Your complimentary articles

You’ve read all of your complimentary articles for this month. To have complete access to the thousands of philosophy articles on this site, please

If you are a subscriber please sign in to your account.

To buy or renew a subscription please visit the Shop.

If you are a print subscriber you can contact us to create an online account.

Street Philosopher

Smooching by the Seine

Seán Moran reports from the city of love.

How romantic. In my photo, a couple share an umbrella near a Parisian merry-go-round, while on the far bank of the river Seine the Eiffel tower disappears into the rain. Off camera, a forlorn accordioniste finishes playing Edith Piaf’s La Vie en Rose, then lights up a pungent Gitanes cigarette. The lovers are oblivious to all of this: they only have eyes, ears, and noses, for each other.

But I might be completely misreading the scene.

…