Meaning and the good life
Play
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The achievement society is burning us out, we need more play
This is about more than a self-help switch – it will take structural changes to reject capitalism’s productivity obsession
by Alec Stubbs
Work and vocation
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Why do so many people think they are in a bullshit job?
Researchers continue to debate whether some jobs are inherently useless – but all agree it’s harmful to see your job this way
by Shayla Love
Meaning and the good life
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You can be a materialist and find meaning in the universe
My hard-nosed materialism led me to an existential crisis, but then I realised the difference between science and scientism
by Jessica Tracy
The self
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When Nietzsche said ‘become who you are’, this is what he meant
Behind the philosopher’s cryptic phrase is an invocation to sculpt your ideal self out of the hard stone of your psyche
by Ryan A Bush
Thinkers and theories
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Learning to be a loser: a philosopher’s case for doing nothing
For Emil Cioran, a life devoid of action, practical ambitions and busyness is a life in which room has been made for meaning
by Costica Bradatan
Rituals and celebrations
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More radical and practical than Stoicism – discover Shugendō
As they train for their own deaths, Japan’s mountain priests develop a form of acceptance that goes beyond the Stoics
by Tim Bunting
Creativity
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A life of splendid uselessness is a life well lived
Like the fertile soil of a well-kept garden, a life of splendid, utter uselessness yields abundance beyond our immediate aims
by Joseph M Keegin
Thinkers and theories
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For Nietzsche, nihilism goes deeper than ‘life is pointless’
For Friedrich Nietzsche, nihilism is a terrible psychological problem – a coping mechanism with deadly consequences
by Kaitlyn Creasy
Meaning and the good life
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What’s a life worth living? For the ancients, it depends
What the ancient philosophers thought was a life worth living will likely surprise you. But don’t be too quick to judge
by David Machek
Meaning and the good life
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Our age of crises needs Bollnow’s philosophy of hope
What if life crises are not pitfalls en route to Maslow’s self-actualisation but hopeful new beginnings, as Bollnow argued?
by Norm Friesen
Meaning and the good life
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The immortalists have got it wrong – here’s why we need death
The immortalists say beating death will lead to peace. But what if mortality is our bittersweet path to love and harmony?
by Susan Cain
Spirituality and religion
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Religion gives life meaning. Can anything else take its place?
Religious faith promotes a sense of meaning in life – and it might take more than ‘social glue’ to duplicate the effect
by Michael M Prinzing