Philosophy
The Value of Truth
At a time of anxiety about fake news and conspiracy theories, philosophy can contribute to our most urgent cultural and political questions about how we come to believe what we think we know.
Cedric Robinson and the Origins of Race
As more of Robinson’s books come back into print, reading them with Black Marxism can enrich our understanding of racial capitalism.
Why Black Marxism, Why Now?
Cedric Robinson’s Black Marxism helps us fight fascism with greater clarity and with ever more questions.
How Nations Heal
We cannot simply put the past behind us. The framework of transitional justice offers a promising path forward.
A More Perfect Meritocracy
Two new books take aim at the moral failures of meritocracy. But we can advocate for a more just society without giving up on merit.
Can We Deduce Our Way to Salvation?
A new book suggests that modern readers can still follow the path of reason that Spinoza traced to true well-being, but they might not want to.
The Obligation of Self-Discovery
Simone de Beauvoir’s relationship with her readers was a mutually demanding collaboration.
Donald Trump, Our Prophet of Deceit
The Frankfurt School on the appeal of authoritarianism—and how to counteract it.
The Political Economy of Saving the Planet
An interview with Noam Chomsky and Robert Pollin on the climate crisis, COVID-19, and the future of environmental politics.
The Angel of History
Pestilence and plague have often prompted waves of apocalyptic thinking, calling into question the steady march of progress in human history.
Repertoires of Rage
Anger’s history—along with the very fact that it has one—can shed light on the hypertrophied emotional climate of today.
Inventing Nonviolence
Judith Butler’s The Force of Nonviolence advocates for pacifism but neglects much of the tradition’s philosophy and feminist theory.
2020’s Existentialist Turn
The running thread through new appeals to existentialism is a sensitivity to human fragility.
What We Can Learn From India’s Improbable Democracy
Though Modi’s government draws concern today, the country’s constitutional history suggests a framework for creating democracy in unlikely settings.
Bostock v. BLM
Two conflicting visions of equality have recently emerged on the American political left. Only one aims at institutional change.
The Keynesian Revolution
A new biography reveals the full scope of John Maynard Keynes’s critique of unfettered capitalism, emphasizing the economist’s larger philosophical vision of the good life.
The Unfinished Project of Enlightenment
What Jürgen Habermas’s sweeping history of Western philosophy leaves out.
Rights in a Pandemic
The COVID-19 crisis creates a conflict not between individual rights and the community, but rather between individual rights themselves—including, above all, the right to health.
Get our newsletter
Vital reading on politics, ideas, and culture to your inbox
A political and literary forum, independent and nonprofit since 1975
Registered 501(c)(3) organization
Help Us Stay Paywall-Free
Become a Member