Philosophy

Philosophy

Examine life’s biggest questions, from ethics to existence, with curiosity and critical thinking.

Black and white illustration of Kant.
The road from Kant to modern cognitive psychology has taught us much about our mental filtering systems.
Abstract representation of a cosmic event with a burst of particles emanating from a central point, blending astrophysical imagery with geometric designs.
If you bring too much mass or energy together in one location, you'll inevitably create a black hole. So why didn't the Big Bang become one?
An image shows three panels of brainwave patterns on the left, with colorful lines of computer code on the right.
33 years ago, the theoretical biologist Robert Rosen offered an answer to the question "Is life computable?"
A sailboat is silhouetted against a vibrant sunset over a calm sea, with other boats and their reflections visible in the background. The sky and water have a golden hue.
Ancient currents seemed to move in concert with a 2.4 million-year dance between the Red Planet and Earth.
standard model color
Predicted way back in the 1960s, the discovery of the Higgs boson in 2012 completed the Standard Model. Here's why it remains fascinating.
A black and white photo of a young child holding a vintage telephone receiver to their ear, with an excited expression. The background features graphic designs of sound waveforms and orange flames, evoking the intense energy of death metal.
If music is a window onto truth, what does screaming reveal?
A detailed black and white illustration of a porcupine is centered on a worn paper background with a green border.
Schopenhauer and Freud can help teams navigate the most prickly of collaboration problems.
A sculpture depicts a human head with the top open like a birdcage. A lone white feather, symbolizing lost motivation, lies on the ground outside the cage on a blue background.
Big Think recently spoke with behavioral scientist and author Katy Milkman about what really motivates us and steers our behavior.
A grayscale photo of a middle-aged man in a white shirt, framed at the center of a green and gray abstract background with various patterns and graphs, embodies the essence of a leadership masterclass.
Whole Foods Market founding CEO John Mackey synthesized the counterculture with capitalism and drove a food revolution.
A diagram of the solar system illustrates the heliosphere, detailing the termination shock, heliopause, and bow shock, along with the paths of Pioneer 10, Pioneer 11, Voyager 1, and Voyager 2. This visual representation underscores key aspects of fundamental science in our cosmic neighborhood.
Some think the reason fundamental scientific revolutions are so rare is because of groupthink. It's not; it's hard to mess with success.
Close-up of a person's beard and glasses on the right side with numbers "7", "30", and "65" shown in varying typographical styles across the center, subtly referencing the 7-38-55 rule. The background is abstract with dark and light tones.
If words are really only 7% of communication, then why would anyone need to learn a foreign language?
LHC insides
CERN's Large Hadron Collider is the most powerful particle accelerator ever. To go even further, we'll have to overcome something big.
planetary nebulae infrared spitzer
In ~7 billion years, our Sun will run out of fuel and die. So will every star, eventually. Here are the different fates they'll encounter.
hubble tension
The mutual distance between well-separated galaxies increases with time as the Universe expands. What else expands, and what doesn't?
High-tech robotic arms equipped with cameras digitizing an ancient manuscript in a library.
The burial spot was found in one of the Herculaneum scrolls charred by Mt. Vesuvius.
A diptych image: left side shows a row of shopping carts lined up, right side depicts a single shopping cart abandoned in a puddle, serving as a litmus test for societal behavior.
The "Shopping Cart Litmus Test" is a popular meme about morality. What does it really reveal about one's character?
Nobody likes the uneasy feeling of being watched — so can there be any workplace benefit to the all-seeing eye?
A silhouette of a hand casting a ballot set against a background of abstract red and white patterns.
Author A.J. Jacobs explores how voting has changed since the days of the Founding Fathers — for better and for worse.
A vibrant display of green aurora borealis above an antarctic research station under a starry sky.
IceCube scientists have detected high-energy tau neutrinos from deep space, suggesting that neutrino transformations occur not only in lab experiments but also over cosmic distances.