Michael Dummett, analytic philosopher and campaigner against racism, died 27.12.11. Adrian Moore's perceptive obituary captures the man and his philosophy. Read more...
A new book explores the reception and creative interpretation of Nietzsche's works in America. What emerges is a domesticated and more benign version of the philosopher. Read more...
'In the Nietzschean view, our conscious life is largely superficial, largely epiphenomenal'... Brian Leiter, author of the Leiter Reports weblog and an expert on Nietzsche, ranges widely in this long interview. Read more...
Many people have noticed the similiarity between David Hume's view of the self and Buddhist teaching, but Alison Gopnik suggests that Hume could well have discussed Buddhism with a Jesuit who was an expert on Tibetan Buddhism while he was in La Flèche. Read more...
Quentin Skinner discusses his ideas about interpretation, meaning, understanding Machiavelli, Hobbes, freedom, and more in a wide-ranging 2-part interview. Read more...
Simon Blackburn sees David Hume as a pragmatist, the forerunner of William James, John Dewey, and even to some extent Richard Rorty in this wide-ranging article for the New York Times column 'The Stone'. Read more...
Baruch Spinoza's posthumous Theological Political Treatise was only published posthumously and became known as 'a book forged in hell' because of the challenge it presented to religious orthodoxies. Read more...
Christopher Hitchens, who is in the late stage of a terminal illness, questions Nietzsche's aphorism 'What does not destroy me makes me stronger' with characteristic wit and poignancy. Read more...
Did Socrates' anti-democratic teaching hand out knives to madmen like Alcibiades and Critias? Should Socrates have taken more responsibility for the effect of his words? Read more...
Gene Sharp's little book on non-violent resistance and revolution, which has debts to both Machiavelli and Gandhi, is beautifully written. You can download it as a PDF here. Read more...
Simon Blackburn talks freely about Cambridge, Oxford, his philosophical development, the philosophers he has known, and his own work, in this longish interview (with transcript). Cambridge a bit of a mad house, Oxford a bit smarmy. Read more...
What would Adam Smith say about extravagant rewards on Wall Street? Vanity keeps the wheels of capitalism turning, and increased goods don't do much for us. Read more...