Has the possibility of a future died? Matt Ossias examines time, history, change and stillness through the prism of Giorgio Agamben, Walter Benjamin and Theodor Adorno, with reference to both literature and film, asking can we conceive of a still life that is in some sense still life?

Has the possibility of a future died? Matt Ossias examines time, history, change and stillness through the prism of Giorgio Agamben, Walter Benjamin and Theodor Adorno, with reference to both literature and film, asking can we conceive of a still life that is in some sense still life?

Can grief only be emotionally distressing or can it be redemptive and worthwhile or even vital? Philosopher Michael Cholbi examines the protagonist of Albert Camus’ existentialist novel The Stranger and brings him in dialogue with St. Augustine’s The Confessions, in order to examine the potential of ethical self-knowledge as a consequence of grief.

Does an essential yet still unthought relation between death and language exist? Martijn Buijs turns to the Italian philosopher Giorgio Agamben to reconstruct his analysis of the voice in relation to death and with reference to both Aristotle and Martin Heidegger, examining along the way being, language and the ethical consequences arising from it.

Does philosophy fail in the face of death? Karl White turns to the Romanian philosopher Emil Cioran’s life-long meditation on birth, existence and annihilation, asking whether it can save us from the despair of our final hour or whether its limits lie at the very edge of our own mortality.

In a world of rising racism and intolerance could relativism guide us to a better society? Ana Sandoiu explores the philosophy of Richard Rorty, the importance of empathy and the value of a relativism.

Are our lives saturated with stuff? Philosopher Emrys Westacott questions our seemingly inexhaustible need to acquire more and more stuff, tracing this behaviour back to the dawn of humanity and showing its exploitation by modern capitalism, asking what the relationship between our stuff and our sense of identity is.

Are we confusing objectivity with subjectivity? Do we require more, not less, subjectivity? Philosopher Nicholas Joll presents Theodor Adorno’s take on the difference between objectivity and subjectivity in Minima Moralia, applying it to film, while questioning the implications for evaluating aesthetic judgements in contrast to science.

Is radical hope a form of silence? Philosopher John Lippitt discusses Kierkegaard’s reflections on silence and draws on the Kierkegaard-inspired concept of radical hope to ask whether the content of our hope in the face of climate change can be other than silence.

What would it mean for philosophy to listen? What does silence or the self sound like? French philosopher Jean-Luc Nancy talks to four by three magazine about the responsibility of philosophy, his approach to the arts, the noise of being and the difference between seeing and hearing oneself.

How does silence relate to philosophy, nihilism, technology and oppression? Philosopher Brian Schroeder offers a series of reflections on silence distinguishing between the spectacular passivity in the face of the death of God and the openness that allows other voices to emerge.

What is the relationship between death, silence and the witness? Philosopher David Appelbaum explores the ethical force of silence and our relationship to mortality, tracing the biblical story of Abraham and Isaac in the thought of Martin Heidegger, Emmanuel Levinas and Maurice Blanchot.

Can we access the plurality of our contemporary world through silence? And to what do the limits of our sonic imagination attest to? Artist and writer Salomé Voegelin re-listens to the body in silence, so as to grant a new agency, whereby she re-positions the relationship between the self and others at the edge of the aesthetic and political.

Are there vital limits to what we can capture in language? Philosopher Martin Shuster presents a short geographical sketch of the unsayable, drawing on the work of Stanley Cavell, Walter Benjamin and others to explore the connection between silence, humanity and our history.

How can art and poetry encourage existential trajectories that move beyond the nihilism of late-modernity? American philosopher Iain Thomson turns towards the German philosopher Martin Heidegger, in order to illustrate nihilism as our deepest historical problem and art as our best response, while establishing Heidegger's insights into postmodernity and technology.

Is there a way out of nihilism's destructive reactivity and anonymity? Philosopher Brian Schroeder argues that play and the liberating freedom of laughter lie at the very heart of the transition from an incapacitating nihilism to an ecstatic nihilism that frees the individual from the spirit of heaviness.

Is nihilism the most important philosophical problem of our present? Philosopher Raymond Geuss talks to four by three in this video about our misconception of nihilism, outlining three ways of questioning it, while asking whether nihilism is a philosophical or a historical problem and whether we are truly nihilists or might simply be confused.

What did Nietzsche think about democracy and equality? Philosopher Maudemarie Clark talks to four by three about Nietzsche’s political views, the possibilities for feminist readings of his work and why he saw value in democratic institutions.

Why did Nietzsche think that morality is harmful to humanity? In this two part interview philosopher Maudemarie Clark talks to four by three about Nietzsche’s ethics, morality as an internalized form of cruelty, and the importance of genealogy as a tool for ethical criticism.

Was Michel Foucault a nihilist?  Dominika Partyga turns to Foucault’s early work to explore how nihilism shaped his critique of modern humanism, the tensions it introduced into his thought, and the possibilities he opened up for new forms of truth and affirmation in the modern world.

Does the world suffer from relativism and nihilism or is it imbued with meaning after all? Philosopher Raymond Geuss talks to four by three about his book A World Without Why, why clarity can be a function of repression, constructive versus radical criticism, and the role of art within philosophy.

How does sound relate to our shared reality and particularity in the world? Artist and writer Salomé Voegelin talks to four by three about her book Sonic Possible Worlds, Lewis' possible world theory, Merleau-Ponty's phenomenology, and the importance of listening.

What is the drama of Emmanuel Levinas’ philosophy? Philosophers Simon Critchley and Alexis Dianda talk to four by three about their latest book 'The Problem with Levinas', reading Levinas in dramatic terms, his troubled relationship with Martin Heidegger and the patriarchal character of his work.