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Joe Humphreys

Joe Humphreys

The Irish Times

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How to end the culture wars: Stop looking for people to blame

Overwhelmed by the world’s problems? You’re not alone. There is so much structural injustice – inequality, exploitation and prejudice – it’s...

15.04.2024 10

The Irish Times

Joe Humphreys

What exactly do politicians mean by ‘woke’?

A few years ago a satirical online site was created to churn out formulaic expressions of Irish cynicism. It was called “Random TheJournal.ie...

18.03.2024 30

The Irish Times

Joe Humphreys

Navalny’s death shames those of us who merely ‘fornicate and read the papers’

How do you feel about the death of Alexei Navalny? Sad? Of course. Shame? “Definitely. He puts us to shame,” replies Irish-American academic...

11.03.2024 7

The Irish Times

Joe Humphreys

Are you being played by Netflix? Why tech giants do not want us to be nostalgic

Nostalgia is big business. The Netflix series One Day has underlined that point, jumping to the top of TV streaming charts in the past month. The...

04.03.2024 8

The Irish Times

Joe Humphreys

Would you kill one person to save five? It depends what age you are

A famous thought experiment in philosophy is “the trolley problem”. Imagine you saw a tram about to crash into five people and you could save...

26.02.2024 7

The Irish Times

Joe Humphreys

Empathy is bountiful in the Israel-Palestine conflict, but not for the other side

As dystopian images of the future go, it doesn’t get much better than a bloke interacting with a virtual reality headset while driving a bulletproof...

19.02.2024 10

The Irish Times

Joe Humphreys

Love is . . . ‘the extremely difficult realisation that something other than oneself is real’

Petrol stations will be abuzz this week with romantics procuring flowers, chocolates and saucy greeting cards after filling up the tank. Whatever this...

12.02.2024 7

The Irish Times

Joe Humphreys

Who do you trust to advise you on changes to the Constitution?

You know it’s referendum season because a familiar cry goes up from certain two-legged animals. Like the mating call of the cuckoo, which signals...

06.02.2024 9

The Irish Times

Joe Humphreys

Who do you trust to advise you on changes to the Constitution?

You know it’s referendum season because a familiar cry goes up from certain two-legged animals. Like the mating call of the cuckoo, which signals...

05.02.2024 8

The Irish Times

Joe Humphreys

How to advise without losing friends and vexing people: Five tips for micromanagers

Giving advice is a delicate balancing act. It’s a thin line between sharing useful information and being plain annoying. I should know, having been...

29.01.2024 9

The Irish Times

Joe Humphreys

Some things can’t be sold, but is Páirc Uí Chaoimh one of them?

First the re-branders came for Lansdowne Road, then they came for Páirc Uí Chaoimh. What next? AAA Funeral Homes Croak It Park? Is nothing sacred,...

22.01.2024 8

The Irish Times

Joe Humphreys

Do you really deserve the great job you have?

The resignation earlier this month of Claudine Gay as Harvard University’s first black president was welcomed with glee by conservatives in the...

15.01.2024 10

The Irish Times

Joe Humphreys

Manifesting is the perfect religion for our times. But does it work?

January is a big month for the self-help industry, a business valued at €40 billion by Forbes a couple of years ago and now said to be a multiple of...

08.01.2024 7

The Irish Times

Joe Humphreys

Here’s the secret to happiness in 2024, according to a dead Greek philosopher: don’t get noticed

New Year’s resolutions can be hard work. Join a gym? Change jobs? Travel the world? It is exhausting just thinking of the options. To make matters...

01.01.2024 10

The Irish Times

Joe Humphreys

This cage-fighting philosopher has an important message for young men

An Irish philosopher and cage fighter has an important message for young men. No, it’s not Conor McGregor, though The Notorious might fancy himself...

26.12.2023 10

The Irish Times

Joe Humphreys

Some criticism of the hate offences Bill has been hysterical - but that doesn’t mean it is a good Bill

It is ironic that a law designed to combat hate speech has attracted so much vitriol. The Criminal Justice (Incitement to Violence or Hatred and Hate...

18.12.2023 7

The Irish Times

Joe Humphreys

Good news: Your existence may not be entirely pointless after all

It has become a scientific orthodoxy that we live in a pointless universe. Whatever about the prospect of flourishing during our time on Earth, once...

11.12.2023 6

The Irish Times

Joe Humphreys

Belief is waning in lot of things: Christianity, the Irish soccer team, journalistic objectivity

Belief has waned in a lot of things in recent years: Christianity, table manners, the Republic of Ireland’s men’s football team. But one type of...

04.12.2023 10

The Irish Times

Joe Humphreys

‘It’s hard to find an existing society better’ than this east coast Irish suburb

Philosophers have for ages studied “the good life” with the assumption that it’s something we’re still striving towards; that for individuals...

27.11.2023 10

The Irish Times

Joe Humphreys

Ten lessons from philosophy: Guard your privacy, forgive your enemies, lean into happiness

Some philosophers are quite snooty about journalism. Frederick Nietzsche complained that “the journalist, servant of the present moment, has taken...

20.11.2023 10

The Irish Times

Joe Humphreys

Why are women who kill regarded as ‘doubly deviant’?

When Molly Martens and her father Thomas were arriving in court a fortnight ago for sentencing for the manslaughter of Jason Corbett (39), the body of...

13.11.2023 10

The Irish Times

Joe Humphreys

How would Nietzsche have judged those affected by the housing crisis: victims or whingers?

I thought my life was pretty good until I watched the Netflix series about footballer David Beckham. Then I realised I’m a total failure. If you...

06.11.2023 10

The Irish Times

Joe Humphreys

‘Terrorists are not born that way. They learn to hate’

The barbaric terror attack by Hamas on October 7th caused deep trauma, fear and anger within Israel. What do we know about the impact of that level of...

31.10.2023 6

The Irish Times

Joe Humphreys

What the first comedian to be cancelled teaches us about greed, taxes and relationships

Capitalism has brought us some good things but it also has a habit of making us act against our moral principles and pitting us against one another....

23.10.2023 10

The Irish Times

Joe Humphreys

Why do we comment on things we know nothing about?

It may come as a surprise to you that one of the most popular courses at an Irish university this year is on bullshit. More precisely, the course is...

16.10.2023 5

The Irish Times

Joe Humphreys

Positivity can be toxic. Depressive realism might make you happier

Growing up in Ireland typically meant exposure to a “no notions” form of positive psychology: “Quit your moaning”, “Think of the starving...

09.10.2023 10

The Irish Times

Joe Humphreys

Elon Musk may be champion of free speech but he draws line at free thought

Have you ever found yourself expressing a point of view and suddenly wondering: “Where did I get this opinion from?” In that flicker of...

02.10.2023 10

The Irish Times

Joe Humphreys

This philosopher foresaw the biggest problem with AI. Now he’s sounding another warning

Twenty years ago, philosopher Andreas Matthias identified what was then a new ethical question: who is responsible if artificial intelligence (AI)...

25.09.2023 50

The Irish Times

Joe Humphreys

How to ‘die well’ in today’s Ireland: It starts with living a good life

Plans hatched by Silicon Valley tech gurus to become immortal attract much mirth. But beyond the enormous egos of cryogenic capitalists is a death...

18.09.2023 10

The Irish Times

Joe Humphreys

Sinéad O’Connor’s warning about online pile-ons was prophetic in more ways than one

I will forever associate the Serenity Prayer with Sinéad O’Connor. I’d never heard of it before 1990 when she used those words to open her second...

11.09.2023 20

The Irish Times

Joe Humphreys

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