It took me quite a while to find a good, comprehensive source for varied and legitimate blogs about values, ethics, wisdom, and such; your basic philosophy resource. I found Feedspot to be a neat clearinghouse for blogs on many, many topics, including philosophy. I am a big fan of written books, but nowadays it seems like blogs, RSS feeds, social media, podcasts, and cell phones are all the rage. Of course this makes me a bit nervous; have you seen the Netflix series Black Mirror?! At any rate, I will now share with you a dozen external blogs about values, ethics, wisdom, and other areas of philosophy to supplement what I hope is your #1 source for blogs about values and such – Values of the Wise!
Crash Course: Philosophy
Okay, I lied. I said I would refer you to blogs about values and other philosophical concepts, but this is a superb, 40-part, YouTube-based look at a very wide array philosophical concepts such as ethics, free will, epistemology, and so on. I really like these 10-minute, snappy, engaging videos. You won’t be disappointed if you like a pretty basic approach to learning about philosophy.
Footnotes to Plato
Massimo Pigliucci is a philosopher who writes well and often. He’s got the chops, for sure. One could literally spend six months straight, 9am to 5pm, reading his work I think. Here is an article about Socrates — actually one of six. If you like this one, click on “Ancient Philosophy (13)” on the right side and find Part II of the series.
Bonus Feature: Pigliucci’s full-length PDF book entitled The Nature of Philosophy
Bonus Feature II: How to Be a Stoic
Bonus Feature III: Rationally Speaking
Ask A Philosopher
With this page full of questions and answers as well as the archive of previous material, you could stay busy for a year reading all this good stuff! Scroll through, try not to get overwhelmed, and find some Q&A you are interested in.
Bonus Feature: Pathways to Philosophy, a series of diverse essays
3 a.m. Magazine
I like reading almost anything about Donald Trump, and it tends to be from a journalist, editorialist, satirist, etc. This is an example of what you will find at 3: a.m. Magazine: a philosphical look at Donald Trump’s makeup. I am also very fond of psychological takes on our narcissist in chief. Or how about a very practical look at a unique philosopical issue: Should we mourn the death of bad people? This isn’t one of my favorite blogs about values, but it’s still something to have bookmarked next to Values of the Wise!
Feedspot: Philosophy Blogs
The mother of all collections of philosophy blogs, Feedspot is a recommended bookmark for sure.
Tom V. Morris’ Blog
I have known Tom for well over a decade, and read some of his books. Always readable, and a good heart. He’s got the chops.
Practical Ethics
This resource is from the University of Oxford and is about, well, you guessed it – a practical look at ethics! As ethics can be a bit esoteric, the more practical the better. Have you heard of the Trolley Thought Experiment??
Here is a link for an article about free will vs. determinism.
Bonus Feature: Ethical Dilemmas: A Primer for Decision-Making
Encyclopedia of Concise Concepts by Women Philosophers
Of all the blogs about values, ethics, and the like, only one I have come across is centered around an endangered species: women philosophers. As you can see from this post about care ethics or this one about judgment by Hannah Arendt, they are a valued part of philosophy through the ages. You will be surprised how far back these historically-remote philosophical writings by women go (e.g., Mary Wollenstonecraft, Jane Addams, etc). Note: look to the right-hand side and click on either philosophers, contributors, concepts, or keywords.
The Rubin Report
This is more of a podcast, but who’s keeping track! It is mostly political, and isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but does get into big ideas. If you have listened to all 85 of my fairly politically liberal podcasts about values, ethics, wisdom, and personal growth, maybe give Dave a try for some contrast. Maybe begin with one about libertarianism.
The Basics of Philosophy
I lied again. Though I love blogs about values and such, this is more of a “website” about philosophical concepts. But it comes at these ideas in a very clear-headed and understandable way. The motto of this well-designed site is “A huge subject broken up into manageable chunks”! It’s a great way to look up a word such as utilitarianism, metaphysics, or positivism! Read these entries and you’ll be ready for the granddaddy of online philosophical resources, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
The Partially-Examined Life
What a neat title! This is a big and deep site. It features blogs about values as well as podcasts about a huge number of subjects in the realm of philosophy. Here is a place to begin: Science, Religion, and Secularism.
Philosophy Talk
Though this is supposed to be about philosophy blogs, I wanted to include another (yes, another!) podcast-based resource. It is well-done, high-concept, approachable, legitimate, and broad. Maybe start with this 6-part series on intellectual humility – something we could all use more of in the politically and religiously partisan climate!
A Philosopher’s Take
The byline for this site is “A group of bloggers discussing philosophical ideas…” Sign me up.
Try: “The Moral Value of Compassion”
Reason and Meaning
John G. Messerly’s site is deeeeep and wide. Lean back your BarcaLounger, it’s gonna get good.
HERE is a look at cultural relativism, which is an important part of ethics
Friendly Atheist
Who doesn’t love a friendly atheist!? (I suppose you could answer: “About 150,000,000 Americans”). Anyway, as you can see from this very recent article entitled “Pastor: When You See ‘Atheist Homos’ Waving Their Rainbow Flag, Think of Hell“, this writer is all over Christian evangelism and orthodoxy – the natural enemy of the atheist. Or try this on for size: “Pennsylvania Governor Nominee Tells Teen She is ‘Young and Naive’ After Climate Change Question.”
I hope you enjoyed this listing of blogs about values, ethics, wisdom, and the philosophical life! Try one of my podcasts or books!
