Abstract This article is the winning entry of the 2025 THINK Philosophy Essay prize, which is open to high school students worldwide. There were over 600 entries in 2025.
Near-death experiences are awesome, if anything is, and thinking through competing explanations of them can reveal some striking features of awesomeness and its relationship with belief.
With the help of renowned logician Olivia Rodrigo, I present a paradox and a principle of classical logic.
From his plans for a combinatorics of symbols, to the mechanization of thought, to designing mechanical automata that could compute for us, to binary notation, Gottfried Leibniz gave us a sense of how rationality was mechanically possible and how reason could be mechanically explained as 'well-behaved' thought-to-thought transitions using symbols. In what follows, I shall trace the developments of some of Leibniz's ideas and present the elements of his vision of a future, which, so I argue, are entirely consonant with modern machine intelligence and which were remarkably ahead of their time.
While physical and mental health are widely recognized dimensions of human well-being, this article introduces philosophical health as a crucial third dimension that addresses our fundamental orientation in life and our deeper sense of purpose. As we face unprecedented global challenges, from environmental and political crises to technological disruption, philosophical health offers practical wisdom for creating what Leibniz called 'the best of all possible worlds': one where individual fulfilment and collective flourishing become complementary, offering 'compossible' rather than competing goals. The article concludes by suggesting how philosophical health can be cultivated through regular practice, suggesting that this development is essential for addressing our most pressing contemporary challenges.
Cyborgs challenge traditional definitions of life by integrating biological and technological components. Drawing from Gaia theory, post-humanism and Actor-Network Theory, this article argues that life should be redefined as adaptive and relational rather than strictly biological. Cyborgs exhibit autonomy, evolution and self-organization, resembling living systems within Gaia's self-regulatory processes. By blurring the artificial-natural divide, they compel us to rethink identity, agency and evolution, ultimately expanding our understanding of what it means to be alive in a post-human era.
Judith Jarvis Thomson, in 'A Defense of Abortion', uses ingenious analogies and thought experiments to defend her conclusion that there are cases in which abortion is morally permissible: (1) the foetus is a threat to the mother's life, (2) the foetus is a product of rape, and (3) where efforts have been made to prevent pregnancy via contraception. Whilst Thomson is right that abortion should be morally permissible in some cases, she is unsuccessful in defending such a conclusion. In this article, I argue that abortion should be morally permissible in cases (1) and (2) as external circumstances (medical conditions or wrongdoers) have intervened and overruled the rational will of the woman. However, abortion should not be morally permissible in case (3) as there is no such factor in the case of failed birth control (assuming that all goes normally and according to plan).
International efforts on climate breakdown have focused on reducing climate-damaging emissions. They have basically failed: that can now be seen, as the Conference of Parties (CoP) system declines into near farce, and politics bites back against climate action, while temperatures and impacts accelerate. As we face an increasingly chaotic world, climate adaptation provides an essential pathway to resilience and disaster-readiness. It's not only about reducing our exposure to damage but also about transforming our ways of life to live with, and in what ways are possible even make the most of, the new, hotter, more difficult reality. There's no longer any doubt that some level of climate breakdown is inevitable, and, rather than denying this, we must focus on how to adapt to it, in a manner that can bring people together to face the coming storms, and so ultimately perhaps bring them (us) together to stop the storms getting worse.
This article argues for the importance of public understanding of the nature of science, and considers what might be taught in schools to promote this.
Ameliorative approaches to gender propose ways of defining gender terms which are intended to be trans-inclusive. In this article, I discuss two such proposals and find them wanting. I suggest a new ameliorative definition which aims to improve on those already in the literature.
According to the extended mind hypothesis, the mind can extend into the physical world via tools, devices and systems external to the brain. This article explains the hypothesis and explores its implications for knowledge, identity, education and digital ethics. It also highlights a deeper concern: if the mind is extended, then it is also fragile. This fragility stems from its dependence on infrastructure, institutions and systems that we often don't control.
What are wishful thinking and self-deception, and what is the difference between them? This article looks for answers to these questions with reference to a real-life case.
Climate anxiety is a profound psychological, and even spiritual, problem of our times. The predicted and unpredictable consequences of climate change can cast a shadow of fear and doubt over our sense of the imminent and far future. The best cure to climate anxiety is the development of courage. Courage means upholding something noble in the face of one's fears. In this article I explore what it means to be courageous in the face of the climate crisis.
Does mathematics describe something real, or merely a sort of fictional world, like Narnia, or Middle Earth?
Harry Frankfurt claims that the object of love can be 'almost anything'. Using Frankfurt's conception of love, I argue that I could still love my girlfriend even if she were a worm. This conclusion can be motivated by three philosophical considerations: conceivability, anti-essentialism and the scope of what is volitionally possible. This apologia provides an introductory sketch of how the object of one's love can change radically over time. A cautionary note: it does not provide sufficient resources for boyfriends everywhere to escape the force of this question.
This article examines Georges Bataille's thoughts on sacrifice and its connection with the sacred. Bataille sees sacrifice as a powerful act that breaks down the boundary between life and death, revealing something profound beyond everyday life. The article highlights his belief in sacrifice as a potent challenge to social norms, deepening our understanding of human existence.
Many cities have lost significant old buildings in a push for redevelopment. While there is a case for preservation, there can be, and often are, strong arguments for redevelopment. This article takes a philosophical look at the arguments found on both sides of the debate.
In the preceding article, Terence Moore argues that the meanings of words are private and hidden, and that using language meaningfully involves private processes that are ‘little understood’. In this response I explain why Wittgenstein would, I believe, reject this way of thinking about meaning.
Although I am no longer religious, I do not disparage all forms of all religions nor trash all religious people. Still, I want to isolate significant deficiencies in many of those forms. I focus primarily on forms of Christianity since these are ones with which I - and many readers - are most familiar. I then show how non-religious people can achieve what religious ones do, without the baggage, by attending to what is most within our control.
