‘God doesn’t make mistakes. If I was trans, it was because I was meant to be’
Unthinkable: Philosopher and author Sophie Grace Chappell believes ideology is the wrong starting point for public discussion
Unthinkable coumns by Joe Humphreys
Unthinkable: Philosopher and author Sophie Grace Chappell believes ideology is the wrong starting point for public discussion
Unthinkable: Should pigs have a voice but not ants? Should XL Bully dogs have a voice on whether or not they should be banned?
Unthinkable: Politicians who tell lies have an advantage because of what psychologists call the ‘false consensus effect’
Praying can allow people to vocalise suppressed emotions or fears, and several studies indicate health benefits
Unthinkable: Always treat humanity not as a means but as an end, said the philosopher Immanuel Kant
Rite & Reason: Melody and lyrics come to the musician in mysterious ways. And sometimes the humble pie of criticism can fuel great artistic triumph
Unthinkable: The ‘evil twin’ of the placebo effect could shed light on why people say consuming the news makes them feel worse
Unthinkable: ‘Leisure’ has replaced ‘rest’ in our capitalist society. Even burnout is being monetised
Unthinkable: People are panicking, theorising and condemning on social media in every imaginable direction. But it’s all right not to have a view on everything all the time. In fact, it’s healthy
Unthinkable: Here’s a three-step programme to deal with cruel comments about your appearance
Kerry writer John Moriarty, who died in 2007, called for ‘the abandonment of the western way of life’
Unthinkable: Technology is throwing up new moral dilemmas - “screen studies” may help us to answer them
Edmund Burke is associated with conservatism but his political outlook is more radical than he is given credit for
There are 193 nation states in the world, with Palestine waiting to become the 194th
Unthinkable: Karl Marx and Herbert Marcuse could help treat your anxiety
Concerns are being raised about ‘conceptual inflation’ whereby ‘use of a term expands too much relative to its meaning’
Unthinkable: Procreating to ‘save the West’ is probably a bad idea, but what’s a good reason to have children?
Unthinkable: The only known photograph of such a sign is from an unknown source
Unthinkable: Individuals and society at large need a coherent storyline to give us hope for the future
‘Because structural injustices are beyond our control it is wrong to blame ordinary people for them,’ argues political philosopher Maeve McKeown
Unthinkable: It’s worth learning to spot linguistic devices to avoid plain speech, which can have real impacts on Irish society
Unthinkable: Killing of the Russian opposition leader shames all of us who merely ‘fornicate and read the papers’
Unthinkable: Powerful organisations may be trying to ‘suppress emotions that threaten capitalism’
Unthinkable: Changing morals may explain differences between age groups on the Israel-Palestine conflict
We can’t be sure technology is making people less empathetic, but the signs are not good
Unthinkable: Philosopher Iris Murdoch provides us with a model of love that is both highly demanding and devilishly complex
Unthinkable: No idea? Don't worry. There's a toolkit for that
A philosopher and a psychologist on how to know whether you’re being helpful or just interfering
Unthinkable: If SuperValu Páirc is not to your taste, what about Supermac’s University of Galway?
… Or is meritocracy just a modern version of aristocracy?
Unthinkable: Humans are loath to admit that sh*t happens – this may lie behind a multi-billion euro industry
Unthinkable: Seeking happiness in 2024? Epicurus has the answer for you
Unthinkable: 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 Kerr
Unthinkable: Pushing ahead with the hate offences Bill may be a bad strategy, even if criticism of the initiative has been ‘completely misguided’
Unthinkable: The universe is ‘fine-tuned’ for the existence of life. A theory of probability suggests it is not a fluke
Unthinkable: Objectivity, trying to climb outside of our own minds, remains a noble aim
It’s not Dalkey. British anthropologist Daniel Miller calls it ‘Cuan’ but you know it by another name
Unthinkable: Søren Kierkegaard would hate this listicle. Albert Camus and Hannah Arendt might approve
Historian Joanna Bourke believes evil acts committed by women are magnified because of ‘the idea that violence is a property of men’
Friedrich Nietzsche disliked complaining but he recognised the importance of shelter
What can the lessons of psychology teach us about the Israel-Hamas war and the path to peace?
Unthinkable: The Roman philosopher Cicero can help reset your moral compass amid capitalist forces
The first 24 hours after Hamas’s attack on Israel produced probably the worst 24 hours ever on social media
Some think reality is actually terrifying, and depression is an appropriate reaction to it
Unthinkable: 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 ourselves
Unthinkable: Things happen every day for which no one is held responsible and artificial intelligence is set to make things worse
Unthinkable: Is it time to revive the tradition of ‘ars moriendi’ - the arts of dying?
A tradition of linking historical progress to spiritual growth might not be fashionable, but O'Connor deeply understood its merit
Unthinkable: Artificial intelligence can replace humans in many tasks but don’t discount your own sense of wonder
Unthinkable: More and more of us are working for algorithms – and losing some of our rights in the process, says UCD researcher Dr Lorenzo Cini
Unthinkable: Postmodernists can be found on the left and the right but are united in rejecting the Enlightenment project
Unthinkable: Why do almost 70% of the Irish population still identify as Catholic? Where exactly can they be found?
Unthinkable: We may be losing our ability to hear one another. Gerry Dunne, a philosopher who is studying the components of good listening, can help
Unthinkable: AI, global warming, war and the pandemic have combined to dizzying effect. There’s no magic elixir – but there are things we can do
Crosswords & puzzles to keep you challenged and entertained
Inquests into the nightclub fire that led to the deaths of 48 people
How does a post-Brexit world shape the identity and relationship of these islands
Weddings, Births, Deaths and other family notices