Love, Poetry, and PhilosophyMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/love-poetry-and-philosophy. For Plato, love and philosophy were closely related. Love of beauty causes one to contemplate the whole sea of beauties, including beautiful systems of justice and beautiful scientific theories. But Plato wasn't such a fan of poetry, arguing that it merely evoked strong emotions in a way contrary to reason. Noted poet Troy Jollimore, winner of the 2006 National Book Critics Circle Award,...
Mary MidgleyMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/mary-midgley. Mary Midgley became one of the best known public intellectuals in the UK, and the first philosopher to argue for eco-feminism. Though she didn’t publish her first book till she was 59, she wrote many influential works on science, ethics, and animal rights. Josh and Ray explore her life and thought with Clare Mac Cumhaill from Durham University, co-author of "Metaphysical Animals: How Four Women Brought Philosophy B...
Hobbes and the Ideal CitizenMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/hobbes-and-ideal-citizen. Seventeenth century philosopher Thomas Hobbes believed that without government to control our worst impulses, life would be 'solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.' Consequently, he thought that absolute monarchy is the best form of government. So is Hobbes’ ideal citizen simply someone who is willing to submit to absolute authority, or are there other features the ideal citizen must...
Changing Minds on Climate ChangeMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/changing-minds-climate-change. There is consensus among scientists that global warming is real and that it’s caused by human activity. Despite the overwhelming evidence and the urgency to act, there are still many who are skeptical of or flat-out deny climate change. Are these climate deniers simply impervious to scientific evidence? Or have they just not been exposed to the right kind of information? When it...
Time For Summer ReadingWe sent our Roving Philosophical Reporter, Holly J. McDede, in search of lost time—inside the Bay Area Rapid Transit System. More at https://www.philosophytalk.org/podcasts/philosophy-talk-podcast/time-summer-reading.
Iris Murdochhttps://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/iris-murdoch. ris Murdoch may be best known for her works of fiction, but her philosophical contributions were equally significant. A moral realist influenced by Plato and Simone Weil, she developed theories in virtue ethics and care ethics. So what is the relationship between Murdoch's works of fiction and her philosophical writings? Why did she believe that "nothing in life is of any value except the attempt to be virtuous"? And given ...
Are Rules Mean to Be Broken?More at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/are-rules-meant-be-broken. Rules exist for a reason: they tell us what to expect, they help us coordinate our actions, and they stop us from exploiting one another. But isn't it possible to be too much of a rule follower? Aren't some rules arbitrary, unjust, or just plain inefficient? When should we exercise our judgment to reinterpret the rules, and when should we ignore them altogether? Josh and Ray break all rul...
The Ethics of AwesomenessMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/ethics-awesomeness. The word “awesome” once meant inspiring extreme fear or dread. Nowadays it’s mostly used as a general purpose exclamation of approval. So when we describe a person as awesome, are we saying that they exemplify some general form of excellence? Or are awesome people those who break specific social norms to generate moments of creative expression and social connection? Would the world be a bette...
In Search of Proust's Philosophy: Roving Philosophical ReportWe sent our Roving Philosophical Reporter, Holly J. McDede, to contemplate how smell and taste influence our memories and sense of self. More at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/search-prousts-philosophy.
Poetry as a Way of KnowingMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/poetry-way-knowing. What is poetry? Mere word play? A pretty, or at any rate striking, way of expressing thought and emotion? Or does great poetry involve an approach to the world that provides insight and information not available in other ways? Ken and John explore how poetry can illuminate what we know with award-winning poet Jane Hirshfield, author of "Come, Thief" and other poetic works of philosophical richness...
The Social Lives of RobotsMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/social-lives-robots. Machines might surpass humans in terms of computational intelligence, but when it comes to social intelligence, they’re not very sophisticated. They have difficulty reading subtle cues—like body language, eye gaze, or facial expression—that we pick up on automatically. As robots integrate more and more into human life, how will they figure out the codes for appropriate behavior in different...
Should All Ages Be Equal?More at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/should-all-ages-be-equal. Age determines a lot about your position in society—what activities you can do, what benefits you can access, and what rights and responsibilities you have. While it seems appropriate to treat people at different stages of life differently, we also consider certain kinds of unequal treatment unjust. So when should we treat people of different ages differently? And when does it become ageism...
Philosophy and the SuperheroMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/philosophy-and-superhero. Philosophy is replete with thought experiments featuring characters like Descartes’ “Evil Genius” and Davidson’s “Swampman.” Some of the scenarios philosophers conjure up seem like they could’ve been plucked from a superhero comic. Or is it the other way around? Why do philosophy and superhero comics employ such similar thought experiments? Is there something about the comic ...
Mexican PhilosophyMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/mexican-philosophy. From early feminist Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz to existentialist Emilio Uranga, from Indigenous thought to theorists of aesthetic utopia, Mexican philosophy is full of fascinating figures with brilliant insights. What can we learn from them today about belief, desire, freedom, morality, and education? And do Mexican philosophers speak with one voice or in a complicated harmony, stretching across the centu...
The Mysterious Timelessness of MathMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/mysterious-timelessness-math. Math is a really useful subject—at least, that's what your parents and teachers told you. But math also leads to scenarios, like Zeno's paradoxes, that seem to inspire skepticism. So why do we believe in math and rely on it to build bridges and spaceships? How can anyone discover the secrets of the universe by simply scribbling numbers on a piece of paper? Is math some kind of...
Weird WantsMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/weird-wants. Philosophers from Aquinas to Anscombe have claimed that wanting something means seeing the good in it. Even if what you want is bad overall, like procrastinating on important work, you can still desire it for its positive qualities. But don't we sometimes want things because of their badness, not in spite of it? Isn't there joy in doing something totally pointless, or even in breaking the rules? And is it really imposs...
Can Art Save Us?More at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/can-art-save-us. The world is facing an unprecedented environmental crisis, and we urgently need good ways to address it. Courageous politicians would help, of course, as might scientific innovations. But how much of the problem is a failure of imagination? Could the arts help us see our way out of the problem? How can literature, painting, and movies redraw the landscape in our minds? Josh and Ray imagine a conversation with ...
True ContradictionsMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/true-contradictions. If you want to tell the truth, you shouldn’t contradict yourself—that’s just common sense. A suspect who was home on the night of the crime can’t have been elsewhere, and whatever the weapon, we can rule out the hypothesis that it was both a candlestick and not a candlestick. But there are philosophers who claim we shouldn’t overgeneralize based on murder mysteries: some contradictions are tru...
Iris MurdochMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/iris-murdoch. Iris Murdoch may be best known for her works of fiction, but her philosophical contributions were equally significant. A moral realist influenced by Plato and Simone Weil, she developed theories in virtue ethics and care ethics. So what is the relationship between Murdoch's works of fiction and her philosophical writings? Why did she believe that "nothing in life is of any value except the attempt to be virtuous"? An...
608: Judith Javis ThomsonMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/judith-jarvis-thomson. Judith Jarvis Thomson is best known for arguing that abortion is morally permissible, even granting the fetus the status of person. Her colorful thought experiments illustrate that a right to life does not mean the right to use another person's body to survive. So, what exactly is a right to life and what does it permit or prohibit? Does pregnancy come with certain moral obligations to the fetus...
Judith Jarvis Thomson: Roving Philosophical ReportThomson’s work on the trolley problem was so influential that it spawned a huge industry, jokingly known as "Trolleyology." We sent our Roving Philosophical Reporter, Sheryl Kaskowitz, to investigate. More at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/judith-jarvis-thomson.
Juduih Jarvis ThomsonMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/judith-jarvis-thomson. Judith Jarvis Thomson is best known for arguing that abortion is morally permissible, even granting the fetus the status of person. Her colorful thought experiments illustrate that a right to life does not mean the right to use another person's body to survive. So, what exactly is a right to life and what does it permit or prohibit? Does pregnancy come with certain moral obligations to the fetus? An...
The Power of PredictionMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/power-prediction. You’re standing at the top of a mountain, surveying the vast landscape below. The information your senses take in flows to your brain, which processes it to create a representation of the scene. Or does it? What if instead of directly perceiving the world around us, the brain is more like a prediction machine that hallucinates a picture of the world? If that were the case, could we still rely on the ...
Lessons From the Trolley Problem: Roving Philosophical ReportWe sent our Roving Philosophical Reporter, Caitlin Esch, to find out what happens in people's brains when they're presented with variations of the Trolley Problem. More at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/lessons-trolley-problem.
Lessons From the Trolley ProblemMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/lessons-trolley-problem. A trolley is approaching a track junction, and you happen to be standing by the switch. If you do nothing, the trolley will kill a number of innocent children playing on the tracks. If you throw the switch, it will kill only one fat man, who is sleeping on the tracks. The so-called Trolley Problem sheds light on many claims in moral philosophy: utilitarian positions (doing what's best ...
Misogyny and Gender InequalityMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/misogyny-and-gender-inequality. With the recent #MeToo viral campaign, along with the wave of prominent male figures toppled for being serial sexual harassers or worse, the topic of misogyny has come into sharp focus. But what exactly is misogyny? And how does it differ from sexism? What set of beliefs or attitudes makes someone a misogynist? And why does misogyny persist despite the fact that traditional gender ...
The Changing Face of Feminism: Roving Philosophical ReportWe sent our Roving Philosophical Reporter, Shuka Kalantari, to explore how the face of feminism has changed in the world of comedy. More at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/changing-face-feminism.
The Changing Face of FeminismMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/changing-face-feminism. Reactions to the word ‘feminist’ today range from staunch rejection or ambivalence to fervent endorsement and activism. While many young women claim not to need feminism in their lives, others believe these women are simply confused about the meaning of the term. So is feminism as we knew it dead? Have women already achieved equal rights? What are the basic tenets of the most recent wav...
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