Why did I choose to write an absurdist novel?
Declan Toohey on how his debut, Perpetual Comedown, came into being
Jean Paul Sartre
Happening review: Unwanted pregnancy in 1960s France
Audrey Diwan’s award-winning study has the tension of a thriller
A Yamaha 50 isn’t ideal transport when you are in labour
It was the summer of 1981 when my first daughter was born
Jean-Paul Belmondo, star of Breathless, dies aged 88
French actor, nicknamed Bébel, was one of country’s biggest stars in 1960s and 1970s
Should we cancel Immanuel Kant and Friedrich Nietzsche?
Unthinkable: Famous philosophers are being reappraised in light of their prejudices
To the atheist Sartre: Thank you for this vivid incarnation of Jesus
French existentialist philosopher wrote nativity play while a prisoner of war
In a Word . . . People
‘Hell is other people’ is a line from the play Huis Clos/No Exit by French philosopher Jean- Paul Sartre
Micheál Martin wants us to have ‘a meaningful Christmas’ – but what does that mean?
Unthinkable: Perhaps existentialism can help us navigate the Taoiseach’s suggestion
John Creedon: The outsiders who left their names in Ireland
The influence of foreigners is still seen across Ireland’s place names today
Ghost of Juliette Gréco lingers over Saint-Germain-des-Prés
Paris Letter: Performer sang of her beloved city, of amour, rebellion and fleeting pleasures
Charlie Hebdo staff uphold ‘fight for liberty’ at trial over massacre
Wounded survivors testify in Paris detailing massacre which killed 12 of their colleagues
Ten philosophers to help us through the coronavirus crisis
Unthinkable: Sartre and Schopenhauer make the list but Peig Sayers deserves inclusion too
Breda O’Brien: There is something particularly vile about Jean Vanier
In the midst of such darkness, how can one find the light?
There’s no meaning of life. Now, happy Christmas!
Unthinkable: Meaning can be found in everything from a loving relationship to playing chess, says philosopher Jonathan Rowson
September scents: Four grown-up perfumes for the new season
Winning fragrances from Byredo, Timothy Han/Edition, Chanel and Jo Malone
‘We’re fed up with white Parisian men making films about us’
Film-maker Nadir Dendoune is reappropriating the north African immigrant story
Can a novel also be a work of philosophy?
Unthinkable: Literature allows us capture ‘weirdness’ of life, says Matthew McKeever
Sheila O’Donnell: Architect who has spent a lifetime building connections
Riba’s Woman Architect of the Year prize just the latest big award for Irishwoman
Claude Lanzmann, chronicler of the Holocaust, dies aged 92
Film director most well known for ‘Shoah’ which he spent 12 years making
Chris Johns: Brexit semantics game focuses on meaning of ‘meaningful’
Shift in Brexit deadline or further fudge awaits as hard Brexiteers run clock down
May 1968 and the death of a French revolution
Sorbonne protests 50 years ago ushered in a new era. Today’s students are ‘too busy’ to protest
Joshua and Parker will see plenty of thinking - and bruising
Joshua: ‘Boxing is not just about knocking people out. It’s healthy living, discipline’
In a word . . . Philosophy
So much of our youth was wasted on slight philosophies offering shallow answers to overwhelming questions
Ruben Östlund: ‘I worry that left-wing people misunderstand Marx’
An encounter with homeless children in Ireland spurred the director to make films that challenge political beliefs
Digital world blatantly ignoring individuals’ rights
WWW has shifted away from opportunities of World Wide Web into the World Wild West
Simone de Beauvoir’s ‘contingent’ lovers fight over letters
Long after existentialist philosopher’s death, simmering rivalry links protagonists
Tales from bedsitland: a grubby rite of passage for young Irish
Irish Times readers share their experiences of shared toilets and one-bar electric heaters
Pierre Berge, driving force behind Yves Saint Laurent label, dies at 86
Businessman was one of France’s leading art patrons as well as chief of fashion house
How Charles Baudelaire became France’s first rock star
The poet, who died 150 years ago this week, retains significant influence and allure
Editor who published Julia Child and Anne Frank’s diary
Obituary: Judith Jones, editor, born March 10th, 1924; died August 2nd, 2017
Dear atheists, please stop calling religion a meme
Unthinkable: ‘Catholic agnostic’ Gary Gutting criticises pseudoscientific putdowns of religion
How to get what you want from your builder
Sometimes it just takes a little role-play to ensure you end up with the desired result
Survivors of the emotional deep freeze – Maynooth’s class of ‘66 looks back
Students who gave up the seminary 50 years ago recall a suffocating atmosphere that infantilised seminarians, but also some rare acts of kindness and enlightenment
Meet the man who will redesign the US ambassador’s house
'No beige', says Carleton Viney, who has been asked to redesign the next US ambassador's Phoenix Park residence
Unthinkable: Why are beauty standards becoming more onerous?
‘You are not going to be thin, with curves, on your deathbed,’ says philosopher Heather Widdows
Van the Man looks back at 50-plus years of making music
Influenial, inscrutible Van Morrison gives his most comprehensive interview ever
Culture Shock: the nightmare from which we are trying to awake
‘Take Me to Church’ could be seen as blasphemous, but is anyone ready to sue Hozier?
Concerning Violence review: people power
Colonialism and its violently radicalising effect is the subject of this chilling documentary
Is Irish literature too local to have philosophical heft?
In broader European and American literature, it is easier to find genuine marriages of philosophy and fiction
Body blows plus move to digital may render ‘Libération’ old news
French left-wing title was newspaper of the baby-boom generation
Venting about renting: my problem with landlords
In school I would stare at those history textbook illustrations – grim drawings of tenants being dragged from their cottages by a bailiff. After four years of dealing with landlords, I can empathise
Author made famous by his first book, ‘The Outsider’
Colin Wilson: June 26th, 1931-December 5th, 2013
How absurd: the world as Albert Camus saw it
The writer, always his own man, refused to take sides on Algeria and was an anti-Soviet leftist even though it led to a rupture with fellow intellectual Sartre
Tipperary manager Eamon O’Shea has mixed feeling after league final defeat
‘We’re not at the level that we want to be at yet – we’ll be trying hard to get there’
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