Philosophy

Pacific Standard spoke with a philosopher who's trying to code ethical algorithms into autonomous vehicles.

A new book by one of America's foremost philosophers recommends talk therapy to a troubled nation that probably needs something stronger.

New research finds no relationship between ethical behavior and belief—or disbelief—in free will.

The most disturbing insight into the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica scandal has little to do with either Facebook or Cambridge Analytica.

While investor Bill Miller's recent $75 million university endowment for philosophy astonished Americans, Ireland has gone one step further: introducing the subject to high school students.

Can methodological questioning cause someone to doubt their most deeply held beliefs?

A philosopher expounds on the film's deep questions about knowledge and genetically engineered life, and offers some clues as to its ambiguous ending.

The controversial German philosopher is enjoying renewed pop culture significance. We talked with director Ada Ushpiz to find out why.

How verbal gambles drive you to say strange things, and why it's easy to tell whether someone actually misspoke or not.

Two philosophical, complementary arguments that prove young Americans deserve the franchise.

What runaway trolleys tell us about driverless cars.

We canvassed the world of the social and behavioral sciences, looking for rising stars whose careers promise to make a lasting mark. We'll be profiling the top 30 throughout the month of April.

We canvassed the world of the social and behavioral sciences, looking for rising stars whose careers promise to make a lasting mark. We'll be profiling the top 30 throughout the month of April.

Previous neuroscience research has suggested yes, but a new study finds an unexpected window for it in the static of your brain.

Kind of.

For the month of April we're profiling the individuals who made our inaugural list of the 30 top thinkers under 30, the young men and women we predict will have a serious impact on the social, political, and economic issues we cover every day here at Pacific Standard.

Full-time, tenure-track professorships in the humanities are famously scarce. But that's not a reason to avoid an advanced degree. Even if you don't end up in academia, odds are you'll have a job—and you'll love it.

Patterns. Boom.

Enlightened economists are starting to recognize that their models must describe a world that is imperfect, unpredictable, and unstable.