Faith: Contemporary Perspectives Faith is a trusting commitment to someone or something. Faith helps us meet our goals, keeps our relationships secure, and enables us to retain our commitments over time. Faith is thus a central part of a flourishing life. This article is about the philosophy of faith. There are many philosophical questions about faith, such as: What is faith? What are its main

Nihilism Nihilism is the belief that all values are baseless and that nothing can be known or communicated. It is often associated with extreme pessimism and a radical skepticism that condemns existence. A true nihilist would believe in nothing, have no loyalties, and no purpose other than, perhaps, an impulse to destroy. While few philosophers would claim to be nihilists, nihilism is most often associated

Personal Identity What does being the person that you are, from one day to the next, necessarily consist in? This is the question of personal identity, and it is literally a question of life and death, as the correct answer to it determines which types of changes a person can undergo without ceasing to exist. Personal identity theory is the philosophical confrontation with the most

Cynosarges A gymnasium near Athens and the site where Cynic philosophers taught. Table of Contents Location, Structures, and Layout of Cynosarges Bridge Heracleion Other Sanctuaries Gymnasium Palaistra Peripatos Groves History of the Use of Cynosarges References and Further Reading 1. Location, Structures, and Layout of Cynosarges Cynosarges was located along the southern bank of the Ilissos river, not far from the ancient city wall (Diogenes Laertius

Giorgio Agamben (1942– ) Giorgio Agamben is one of the leading figures in Italian philosophy and radical political theory, and in recent years, his work has had a deep impact on contemporary scholarship in a number of disciplines in the Anglo-American intellectual world. Born in Rome in 1942, Agamben completed studies in Law and Philosophy with a doctoral thesis on the political thought of Simone

Thomas Aquinas: Political Philosophy The political philosophy of Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), along with the broader philosophical teaching of which it is part, stands at the crossroads between the Christian gospel and the Aristotelian political doctrine that was, in Aquinas’ time, newly discovered in the Western world. In fact, Aquinas’ whole developed system is often understood to be simply a modification of Aristotelian philosophy in light