Argument Shopping

Anselm's Ontological Argument

John Danaher | Philosophical Disquisitions | 21st December 2023

Close examination of the argument advanced in the late 11th century by St Anselm of Canterbury to "prove" the existence of God. Anselm's logic may seem vacuous at best to secular modern eyes, but it has defied philosophers' attempts at refutation for almost a thousand years. "Most philosophers think it must be wrong in some way, but [cannot] pinpoint exactly what is wrong with it" (7,000 words)

Zola And Shopping

Agnes Callard | Unherd | 19th December 2023

To understand the behavioural economics of shopping, ignore the behavioural economists, and read Au Bonheur Des Dames, by Emile Zola. This fictionalised portrait of a Parisian department store captures the birth of "a new type of desire, a new set of human relationships". Zola saw that the joy of shopping lay not in the thing that was bought, but in the freedom to choose and to spend (2,150 words)