Weekly Insight for Thinkers
Weekly Insight for Thinkers
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Philosophy

Explore and understand.

Explore reality avoiding the irrational and unknowable.

By Michael Alan Prestwood
Philosophy
New looks at philosophy with a science first lens.

To truly form your own worldview, you must view reality from all three viewpoints: true believers, empiricists, and true skeptics.

American CentricBook-30 PhilosophersEthics

No Kings Has Deep Historical Roots

Recent protests reflect the timeless struggle to limit power and oppression using checks and balances.

No Kings Has Deep Historical Roots

Recent protests reflect the timeless struggle to limit power and oppression using checks and balances.

Philosophy: The Existence and Essence Debate

In religion and philosophy, the existence and essence debate asks if you exist before your time on Earth.

Pragmatism and Pythagoras

Pythagoras exemplifies rational pragmatism, balancing empirical insights with mystical beliefs. He reminds us that even flawed ideas can spark progress.

The Fermi Paradox is Too Anthropocentric

The Fermi Paradox is the common framework for thinking about the odds of alien life, but we need more data before it can become accurate ...
Featured Story
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Timeline Stories: Big Bang        Evolution        World History Philosophy    Science         Futurism      

Updated This Week
Philosophy
Story
born circa 535 BCE
Heraclitus
circa 535 to 475 BCE, likely aged about 60 years old
Pre-Socratic Philosophy
Heraclitus lived around 500 BCE in the Greek city of Ephesus, and he saw something most people miss: nothing ever truly stands still. Rivers flow. Fires burn. Lives change. Even the things that look solid are only holding their shape for a while. Heraclitus wrote in sharp, almost cryptic fragments, not essays, which earned him the nickname the Dark Philosopher. But beneath the mystery was a clear idea—reality is not made of fixed things, but of processes in motion. Order still exists, he argued, but it comes from tension and balance, not permanence. Two and a half millennia later, physics quietly agrees.
Featured FAQ
Subscribe to our weekly hot topics.
Updated This Week
Philosophy
FAQ
What does existence before essence mean?
Existentialism
The idea of existence before essence is most closely associated with modern existentialism, especially Jean-Paul Sartre. It rejects the notion of a soul or destiny and instead places responsibility on the individual to shape who they become. In contrast, essence before existence claims identity or purpose precedes birth. At its core, this debate lives in metaphysics, asking whether identity is discovered or created, and whether meaning is inherited or earned.
Featured Quote
Subscribe to our weekly quotes.
New This Week
Philosophy
Quote
“Everything is in flux.”
Impermanence
Translated from Ancient Greece.
Heraclitus’ claim that “everything is in flux” captures a deep truth shared by both metaphysics and classical physics. The world appears stable only because change often happens gradually. Beneath every solid object, fixed identity, and steady law lies continuous motion, transformation, and becoming. What endures is not stillness, but patterned change.
Mike’s Must-Reads
Pragmatism and Pythagoras
Pythagoras exemplifies rational pragmatism, balancing empirical insights with mystical beliefs. He reminds us that even flawed ideas can spark progress.
Existential Toolkit: Evolution’s Consciousness Misstep
Existentialism evolved during the post medieval time. At its core, existentialism is about discovering your authentic self. You, in your environment, in your time, living ...
The Limits of Language and Understanding
Philosophy of Mind < Philosophy
Mike’s New Ideas
The Material World Split
Five Thought Tools < TST Framework < Critical Thinking
New Looks in 30 Philosophers
The fourscore of touchstones in the book.
Mindscape Framework
A philosophy of the mind framework.
Updated
Timelines

The Natural Philosophy Timeline

Great thinkers, their ideas, and publications

New Looks in 30 Philosophers

The fourscore of touchstones in the book.

The Book Timeline: 30 Philosophers: By Chapter

Every person and event in the book from 13.8 billion years ago.

TST Philosophy

By Mike Prestwood
TST Philosophy
Epicurean Stoicism with a curiosity for non-religious secular Buddhism.

My Mantra:

“Enjoy the journey, with truth and honor, causing no harm.”

Was Einstein’s Theory of Relativity ever irrational?

Even Einstein’s theory of relativity began as an irrational idea: untested, uncertain, and waiting for reality to answer back.

Philosophy: The Existence and Essence Debate

In religion and philosophy, the existence and essence debate asks if you exist before your time on Earth.

What is a natural philosopher?

TST Philosophy < Philosophy

Pragmatism and Pythagoras

Pythagoras exemplifies rational pragmatism, balancing empirical insights with mystical beliefs. He reminds us that even flawed ideas can spark progress.
Featured FAQ
A philosophy hot topic from the WWB archive.
Updated This Week
Philosophy
FAQ
What does existence before essence mean?
Existentialism
The idea of existence before essence is most closely associated with modern existentialism, especially Jean-Paul Sartre. It rejects the notion of a soul or destiny and instead places responsibility on the individual to shape who they become. In contrast, essence before existence claims identity or purpose precedes birth. At its core, this debate lives in metaphysics, asking whether identity is discovered or created, and whether meaning is inherited or earned.
Featured Quote
From the philosophy Weekly Quotes Archive.
Updated This Week
Philosophy
Quote
“I have a worldview. So do you.”
Worldview
Every person walks through life with a personal lens shaped by experience, belief, and knowledge. Recognizing you have a worldview — and that everyone else does too — is the first step toward understanding, empathy, and clearer thinking. Once you see your own lens, you can finally adjust it.
Mike’s Must-Reads
Pragmatism and Pythagoras
Pythagoras exemplifies rational pragmatism, balancing empirical insights with mystical beliefs. He reminds us that even flawed ideas can spark progress.
Existential Toolkit: Evolution’s Consciousness Misstep
Existentialism evolved during the post medieval time. At its core, existentialism is about discovering your authentic self. You, in your environment, in your time, living ...
The Limits of Language and Understanding
Philosophy of Mind < Philosophy
Mike’s New Ideas
The Material World Split
Five Thought Tools < TST Framework < Critical Thinking
New Looks in 30 Philosophers
The fourscore of touchstones in the book.
Mindscape Framework
A philosophy of the mind framework.
Updated

Ethics

How to act.
Ethics & Morals
An exploration of individual morality within group ethics.

Applied Philosophy: The “good intent-good results” battle intertwining personal morality, social harmony, and proper conduct.

No Kings Has Deep Historical Roots

Recent protests reflect the timeless struggle to limit power and oppression using checks and balances.

Why did the prisoner choose the bread over the key?

Ethics < Philosophy

Which tradition puts friendship above all else?

Epicureanism places friendship at the very center of a meaningful life.

What is fear-based ethics?

Fear-based ethics are moral systems that guide through the threat of punishment, emphasizing "consequences," over understanding, and "obedience," over reasoning.

Metaphysics

Unveil the Layers of awareness.
Metaphysics
Understanding the Mind: A Journey into the Unknowable.

Knowledge, belief, and existence. A specific usable definition for consciousness is simply the experiencing of reality, and it is limited, or surfaced through, the cognitive ability of things and for humans it is further limited by belief, language, and knowledge.

Articles: Metaphysics

Longer deep dives.

Philosophy: The Existence and Essence Debate

In religion and philosophy, the existence and essence debate asks if you exist before your time on Earth.

The Limits of Language and Understanding

Philosophy of Mind < Philosophy

The Material World Split

Five Thought Tools < TST Framework < Critical Thinking

The Evolution of Vocabulary in Ancient Humans

The evolution of language is the evolution of communication. From touch which evolved about 800 million years ago to human words. Along the journey, communication ...

Futurism

Anticipation. Angst.
Futurism
Chronoception: Remember the past, live in the now, anticipate the future.

As you move forward, let the timeless tenets of Holistic Eudaimonia guide you. Be mindful of the Butterfly Effect, as the power of your actions is infinite. Your acts, both good and bad, will ripple, one cause-and-effect at a time, into the vastness of eternity.

The Fermi Paradox is Too Anthropocentric

The Fermi Paradox is the common framework for thinking about the odds of alien life, but we need more data before it can become accurate ...

Building Tomorrow’s AI: The Rise of LLMs and Inference

AI started as simple programming logic and is now approaching the abilities of the human mind.

AI and Social Constructs: Defining the Future

Futurism < Philosophy
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