Damon Horowitz teaches philosophy through the Prison University Project, bringing college-level classes to inmates of San Quentin State Prison. In this powerful short talk, he tells the story of an encounter with right and wrong that quickly gets personal.

In the 4th century BCE, a young Diogenes of Sinope was found to be counterfeiting coins. He was stripped of his citizenship, his money, all his possessions and sent into exile. He decided he would live self-sufficiently, close to nature, without materialism, vanity, or conformity and only then could he be truly free. William D. Desmond details h...

Business management in China is changing, says consultant Fang Ruan. Learn how Chinese entrepreneurs -- long guided by Confucianism's emphasis on authority and regulation -- are now looking to Taoist philosophy for a new, dynamic leadership style that believes things spontaneously transform and naturally achieve perfection when they're supported...

Born with a rare genetic disorder called progeria, Sam Berns knew he'd be facing more obstacles in life than most. This didn't stop him from taking charge of his own happiness. In this moving and inspirational talk, Berns lays out the three principles of the personal philosophy that allowed him to do so.

Alain de Botton examines our ideas of success and failure -- and questions the assumptions underlying these two judgments. Is success always earned? Is failure? He makes an eloquent, witty case to move beyond snobbery to find true pleasure in our work.

Why is there something rather than nothing? In his book "Why Does the World Exist?" Jim Holt dares to ask.

How do we find fulfillment in a world that's constantly changing? Raymond Tang struggled with this question until he came across the ancient Chinese philosophy of the Tao Te Ching. In it, he found a passage comparing goodness to water, an idea he's now applying to his everyday life. In this charming talk, he shares three lessons he's learned so ...

When asked to build housing for 100 families in Chile ten years ago, Alejandro Aravena looked to an unusual inspiration: the wisdom of favelas and slums. Rather than building a large building with small units, he built flexible half-homes that each family could expand on. It was a complex problem, but with a simple solution — one that he arrived...

Life-hack master Tim Ferriss gives an intimate look into the darker moments in his life, his Stoic philosophy, and his new passion for psychedelics. (Audio only)

How do we consume data? At TED@SXSWi, technologist JP Rangaswami muses on our relationship to information, and offers a surprising and sharp insight: we treat it like food.

Rebecca Newberger Goldstein writes novels and nonfiction that explore questions of philosophy, morality and being.

At the age of 21, Simone de Beauvoir became the youngest person to take the philosophy exams at France's most esteemed university. But as soon as she mastered the rules of philosophy, she wanted to break them. Her desire to explore the physical world to its fullest would shape her life, and eventually, inspire radical new philosophies. Iseult Gi...

What makes you, you? Is it how you think of yourself, how others think of you, or something else entirely? Philosopher Julian Baggini draws from philosophy and neuroscience to give a surprising answer.

According to cognitive scientist Donald Hoffman, our brains are showing us a "hacked" version of reality. His revolutionary new way of thinking about consciousness combines the study of evolution with insights into brain activity in an attempt to solve the mysteries behind how we perceive the world. (Audio only)

Albert Camus grew up surrounded by violence. His homeland of Algeria was mired in conflict. He lost his father in World War I. Seeing World War II's devastation, Camus grew despondent. What was the meaning behind all this endless bloodshed and suffering? And if the world was meaningless, could our individual lives still hold value? Nina Medvinsk...

In his work, David Chalmers explores the “hard problem of consciousness" -- the quest to explain our subjective experience.

How do you know you're real? Is existence all just a big dream? Has some mad scientist duped us into simply believing that we exist? James Zucker investigates all of these questions (and more) in this mind-boggling tribute to René Descartes's "Meditations on First Philosophy." [Directed by Stretch Films, Inc., narrated by Addison Anderson].

Ruth Chang asks why some choices are so hard — and what that means for the human condition.

Twenty four hundred years ago, Plato, one of history’s most famous thinkers, said life is like being chained up in a cave forced to watch shadows flitting across a stone wall. Beyond sounding quite morbid, what exactly did he mean? Alex Gendler unravels Plato's Allegory of the Cave, found in Book VII of "The Republic." [Directed by John R. Dilwo...

Here's a talk that could literally change your life. Which career should I pursue? Should I break up -- or get married?! Where should I live? Big decisions like these can be agonizingly difficult. But that's because we think about them the wrong way, says philosopher Ruth Chang. She offers a powerful new framework for shaping who we truly are.

Julian Baggini is a journalist and philosopher who studies the complexities of personal identity. He is the editor-in-chief of the Philosophers' Magazine.

Why is there something instead of nothing? In other words: Why does the universe exist (and why are we in it)? Philosopher and writer Jim Holt follows this question toward three possible answers. Or four. Or none.

Philosopher Daniel H. Cohen studies language and the way we argue through reason.

Damon Horowitz reviews the enormous new powers that technology gives us: to know more -- and more about each other -- than ever before. Drawing the audience into a philosophical discussion, Horowitz invites us to pay new attention to the basic philosophy -- the ethical principles -- behind the burst of invention remaking our world. Where's the m...

Sometimes controversial, always practical ethicist Peter Singer stirs public debate about morality, from animal welfare to global poverty.

Philosopher Stephen Cave wants to know: Why is humanity so obsessed with living forever?

Damon Horowitz explores what is possible at the boundaries of technology and the humanities.

Michael Patrick Lynch examines truth, democracy, public discourse and the ethics of technology in the age of big data.

How does the metaphorical lightbulb go off? Is it a flash of genius? The power of crowds? These heady talks explore the nature of ideas themselves: Where they come from, how they evolve, and how each of us can nurture them.

We all love parsing the twists and folds of a good old-fashioned mystery -- of all kinds.