Aristotle was a walker. He liked to walk so much that he would meet his colleagues on the grounds of the Lyceum, a temple in Athens, and stroll through the covered walkways while exploring philosophical and scientific theories. Today, Aristotle’s school is commonly known as the Peripatetic ...

It’s understandable if you don’t think of philosophers as lovers. We have our long-standing obsession with reason over passion to blame. But truth be told, love is inherent in our pursuit of knowledge — the etymological definition of philosophy is, after all, the love of wisdom. We are ...

A student once asked the anthropologist Margaret Mead what she thought was the first evidence of civilization. Rather than say something about hunting tools, or cultural artifacts, or weapons, Mead answered that the first sign of civilization was a 15,000-year-old fractured femur that was found ...

Joe Mercurio is soft-spoken. He will wait for you to finish speaking before taking his turn, pausing a few beats longer in case a dangling thought purls out of you. My introduction to Joe might look odd on the surface, but it couldn’t be more basic — it was as simple as one person reaching ...

I’m on my way to Singapore to visit my father with my daughter C, 40,000 feet above ground, hurtling through thin air at 500 miles an hour, feeling a bit lost and restless. There is an atemporality and aspatiality to air travel that at once saddens me and wakes me up. - The freedom of ...

One of my favorite ways to spend the winter holidays is staying up late to read. Just as my little corner of the world darkens and quiets, I let my mind come alive in a book. In case you also want to indulge in night reading this winter, here is a list of a few of my favorite books from ...