Cultural diversity
Creativity
idea
To be creative, Chinese philosophy teaches us to abandon ‘originality’
Whether grieving a death or connecting to colleagues, creativity enables an artful life, according to Chinese philosophy
by Julianne Chung
Sex and sexuality
idea
What rude jibes about Caesar tell us about sex in ancient Rome
‘Every woman’s man and every man’s woman’ was a slur Julius Caesar’s political opponents levied. What did it mean?
by Aven McMaster
Sports and games
film
Softness controls hardness – a fighter’s gentle approach to life
Directed by Josef Reeve
Virtues and vices
idea
Persianate ‘adab’ involves far more than elegant manners
Across 13th- to 19th-century Persianate culture, ‘adab’ meant more than manners – it was proper social and aesthetic form
by Mana Kia
Symbols and myth
idea
Why the first Buddhas in art wore finely folded Greek tunics
How the iconography of Greek art influenced the development of an increasingly standardised image of the Buddha in India
by Garrett Ryan
Place
film
Journey to the Bering Sea in search of a deep ‘not knowing’
Directed by Sky Hopinka
Spirituality and religion
idea
One good way to understand religion is to break it apart
To understand what religion means, don’t reach for the dictionary. Better that you take it apart, break it, even throw it away
by Joseph Blankholm
Knowledge and reason
idea
In Nyāya philosophy, only some debates are worth having
For the Indian philosopher Vācaspati Miśra, the only debates worth having aim at truth. No point-scoring or put-downs
by Malcolm Keating