Words for our times /7The true, disarming strengthTo us, those behind the Iron Curtain were dissidents. They preferred to call themselves ‘differently minded’. By thinking and living differently, they had done the simplest thing: in an unfree country, to behave like free peoplebyAdriano Dell’Asta22 AUG 26
Words for Our Times /6The paradox of freedomThis same force ‘crushes just as ruthlessly’ those who fall under its yoke as it ‘ruthlessly intoxicates those who possess it or believe they possess it’. Simone Weil’s work explores the very close link between power and self-determination that defines the human conditionbyCostantino Esposito15 AUG 26
Words for our times /3Strength as a founding principle: the yardstick for us EuropeansAfter the Second World War, the cult of strength vanished from the Old Continent’s radar as swiftly as someone trying to forget a nightmare. Not only that: what prevailed was a cult of weaknessbyLuigi Marco Bassani25 JUL 26
Words for our times /2The profound ambiguity of the force that has held science in check for centuriesThe central problem of philosophy, Newton wrote, seems to be that of discovering the forces of nature. Physics, however, does not teach us how to avoid catastrophe. That is a task that falls entirely to usbyLuca Amendola18 JUL 26
