We all have that one uncle or know a certain person who is resentful of the world. They claim that it was all better in their own ‘good old days’. They complain about the degrading youth, or the failing structure of society, all the while they are sipping their coffee in the café that they […]
Oh no, not again. That’s what I always used to think when people talked about responsibility to me. Now it’s one of those concepts that truly grips me. It’s not a fun subject. It’s quite confronting being responsible. Most of the time we try to push our responsibility away. But why? In this essay I […]
Nietzsche is one of those philosophers who has been interpreted in many different ways. The concepts he uses have been taken by Nazi’s in order to fuel their ideological battle. Hitler was a huge fan of Nietzsche, even visiting his sister, who was a fervent anti-Semite and Hitler sympathizer. That doesn’t mean that Hitler had […]
Nowadays, mindfulness, spirituality and self-help have become staple subjects in literature and on many websites like YouTube, Instagram or TikTok. People watch endless hours of self-help gurus who promise the secret remedy to your existential crisis. They give you tips and tricks to make money, succeed your business and to become a happy person. The […]
The question of how to become a good person has as many answers as there are people in the world. There aren’t a lot of people who wouldn’t want to be a good person. But it is also the case (at least in my experience) that most people don’t regard themselves as a good person. […]
It’s one of those questions someone who studies philosophy gets quite a lot. You’re sitting at a family dinner table and a distant relative asks you the question: “So, what do you do?” You answer: “Philosophy.” They stop to think for a small moment and then ask you what in the world you can do […]
Artificial Intelligence has been going through unparalleled progress during recent years. Many intellectuals like Elon Musk for example, believe that AI will at one point surpass human intelligence. What is meant by intelligence is already a problematic concept but it might be fun to think about the implications it would have if AI really achieved […]
Sadism is one of those aspects of humans which is quite hard to fathom in my opinion. The fact we can actually love hurting other people and enjoy it. I have made a post about cruelty in Nietzsche and Schopenhauer’s philosophy, but there are many other intellectuals who have taken the topic of sadism and […]
There is this video on YouTube by the channel Kurzgesagt on optimistic nihilism[1], where the narrator explains the philosophy behind the optimistic nihilist. In short, the video explains how nothing has any intrinsic value, because in then ‘end’ nothing which we have built will exist. The French postmodern philosopher Jean-François Lyotard asked this same question […]
We have all experienced a moment when someone who was a bit older, or knew a bit more than you, told you to not do something or really do something, without giving any real explanations other than they know what is good for you. That is a form of paternalism. It’s when someone makes decisions […]
Elenchus Philosophy 