Where do facts come from? How can we decide whether something is true, or right, or good? Jörg Friedrich writes about the intersection of science, philosophy, and public policy.
A reorganization of political structures at the level of national cultural identities doesn’t necessarily mean separatism for Europe.
If a time traveler from the 1950s came to visit us today, he wouldn’t be impressed by our so-called technological innovations: they would be all too familiar to him.
Buying on the Internet is easy and convenient, but it cannot replace the experience you get from buying from your local dealer.
Donating sperm is much more than a mundane transaction; it is an act of responsibility. Biology will ensure that you get what you give.
Digital natives are quick to spell doom for the traditional media business, and Facebook, Twitter, or the blogosphere serve as their instruments for doing so. Media makers and journalists are shaken to the core and thereby overlook the essential thing: their own strength.
The nature-versus-nurture debate cuts straight through contemporary discourses on gender and gender roles. But it's based on a misunderstanding of how the world works.
Not all scientific projects that will soon become feasible are also desirable. One example: terraforming on Mars.
As educational budgets are slashed, private corporations fill the void by providing free textbooks on climate change and sustainability.
Education should not be defended on strict utilitarian grounds. Children should spend their school years learning all the things they will not need later in life.
To tech enthusiasts, the world is a problem waiting to be solved through progress. But what if many of us are quite content to live imperfectly?
Instead of locking nuclear waste away in deep repositories, we should entrust it to the care of future generations. Our responsibility must become their responsibility.
The debate over same-sex marriage shows that we have already abandoned a definition of love based in biology.
What decisions would we make if we deliberated carefully about public policy? Alexander Görlach sat down with Stanford's James Fishkin to discuss deliberative democracy, parliamentary discontent, and the future of the two-party system.
For many Europeans the massacre in Arizona is another evidence that political violence is spreading in the United States but this unfortunate event was the deed of a mentally ill person, not a political activist. There is no evidence of an increasing political extremism tearing America apart. Using
The US and Russia don't agree on much - but they are both keen to develop a good relationship with India. How do we know? Look at the arms trade.
More than 50 percent of the world's population now live in cities – and there is no end of urbanization in sight. Harvard economist Edward Glaeser believes urbanization to be a solution to many unanswered problems: pollution, depression and a lack of creativity. He spoke with Lars Mensel about the
Contrary to the mantras repeated by the press, HIV infections are not increasing. We need to move away from activist scare tactics and towards complex risk management strategies.
Nick Bostrom directs the Future of Humanity Institute at Oxford University. He talked with Martin Eiermann about existential risks, genetic enhancements and the importance of ethical discourses about technological progress.