Philosophy & Religion

When Poverty Became Profane

Two recent books, by Debra Kaplan and Natan Meir, examine poverty and charity in European Jewish communities, looking at how a marginalized minority dealt with the problems of destitution and social welfare during periods of rapid change.

April 29, 2021 issue

Erica Armstrong Dunbar

A Praise House of Many Mansions

In a book and documentary series, Henry Louis Gates Jr. offers a wide-ranging tour of Black religion in America.

April 29, 2021 issue

John Gray

Is Philosophy an Art?

In Witcraft, Jonathan Rée presents the history of English-language philosophy as a collection of artworks to be appreciated for their aesthetic qualities. But what did philosophers think they were doing?

March 25, 2021 issue

Anne Enright

Spirited Away

What is the spark that makes a shared God not just real, but so present he talks back to you?

March 11, 2021 issue

Eamon Duffy

Why Was There a Reformation?

Though Steven Ozment’s The Age of Reform appeared amid a wave of critical thought about the Reformation, it rejected the new histories in favor of polemic.

February 25, 2021 issue

Jim Holt

The Power of Catastrophic Thinking

Should we value human lives in the distant future as much as present ones?

February 25, 2021 issue

Gregory Hays

Tune Out & Lean In

The recent revival of Stoic philosophy has stayed surprisingly true to its ancient roots while gaining popularity among executives and tech-bros.

March 11, 2021 issue

Pamela Druckerman

The Consolations of Philosophy

My philosopher-therapist thought the ancient Greeks could lead me to the happy state of eudaimonia—literally, having good demons. But would mine play along?

December 31, 2020

The Latest

R.H. Lossin

William Morris, Romantic Revolutionary

The utopia envisioned in his novel News from Nowhere harked back to precapitalist society, yet nothing could be more radically forward-looking than its dream of a world without exploitation.

July 31, 2021

Claudia Dreifus

Dismantling the ‘Citadels of Pride’

After long witness of the way sexual harassment creates an “atmosphere of indignity,” the feminist philosopher sees the solution in the law, strong rules, due process—and tenure.

June 30, 2021

Linda Greenhouse

Grievance Conservatives Are Here to Stay

What accounts for the paradox of religious ascendance over an ever more secular American society?

July 1, 2021 issue

Corey Robin

Arendt and Roth: An Uncanny Convergence

Despite very different lives, the two writers not only knew and liked each other, but also found common cause in the great concerns that animated their work.

May 12, 2021

Jamieson Webster

On Breathing

From first moments to last rites, the air around us is not only essential to life but also carries our speech. So being silenced can feel like death.

April 2, 2021

Rich Cohen

The Lure of the White Sands

If I could understand why the desert affects me so profoundly, maybe I’d know the reason for my obsession. Maybe I’d know everything.

March 29, 2021

Richard Finkelstein

Passover in Pictures

Every year, Jews gather for the Seder to celebrate their deliverance from servitude and to answer the question: Why is this night different from all other nights?

March 27, 2021