“Think how long you have been doing the same thing over and over: food, sleep, sex, round and round in a circle. It is not only the sensible person, the brave person, and the miserable person who can conceive a wish to die: sheer disgust may wish for it as well.” – Seneca, Letters on…
Let’s begin with an inconvenient question: What if the right to live doesn’t mean the obligation to stay alive? It’s a simple question, yet one that touches on the core of many of our deepest fears, values, and assumptions. Most of us are used to thinking about life as inherently sacred, survival as paramount, and…
The Philosopher Muse presents Dr. Esther Braun with the golden laurel wreath for her outstanding work as an academic and champion of justice and liberty, thereby bestowing upon her the title ‘Our Lady of Liberty’ to be cherished and honored for time immemorial.
Our Lady of Liberty — Upon thy head I place the…
As societies move toward recognizing the right to die as a legitimate extension of personal autonomy, the challenge lies in establishing ethical and practical systems that both empower individuals and protect the public good. While the core principle behind self-directed dying is respect for individual agency, it must be balanced with policies that ensure competence,…
Now let’s explore what it may look like for people to actually die with honor, dignity, and peace—particularly for mature, healthy, and competent persons who are resolved to depart. By justice, liberty, and human dignity, such individuals ought to have access to safe and responsible options for departure—without facing excessive barriers from the medical system—if…
“So long as you are a slave to the opinions of the many, you have not yet approached freedom or tasted its nectar. Whatever you do or avoid, let it be guided not by public approval or blame, but by reason, the divine spark within.” — Julian the Apostate
One of the most fundamental reasons…
“In the case of depressive realism, the philosophical pessimism most closely associated with Schopenhauer may be its natural home.” —Colin Feltham
They move along the street with blank faces, eyes forward, minds elsewhere. Shadows stretch long behind them, and the fading light casts everything in a sickly pallor. It’s not fear exactly—more like a…
“What makes the horror genre so exciting and unstoppable is its capacity for metaphorical exploration. It’s the safe place that we, as a culture, can deal with things that upset and frighten us—the darker side of our nature.” — Mike Flanagan
Although trauma is often cast as a destructive force—fracturing the psyche and distorting…
