Philosophy

Nietzsche's sister edited his writings to match her own ultranationalist views. Many philosophers reach us through other hands. Socrates wrote nothing, so others report what he said. In Plato's dialogues he does the talking, and in Republic he says rulers must tell a noble lie. Only about a third of Aristotle's writings survive, and Metaphysics may owe its name to a later editor. Hume said his first book fell dead-born from the press. Kant answered a Prussian king's censors in 1798.

• EpistemologyA driver who stops at the only real barn among fakes has a true belief but no knowledge.

  14 min
• Friedrich NietzscheFriedrich Nietzsche's sister edited his writings to fit her own ultranationalist views.

  12 min
• Immanuel KantA Prussian king's censors forbade Immanuel Kant to speak publicly about religion. The philosopher answered in 1798.

  9 min
• PlatoPlato never speaks in his own voice in his dialogues. Socrates does the talking in every one but the Laws.

  10 min
• AristotleOnly around a third of Aristotle's original writings survive, and none was meant to be published.

  14 min
• Jean-Jacques RousseauRousseau refused a king's pension after Louis XV loved his opera. Friends were exasperated by his choice.

  13 min
• Free willFree will asks whether blame and praise make sense if earlier causes fix every act.

  12 min
• Republic (Plato)In Plato's Republic, Socrates says a city's rulers must tell a noble lie.

  10 min
• David HumeDavid Hume said his first book "fell dead-born from the press." He wrote it in France by age twenty-eight.

  10 min
• John LockeJohn Locke's phrase "long train of abuses" appears word for word in the Declaration of Independence.

  14 min
• StoicismStoicism began as conversation on a painted porch in Athens. Its founder taught in public, open to anyone passing.

  15 min
• SocratesSocrates wrote nothing, so everything known about him comes from other people.

  15 min
• ExistentialismSartre publicly embraced the label existentialism in a packed 1945 Paris lecture. He had earlier rejected it.

  12 min
• EthicsThe trolley problem asks if you would flip a switch to sacrifice one life to save five.

  16 min
• LogicLogic starts with a Sunday: if it's Sunday, you don't have to work.

  15 min
• ConsciousnessThe word conscious first meant knowing a secret together with another person.

  16 min
• PhilosophyPhilosophy once swallowed physics, chemistry and biology whole.

  15 min
• MetaphysicsThe word metaphysics may be a publishing accident. Aristotle never used it, and a later editor likely coined it.

  9 min
• ConfuciusTold his stables had burned, Confucius asked only, "Was anyone hurt?" He did not ask about the horses.

  9 min
• EpicureanismEpicureanism made pleasure its highest good, then taught people to want less.

  10 min