'Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life': Does happiness lie in your purpose in life?
Ikigai is the idea that having a purpose in your life is key to happiness. Curious whether ikigai and longevity have a causal connection, software engineer Hector Garcia and writer/translator Francesc Miralles set out to interview the residents of Ogimi, Okinawa, the so-called Village ...
A trio of junior high school students from Aichi Prefecture organized an exchange event for children who are undergoing cancer treatment and their family members, hoping to attract young participants to share their feelings on the difficult subject. The first event, called cancer philosophy cafe, ...
'The Pervert's Guide to Ideology': Philosophy outside the ivory tower
Love him or hate him, you have to at least credit Slovenian philosopher and critical theorist Slavoj Zizek for trying. In an age where philosophy, like poetry, has largely retreated to the ivory tower, Zizek insists on inserting it into the cultural conversation, seeking to ...
Latour: rethinking ecological crisis from the ground down
The earth underneath Tokyo is trembling. This time, however, the activity is not seismic; it is not one of the many tremors that intermittently punctuate daily life in this city. It is, rather, a constant trembling: a condition of the global ecological crisis in ...
In a world of pretense, are Japanese just more honest about lying?
The net sum of lying may be similar in Japan and America, but in their acceptance of life exigencies, the Japanese may be more realistic, more charitable and forgiving about the role that deception plays in our social relations.
Philosophers still vital to our high-tech world
A Harvard University report showing a big dropoff across the U.S. in the proportion of bachelor degree graduates who majored in the humanities contrasts with the finding by a Swiss think tank that three or four of the top five "Global Thought Leaders" are ...
Life is a career that none of us chose. The rich and credulous hire life coaches to flatter them. Others who crave enlightenment can sign on to the School of Life set up by entrepreneurial egghead Alain de Botton. LIFE LESSONS FROM ... Bergson, Byron, ...
"The more I see of men," said Madame de Stael, "the more I like dogs." Always excepting the pit bulls and Rottweilers that slather and snap at the heels of yobs, I agree with her.
