Don’t be stoic: Roman Stoicism’s origins show its perniciousness
Stoicism might help you as an individual. But we need a philosophy that doesn’t dull us to the injustices of the world
by Henry Gruber
Civic life
You want people to do the right thing? Save them the guilt trip
If you want to inspire people to do the right thing, don’t guilt-trip them. Positive emotions are a more powerful motivator
by Claudia R Schneider
The radical aristocrat who put kindness on a scientific footing
Peter Kropotkin took on social Darwinism, casting evolution in a cooperative light and laying the groundwork for mutual aid
by Lydia Syson
As the Ancient Greeks knew, frankness is an essential virtue
Who can speak truth to the leaders? The story of parrhesía, from classical Greece to Christian martyrs and beyond
by Hartmut Leppin
Popper was right about the link between certainty and extremism
In terms of irrational confidence, many people at opposite ends of the political spectrum seem to have something in common
by Thomas Costello & Shauna Bowes
What does water want? Most humans seem to have forgotten
Asking what water wants sounds a bit mystical, even radical. But it’s a practical, proven path to creating a better world
by Erica Gies
How to interpret historical analogies
They’re good for kickstarting political debate but analogies with the past are often ahistorical and should be treated with care
by Moshik Temkin
What art history reveals about the rise of anti-feminist women
How can anyone favour a patriarchal system that routinely harms them? On Susanna and the Elders and anti-feminist women
by Paula Keller
On the moral obligation to stop shit-stirring
Utilitarians provoke to elicit reflection, but we need earnest advice, not shit-stirring, to face complex moral challenges
by Nicholas Agar
Ralph Waldo Emerson would really hate your Twitter feed
For Ralph Waldo Emerson, political activism was full of empty gestures done in bad faith. Abolition called for true heroism
by Peter Wirzbicki
To heal emotional inflammation, let distress inspire change
To tend to the wound of emotional inflammation, connect with your feelings, look to the sky, then give back to the world
by Stacey Colino & Lise Van Susteren
Facts don’t change minds: a case for the virtues of propaganda
A better understanding of propaganda and how to use it as an educational tool could advance the world in a positive way
by Anna Hennessey
The origin story of a slogan, ‘the personal is political’
What the radical-feminist origins of the slogan ‘the personal is political’ can tell us about language in our own divided age
by Guy Stevenson
Lockdown dancing is both a solo conversation and a mass grieving
As both Martha Graham and Hannah Arendt knew, being alone – in dance or in conversation – is a way to explore connection
by Dana Naomy Mills
Beyond dogwhistles – racists have a new rhetorical trick
How are so many politicians today able to get away with overtly racist utterances? By using rhetorical ‘figleaves’
by Jennifer Saul
How to be a hands-on citizen
You can be so much more than a well-informed consumer: it is in your (and our) power to change society from the ground up
by Jon Alexander