Imagine in your mailbox you find a holiday brochure. You page through it, but something seems odd: what is a “dynamic holiday centre” [DHC]? What can that be?

You sit in a chair, a comfortable one, and there you are, on your own. You’re just not in for conversation, but at the same time you do not want to mull over the same old thoughts again and again. That is the perfect moment for some armchair questions.

In his book “Gulliver’s travels” [1726] Jonathan Swift recommends that at home one should talk with each other by the use of a language of objects.

Philosophy, you may think, is about big questions, questions that rock your life. Philosophical conversations, however, especially at home, are more revealing, when they address small things. Or less friendly said: most of the irritations in daily life are around petty things.