Unthinkable | The Irish Times

Modern mindfulness ‘is complicit with a neoliberal ethos of self-responsibility that reinforces systems of oppression and injustice’.

Has mindfulness become just another wing of capitalism?

Unthinkable: Ronald E Purser warns against the rise of ethically neutral and self-absorbed spiritual practises

‘If you go from the Skelligs to the Giant’s Causeway, everything about the land has a mythological surface to it.’ Photograph: David Sleator

Ireland can manage without the church but can it do without myths?

Unthinkable: Mark Patrick Hederman makes the case for promoting ‘mythic intelligence’

Arnold Schwarzenegger in Terminator 3 Rise of the Machines. ‘The prospect of being at the mercy of a future super-intelligence seems entirely realistic,’ says Malcolm Bull. Photograph: Reuters/Warner Bros

Why humans need mercy more than justice to survive

Unthinkable: When the robots take over you’d better hope they’re merciful, says author Malcolm Bull

‘There is a massive patriotic messaging around sports events’: U2 lead singer Bono shows the stars and stripes of the US flag during the 2002 Super Bowl halftime show. Win Mcnamee/Reuters

Should children be taught to be patriotic?

Unthinkable: There is merit in a virtuous patriotism but it can't be instilled through trickery or threats, says Randall Curren

The late John Moriarty. Andy O’Mahoney on an RTÉ radio programme in 1985 introduced him with the words: ‘My guest tonight is one of the most remarkable people that I’ve ever met in my entire life.’ Photograph: Don MacMonagle

The greatest Irish thinker you’ve never read? It could be this man

Unthinkable: The Kerry ‘eco-poet’ John Moriarty illuminates a better way for humanity, says Michael W Higgins

Aesthetic injustice?: Renée Zellweger in What/If, on Netflix

Can’t get Netflix? You may be suffering an aesthetic injustice

Unthinkable: Lack of cultural access is a serious wrong, says philosopher Rachel Fraser

‘Anger is a kind of madness; it blots out rational thought.’ File image: Lambert/Getty Images

Why you can’t be angry and rational at the same time

Unthinkable: The Stoic philosopher Seneca debunked the idea of ‘righteous anger’, his translator explains

Unlike both utilitarianism and rights-based theories, virtue theory assumes human beings and the planet Earth have intrinsic purpose, from which moral commandments flow.

Is virtue ethics making a comeback, 2,400 years after Aristotle?

Unthinkable: We must find ‘middle way’, says Ireland’s new young philosopher of the year

Iris Murdoch: ‘It’s been easy to dismiss Murdoch as a philosopher because she was such a brilliant novelist.’ Photograph: Getty

Why the world needs Iris Murdoch’s philosophy of ‘unselfing’

Centenary of author’s birth in Dublin is being used as an occasion to reclaim her moral vision

Siri Hustvedt: Philosopher or novelist? Photograph: Roberto Ricciuti/Getty Images

Can a novel also be a work of philosophy?

Unthinkable: Literature allows us capture ‘weirdness’ of life, says Matthew McKeever

Donald Trump, a winner at the ballot box, but ‘the Stoics argued one cannot take pride in one’s life unless it is a virtuous life’. Photograph: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images

Why be good when it seems like nasty guys finish first?

Unthinkable: Liars and cheats cannot ultimately fool themselves, says philosopher Vittorio Bufacchi

‘Whether there is free will is not the sort of thing we can tell by looking,’ says philosopher Michael Rush.

Do male and female brains differ? A philosophical response

There’s nothing in science that disproves the existence of free will, say Helen Beebee and Michael Rush

‘There is something new in our day – the way we can express invented identities without the requirement to stand by them.’ Photograph: Photothek/Getty Images

Is technology to blame for spread of ‘unjoined-up thinking’?

Social media ‘invites us to be so many people at once’, says UCC academic Fiachra Long

‘The approach to knowledge in art and science is different but complementary.’ File image: Toshifumi Kitamura/AFP/Getty Images

Rethinking stereotypes about science and the arts

Unthinkable: Prof Tom McLeish identifies eight stages of creation common to disciplines as diverse as painting and biology

‘Nearly all of us have some desire to do what’s right but a lot of the time our desire doesn’t really translate into motivation.’ Photograph: Getty images

Is morality just a matter of following your deepest desires?

Unthinkable: Most of us have a longing to ‘do the right thing’, says Lizzy Ventham

A pro-Brexit activist holds a placard outside the Houses of Parliament in London. Photograph: Tolga Akmen/ AFP/Getty Images

‘Take back control’: why the Brexit slogan resonates across Europe

Unthinkable: People want ‘sovereignty’ over their lives, says philosopher Michele Nicoletti

Remainers showed ‘a lethal combination of arrogance and naivety’ ahead of the 2016 referendum. Photograph: Reuters/Henry Nicholls

Intellectual vices, from Brexit to the Birmingham Six

Unthinkable: The Leave campaign was unconcerned about truth but Remainers showed ‘naivety and arrogance’, says philosopher Quassim Cassam

‘Adventures in Philosophy’ illustrator Paula McGloin with author Brendan O’Donoghue. Photograph: Ruth Medjber

Ireland does philosophy: A new guide for the perplexed

Unthinkable: A philosophy book designed for younger readers takes inspiration from Kerry sage John Moriarty

A group of Chinese Shaolin Buddhist monks on a visit to Dublin. Photograph: Bryan O’Brien

How to find your inner Zen Buddhist

Unthinkable: ‘A love of mystery is deeply embedded in the Irish psyche,’ says the author of a new translation of eastern wisdom stories

‘Sometimes we make better choices by taking the long view, and seeing all parts of time as equally real.’ Photograph: Reuters/Brian Snyder

Living in the now: It’s not as simple as you’d think

Science suggests the present has ‘no particular significance’ above the past or the future?

“Being able to identify yourself as part of nature without being laughed at... [is] a huge shift.” Photograph: AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert

In despair over climate change? Try ‘active hope’

Unthinkable: Less focus on outcomes can help to counter pessimism

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Modern mindfulness ‘is complicit with a neoliberal ethos of self-responsibility that reinforces systems of oppression and injustice’.

Has mindfulness become just another wing of capitalism?

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