Mental health
idea
Advance directives for mental illness raise deep ethical questions
by Tania Gergel
Compassion and empathy
idea
Helping others might feel good, but is it really good for you?
by T Ryan Byerly
Thinking and intelligence
guide
How to think for yourself
Schopenhauer and Proust can help you find inspiration from your favourite writers while also retaining an independent mind
by David Bather Woods
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Cognitive and behavioural therapies
idea
The philosophical roots of CBT help explain its limitations
by Bradley Murray
Sex and sexuality
idea
Does porn harm or help? Gender could matter in a surprising way
by Nicolas Sommet & Jacques Berent
Work and vocation
idea
The idea of a ‘surgeon’s personality’ won’t fix the profession
by Agnes Arnold-Forster
Animals
idea
Sex lives of the pygmy seahorses – a hidden, miniature marvel
by Richard Smith
Identity
film
An A to Z survey of Black culture makes for an eclectic exploration of identity
Directed by Topaz Jones and Rubberband
The body and physical health
guide
How to live with chronic illness
Whatever your own experience of long-haul sickness, a shift in perspective could help you enjoy a full and happier life
by Jennifer Crystal
Civic life
idea
The power of Langston Hughes’s ‘melancholy citizenship’
by Robert L Tsai
Compassion and empathy
idea
Why self-understanding could be important for empathising well
by Sonia Krol
Grief
idea
There is consolation in a philosophical approach to grief
by Michael Cholbi
Nature and the environment
idea
Grey whales taught me how to mother, how to endure, how to live
by Doreen Cunningham
Dance
film
Dancing through emotions, a figure embodies all that can be said without words
A film by Nadia Micault
The body and physical health
idea
Studying tuberculosis in India, I saw the problem with cures
by Bharat Jayram Venkat