The poetic history of David Graeber
The posthumous publication of “Pirate Enlightenment” shows how the anarchist, like any true intellectual, never grew out of his childhood…
ByPhilosophy
Nietzsche, narwhals and the burden of consciousness
Justin Gregg’s witty exploration of animal intelligence is a useful guide – but there is more to human life than…
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Elon Musk’s useful philosopher
Silicon Valley billionaires have taken up the ideas of William MacAskill, the leading voice of longtermism. But they will not…
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The rise of the “substackademic”
Public intellectuals of the kind embodied by Bruno Latour are disappearing.
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Bruno Latour and the philosophy of life
For the late French intellectual in an age of ecological crisis it was crucial to understand ourselves as rooted beings.
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Is America worth keeping?
Richard Rorty, the philosopher who predicted Trump, was scathing about the US’s failings but believed in the country’s capacity to…
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Nietzsche before the breakdown
In the 1880s, the ailing philosopher prophesied the West’s violent decline – but not even he could prevent it.
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Bertrand Russell, YouTube star
The stately philosopher’s online fame reveals Gen Z as a demographic desperate for certainty.
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How the New Statesman is helping universities understand our changing world
The New Statesman is partnering with leading universities to ensure faculty heads and students benefit from the title’s award-winning writing…
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Wittgenstein at war
The philosopher’s First World War notebooks reveal a soul in torment, but was fighting on the front line really the…
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The forgotten politics of personal sacrifice
For the first time in decades, Western politicians are asking people to forfeit for the greater good – and are…
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Why is it so difficult to face grim realities?
Taking painful truths to heart often requires imagining the unimaginable.
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My friend, the man who tried to kill Hitler
The would-be assassin Axel von dem Bussche was subject to the same pressures of guilt and shame that condition all…
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China Miéville: “If you don’t feel despair, you’re not opening your eyes”
The fantasy novelist and left activist on why Marx’s Communist Manifesto speaks to the crisis-ridden politics of the present.
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Can you really do more than what duty requires?
Accepting low moral standards that we can easily exceed has caused a great deal of suffering throughout history.
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Why public policy shouldn’t be guided by master numbers
GDP, the Wellby and other indicators may tell us something about societal well-being, but they aren't substitutes for political decision-making.
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Reviewed in short: New books from Graham Caveney, Giles Tremlett, Charlotte Van den Broeck and Chitra Ramaswamy
On Agoraphobia by Caveney, España: A Brief History of Spain by Tremlett, Bold Ventures by Van den Broeck and Homelands:…
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Why Stoicism isn’t just about you
It is often seen as an individualistic philosophy but its techniques are really about pursuing the common good.
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Philosophy’s gentle giant
Why Joseph Raz was one of the most important theorists of our age.
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The philosophical case for not wearing make-up
Cambridge academic Clare Chambers explains why we need to get more comfortable in our own, unmodified skin.
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