Undefinable yet indispensable

Despite centuries of trying, the term ‘religion’ has proven impossible to define. Then why does it remain so necessary?

Kwame Anthony Appiah

Also on Aeon this week

essay / Ethics

If AIs can feel pain, what is our responsibility towards them?

Conor Purcell

Essay / Political philosophy

Decolonise political thought: Africa’s alternatives to liberalism

Gabriel Asuquo

video / The ancient world

Explore the vast road network that made the Roman Empire possible

Directed by Grant Cox

Public health officials created a system that could blame women for the structural failures of industrial capitalism

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Sherry Chan, writer and editor at the intersection of science and culture, and editor-in-chief of Initium Media, an independent, award-winning Chinese-language media platform

Read the Essay: How ‘scientific motherhood’ polices and subjugates women

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Why ‘religion’ is undefinable yet indispensable