Speaker
,Author
Maria Balaska
Maria Balaska is currently a research fellow at the University of Hertfordshire and at Åbo Akademi University and author of Wittgenstein and Lacan at the Limit: meaning and astonishment. Her second, forthcoming monograph, focuses on wonder and anxiety as encounters with nothing.
Maria Balaska is currently a research fellow at the University of Hertfordshire and at Åbo Akademi University. Her publications include the monograph Wittgenstein and Lacan at the Limit: meaning and astonishment, Palgrave Macmillan, 2019 and the edited collection Cora Diamond on Ethics, Palgrave Macmillan, 2020. Her second and forthcoming monograph focuses on wonder and anxiety as encounters with nothing that can offer an ontological insight; it brings together Heidegger, Wittgenstein, and Kierkegaard.

Maria Balaska is currently a research fellow at the University of Hertfordshire and at Åbo Akademi University. Her publications include the monograph Wittgenstein and Lacan at the Limit: meaning and astonishment, Palgrave Macmillan, 2019 and the edited collection Cora Diamond on Ethics, Palgrave Macmillan, 2020. Her second and forthcoming monograph focuses on wonder and anxiety as encounters with nothing that can offer an ontological insight; it brings together Heidegger, Wittgenstein, and Kierkegaard.
Maria Balaska Videos

Philosophy, psychoanalysis and the wisdom of youth
An interview with Maria Balaska

The end of good and evil
Can humans ever be inherently good or evil?

The search for meaning
Does philosophy give meaning to our life?

Lost in language
Is analytic philosophy's fixation on language holding us back?
Maria Balaska Articles
More Videos

In Search of the Self
Are you an illusion?

The Limits of Logic
Should we embrace the irrational?

The Fractured Mind
Bence Nanay | Should we avoid temptations?

The Dance of Life
Is experience all that we have?

In Search Of Ourselves
Is self-discovery a desirable and vital goal?

Neuroscience vs. Philosophy
Explaining the secrets of the mind

The Limits of Reason
Is knowledge stranger than reason?

The Illusion of Sense
Do our senses radically limit our understanding?

How to be a Stoic
Live your Best Life

Knowing Others and Knowing Oneself
Are the minds of others profoundly unknowable?

The Mind and the World
Raymond Tallis | The issue with neuromania

The Limits of Freedom
Is there such a thing as too much freedom?

The Secrets of Consciousness
Can the brain explain experience?

Matter and Mind
Is consciousness inexplicable?

Hearts and Minds
Should intuition or reason guide us?

The Story of I
Where does the narrative of the self come from?

The Chemistry of Freedom
Is free will an illusion?

Mind and the Universe
Is consciousness stranger than we thought?

Fate, Freedom, and Neuroscience
The science of free will

Truth, Lies and Self-Deception
Can we see ourselves clearly if we want to?

Secrets of the Mind
Can science explain consciousness?

The Mind's Eye
Consciousness and the soul

The Extended Mind
Is consciousness confined to the body?

Owning Ourselves
Are our bodies our property?

Being Conscious
The science and philosophy of consciousness

On Having a Mind, Having a Body, and Being a Person

The Fragility of the Human Personality

Dangerous Convictions
Frank Furedi | Could we live without certainty?

Actual Consciousness
The Limits of Human Consciousness and Thought

Stories of Desire
Can desire help us make sense of the world?

At One With Ourselves
Are meditation and mindfulness just myths?

Mind in the 21st Century

The Tyranny of Freedom
Do we have too much choice?

The Evolution of Consciousness
The transformative ideas of Owen Barfield

The Edge of Reason
Beyond the limits of rationality

Metaphors of the Mind
Does metaphor hold the key to consciousness?

The Road to the Good Life
Is reason the key to a better world?

Are Selves Unreal?
Debunking the establishment's attack on the Self

Animal Reason
Is consciousness unique to humans?

Inside the Mind’s Eye

Catching Sight of Ourselves
Who looks back in the mirror?

The Philosopher’s Guide to Style
Why appearance matters

The Ego Trick
Is the self an illusion?

Sensuality and Deception

Who Looks Back in the Mirror
Are we any closer to understanding the self, and what makes each one of us who we are?

Outrageous Fortune
Fate in modern society

The Architecture of Being
Navigating our relationships

Entering the Unknown
What can we know of ourselves and the world?

Thinking Afresh
Is consistency consistent?

The View From Outside
More Articles

The morality of animals

The two ideas that divide us

Nature loves a hypocrite

Who is to blame for migrant deaths?

In defence of pessimism

Christmas traditions don't need religion

The Epicurean's guide to Christmas

How four women revolutionised ethics

Are mandatory vaccines justified?

Groundhog Day vs Nietzsche: Reliving Your Life

The Return of Meaning

Humour is no joke

Change Thyself: your personality is a moral issue

The rules of war are absurd, but necesssary

What Hobbes really thought about war

Why getting what you want won't make you happy

Moderating Twitter's Moderators

Truth is questionable, and so is honesty

Nietzsche: your conscience is no saint

5 philosophers on how to face death

Happiness as an act of resistance

The present is all there is to happiness

Paul Bloom: The Pleasure of Suffering

Pandemic prediction from Lucretius

Mapping morality: Peter Singer vs his critics

The danger of ethics without empathy

Schopenhauer and the insatiable will to live

How effective altruism lost the plot

Pursuing happiness is a mistake

Nietzsche and the perils of denying your self