Eastern Philosophy – the Movies
Eastern Philosophy was largely unknown in the West until the late eighteenth century. Since then, it has achieved enormous popularity, by virtue of its practical orientation and its devotion to cures...
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Greek Philosophy – the Movies
Philosophy begins in the Ancient World where it is immediately thought of as a highly practical discipline close to what we would nowadays think of as psychotherapy. One goes to see a philosopher to...
View ArticlePsychotherapy – the Movies
Psychotherapy is possibly the greatest invention of the 20th century. Here are 5 of the most interesting and valuable thinkers in the field:
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Why Design Matters
A designed object is one whose makers worked long and hard to get it just right. Most of the world has sadly not been well-designed. But good design does matter. Far from being a luxury or an add-on,...
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Why You Should Never Say: ‘Beauty Lies in the Eye of the Beholder’
When there are grave disagreements about what’s good and bad in architecture… or art… there’s often someone around who very quickly closes the discussion down by saying: “Beauty lies in the eye of the...
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Political Theory – the Movies
Political theorists are not interested in politics in the way it’s defined by news organisations; they don’t care about a specific bill going through parliament or the scandal surrounding a trade...
View ArticleSociology – the Movies
Sociology is the academic study of social behaviour, particularly around work, love, class and status. It is – if you like – a form of very deep journalism. Like journalism, sociologists are interested...
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History of Ideas – the Movies
If you had the misfortune to do too much of it at school, you’ll probably remember one thing about history: just how boring it can be. You might harbour painful memories of the 100 Years War, the War...
View ArticlePhilosophy – the Movies
From a distance, it seems weird, irrelevant, boring and yet also – just a little – intriguing. But it’s hard to put a finger on what the interest really is. What are philosophers? What do they do? And...
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Lego – the Movies
Lego is a surprisingly useful medium for getting big ideas across: 1. Lego ‘Philosophy’ 2. Finding the ‘right’ one 3. No one is normal 4. Keeping going 5. Why we love disaster news 6. Memento mori
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The School of Life: What we believe
The School of Life, which is responsible for this website, is a global organisation devoted to developing emotional intelligence through the use of culture. It delivers courses, writes books, makes...
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The Museum Gift Shop
You’ve been around an art exhibition of a favourite artist. Perhaps it was Barbara Hepworth, the mid-20th-century British sculptor, recently accorded a show by the Tate Gallery in London. On display...
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Cultural Mining
Cultural mining describes the process by which the most valuable parts of culture – by which we mean the arts, humanities and philosophy – are recovered and made useful for our own times. In cultural...
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Why Philosophy Should Become More Like Pop Music
When pop music started in a big way in the 1960s, it seemed at times like an especially silly medium, favoured by hormonal school girls and connected up with delinquent and tediously bizarre behaviour....
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On Taking Drugs
It’s easy to have a pretty negative view of drugs: the news is always going on about police raids on drug dealers, kids tripping dangerously at raves, overdoses and rehab. It goes without saying:...
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What’s the Point of Music?
Music is so much a part of almost all our lives that it seems peculiar to stop and ask what it might be for. It just appears straightforwardly to benefit us in ways that are too diverse and ineffable...
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Figs
Every so often, you encounter a fig. It might turn up as a decorative aside to a dessert at a smart restaurant you occasionally go to when you want to mark a special occasion; from a couple of years...
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The First Day of Feeling Well Again
It wasn’t, hopefully, too serious, just enough to keep you in bed, and feeling a bit miserable, for three or four days: you got a flu virus, you had an unusually heavy cold or a bout of tonsillitis....
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The Teasing of Old Friends
It’s a particular sign of friendship that people know they can tease you – and that, even when there is a slight sting to their remarks, you rather like it. They email a photo of a gorilla that does...
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On Feeling That Someone Else is So Wrong
Often we’re in search of agreement. It’s very nice when someone wholeheartedly agrees with something we’ve said, especially when we thought they’d be against us. But there’s also special satisfaction...
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