Can walking in green, natural spaces (parks, outdoors, natural environments) improve your mental health? Yes! A growing body of research shows that being in nature does in fact lower stress levels, improve memory & enhance affect (mood). But how exactly does it do this? According to a recent study in…
Navigating the Wake(s) of Loss: How Philosophy Can Help Us Grieve Marisa Diaz-Waian, International Journal of Applied Philosophy 28:1 (2014): 19-48. ABSTRACT: How might approaching loss philosophically help us grieve? What does it mean to approach something philosophically? Why might such an approach be advantageous to studies of grief? In…
Argumentation Step-By-Step: Learning Critical Thinking through Deliberate Practice Ann J. Cahill and Stephen Bloch-Schulman, Teaching Philosophy 35:1 (2012): 41-62. ABSTRACT: In this paper, we offer a method of teaching argumentation that consists of students working through a series of cumulative, progressive steps at their own individual pace—a method inspired by…
Does Philosophy Have a Place in Slow Medicine? Marisa Diaz-Waian, Authored & Presented at the 2014 American Philosophical Association (Eastern Division Conference), National Philosophical Counseling Association Meeting. ABSTRACT: If one were to tour a museum showcasing images of how we (as a modern culture in the U.S.) tend to the…
What does it mean for something to be a fact? What about an opinion? And how do either (or both) of these relate to morality and value claims or moral truths? Justin P. McBrayer, Associate Professor of Philosophy at Fort Lewis College, provides a fascinating (albeit troubling) look at how…
Ancient Greek philosophers believed there to be a deep, intuitive connection between walking and thinking (and writing). Getting up and walking about (especially outdoors in nature) can make us better thinkers. But is such a belief justified? In this pithy and insightful article, Feris Jabr (of the New Yorker) discusses…
So…apparently we have a thing for talking with our hands. So do Jasmine Johnson & Alice May Williams of MoreUtopia! – who put together this hilarious glossary of hand gestures for critical discussion. To see the animated version (we highly suggest that you do!) click here or on the picture…
When it comes to death, philosophers’ have often focused their attention on what death means for the person who has died. But what about those who are “left behind”? Julian Baggini – philosopher, author & founding editor of The Philosopher’s Magazine — discusses three dimensions of death: what death means…
