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Ethical Episodes

‘A’ is for ‘Assumption’

Joel Marks on why the world needs philosophy.

Socrates famously averred that the unexamined life is not worth living. This was part of his ‘apology’ when, on trial for his life, he tried to explain what it means to be a philosopher. I myself have taken this definition to heart: that philosophy is the examination of fundamental assumptions. I have been examining with a vengeance of late – not intending to do so as a philosophical exercise, mind you, but quite spontaneously. So perhaps it will help you to understand what I have been about in these columns if I review my recent philosophical hobbyhorses in this light.

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