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Being able to shop near your home can be good for the environment, the economy and a sense of community — all while boosting house prices. But how truly local are these businesses?
Philip Goff has made an ambitious attempt to explain what our lives mean but with arguments that are sometimes too narrow
The UK has the oldest, draughtiest and least energy-efficient homes in Europe yet they are ‘fetishised’, says the philosopher Julian Baggini
Norwegian chef Andreas Viestad charts the role that food has played in the rise and fall of nations
With the UK’s woefully undersupplied housing market, buying a holiday home in some areas has become a controversial act
We explore how the music industry has changed and meet its most powerful player, Sir Lucian Grainge
The Enlightenment torchbearer is eloquent in his defence of clear thinking and uncharitable to what he deems irrational belief
We are inordinately attached to these markers of ego and past selves. But in truth they can undermine — rather than underline — identity
What we eat, how we parent, lockdown behaviour: the pandemic has increased the tension between privacy in our homes and concern for the common good
An illuminating account of the nature of reality that is rich in detail and clarity
A searching look at how individualism is on the rise and changing our society
Clare Carlisle’s tale of the father of existentialism brings to life his ideas and exposes his restless and troubled life
Two books by Cass Sunstein to help win over the unconverted on the merits of nudge theory
An attempt to understand the power of emotion makes for a useful guide to our times
A manifesto for intellectual flexibility is strangely rigid in its approach
A French philosopher seeks to piece together the world views of Russia’s president and France’s National Front leader
A YouTube intellectual’s advice on how to live emphasises order and tradition
Two cognitive scientists make a convincing case for the collaborative nature of reason
An unconventional biography questions whether the philosopher deserves his reputation as an advocate for tyranny
Why putting yourself in others’ shoes can sometimes be a poor moral guide
Many are torn between enjoying capitalism and decrying it. Julian Baggini considers how to resolve the tension
A clear-eyed history of Enlightenment philosophy that neither exaggerates nor diminishes the achievements of its subjects
A lively taxonomy of ideas finds that those we think of as original are often, in fact, far from it
‘Everything that we have done cannot be undone. No achievement can be taken away’
‘News about our amazing plastic brain supports the view that what we can be is much more diverse than we think’
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