Podcasts by Category
- 885 - Intellectual humility
Humility is the capacity for acknowledging that your own wisdom may be flawed, and that your epistemic commitments may be misplaced - but how can that acknowledgement honestly take place if you believe that the things you know are true?
Thu, 28 Mar 2024 - 28min - 884 - Freedom or liberty?
"Freedom" has become a familiar catchcry in Western democracies, as individuals and protest groups increasingly push back against government restrictions of any and all kinds. The problems this poses for communal life and social cohesion are obvious - so how should freedom be properly understood?
Thu, 21 Mar 2024 - 40min - 883 - Philosophy, angst and hope
How does a woman philosopher deal with the challenges posed by conservative, masculinist culture within her own academic discipline? Our guest this week turns to the work of Immanuel Kant, the 18th century German thinker who formulated a fine-grained philosophy of hope.
Fri, 15 Mar 2024 - 27min - 882 - Music, taste and AI
When you think about the music you like (or don't like), what does it tell you about your taste? Do you think you have good taste? And if you do, why? What is it about music that determines good or bad taste, and is it possible to cultivate the former?
Thu, 07 Mar 2024 - 42min - 881 - The philosophy of twins
This week we're exploring our enduring cultural fascination with identical twins, asking what drives it, and what philosophical questions around selfhood and identity are raised by twinship.
Fri, 01 Mar 2024 - 28min - 880 - Philosophy, disability and the gut
Digestive disorders are a common source of distress and social anxiety - which might seem to be an odd topic for philosophy, until you start to think about why we attach such stigma, shame and silence to issues of the gut. What does the gut tell us about our own experience of embodiment - and how can disability theory be used to shape healthier attitudes to the gut issues that plague so many of us?
Fri, 23 Feb 2024 - 29min - 879 - Pornography and free speech
The global pornography industry is getting bigger, more mainstream and more nasty - but does this mean it should be regulated? Many feminist philosophers would say yes - but this places them at odds with liberal defenders of pornography, who worry that regulation would constitute an attack on free speech.
Fri, 16 Feb 2024 - 32min - 878 - What are Australian philosophers thinking?
Australian philosophy has been punching above its weight in recent decades - but does there exist something that we could call an identifiably Australian philosophical tradition? And how does the future of Australian philosophy look, at a time when the academic Humanities are under siege, and universities are being pushed to turn out "job-ready graduates"?
Thu, 08 Feb 2024 - 34min - 877 - Queer vs the state
For a long time there's been an ambivalent relationship between LGBTQ communities and the state. Even in liberal democracies, which supposedly exist to protect the interests of all their citizens, examples of the state-sanctioned persecution of sexual minorities can be found right up to the present day. And the intellectual project of queer theory has had an anti-state scepticism baked into it from its earliest inception.
Wed, 31 Jan 2024 - 43min - 876 - What is swearing?
What exactly is it about swearing that gives it its offensive power? None of the standard philosophy-of-language explanations really gets to the bottom of why we swear, why we don't, and what we're doing when we use "obscene" language. This week, the author of a new book offers some thoughts.
Thu, 25 Jan 2024 - 34min - 875 - Friendship
What makes a true friend? Aristotle in his Nicomachean Ethics outlines certain conditions for virtuous friendship, but he sets the bar high, and his estimation of women's capacity for friendship is low. This week we're putting Aristotle in dialogue with Mary Astell, an early modern (and proto-feminist) English philosopher who also wrote extensively on friendship.
Thu, 18 Jan 2024 - 28min - 874 - Transgender identity and experience
Transgender is commonly invoked as an identity, but this week we're asking if it is better understood as something that points to experience.
Thu, 11 Jan 2024 - 30min - 873 - Gender, gaming and pop culture
If you're a gamer, you might be interested to hear that according to a new study, female characters speak approximately half as much as male characters in video games. But why should philosophers be interested?
Thu, 04 Jan 2024 - 28min - 872 - Richard Rorty and America
In 1998, the American philosopher Richard Rorty predicted dark days for democracy and the rise of a Trump-like figure in the USA. This week, with the publication of a new collection of Rorty's essays, we're considering the ongoing relevance of his work.
Thu, 28 Dec 2023 - 35min - 871 - Women philosophers in antiquity
If you don't know much about women philosophers in the ancient Graeco-Roman world, you have a good excuse. They're known to have existed, but hardly any of their works have survived, and historical accounts of their lives tend to come from biographies written by men. This week we try to unravel the mystery.
Thu, 21 Dec 2023 - 28min - 870 - Time in the time of COVID
During the lockdowns at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, people started to experience a strange sense of temporal distortion - time slowing down, time speeding up, time getting bent out of shape. This week we hear from a philosopher, a historian and a sociologist about how that might have happened, and what it might mean.
Thu, 14 Dec 2023 - 28min - 869 - Stability, security and survival: a conversation with Mary Graham
Mary Graham is one of Australia's most distinguished Aboriginal academics and authors. In this conversation, she articulates a political philosophy of relationality, conflict management and much more.
Fri, 08 Dec 2023 - 28min - 868 - Libertarianism
Libertarians are hard to pin down – they have a number of seemingly contradictory commitments that we normally associate with people on either the left or the right of politics. Libertarians like small government, low taxes and free markets – but they also favour things like same-sex marriage and drug legalisation. So what exactly is libertarianism, and where did it come from?
Wed, 29 Nov 2023 - 40min - 867 - The Cynics
Cynicism is a philosophical tradition that existed for centuries in the ancient Graeco-Roman world. Its influence can be found in the Christian gospels, throughout the Western philosophical tradition, and arguably up to the present day in the work of such protest groups as Just Stop Oil and Extinction Rebellion - not bad for a philosophical school whose most famous early practitioner lived in a wine jar and masturbated in public. But what exactly did the Cynics believe? and what can we learn from them today?
Fri, 24 Nov 2023 - 45min - 866 - The philosophy of biology
Biology is a scientific discipline, notionally given to the pursuit of hard facts and empirical evidence - so what can philosophy bring to the table?
Thu, 16 Nov 2023 - 28min - 865 - Banality, deception and evil
Hannah Arendt's "banality of evil" thesis has been hugely influential in moral philosophy, but how well does it hold up today? This week we're asking if Arendt's characterisation of Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann as a mindless functionary, devoid of ideology, was accurate - and whether or not it's still important to understand evil as something that doesn't always appear as dramatic of colourful.
Fri, 10 Nov 2023 - 35min - 864 - Defining Aboriginality
The legal definition of Aboriginality is a complex issue, raising questions that have to do with identity, epistemology and politics. And while "race" as a biological category has been scientifically discredited, it still persists in Australian society, culture and law. So how should Aboriginality be defined?
Fri, 03 Nov 2023 - 28min - 863 - Race, biology and medicine
The idea that race is a "natural" category, grounded in biology, has long been discredited - and yet it persists in a surprising number of places. This week we're looking at how medical practice has been shaped by outmoded assumptions about race, and how these assumptions directly affect the health of racialised people.
Thu, 26 Oct 2023 - 28min - 862 - Is there purpose in the cosmos?
To many people, the notion that the universe has consciousness and purpose belongs back in the pre-scientific era. This week we're exploring the possibility that cosmic purpose is defensible not only philosophically, but also scientifically.
Wed, 18 Oct 2023 - 36min - 861 - Power, domination and the ethics of global philanthropy
When billionaires want to make a positive difference in the world, many of them turn to philanthropy. Which is fine in principle, but this week we're asking if giving away money via huge global philanthropic foundations is really an unalloyed good.
Thu, 12 Oct 2023 - 34min - 860 - Poverty and punishment
This year's Royal Commission into the Robodebt Scheme exposed a system that unfairly (and illegally) subjected vulnerable people to stress and trauma - but was it deliberately punitive? And to what extent does our welfare system reflect negative public attitudes toward people living in poverty?
Thu, 05 Oct 2023 - 36min - 859 - Free will, consciousness and AI: a conversation with Daniel Dennett
Daniel Dennett is one of the world's leading philosophers and cognitive scientists - at 81, and with a new memoir published, he's still as provocative and inspiring as ever.
Fri, 29 Sep 2023 - 38min - 858 - René Girard and victimhood
The politics of victimhood is a feature of our contemporary cultural landscape - but according to French philosopher René Girard, the impetus behind victim politics has been driving human civilisation for millennia.
Fri, 22 Sep 2023 - 28min - 857 - Beauty and AI
AI-powered beauty apps are becoming increasingly popular, as people use them to evaluate, rate and enhance their facial appearance in selfies and other images. But exactly what's going on behind the technological wizardry raises a host of troubling ethical and philosophical concerns.
Thu, 14 Sep 2023 - 28min - 856 - The pathology of ugliness
There are plenty of features of our faces and bodies that we don't necessarily like - but does this make them aberrations that require medical intervention? As the cosmetic surgery industry goes from strength to strength, the answer would increasingly appear to be Yes.
Fri, 08 Sep 2023 - 28min - 855 - Women philosophers in 19th century Germany
When we think of 19th century German philosophy, we perhaps think first of Nietzsche, or Hegel, and then some other men - but Germany in the 1800s was also home to a number of women philosophers.
Thu, 31 Aug 2023 - 38min - 854 - Police abolition
What might a society without police look like? For some, the idea of police abolition evokes a vision of danger, anarchy and chaos - but for heavily-policed communities subject to high rates of incarceration, it's a survival imperative.
Thu, 24 Aug 2023 - 28min - 853 - Neofeudalism: techno-lords and peasants
For many on the political left, the end of capitalism is a cherished ideal - but what if capitalism ended and we found ourselves with something worse? This week we're exploring the possibility that Western liberal democracies could be sliding in the direction of "neofeudalism" and devolving into a much nastier set of economic and social structures than the ones we presently have.
Fri, 18 Aug 2023 - 39min - 852 - Friendship
What makes a true friend? Aristotle in his Nicomachean Ethics outlines certain conditions for virtuous friendship, but he sets the bar high, and his estimation of women's capacity for friendship is low. This week we're putting Aristotle in dialogue with Mary Astell, an early modern (and proto-feminist) English philosopher who also wrote extensively on friendship.
Fri, 11 Aug 2023 - 28min - 851 - Gaslighting
Gaslighting is the word on everyone's lips right now – in fact, Merriam-Webster named it their Word of the Year for 2022. But what is it about gaslighting that has us all talking about it? And why is it philosophically interesting?
Fri, 04 Aug 2023 - 28min - 850 - Why time doesn't pass
Most of us experience time as something that passes, or flows like a river - or at least we think we do. Could it be that the sense of time passing is just an illusion? This week we're getting to grips with a theory of time that denies the reality of "flow" - and we're asking why time seems to speed up or slow down in certain situations.
Fri, 28 Jul 2023 - 28min - 849 - Exploring Tourette's
Tourette Syndrome is not well understood, even by clinicians, and it raises a host of fascinating philosophical questions around volition and free will. Is Tourette's-related behaviour intentional? And if it is, should it be understood as action that carries moral responsibility?
Fri, 21 Jul 2023 - 38min - 848 - Philosophy and myth
There was once a time when mythology and philosophy got along perfectly well together. But since the Enlightenment, philosophy has come to regard myth as something of an embarrassment – especially in political theory, where the memory of "blood and soil" Nazi ideology is still fresh. Is there a role for myth in secular democratic politics, and in modern philosophy?
Wed, 12 Jul 2023 - 28min - 847 - Transgender identity and experience
Transgender is commonly invoked as an identity, but this week we're asking if it is better understood as something that points to experience.
Thu, 06 Jul 2023 - 30min - 846 - How philosophy fell in love with language
Around the beginning of the 20th century, philosophy began to take what's come to be known as "the linguistic turn". All major philosophical questions, it was argued, were really questions about language, and this conviction would dominate philosophical discourse for the next century. But are philosophers now starting to turn away from the linguistic turn? And what might be coming next?
Wed, 28 Jun 2023 - 28min - 845 - Philosophy for tough times
Life is hard - disappointment, regret and suffering come with the territory - and if the projections of climate scientists and epidemiologists are correct, it's not going to get easier any time soon. But then, life has always been hard. What do philosophical traditions have to say about the incurable toughness of human existence?
Fri, 23 Jun 2023 - 28min - 844 - Taking politics seriously
Is justice a game? Most of us would say no. But for John Rawls – arguably the 20th century’s most important political philosopher – the answer was a qualified yes. This week we’re wondering if the gamification of justice can create more losers than winners.
Fri, 16 Jun 2023 - 28min - 843 - Gender, gaming and pop culture
If you're a gamer, you might be interested to hear that according to a new study, female characters speak approximately half as much as male characters in video games. But why should philosophers be interested?
Fri, 09 Jun 2023 - 28min - 842 - Exploring the multiverse
Do parallel universes exist? The answer depends on who you ask. Some philosophers and scientists say it's an absurd concept, while others say the existence of the multiverse can be inferred directly from known laws of physics.
Fri, 02 Jun 2023 - 28min - 841 - Leadership
What do we mean by good leadership? Leaders in business are generally judged according to how effective they are, how much value they generate for shareholders and so on. But at what point do ethical concerns enter the equation?
Thu, 25 May 2023 - 28min - 840 - Bilingual parenting, home and the mother tongue
Standard philosophical accounts of language present it as a kind of home – a place that we inhabit, and that shapes our sense of self. But what happens when we're not quite "at home" within a language?
Sun, 21 May 2023 - 28min - 839 - Philosophy behind bars
What does it mean to study and teach philosophy in prison? Andy West has been teaching philosophy in prisons since 2015, and his memoir The Life Inside is a fascinating account of this experience - as well as a reflection on inherited trauma and the fact that his father, uncle and brother all spent time behind bars.
Sun, 14 May 2023 - 28min - 838 - Trans-national adoption and "blending in"
This week we're exploring the “trans-racial adoption paradox", the feeling of belonging culturally while embodying difference, and the challenges faced by adopted people of colour navigating predominantly white communities and social worlds.
Thu, 04 May 2023 - 28min - 837 - Richard Rorty and America
In 1998, the American philosopher Richard Rorty predicted dark days for democracy and the rise of a Trump-like figure in the USA. This week, with the publication of a new collection of Rorty's essays, we're considering the ongoing relevance of his work.
Fri, 28 Apr 2023 - 35min - 836 - The anti-philosophers
One of the curious things about the history of philosophy is that it periodically throws up thinkers who question the whole business of… doing philosophy. How should we situate these paradoxical figures? Is it possible to be a philosopher if you're arguing that philosophy is an impossible project?
Sun, 23 Apr 2023 - 28min - 835 - De-extinction, pt 2
The project of bringing extinct animals back into being is sexy, hi-tech and could confer significant environmental benefits - but at what cost? Some argue that resurrecting extinct species could actually work against the conservation of threatened species that currently exist. Why worry about their possible extinction, if we can just bring them back?
Thu, 13 Apr 2023 - 28min - 834 - De-extinction, pt 1
Gene technology has brought us to the point where it's theoretically possible to bring back extinct animals from the "species grave". But the science is not straightforward - and neither is the philosophy.
Thu, 06 Apr 2023 - 28min - 833 - Art and hate speech
This week we're exploring the idea that art can say things, and do things, and mean different things according to shifting historical circumstances - and that those sayings, doings and meanings aren't always benign or harmless. How should we respond to morally problematic art - particularly the kind of art that can function as hate speech?
Fri, 31 Mar 2023 - 28min - 832 - Women and the canon
Women have always been philosophers, often highly regarded by their male contemporaries. So why are women philosophers often regarded today as second-tier thinkers? And what happens when we try to uncover their histories?
Thu, 23 Mar 2023 - 30min - 831 - Data privacy and informed consent
Ninety-four per cent of Australians do not read privacy policies that apply to them – because who has the time? But the amount of data we all create and share has dramatic implications for privacy and safety. Informed consent is taken very seriously in the medical community, is it time for companies using AI and Big Data to follow suit?
Thu, 16 Mar 2023 - 30min - 830 - Women philosophers in antiquity
If you don't know much about women philosophers in the ancient Graeco-Roman world, you have a good excuse. They're known to have existed, but hardly any of their works have survived, and historical accounts of their lives tend to come from biographies written by men. This week we try to unravel the mystery.
Thu, 09 Mar 2023 - 30min - 829 - Moral creativity
This week we're exploring the concept of moral creativity - a virtue that can be useful when it comes to negotiating the grey areas in our modern moral universe.
Sun, 05 Mar 2023 - 30min - 828 - Tradition, modernity and crisis in Ukraine
How can learning flourish in a time of war? Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in January 2022, thousands of scholars have fled or been displaced, while nearly 200 institutions of higher education have been damaged or destroyed. This week we explore the possibilities for supporting and restoring the academy, and the role of Ukrainian intellectual traditions in resistance.
Fri, 24 Feb 2023 - 30min - 827 - The lessons of failure
As much as we dislike thinking about it, failure is deeply embedded within everything we do and everything we are. From our politics to our bodies, the salient feature is that it all falls apart sooner or later. Failure has inspired a million depressing songs and poems - but it's also fertile ground for philosophy, and for some unexpectedly positive reflections.
Fri, 17 Feb 2023 - 30min - 826 - A Buddhist perspective on the ethics of violence
For philosopher Martin Kovan, the resources within Buddhism provide an analytical means to gain new perspectives on violence. His book is A Buddhist Theory of Killing: A Philosophical Exposition.
Fri, 10 Feb 2023 - 30min - 825 - On being a minority in philosophyThu, 02 Feb 2023 - 30min
- 824 - Skilled performance and cognition
When a tennis pro lunges for a difficult drop volley, or a concert cellist rips through the difficult section of a Bach suite, are they thinking about what they're doing? Some would say that elite physical performance is essentially a mindless phenomenon, and that thinking is counterproductive to success. But the reality is more complex - and more interesting.
Wed, 25 Jan 2023 - 30min - 823 - China, Confucius and the courtyard
For more than three millennia, most buildings in China were configured around a central courtyard. This week's guest believes that the courtyard helps us to understand Chinese society and culture, as well as Confucian philosophy. Today, with increasing numbers of people living in urban apartment buildings, the courtyard has become something of a period piece. What does this tell us about Chinese thought and identity in the modern world?
Wed, 18 Jan 2023 - 30min - 822 - Values and goals
The recipe for living well is simple: develop a morally sound set of values, formulate goals rooted in those values, and achieve those goals. But beneath this basic formula there lurks a number of tricky questions.
Wed, 11 Jan 2023 - 30min - 821 - Pop, philosophy and politics
When philosophy turns its attention to music, it's traditionally an exercise in high culture. Questions about the nature and function of music are often explored with reference to an established canon of "serious" music – while pop finds itself relegated to the margins. This week we're getting serious about pop, and exploring the ways that the compositional and sonic structures of pop music reflect the social and political structures of the broader culture.
Wed, 04 Jan 2023 - 30min - 820 - Conspiracy theories, anti-Semitism and fun
You don’t have to be stupid to be a conspiracy theorist. Many people who buy into paranoid fantasies about stolen Presidential elections and global Satanic cabals are perfectly sane, well-educated individuals. So why do they fall for these myths? This week we consider the possibility that the attraction is primarily aesthetic, and that the experience is fun. But why the perennial focus on Jews?
Wed, 28 Dec 2022 - 30min - 819 - Efficiency, productivity and excess
These days we’re constantly pushed to be more efficient – at work, of course, but also in our leisure pursuits and even while we sleep. How did we get here? And how can we get back to a state that’s governed by principles other than accumulation and profit? This week, a story of two key figures in the history of modern industrial capitalism: F.W. Taylor, the father of “scientific management” theory, and French thinker Georges Bataille, whose economic philosophy was predicated on the notion of spending rather than saving.
Wed, 21 Dec 2022 - 30min - 818 - Philosophy and children
Children can teach adults a thing or two when it comes to the getting of wisdom. But does this mean that children are philosophers? And if the answer is Yes, then what kind of philosophers are they?
Wed, 14 Dec 2022 - 30min - 817 - Power, domination and the ethics of global philanthropy
When billionaires want to make a positive difference in the world, many of them turn to philanthropy. Which is fine in principle, but this week we're asking if giving away money via huge global philanthropic foundations is really an unalloyed good.
Fri, 09 Dec 2022 - 30min - 816 - Bilingual parenting, home and the mother tongue
Standard philosophical accounts of language present it as a kind of home – a place that we inhabit, and that shapes our sense of self. But what happens when we're not quite "at home" within a language?
Fri, 02 Dec 2022 - 30min - 815 - Owning the public square
Confusion has reigned at Twitter since Elon Musk took the reins of the company, and one of the most pressing questions has to do with whether or not the social media platform will be reshaped to fit its new CEO's ideal of unfettered free speech. Musk has referred to Twitter as the "digital town square" – but how can the town square also be a private estate, owned by a billionaire? This week we're talking property, ownership... and how it all connects with Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice.
Fri, 25 Nov 2022 - 30min - 814 - Philosophy behind bars
What does it mean to study and teach philosophy in prison? Andy West has been teaching philosophy in prisons since 2015, and his memoir The Life Inside is a fascinating account of this experience - as well as a reflection on inherited trauma and the fact that his father, uncle and brother all spent time behind bars.
Thu, 17 Nov 2022 - 30min - 813 - Causation and death
Like death, causation is something of a riddle. The death certificate of Queen Elizabeth II has "old age" given as the cause of death - but given that old age is simply an outcome of being alive for a certain period of time, what does it mean to pathologise it in this way, and to list it as a fatal condition? Far from being an exact science, death certification is rife with interpretation and contentious decision-making - and this reflects not only death's enigmatic qualities, but the mysterious nature of causation itself.
Fri, 11 Nov 2022 - 30min - 812 - The prophetic vision of Günther Anders
Günther Anders is the most interesting and important philosopher you've probably never heard of. An exile from Nazi Germany who landed in America in the late 1930s, Anders was a prescient theorist of media and technology whose insights are remarkably pertinent to today's digital landscape. His major work is a best-seller in Europe and he's one of Germany's most well-regarded intellectuals, yet he's almost unknown in the Anglosphere. Why haven't we heard more about him?
Thu, 03 Nov 2022 - 30min - 811 - How should we treat insects?
Insect farming, we're told by its proponents, is the next big thing in edible protein production, and it may just save the world. But an insect "farm" is more like a manufacturing plant where the tiny organisms are pulped into powder form. What is the moral status of these living things? Can we be sure they're not sentient beings, capable of experiencing pain and suffering? And if we can't be sure, how should we treat them? This program was first broadcast on August 22, 2021.
Sun, 30 Oct 2022 - 30min - 808 - Philosophy and travel
Modern travel is a commodity: you buy a holiday. But have you ever thought of travel as a philosophical activity? Offering the discovery of new traditions, new perspectives and the acquisition of knowledge, travel should make philosophers of us all. The 19th century was an era in which travel was thought of in this way, and women were out there at the frontiers of discovery. But their independence and daring came at a potentially high cost.
Wed, 19 Oct 2022 - 30min - 807 - Refugees and moral obligation
Refugees have been with us for millennia, but the modern refugee exists under a distinctively modern set of circumstances. Moral philosophers often fail to take these circumstances into account, and to acknowledge the ways in which the West can be responsible for refugee crises.
Wed, 12 Oct 2022 - 30min - 806 - How Nietzsche extracts cheerfulness from suffering
Friedrich Nietzsche is popularly regarded as one of the gloomier thinkers, so people are often surprised to learn that he can be very funny. But the humour in his writing is doing serious work: Nietzsche is looking for a way to find joy in the darkest corners of life - and to do it without falling back on what he sees as false Christian comfort.
Fri, 07 Oct 2022 - 30min - 805 - Trust and scepticism in a post-truth world
How do we know the things we know? The fact is that most of our knowledge comes down to trust - particularly trust in institutions and experts. But in a world where misinformation has become a lucrative industry, how is it possible to trust wisely?
Fri, 30 Sep 2022 - 30min - 804 - Satanism
Can a religion be non-theistic, with no God or deity at the centre? It's a question that has exercised philosophers of religion for a long time – but members of The Satanic Temple, which was founded in the USA in 2013, would emphatically say yes. This week's guest expounds some Satanic philosophy, and has a fascinating backstory of his own.
Sun, 25 Sep 2022 - 803 - Housing part 3 - land rights
Familiar ideas about value, ownership and market economics can obscure the fact that there are different ways to think about housing. This week, we're looking at housing through the lens of Aboriginal property development and land rights.
Sun, 18 Sep 2022 - 802 - Housing part 2 - rent
Rent is one of those simple market economy mechanisms that seem very natural, as though it's an organic outgrowth of human society. But in fact, rent has a philosophical history, and one that's been traced in a new book by this week's guest.
Sun, 11 Sep 2022 - 797 - Housing pt 1 - care ethics
Your guide throThese days we're increasingly led to think of a house as a commodity. But what does it mean to think of a house as a site of care, rather than an asset in a system of market exchange? This week we're re-centring people in the housing value debate.ugh the strange thickets of logic, metaphysics and ethics.
Sun, 04 Sep 2022 - 30min - 796 - Values and goals
The recipe for living well is simple: develop a morally sound set of values, formulate goals rooted in those values, and achieve those goals. But beneath this basic formula there lurks a number of tricky questions.
Sun, 28 Aug 2022 - 30min - 794 - What's new in death - part 2Sun, 21 Aug 2022
- 793 - What's new in death - part 1
Death holds a special fascination for all of us - but none more than philosophers, who have been pondering the puzzle of death for centuries. In this two-part series, we take a look at some recent approaches to an ancient mystery.
Sun, 14 Aug 2022 - 792 - Doctors and dualism
So you’re feeling sick, and you go to the doctor. The doctor sends you off for a range of diagnostic tests, which come back inconclusive. What happens next?
Sun, 07 Aug 2022 - 28min - 791 - Art and hate speech
This week we're exploring the idea that art can say things, and do things, and mean different things according to shifting historical circumstances - and that those sayings, doings and meanings aren't always benign or harmless. How should we respond to morally problematic art - particularly the kind of art that can function as hate speech?
Sun, 31 Jul 2022 - 28min - 790 - Simone de Beauvoir: becoming a woman
Simone de Beauvoir wrote that “One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman”. It’s a much-quoted phrase that appears to speak presciently to modern concerns around sex and gender. But how well is Beauvoir understood by contemporary feminists?
Sun, 24 Jul 2022 - 28min - 789 - Ubuntu
Ubuntu is an African tradition of thought whose ethical orientation is captured in the well-known aphorism “I am, because we are”. But what gets lost when Ubuntu is framed as a philosophical discourse in the Western intellectual tradition? And where do we see its successes and failures in the reconstruction of post-colonial Africa?
Sun, 17 Jul 2022 - 28min - 788 - Philosophy in a nutshell: The aphorism
Philosophy is often thought of as proceeding via elaborate conceptual systems. But sometimes, a choice phrase is all you need to get you thinking.
Sun, 10 Jul 2022 - 28min - 787 - The great and the good-enough
We live in a society dominated by the aspiration to greatness, where the ancient ethical ideal of "the good life" is often framed in terms of wealth, fame and power. The notion that we might settle for a "good-enough life" seems oddly countercultural - but this week we're exploring the virtues of modest ambition, and the ways in which a relentlessly competitive social order can damage everyone, from the least to the most successful.
Sun, 03 Jul 2022 - 28min - 786 - Pop, philosophy and politics
When philosophy turns its attention to music, it’s traditionally an exercise in high culture. Questions about the nature and function of music are often explored with reference to an established canon of “serious” music – while pop finds itself relegated to the margins. This week we’re getting serious about pop, and exploring the ways that the compositional and sonic structures of pop music reflect the social and political structures of the broader culture.
Sun, 26 Jun 2022 - 28min - 785 - Edmund Burke, revolution and reform
The 18th century British parliamentarian and philosopher Edmund Burke is routinely referred to as "the founder of modern conservatism", and at a glance it's not hard to see why. He believed in the authority of tradition and inherited values, staunchly opposed the French Revolution, and was in many ways out of step with the Enlightenment humanism of his day. But on closer inspection, Burke can look a little different. This week we're considering Burke as a reformer, even a progressive - and someone who would probably take a very dim view of the modern British Conservative party.
Sun, 19 Jun 2022 - 35min - 784 - Hegel, nature and the Anthropocene
Modernity has us in a terrible bind. We know that our Western habits of growth and consumption are destroying the planet, and that we need to stop exploiting the natural world for our benefit. But at the same time, our very identity as modern humans is grounded in the notion of endless growth, self-determination and the domination of nature. The work of the 18th century German philosopher GWF Hegel provides a fascinating diagnosis of our condition. Can it also offer a cure?
Sun, 12 Jun 2022 - 28min - 783 - The phenomenology of love
There’s a venerable philosophical tradition devoted to explaining what love is, and it stretches back to the ancient Greeks. It deals with questions like “the problem of particularity” – the mystery of why, if we fall in love with someone because of their physical beauty and attractive character, we don’t then fall in love with anyone and everyone who shares these traits. What philosophy hasn’t had so much to say about is the phenomenology of love – the question of what love feels like. This week we’re getting inside the experience.
Sun, 05 Jun 2022 - 28min - 782 - Conspiracy theories, anti-Semitism and fun
You don’t have to be stupid to be a conspiracy theorist. Many people who buy into paranoid fantasies about stolen Presidential elections and global Satanic cabals are perfectly sane, well-educated individuals. So why do they fall for these myths? This week we consider the possibility that the attraction is primarily aesthetic, and that the experience is fun. But why the perennial focus on Jews?
Sun, 29 May 2022 - 38min - 780 - Adoption and moral obligation
There are an estimated 16.2 million documented orphans worldwide, with as many as 100 million more children living on the streets. It’s a problem of crisis proportions, which makes it perhaps strange that so many of us consider adoption as more of a last resort than a first-order obligation – to be considered only if the path to having genetically-related children is blocked. This week we’re looking at the justifications for genetic preference in families, and asking how these justifications stack up against the moral duty to adopt.
Sun, 22 May 2022 - 28min - 779 - Identity politics
Identity politics is grounded in the appeal to a stable, unified self and the authority of testimony. But this week we’re asking whether that foundation is solid, and if deconstructing it might allow for a more flexible approach to social justice.
Sun, 15 May 2022 - 28min - 778 - Beauty: aesthetic or moral ideal?
These days, beauty is a moral imperative, an ideal to live by, and one according to which we judge ourselves and others. As a result, we increasingly shape our identities around our bodies – and not just our actual bodies with their lumps and bumps, but our imaginary future bodies: thin, smooth and firm. Gradually our notion of the good life comes to be centred on physical appearance, and this causes a range of harms which until now, philosophers have not taken seriously enough.
Sun, 08 May 2022 - 28min
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