Sam Dresser
Sam has been with Aeon since its launch in 2012. He’s most interested in how to do philosophy and in the continental/analytic divide. History and politics are also amusing to him. He considers Evelyn Waugh to be a very funny writer and enjoys pubs more than he should.
Written by Sam Dresser
Virtues and vices
guide
How to think about pleasure
Weirdly hard to define, much less to feel OK about it, pleasure is a tricky creature. Can philosophy help us lighten up?
by Sam Dresser
Death and dying
guide
How to not fear your death
You exist, but one day you won’t. An Epicurean perspective can help you feel less afraid, and even grateful for life’s finitude
by Sam Dresser
Edited by Sam Dresser
Thinking and intelligence
idea
Philosophical reflection often begins with a disruptive mood
For many of our greatest philosophers, it was their moods, from wonder to estrangement to anxiety, that first inspired them
by Steven Segal
Music
idea
Ancient Greek ideas of attunement can breathe new life into music
In Athenian philosophy, attunement is important not only in music, but also for moods, attitudes and states of mind
by John Bagby
The nature of reality
guide
How to think about time
This philosopher’s introduction to the nature of time could radically alter how you see your past and imagine your future
by Graeme A Forbes
Transcendent experience
idea
Our days are both rough and slippery. Hope brings traction
I want to defend and buoy hope – it’s a fragile, quirky thing, but it has the power to help us act in the face of finitude
by John Lysaker
Virtues and vices
idea
The medieval notion that shows why even experts should be humble
Nicholas of Cusa and others saw the importance of ‘learned ignorance’ or recognising there is always something more to learn
by Christopher M Bellitto
History of ideas
idea
I smell, therefore I am. On the philosophy of the olfactory
To truly grip us, philosophy must engage with the practical and animalistic. It’s time to stop turning its nose up at smell
by Simon Hajdini
Altered states
idea
The small pleasures in life can produce moments of rapture
Rapture is a delight that turns us both towards the object of attention and towards oneself, resulting in a sense of freedom
by Christopher Hamilton
Knowledge and reason
idea
Ancient Greek antilogic is the craft of suspending judgment
Sophists like Protagoras used the rhetoric of antilogic to escape from the illusion of truth and make room for uncertainty
by Robin Reames
Sex and sexuality
idea
My take on ‘Venus in Furs’ as a modern-day dominatrix
My experiences as a 21st-century femdom echo the gendered themes that feature in Leopold von Sacher-Masoch’s 1870 novel
by Gia Marcos
Thinking and intelligence
guide
How to think like a Bayesian
In a world of few absolutes, it pays to be able to think clearly about probabilities. These five ideas will get you started
by Michael G Titelbaum
Knowledge and reason
idea
How Nietzsche’s insights can help fight fanaticism
Fanatical thinking is based on a narrative of resentment toward outgroups. Nietzsche offers two ways of changing the script
by Paul Katsafanas
Thinkers and theories
guide
How to live like a Cynic
Take inspiration from Diogenes, the philosopher in a barrel, and transform your negativity into a liberating force for good
by Ansgar Allen