In the Philosophical Investigations (https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/wittgenstein/#PhilInve), Ludwig Wittgenstein writes that philosophical perplexities “arise when language is like an engine idling, not when it is doing work.” When we are engaged in everyday practicalities and challenges there seems no point in metaphysics. If that suffices, turn the page. If you have fallen prey to some of these speculations it’s […]

It has been understood at least since Wittgenstein (https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/wittgenstein/) that there are varieties of human thought and discourse, and that they intersect in interesting ways. They have been described as ‘language games’. Each game in a school playground has its own set of rules. These are absorbed and complied with by the participants for the

The Wiley Blackwell Handbook of Humanism presents an edited collection of essays that explore the nature of humanism (https://humanism.org.uk/humanism/) as an approach to life, and a philosophical analysis of the key humanist propositions from naturalism and science to morality and meaning. It looks at humanism not just in terms of its theoretical underpinnings, but also

Flim-Flam! explains that not one shard of evidence exists to prove that the Bermuda Triangle poses any special menace to ships and planes, that earth is being visited by alien spacecraft, that the unassisted power of mind can read closed books, predict our future or induce levitation. It shows that the ‘psychic surgeons’ of the Philippines have relieved their