In praise of … Alain de Botton

Editorial: The philosopher's plan for secular temples may be a flop, but there is space for creative conversation about the purpose of religion

This could be Carl Jung’s century

Andrew Samuels: The psychoanalyst saw himself as a sort of therapist for western culture, and his diagnosis of its ills resonates today

Sir Michael Dummett obituary

Philosopher who focused on falsehood and truth in language

Small is beautiful – an economic idea that has sadly been forgotten

Madeleine Bunting: The Big Ideas: It is chilling that so many thinkers, politicians and academics have signed up to the deadening consensus of globalisation

Peter Goldie obituary

A former financier, he became a philosopher of emotions and art

Bede Rundle obituary

Philosopher in the tradition of Aristotle, Kant and Wittgenstein

The capacity for evil can spread like an epidemic

Elisabeth Young-Bruehl: The Big Ideas: The thoughtlessness of the controversy over Arendt's book on Eichmann only reinforces her point about 'the banality of evil'

Aping Mankind: Neuromania, Darwinitis and the Misrepresentation of Humanity by Raymond Tallis – review

An illuminating work debunks the idea that neuroscience can explain everything that makes us human, writes Jane O'Grady

Fancy discussing Nietzsche with Joey Barton?

Joey Barton's Twitter feed unveils the Newcastle United midfielder's philosophical streak

Marshall McLuhan’s message was imbued with conservatism

Lance Strate: The Big Ideas: Although an icon of the counterculture movement, the man who coined 'the medium is the message' was no pill-popping hipster

Carl Jung, part 5: Psychological types

Mark Vernon: The Myers-Briggs test is but one offshoot of Jung's attempt to show how radically people's perceptions and instincts can differ

Carl Jung, part 4: Do archetypes exist?

Mark Vernon: Jung's theory of structuring principles remains controversial – but provides a language to talk about shared experience

These atheist book reviews are just trolling in print

Graeme Richardson: Christians need not respond to Galen Strawson's claim that we are moral babies – ad hominem arguments are rarely persuasive

The necessity of hope

Stan van Hooft: It can carry a dangerous element of supplication, but hope gives us the impetus to seek the betterment of our lives and others

Everyone’s talking about Ayn Rand

A film adaptation of Atlas Shrugged, a BBC documentary and the support of rightwing economists have put the philosopher-novelist back in the news