Bryan Magee (1930 – 2019) has had a multifaceted career as a professor of philosophy, music and theater critic, BBC broadcaster, public intellectual, and member of Parliament. He has starred in two acclaimed television series about philosophy: Continue reading Bryan Magee: The Agnostic →

Will Durant wondered if there is something suggestive about the cycle of a human life that sheds light on its meaning, a theme explored in his 1929 book The Mansions of Philosophy. (Later retitled The Pleasures of Philosophy.) He admits that “life is in its basis a mystery, a river flowing from an unseen source; and in its development an infinite subtlety too complex for thought, much less for utterance.” Continue reading Will Durant on Youth and Old Age →

A rose expressing hope, at Auschwitz concentration camp

In previous posts (here and here), I’ve been discussing hope, and I’d like to now briefly summarize the standard account of hope among professional philosophers.¹ Here’s how the discussion of hope begins in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Continue reading Philosophers on Hope →