‘What is Enlightenment?’, full title ‘Answering the Question: What is Enlightenment?’, is a 1784 essay by the philosopher Immanuel Kant (1724-1804). As the longer title suggests, Kant’s essay is a response to a question (posed by a clergyman, Reverend Johann Friedrich Zöllner) concerning the nature of philosophical enlightenment. What is […]
The Social Contract, which was originally published under the longer title On the Social Contract; or, Principles of Political Right, is a much-misunderstood book. Like many books, its ‘ideas’ are more familiar than the specific contents of the book itself. Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s 1762 book is often regarded as a rousing […]
Five classic works of Stoicism Stoic philosophy has been around for several centuries now, but the principles of Stoicism are not as widely known as the word itself. We tend to use the words ‘stoic’ and ‘stoicism’ to refer to a sort of ‘stiff upper lip’ attitude to life – […]
Fun facts about the philosopher Epicurus 1. Much of what we know about Epicurus’ philosophy is wrong. Epicureanism, the name of the philosophy inspired by the teachings of the philosopher Epicurus (341-270 BC), is commonly understood to mean seeking out pleasure and then enjoying things to excess – whether it’s […]
Fun facts about the life and work of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, author of Confessions 1. His Confessions effectively invented modern autobiography. Before Rousseau, not many public figures were prepared to spill the beans about the intimate details of their private lives – their regrets, their desires, their deepest and darkest secrets – but […]