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Philosophy Basics

A free guide to philosophy since 2008, with a magazine about ideas at work.

Philosophy Basics

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Lives & Ideas

Akihiko Kondo's unofficial 2018 wedding to the virtual singer Hatsune Miku, a hologram on his shelf, cost about 2 million yen. Can a partner who can never say no be one?

Akihiko Kondo held a wedding with a hologram character in 2018. The New York Times reported that he knows Miku isn't real, and I'm not arguing with him. I'm arguing with the idea, because I held a quieter version of it for years: an image of the perfect partner no actual person could beat.

By Justin Brown · October 30, 2026

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Lives & Ideas → In 1946, about a year after leaving the Nazi camps, psychiatrist Viktor Frankl dictated a short book in nine days and wanted it published without his name. By his death in 1997, Man's Search for Meaning had sold over 10 million copies.
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