"Why is a course on ancient Chinese philosophers one of the most popular at Harvard? It's because the course challenges all our modern assumptions about what it takes to flourish. This is why Professor Michael Puett says to his students, The encounter with these ideas will chang…
There's more to sports than the ethos of competition, entertainment, and commercialism expressed in popular media and discourse. "Sport, Philosophy, and the Good Lives" discusses sport in the context of several traditional philosophical questions, including: What is a good human…
"The Roman poet Horace (65-8 BC) has long been read as a wise and pragmatic guide to living a good life. Writing at the very moment when Rome was transitioning from a republic to an empire, Romans found the advice in his poems appealing: live quietly and non-extravagantly amid t…
"The concept of well-being plays a central role in moral and political theory. Policies and actions are justified or criticized on the grounds that they make people better or worse off. But is there really such a thing as well-being, and if so, what is it? Is it pleasure, desire…
The concept of well-being plays a central role in moral and political theory. Policies and actions are justified or criticized on the grounds that they make people better or worse off. But is there really such a thing as well-being, and if so, what is it? Is it pleasure, desire-…
"Many countries have experienced a decline of economic growth for decades, an effect that was only aggravated by the recent global financial crisis. What if in the 21st century this is no longer an exception, but the general rule? Does an economy without growth necessarily bring…
The Dalai Lama once wrote that the object of human existence was to be happy. This sounds extremely glib as happiness in the popular imagination is a feeling and in the words of the song 'the greatest gift that we possess'. On the other hand, von Hugel wrote 'Religion has never …
Main description: Education, knowledge, equal opportunity, autonomy and a good life. These are the keywords shaping current social debate. Is education just an economic program or does knowledge have a value in its own right? Does education promise autonomy and a good life? What…
Education, knowledge, equal opportunity, autonomy and a good life. These are the keywords shaping current social debate. Is education just an economic program or does knowledge have a value in its own right? Does education promise autonomy and a good life? What educational goals…