The search for the secular Jesus
Bold efforts to reconfigure Jesus as merely a moral teacher miss something essential about him
Philosophy
What is the character of the common law?
Hardwired with history and humanity
The democratic essence of the common law
What makes our system special
The Vatican report is a heinous example of moral self-licensing
Appalling consequences follow when people believe a virtuous lifestyle excuses evil deeds
How a chess grandmaster tried to outwit the computer
When artificial intelligence began beating the world’s greatest players, a chess grandmaster devised his own way to give human ingenuity an upper hand against the machine. The result, however, was not quite what he expected
Liberalism—fighting for a beautiful, world-changing idea
Ian Dunt offers a whirlwind tour of free-thinking
You have misunderstood the relevance of Hannah Arendt
The thinker has been pillaged by those seeking to denounce Trump. They overlook her most vital insight
Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation would be no win for Christian family values—because there is no such thing
Jesus was silent or ambiguous on questions of sexual morality and hostile towards the family. He would be baffled by the campaigns of the 21st-century evangelical right
The ethics of the pandemic: life or quality of life?
Human flourishing is worth fighting for
Revisiting John Rawls's A Theory of Justice
Covid-19 has shown some of the limitations of the lauded intellectual's philosophy, writes Jesse Norman. But A Theory of Justice is a monumental achievement
Think Jacques Derrida was a charlatan? Look again
A scintillating new biography should make many doubters reappraise the enigmatic French philosopher
Is the University of Edinburgh right to “cancel” David Hume?
Great thinkers can have reprehensible views but there are better ways to deal with this paradox
Anti-lockdown libertarians distract attention from the true human rights challenge
A careful balancing exercise is needed to protect competing rights when fighting Covid-19
What Noughts & Crosses taught me about myths behind race and Brexit
Our fallible brains are not always wired to implement the moral and ethical blueprints needed forge human progress. Racism has influenced some of the most key elections in the past years—and harms everyone
Coronavirus has shown the dangers of our addiction to wealth. Our new world must prioritise happiness
Money is crucial to securing a stable and comfortable life. But pre-Covid, our obsession with wealth was reaching dangerous heights—now, we must rebuild
I looked forward to the end of lockdown. I didn’t expect to struggle with socialising
An early spate of Zoom quizzes and calls has abated in favour of the rare pleasures of occasionally seeing a friend from a maddening distance. It's still bizarre
How Covid-19 funerals have upended our traditions
Socially distanced mourning, 12-hour days, and and practising in full PPE—what the experience of funeral workers tells us about the changing face of grief
The philosophical flaw in saying “All Lives Matter”
Its effect is to stall conversations about anti-Black racism and instead either pretend that all lives do matter, or talk about everybody’s lives all at once—whether or not particular groups are subject to particular injustices right now
"The poorer sorte haue no place too flee": Inside the class wars of the plague
During 16th and 17th-century plague outbreaks, mass relocation on part of the rich provoked such controversy that fleeing one’s place of residence earned itself a popular term: flight
What right and left alike fail to see: life is filled with randomness
We are not so powerful as we think in shaping our own or others’ lives. Brute luck is just as important