It took just three days for Taylor Swift's new album The Tortured Poets Department to reach one billion streams on SpotifyThe Swedish audio streaming platform has over 381 million monthly active users. It was named after one of its two founders misheard a name the other suggested.. On 19 April alone, it was listened to 300 million times.

Why is she so powerful? Some think it is because she helps people unravel the deep philosophicalStudying the nature of knowledge, reality and existence. problems in their lives.

Here are four philosophical lessons from her latest album:

Authentic self. French philosopher Jean-Paul SartreA French philosopher who is perhaps the most famous name associated with existentialism. He was married to Simone de Beauvoir. argued that even in prison people are still free to choose how they respond to their circumstances. When Swift sings "Fresh out the slammer, I know who my first call will be to", she suggests that she still makes her own choices even in difficult times.

Constructed self. Michel FoucaultA 20th Century French philosopher, activist and writer who studied the relationship between power and knowledge. argued that we are not born so much as we are made by social, legal and political pressures.³ Swift sings about a similar theme in But Daddy I Love Him, where she complains that "these people only raise you/ To cage you".

Dialectics. SocratesConsidered by some to be the greatest philosopher in history, Socrates is credited with developing the whole notion of critical reason. thought that the best way to teach people was to help them question their own views until they arrive at truth.⁴ Swift wrote the whole of Down Bad in the form of an argument with ex-boyfriend Matty HealyAn English singer-songwriter and member of the band The 1975..

Crime and punishment. Most philosophers agree that justiceTreating people in a manner that is fair. is one of our most essential moral ideas. But to get justice often means to punish, something Swift knows all too well: in The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived she criticises Healy harshly.

Does she have a coherent philosophy?

Yes! Swift is a great thinker who develops the same themes across her whole body of work.

No! Taylor Swift is a pop legend, but to be a true philosopher you need to do years of study. Writing a thoughtful song is not the same thing.