Commonweal Magazine

The April issue is here! Feat.: - @SusanBReynolds1 on Easter and cynicism - @AlexWStern on Wittgenstein and AI - A conversation between Patti Smith and @antoniospadaro - @HeidiSchlumpf on women's ordination And more! commonwealmagazine.org/issues/2026-03…

"Karp’s Promethean sense of self-importance will be right at home in Aspen." Evan Bednarz writes on the Trappist monastery purchased by Palantir CEO Alex Karp: commonwealmagazine.org/benedict-monas…

@MortenHoiJensen: What was wrong with Arthur Schopenhauer? commonwealmagazine.org/Schopenhauer-a…

OPEN NOW: Commonweal is seeking an editorial intern for the summer of 2026! Learn more and join the life of the magazine! cwlmag.org/interns

"A preliminary step would be to detach the Church from Trumpism." @MassimoFaggioli: There’s danger in U.S. bishops’ reluctance to criticize Trumpism. commonwealmagazine.org/faggioli-vatic…

For the April issue of @commonwealmag, I write about a new biography of Schopenhauer and the importance of the German philosopher’s pessimism.

Wrote about Schopenhauer and pessimism for the April issue of @commonwealmag: commonwealmagazine.org/Schopenhauer-a…

Tomorrow is a historic day as @ArchbishopSarah becomes the first female archbishop of Canterbury. In @commonwealmag, I discuss how Mullally’s participation in a medieval pilgrimage represents a sign of ecumenism. tinyurl.com/4jwpphzr

Philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein believed the age of technology would be the beginning of the end for humanity. The increasing ubiquity of AI may prove him right. A new essay by Alexander Stern: commonwealmagazine.org/wittgenstein-a…

I wrote about Wittgenstein and whether AI can mean @commonwealmag

Dame Mullally’s participation in Becket Camino represents a sign of ecumenism as she prepares to become the first woman to lead the Church of England. Analysis from @VRCinDC: commonwealmagazine.org/canterbury-arc…

"To really understand language, LLMs would have to be capable of being born." Alexander Stern on AI, Wittgenstein, and our crisis of meaning: commonwealmagazine.org/wittgenstein-a…

A new biography of Arthur Schopenhauer reveals a more compassionate philosopher, whose ethics of solidarity is one we urgently need now. @MortenHoiJensen reviews: commonwealmagazine.org/Schopenhauer-a…

"Ann Lee's truest testament was the Shaker community’s practice of care across the boundaries of kinship, gender, and race." Vincent Miller reflects on 'The Testament of Ann Lee': commonwealmagazine.org/testament-ann-…

"The basis of Schopenhauer’s ethics was a kind of solidarity of the suffering." @MortenHoiJensen reviews a new consideration of the oft-misunderstood German philosopher: commonwealmagazine.org/Schopenhauer-a…

The rural Ireland of my parents’ generation more closely resembled the Middle Ages than 21st-century Europe. John Rodden: 'No Mirrors, Shared Shoes' commonwealmagazine.org/rodden-ireland…

"Jesus called, and still calls, women to discipleship. Women first proclaimed the Resurrection." Commonweal readers respond to Paul Baumann's essay on women's ordination: commonwealmagazine.org/baumann-women-…

When I met a fourteen-year-old Harrison Ford, I was sure he wouldn’t amount to much. Peter Steinfels: 'Wrong About Harry' commonwealmagazine.org/ford-harrison-…

"There will no longer be monks singing the Salve Regina as night closes in on the valley around St. Benedict’s. Prayers for peace will be replaced by schemes for war." Evan Bednarz on the sale of a Trappist monastery to a billionaire war profiteer: commonwealmagazine.org/benedict-monas…

"The airing of grief is, paraphrasing Walter Brueggemann, an act of bold faith that refuses to accept the world as it is." Joe Rubio reflects on the raising of Lazarus for the fifth Sunday of Lent: commonwealmagazine.org/rubio-joe-lent…