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Sam Dresser

Senior Editor, Aeon+Psyche

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.

Edited by Sam Dresser

A child in traditional clothing lies on a grey street surrounded by eggs and egg trays whilst a policeman trys to collect them for him

Ethics

guide

How to think about ethical dilemmas

Learning about ethical theories won’t give you easy answers, but will increase your confidence in how you choose to live

by Timm Triplett

The self

idea

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

Emotion regulation

idea

The Stoics were right – emotional control is good for the soul

Both neuroscience and psychotherapy agree that you can change your mental framework as the Stoic Marcus Aurelius described

by István Darabán

Thinkers and theories

idea

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

Change and self-development

idea

The cult of being confident and why it doesn’t help women

By making women solely responsible for their own empowerment, the culture of confidence masks the true causes of inequality

by Rosalind Gill & Shani Orgad

Death and dying

idea

I thought I knew everything about death. Then grief struck me

Even though I grew up in Death World, and still live there, it couldn’t prepare me for being my family’s sole survivor

by John Troyer

Learning and education

idea

Perplexed? Embrace it! Confusion is a symptom of learning

Perplexed? Embrace it! Confusion is a sign of learning, but the key is finding the sweet spot of productive confusion

by Juliette Vazard

Thinkers and theories

idea

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

Imagination

idea

In the architecture of the mind, where lies human imagination?

In the architecture of the mind, is imagination a built-in structural feature or a result of cognitive remodelling work?

by Michael Omoge

Emotions

idea

What it means for something to ‘sink in’ emotionally

The impact of important events is more than an emotion or mood – it must ‘sink in’, which is a process that unfolds in time

by Matthew Ratcliffe

Meaning and the good life

guide

How to live like an Epicurean

Forget shallow hedonism. Follow this philosophy for wondrous, unexpected joys and resilience against inevitable misfortune

by Emily Austin

History of ideas

idea

How the ancient philosophers imagined the end of the world

How the ancient Greeks and Romans imagined the end of the world, and what we can learn from them today about catastrophe

by Christopher Star