanoi, October 18, 1954. (AP)

Michael Walzer, Revolutionologist Michael Walzer, Revolutionologist

The political theorist’s new book on national liberation can’t answer one key question: Why have those words become obsolete?

Nov 18, 2015 / Books & the Arts / Thomas Meaney

Larissa MacFarquhar.

The Beauty and the Costs of Extreme Altruism The Beauty and the Costs of Extreme Altruism

What if you were so troubled by suffering and inequality that you changed your life entirely?

Nov 5, 2015 / Books & the Arts / Samuel Moyn

Marilynne Robinson

Humanism, Science, and the Radical Expansion of the Possible Humanism, Science, and the Radical Expansion of the Possible

Why we shouldn’t let neuroscience banish mystery from human life.

Oct 22, 2015 / Books & the Arts / Marilynne Robinson

Self as Sovereign

Self as Sovereign Self as Sovereign

Where do we get the notion of mind as separate from body?

Oct 22, 2015 / Books & the Arts / Emily Wilson

September 12, 1880: H.L. Mencken Is Born

September 12, 1880: H.L. Mencken Is Born September 12, 1880: H.L. Mencken Is Born

“What ails liberalism, as a practical scheme of reform, is its naive and irrational belief in law, a superstition that has cursed the human race long enough.”

Sep 12, 2015 / Richard Kreitner

x