Ethics
The lasting anguish of moral injury
Psychologists are finding that moral code violations can leave an enduring mark — and may require new types of therapy.
What is Mahāyāna Buddhism? A scholar of Buddhism explains
Mahāyāna is the most popular type of Buddhism in the world today.
Should a murderer be allowed to publish scientific papers?
Is science for everyone, or just the morally upright?
The parenting paradox of the ultra-wealthy
They believe in meritocracy, yet leave their kids massive wealth.
Russia’s war crimes are proof that morality is objective
Many have argued that morals are relative, but Russia's war crimes reveal the hollowness of that belief. Morality is universal and objective.
Atheist churches find meaning in the “sacred flower of cannabis”
Many Americans aren't rejecting spirituality, just practicing it differently.
Why don’t robots have rights?
In the future, people may look back with horror at how humans treated AI in the 21st century.
“Playing God”: How the metaverse will challenge our very notion of free will
Inside the metaverse, your emotions and physical responses will be monitored, and AI will use that data to influence you in real time. Is that essentially mind control?
Satanic cults aren’t as bad as they sound
Satanic cultists don't even believe the Devil exists. Satanism is largely a religion focused on secular humanism and hedonism.
Opening the Stasi files: Would you read the secrets your government kept on you?
What if your best friend was an informant?
The ancient concept of “virtue” is all but dead. It’s time to revive it.
After 10,000 years of civilization, have we figured out what virtue is?
How many times will you see your parents before they die?
Every Christmas could be the last Christmas.
The credibility of science is damaged when universities brag about themselves
The "attention economy" corrupts science.
How Elmyr de Hory, the most successful art forger in history, made $50 million
Successful forgers are remembered as great conmen, not artists. This is strange, considering their forgeries fooled even the most seasoned critics.
Synthetic biology has the power to cure — and kill. How will we use it?
Synthetic biology has the power to cure and kill. Have we learned from our past mistakes?
What a sex-crazed beetle can teach us about porn
Instead of liberation, the sexual revolution has led some people, particularly men, to be addicted to porn.
Plato’s “Republic” was a totalitarian nightmare, not a utopia
Literature's first utopia shows how far we've come.
When tragedy becomes banal: Why you’re having crisis fatigue
Turning away is a natural response.
Would you trust a female mechanic? A look at the subtle prejudice of “epistemic injustice”
Why, exactly, don't you trust that person's opinion?
Why medieval Europeans used to put “bad” animals on criminal trial
Some animals were even assigned their own lawyers.
What is a fatwa? Explaining the attack on Salman Rushdie
The Arabic word fatwa can mean “explanation” or “clarification.”
The Bantu philosophy of “ubuntu” focuses on the power of community
Be famous within five miles.
Most Americans today are choosing cremation – here’s why
We're still using 800,000 gallons of embalming fluid a year, but burials are becoming far less common.
Do parents really have a moral obligation to their children?
Why, exactly, should you die for your child?
Transhumanists want to upload their minds to a computer. They really won’t like the result
Uploading your mind is not a pathway to immortality. Instead, it will create a possibly hostile digital doppelgänger.