Philosophy
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In discarding Christianity, liberalism has gained ascendancy and lost itself in the process, writes Tim Farron MP, former leader of the Liberal DemocratsLiberalism has eaten itself – it isn’t very liberal any more
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We need to rethink how we classify mental illnessPsychiatric diagnosis must serve an ethical purpose: relieving certain forms of suffering and disease. Science alone can’t do that
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AC Grayling: our right to good governmentLetters: AC Grayling responds to Giles Fraser’s article about ‘patronising elites’; while Deborah Cook says Fraser ignored the fact that Plato thought truth was paramount
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Loose canon: Grayling revives a fear of the mob that’s as old as Plato. Brexit convinced our elite that ordinary people were not intelligent enough to know what’s best for themThe wrong sort of voter? There’s no such thing, AC Grayling
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Is this really a post-truth world?The truth used to be plain and simple. Just because it’s now complex doesn’t mean it’s false, argues Julian Baggini
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What does a portrait of Erica the android tell us about being human?As robots grow more lifelike, and religious faith in our uniqueness wanes, it is a challenge to understand what it means to be mortal
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How we feel about Freud: Susie Orbach and Frederick Crews debate his legacyCrews, an academic, thinks psychoanalysis is an unscientific jumble of ideas, while psychoanalyst Orbach would prefer not to throw the baby out with the patriarchal bias
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Is the world really better than ever?The long read: The headlines have never been worse. But an increasingly influential group of thinkers insists that humankind has never had it so good – and only our pessimism is holding us back
Jerry Fodor obituary