People deeply want to believe they are good, reasonable and worthy. A little humility and curiosity can go a long way toward helping someone feel respected during an argument.
When scientists observed planets revolved around the Sun, they posited we were now like other planets. And if other planets were like Earth, then they most likely also had inhabitants.
Svend Brinkmann’s idea of thoughtfulness is not just about exercising our rational powers to solve puzzles, but the existential dimensions of thinking.
What makes us human? Greek and Roman thinkers were preoccupied with this question. And some of their observations of animals foreshadowed recent findings in the behavioural sciences.
Randy L. Friedman, Binghamton University, State University of New York
Faith and reason are often treated as opposites. But some philosophers believe they can only strengthen each other, including the Jewish sage Maimonides, who wrote the famous ‘Guide to the Perplexed.’
Words have power, and what vocabulary you have at your disposal to describe your relationships with other people can shape what directions those relationships can take.