Are you a citizen of the world or of your own nation? The answer may determine your politicsThere are 193 nation states in the world, with Palestine waiting to become the 194thMon May 27 2024 - 06:00
The psychology of election posters: to smile, frown or go full Mick Wallace?Experts in behavioral psychology examine a selection of posters from the campaign trail to reveal hidden meaningsSun May 26 2024 - 06:00
Are we making ourselves anxious, or is the world making us that way?Unthinkable: Karl Marx and Herbert Marcuse could help treat your anxietyMon May 20 2024 - 06:00
Are we over-using terms like ‘far-right’, ‘racist’ and ‘fascist’?Concerns are being raised about ‘conceptual inflation’ whereby ‘use of a term expands too much relative to its meaning’Mon May 13 2024 - 06:05
Should you have children? These five philosophical questions can help you decideUnthinkable: Procreating to ‘save the West’ is probably a bad idea, but what’s a good reason to have children?Mon May 06 2024 - 06:00
‘No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs’: How common were such notices in Britain?Unthinkable: The only known photograph of such a sign is from an unknown sourceMon Apr 29 2024 - 05:00
Politics is all about managing the present. What people need is a story of the futureUnthinkable: Individuals and society at large need a coherent storyline to give us hope for the futureMon Apr 22 2024 - 06:00
How to end the culture wars: Stop looking for people to blame‘Because structural injustices are beyond our control it is wrong to blame ordinary people for them,’ argues political philosopher Maeve McKeownMon Apr 15 2024 - 06:00
A question for Willie O’Dea and Sharon Keogan: What exactly do you mean by ‘woke’?Unthinkable: It’s worth learning to spot linguistic devices to avoid plain speech, which can have real impacts on Irish societyMon Mar 18 2024 - 06:00
Navalny’s death shames those of us who merely ‘fornicate and read the papers’Unthinkable: Killing of the Russian opposition leader shames all of us who merely ‘fornicate and read the papers’Mon Mar 11 2024 - 06:00
Are you being played by Netflix? Why tech giants do not want us to be nostalgicUnthinkable: Powerful organisations may be trying to ‘suppress emotions that threaten capitalism’Mon Mar 04 2024 - 06:00
Would you kill one person to save five? It depends what age you areUnthinkable: Changing morals may explain differences between age groups on the Israel-Palestine conflictMon Feb 26 2024 - 06:00
What a Tesla driver in a VR headset can teach us about empathyWe can’t be sure technology is making people less empathetic, but the signs are not goodMon Feb 19 2024 - 05:00
Love is . . . ‘the extremely difficult realisation that something other than oneself is real’Unthinkable: Philosopher Iris Murdoch provides us with a model of love that is both highly demanding and devilishly complexMon Feb 12 2024 - 06:00
Who do you trust to advise you on changes to the Constitution?Unthinkable: No idea? Don't worry. There's a toolkit for thatMon Feb 05 2024 - 05:00
Don’t take this the wrong way: Five things you need to know about giving adviceA philosopher and a psychologist on how to know whether you’re being helpful or just interferingMon Jan 29 2024 - 06:00
Some things can’t be sold, but is Páirc Uí Chaoimh one of them?Unthinkable: If SuperValu Páirc is not to your taste, what about Supermac’s University of Galway?Mon Jan 22 2024 - 06:00
The Good Enough Life: praise for an Irish town that finds meaning in family, sport and dogs Skerries, anonymised as Cuan, comes pretty close to meeting Aristotle’s ideal of ‘flourishing’, according to the authorSat Jan 20 2024 - 00:00
Do you really deserve the great job you have? … Or is meritocracy just a modern version of aristocracy?Mon Jan 15 2024 - 06:00
Manifesting is the perfect religion for our times. But does it work?Unthinkable: Humans are loath to admit that sh*t happens – this may lie behind a multi-billion euro industryMon Jan 08 2024 - 06:00
Here’s the secret to happiness in 2024, according to a dead Greek philosopher: don’t get noticedUnthinkable: Seeking happiness in 2024? Epicurus has the answer for youMon Jan 01 2024 - 06:00
This cage-fighting philosopher has an important message for young menUnthinkable: The good life is not a saccharine, Christmas Day joyful experience. It’s the well-balanced life, lived with rationality and virtue, argues lecturer and MMA fighter Gaven KerrTue Dec 26 2023 - 06:45
EU law on harmful speech could make Ireland’s hate offences Bill obsoleteUnthinkable: Pushing ahead with the hate offences Bill may be a bad strategy, even if criticism of the initiative has been ‘completely misguided’Mon Dec 18 2023 - 06:00
Good news: Human existence may not be entirely pointless after allUnthinkable: The universe is ‘fine-tuned’ for the existence of life. A theory of probability suggests it is not a flukeMon Dec 11 2023 - 06:00
Belief is waning in lot of things: Christianity, the Irish soccer team, journalistic objectivityUnthinkable: Objectivity, trying to climb outside of our own minds, remains a noble aimMon Dec 04 2023 - 06:05
‘It’s hard to find an existing society better’ than this east coast Irish townIt’s not Dalkey. British anthropologist Daniel Miller calls it ‘Cuan’ but you know it by another nameMon Nov 27 2023 - 06:05
Ten lessons from philosophy: Guard your privacy, forgive your enemies, lean into happinessUnthinkable: Søren Kierkegaard would hate this listicle. Albert Camus and Hannah Arendt might approveMon Nov 20 2023 - 06:00
Why are women who kill regarded as ‘doubly deviant’?Historian Joanna Bourke believes evil acts committed by women are magnified because of ‘the idea that violence is a property of men’Mon Nov 13 2023 - 06:00
How would Nietzsche have judged those affected by the housing crisis: victims or whingers? Friedrich Nietzsche disliked complaining but he recognised the importance of shelterMon Nov 06 2023 - 06:00
‘Terrorists are not born that way. They learn to hate’What can the lessons of psychology teach us about the Israel-Hamas war and the path to peace?Tue Oct 31 2023 - 06:30
What the first comedian to be cancelled teaches us about greed, taxes and relationshipsUnthinkable: The Roman philosopher Cicero can help reset your moral compass amid capitalist forcesMon Oct 23 2023 - 06:00
I’ve Been Thinking by Daniel C Dennett, and Free Agents by Kevin J Mitchell: From fun academic infighting to slinky human agencyOne of the Four Horsemen of Atheism gets back in the saddle; while Trinity neuroscientist Mitchell has written a highly original bookTue Oct 17 2023 - 05:00
The rise of bulls**t in public life: Why do we comment on things we know nothing about?The first 24 hours after Hamas’s attack on Israel produced probably the worst 24 hours ever on social mediaMon Oct 16 2023 - 06:00
Positivity can be toxic. Depressive realism might make you happierSome think reality is actually terrifying, and depression is an appropriate reaction to itMon Oct 09 2023 - 05:00
Elon Musk may be champion of free speech but he draws line at free thoughtUnthinkable: If we focus less on freedom of speech and more on freedom of thought it takes emphasis off making demands on others – via silencing or platforming – and places it instead on knowing ourselvesMon Oct 02 2023 - 06:00
This philosopher foresaw the biggest problem with AI. Now he’s sounding another warningUnthinkable: Things happen every day for which no one is held responsible and artificial intelligence is set to make things worseMon Sept 25 2023 - 06:00
How to ‘die well’ in today’s Ireland: It starts with living a good lifeUnthinkable: Is it time to revive the tradition of ‘ars moriendi’ - the arts of dying?Mon Sept 18 2023 - 06:00
Sinéad O’Connor’s warning about online pile-ons was prophetic in more ways than oneA tradition of linking historical progress to spiritual growth might not be fashionable, but O'Connor deeply understood its meritMon Sept 11 2023 - 06:00
How did the hate speech Bill find itself at the centre of a swirling culture war?Irrespective of whether the Bill makes it into law, individuals and organisations in Irish society must a find a way of being kind while robustly defending free speechMon Aug 07 2023 - 06:30
Is Sam Altman, the ‘father of ChatGPT’, the most important thinker in the world right now?Unthinkable: Artificial intelligence can replace humans in many tasks but don’t discount your own sense of wonderThu Jun 29 2023 - 05:00
Think what’s going on in the gig economy has nothing to do with you? Think againUnthinkable: More and more of us are working for algorithms – and losing some of our rights in the process, says UCD researcher Dr Lorenzo CiniThu Jun 22 2023 - 05:05
Is postmodernism to blame for our society losing its way?Unthinkable: Postmodernists can be found on the left and the right but are united in rejecting the Enlightenment projectThu Jun 15 2023 - 05:00
How Not to Kill Yourself: Portrait of a Suicidal Mind – a source of support and consolationClancy Martin’s excruciatingly honest treatment of the subject makes for a difficult readSat Jun 10 2023 - 05:00
Lessons for the Catholic Church from Census 2023 – get out of schools, chase the lost sheep Unthinkable: Why do almost 70% of the Irish population still identify as Catholic? Where exactly can they be found?Thu Jun 08 2023 - 05:05
Have I got your attention? Seven ways to tell if someone is really listening to youUnthinkable: We may be losing our ability to hear one another. Gerry Dunne, a philosopher who is studying the components of good listening, can helpThu Jun 01 2023 - 05:05
Feeling lost? You’re not alone. But there are ways we can all feel less disorientatedUnthinkable: AI, global warming, war and the pandemic have combined to dizzying effect. There’s no magic elixir – but there are things we can doThu May 25 2023 - 05:05
Lessons for liberals now that it’s their turn to be cancelledUnthinkable: The culture wars are creating new ideological divisions and alliances. Is there a path to peace?Thu May 18 2023 - 05:15
‘Adolf Hitler made the lives of millions of people much worse – but not the life of this author’Unthinkable: The cult-hero philosopher Derek Parfit can ‘discombobulate’ your settled views with his intricate, highly original thoughtThu May 11 2023 - 05:00
Why ‘great man theory’ is a bad idea – even for menUnthinkable: What would our world look like if we listened more to female philosophers?Thu May 04 2023 - 06:39
Should Irish universities introduce mandatory free speech classes?Unthinkable: Defending academic freedom is hindered by confusion about what exactly we are trying to protectThu Apr 27 2023 - 04:30
