Philosophy For Our Times

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Suicide is a terrible but commonplace event amongst all societies within the human race. But at what point in our evolution did suicide come into being, and for what purpose? Can suicide be explained, and if so, can we provide an answer to those who become so desperate? Neuropsychologist and author of A Histo...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes We think love an indisputable force for good. Yet from Jihadi John to Anders Breivik, extremists often cite love of creed or country to justify atrocities. Might love of a person or group also be the origin of prejudice and hatred towards others? Are love and hatred forever entwined, as Freud suggested? Or ca...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes In the wake of the Weinstein scandal, many called for a boycott of the films of Roman Polanski and Woody Allen. Yet 20th century literary critics encouraged us to look at the text alone, citing "the death of the author." Can and should we separate the artist from the art? Are the misdeeds of writers, thinkers...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Once dismissed as a utopian fantasy, universal income has now hit the mainstream. With new technologies, support from across the political spectrum, and advocates from Stephen Hawking to Mark Zuckerberg, it’s no surprise people have begun to take the idea seriously. In a combative head-to-head debate, author...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes We are paying tribute to philosopher Mary Midgley who passed away last week at the age of 99 by revisiting our episode 'Are you an illusion?' in which Midgley investigates the self with fellow philosopher Simon Blackburn and neuroscientist Colin Blakemore. (With special thanks to the In Parenthesis project fo...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Can we ever observe universes beyond our own? Astrophysicist Catherine Heymans reveals the latest innovations that might help map out the multiverse. There are thousands of big ideas to discover at IAI.tv – videos, articles, and courses waiting for you to explore. Find out more:  https://iai.tv/podcast-o...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes In a world with artificial intelligence, how will we maintain control? Sir Nigel Shadbolt, Open Data Institute co-founder and researcher at Oxford University, examines how AI looks set to reshape our lives and society. There are thousands of big ideas to discover at IAI.tv – videos, articles, and courses wait...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Belief in the Gods once filled lives with purpose and a vision of truth. Now many in the secular West dismiss the divine yet also rue the loss of meaning and belief. Is this because evidence and reason are not sufficient to make sense of the world? Is there something about the world that is deeply strange and...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Consciousness is one of the unresolved philosophical questions. There was hope that neuroscience might find some answers. But we still have no explanation for where brain activity ends and experience begins. Is it a mistake to think we can explain consciousness by examining the brain? Should we look elsewhere...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Would a meritocratic society provide a fair equality of opportunity? Can discrimination based on merit ever be justified, or should we aim to solve social inequality through equality of outcome? Kwame Anthony Appiah is a British Ghanaian philosopher at Columbia University and author of Cosmopolitanism and The...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Stephen Hawking once predicted a theory of everything by 2000. However, after decades without one he began to doubt its existence. Have we failed because no one theory can make sense of reality? Must we "employ different theories in different situations" as Hawking suggested, or is there a final theory just w...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes What does is mean to socially construct a gendered identity, and why do some feminists insist on separating this from the sex we are assigned at birth? On the panel: activist Finn Mackay, Labour politician Angela Eagle and post-human philosopher, Patricia MacCormack. There are thousands of big ideas to discov...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Some refer to millennials as entitled avocado-eating lay-about’s who care more about their social media presence than engaging with and caring about the world. Millennials, on the other hand, soothe their sorrow at never being able to afford a mortgage (even if they didn’t eat avocados) by eating avocados. Wh...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes What’s the price we pay for the buzz we get from likes online? Are tech companies forcing us to follow their every whim? Mining us for data they can profit from? Or do we have the power to harness technology for good? Making our lives easier and giving us more free time? Connecting us with people and enrichin...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Isn’t it funny that a day at the office seems to drag by so slowly, and yet a day in the park is over in a flash? Is time, and the way it passes something that actually exists in the physical world? Or is it something that only humans perceive? In this debate Back from the End of Time, we’ve brought you a wor...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes The dogma of development has left a society divided and a planet endangered. Former UK Green Party Leader Natalie Bennett envisions a radical new future. There are thousands of big ideas to discover at IAI.tv – videos, articles, and courses waiting for you to explore. Find out more:  https://iai.tv/podca...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Our obsession with the apocalypse is everywhere from fiction stories to news headlines. Is the belief that the end is nigh rooted in the changing reality around us, or is it just a story that sells? On our panel to discuss this question is philosopher and author of Breakfast with Socrates Robert Rowland Smith...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes In a post-truth world, the evidence of experts is constantly being called into question. But is abandoning the expertise of learned folk a little extreme? Green Party politician and philosopher Rupert Read takes us through the tyranny of evidence. There are thousands of big ideas to discover at IAI.tv – video...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes China may be on the way to replacing the US as the world's dominant economic power, but with Russia also growing its reach, could the future be more dangerous still? Do we face an uncontainable multipolar world with many nations vying for power? Or should we applaud a break from US global dominance and look f...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Is science more sinister than an honest pursuit of the truth? Is there enough evidence to support man-made climate change? Usually, we associate climate change critics with the right but this time the counter-narrative comes from outspoken astrophysicist Piers Corbyn, who situates himself even further on the...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Is it better for us to resist temptations or avoid them altogether? Philosopher of perception and action Bence Nanay argues that our ability to say no is connected with the fragmentation of our minds. There are thousands of big ideas to discover at IAI.tv – videos, articles, and courses waiting for you to exp...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes From quitting a job or relationship in the heat of an argument to taking on a new project in a flush of excitement, we think emotional decisions are often bad decisions. But might it be that emotion is the best guide to action and, as Hume thought, reason is and should be the slave of the passions? Or is this...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Can philosophy help us make real life decisions? Can actions speak louder than words? Our producer interviews philosophers Bence Nanay, Angie Hobbs, Christopher Hamilton, Barry Smith, Shahidha Bari, and performance artist Emma Sulkowicz about the power of ideas in their lives. There are thousands of big ideas...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes It's Philosophy Fest! A week of bonus content to celebrate our hundredth episode of Philosophy For Our Times. Today's bonus content is an audience Q&A with psychiatrist David Nutt, which followed on from his talk, The Science of Psychedelics. David fields questions on synthetic cannabis in prisons, whethe...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Is our attitude to drugs harming mental health patients? Imperial College psychiatrist and former UK government drugs adviser David Nutt argues for an evidence based revolution in drugs policy. There are thousands of big ideas to discover at IAI.tv – videos, articles, and courses waiting for you to explore. F...