Philosopher File

According to both philosophers of Ancient China and those of the Ancient Maya world, ritual has a powerful role to play in shaping ourselves - and the world.

Getting philosophical about ritual, from Confucius and spirit sacrifice in Ancient China to the everyday miracle of shaking hands.

Pyrrho was the precursor of the ancient sceptical school. He was a philosopher who travelled widely and, according to some commentators, reinvented Indian modes of thought in the context of ancient Greece.

The Cynic philosopher Hipparchia defied social convention, in pursuit of a life free of hypocrisy and privilege.

Stoicism was one of the most influential philosophical schools in the ancient Greek and Roman worlds. And the first Stoic philosopher was Zeno of Citium.

We often assume that Indian philosophy is somehow inherently “spiritual”. But India's long tradition of Cārvāka materialist philosophy suggests otherwise.

An interview with Sophie Grace Chappell about philosophy, following your deepest impulses, and why mountain climbing is not unlike philosophy.

Aristotle argued that the end or purpose of human life was flourishing. But what is flourishing? And how do we flourish?

Aristotle was a hugely eclectic thinker. But he was also a systematic one. And at the heart of his philosophy is the idea of the diversity of human ways of knowing.

The Chinese philosopher Hui Shi (370-310 BCE) was famed for his logical puzzles, and his skill in debate.

Plato is famous for what is sometimes called his "theory of forms". But what are forms? What is this theory? And what makes Aslan an almost-perfect cat?

Xunzi was a Confucian philosopher who argued human beings were bad by nature. He advocated self-cultivation to correct our natural shortcomings.