Showing 598 articles
The Challenge of Coexisting with AI
Author: Juan Carlos del RioMay 13, 2023
AI is not a new phenomenon. Humankind, since its beginnings, has tried to create machines and automata, either to place them at our service or to extend our human capabilities. Many of these stories reflect the admiration for these creations and, at the same time, the fear of losing control over these advanced technologies. We [...]
Adam Smith v. Plato: on the Division of Labour and Market Forces
Author: Julian ScottMay 11, 2023
In Book II of Plato’s Republic, Socrates imagines how a typical society might develop from simple beginnings into a more complex and organized entity. He speculates that, initially, everyone might do everything for themselves, such as building their own houses, making their own clothes and growing their own food. But soon, he says, people would [...]
The Wonders of the Mineral World
Author: Agostino DominiciMay 11, 2023
The mineral world, and more specifically the world of precious stones and metals, has always been invested with an aura of awe and mystery. Throughout the ages, kings, magicians, priests and alchemists have often surrounded themselves with special objects born from the mineral world. Objects like magic rings and swords, sacred statues and amulets have [...]
The Symbolism of Renewal
Author: Jean GrunfeldMay 11, 2023
As we approach the Vernal or Spring Equinox (First Day of Spring) once more, human beings today and over millennia have found various ways to note and celebrate the renewal of Nature’s cycle. The Spring Equinox in the Northern Hemisphere takes place every year on or around 21 March. In 2023, the Spring Equinox will [...]
Risk and Technology: The Cost of Progress
Author: Florimond KrinsMay 11, 2023
The introduction of new technologies has always brought many debates and controversies until they were finally accepted and became an integral part of societies. It is natural to oppose some kind of resistance when habits and lifestyles are suddenly changed by new ways, especially when it is hard to predict if their outcome will be [...]
The Mystery of Time in Various Cultures
Author: Miha KosirMay 11, 2023
Part I, Individual Perception of Time Why is the phenomenon of time a mystery? It is easy to understand the idea of time taken as a norm to measure the passing minutes and hours, which we do with atomic precision, but when we start questioning the nature of time, it all starts to change. Many [...]
Time and Identity in Virginia Woolf’s Work
Author: Ana Luisa LellisMay 11, 2023
One could say that most Western writers from the beginning of the 20th century have pondered upon questions of time and identity. Many authors, arguably inspired by technological developments and by the social impacts of the First World War, began to consider how the changes of the turn of the century mirrored onto individuals and [...]
The Importance of Context
Author: Sabine LeitnerMay 11, 2023
“They were locked into a room without food or water, and they did not know how they would be able to get out again.” – Do you find this sentence alarming? Well, it might sound scary, especially if we imagine it was done by an employer to their employees or by a terrorist organization to [...]
Unselfing and the Pursuit of Perfection
Author: Nataliya PetlevychMay 11, 2023
The Unique Contribution of Iris Murdoch to Moral Philosophy in the 20th Century English philosophy has been generally characterized as empirical and anti-metaphysical. However, the 20th century was marked by a diversity in ideas and approaches, which had the effect of enriching philosophical discourse. A unique place in this development belongs to Iris Murdoch. She [...]
My Friend, the Insect
Author: Carlos AdelantadoApril 9, 2023
One night, like most nights, I was reading while lying in bed. It was a book of lectures by Professor Jorge A. Livraga. It was the end of the day, darkness all around, silence…. By the light of the small lamp on the bedside table, my intellectual activity extended into the moments before sleep. Reading, [...]
The Symbolism of Football
Author: Jim PangJanuary 26, 2023
As the year ends with Argentina crowned as being the World Cup winners, it brings the 21st World Cup to a close. One that will be remembered for many firsts: the first time the tournament has been hosted in the Arab world, the first time it has been held in a Muslim country, the first [...]
The Crisis of the West and the Coming of the New Times
Author: Jorge Angel LivragaJanuary 26, 2023
Let us begin by saying that in Greek the word crisis means, in addition to problem, change. So it is not only problems the West is facing today, but also a period of change. To overcome this crisis stage, the first thing we must do is [...]