The Seducer’s Diary: How a 19th-Century Philosopher Anticipated the Pick-up Artist Movement

Valizadeh, aka “Roosh V.” is one of the more visible “Pick Up Artist” (PUA) figures, and one of the most overtly sexist. He’s written a series of books on how to sleep with women in various countries such as Brazil, (“Poor favela chicks are very easy, but quality is a serious problem”) but advises his readers to avoid Denmark as Nordic social democracy has made Danish women too independent. He cites Arthur Schopenhauer to argue that women are less rational than men and so should be controlled by them. He insists “no” usually doesn’t mean no, and anyway women should understand that men just can’t stop themselves (so much for all that rational decision making…).

Where to Start Reading Philosophy? Six Recommendations

Philosophy can seem a daunting subject in which to dabble. But there are many wonderful books on philosophy that tackle big ideas without requiring a PhD to digest. Here are six top picks for reading material from philosophers across Australia.

Down With the Larks: On the Virtues of Sleeping Like a Sloth

In the sixth century, Pope Gregory I compiled an infamous list of seven deadly sins. Of these seven, sloth is the only sin that shares its name in English with an animal. But are these curious animals truly guilty of vice?

Bertrand Russell and the Case for ‘Philosophy for Everyone’

One of the interesting questions we face as philosophers who are attempting to make philosophical ideas accessible for a general audience, is whether or not everyone can or should ‘do philosophy’.

Simone de Beauvoir’s Political Philosophy Resonates Today: ‘One Is Not Born, But Rather Becomes, Woman.’

Simone de Beauvoir is rightly best known for declaring: ‘One is not born, but rather becomes, woman.’ A less well-known facet of her philosophy, particularly relevant today, is her political activism, a viewpoint that follows directly from her metaphysical stance on the self, namely that we have no fixed essences.

What Did Max Weber Mean by the ‘Spirit’ of Capitalism?

Max Weber’s famous text The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (1905) is surely one of the most misunderstood of all the canonical works regularly taught, mangled and revered in universities across the globe.

Quote: Otto Weininger on Logic and Ethics

Logic and ethics are fundamentally the same, they are no more than duty to oneself.