Philosophy For Our Times

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes To celebrate our 100th episode of Philosophy for Our Times, we're treating you to a week of bonus content. To kick off, here's an interview with Elif Sarican, a Kurdish rights activist, about the experiment in direct democracy currently taking place in Northern Syria. There are thousands of big ideas to disco...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Does our abuse of 'elites' ignore their necessity, or should all elites be challenged and dissolved? Author of The Leaderless Revolution Carne Ross, Political Theorist at Cambridge Hugh Drochon, and activist Yassmin Abdel Magied put elites on trial. There are thousands of big ideas to discover at IAI.tv – vid...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Many of us intuitively believe that art, philosophy and culture, from the evolution of cinema to the rise of performance poetry, is trying to constantly progress towards something better. But is this a myth? In art and philosophy, is the best yet to come? Or, as Eliot said, 'is there only the fight to recover...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes What happens to our bodies when we die? Forensic scientist and Belle de Jour blogger Brooke Magnanti anticipates life's strangest certainty. 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-offers?utm...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes In 1859, Charles Darwin changed the course of history for ever by publishing On the Origin of Species. In 1872 he published ‘The expression of the emotions in man and animals.’ Which didn’t rock the boat quite so much, but it continues to be a source of controversy in our ongoing scientific debates on evoluti...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Outspoken critic of Richard Dawkins, and renowned Professor of English Literature Terry Eagleton launches himself heroically at the twin hornet’s nests of modern religious apathy & radicalism. Where should the unreligious look for answers? What has caused the recent growth in radicalism? Supported by Rout...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes In Europe, belief in organised religion continues to decline as science advances. Yet strangely interest in everything from ley lines to solstice rituals is on the rise. Should we dismiss this as empty fantasy? Or is there in nature something essential to ourselves, beyond science and beyond monotheistic reli...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Is consciousness stranger than we thought? The Science Delusion author Rupert Sheldrake strikes out against orthodoxy and asks: is the sun conscious? 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 From Galileo to Mandela, history is made by those with strong convictions. Yet as Nietzsche argued and Islamic State attest, those most convinced of their righteousness are often the most dangerous. Should politicians and the rest of us avoid convictions and see them as dangerous fantasies, or is conviction e...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Time appears to be the ultimate form of progress: an unavoidable direction imposed on the universe. Some physicists claim this is an illusion. How should we make sense of time? As a dimension, a flow, a place, a process, a social construct, or something altogether more mysterious? Physician, poet and thinker...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes In today’s debate Sophie Walker, leader of the Women’s Equality Party faces Helena Cronin, Darwinian philosopher and a strong believer in natural sex differences. Joined by Psychiatrist Theodore Dalrymple, they debate the pros, cons and possibilities of equality. There are thousands of big ideas to discover a...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Over a century after Freud wrote the interpretation of dreams, how much of our unconscious minds have we uncovered? Writer, academic and critic Shahida Bari, Philosopher and Director of the Institute of Philosophy at the Institute of Advanced Studies in London Barry C Smith and Professor of Clinical Psycholog...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Darwinian philosopher Helena Cronin breaks a 21st century taboo: Did men and women evolve differently? 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-offers?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=shownot...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes A world where men and women shared power equally is thought desirable. Yet from Angela Merkel and Mrs Thatcher, to Marissa Mayer and Sheryl Sandberg, leading women often appear to behave similarly to men. Would a world run by women actually be fundamentally different? Orwell Award-winning journalist Yasmin Al...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Assistant Producer at the IAI, Bridey Addison-Child, speaks to some of our female speakers from our HowTheLightGetsIn Festival to find out what being a woman means in today's society, and explore some of the philosophical issues raised when we talk about womanhood. There are thousands of big ideas to discover...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes In this week’s episode, we’re looking at the science behind monogamous relationships and asking the question: have we, as a species, evolved beyond them? Screw the Fairytale author Helen Croydon, UCL anthropologist Kit Opie, and psychologist Susan Quilliam imagine new models for relationships. There are thous...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes There is perhaps, nothing more contentious in a romantic relationship, than our partner’s attitude to pornography. Here to break through this taboo is our speaker for today’s podcast - former MP and LGBT rights activist Peter Tatchell. There are thousands of big ideas to discover at IAI.tv – videos, articles,...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes We rely on a narrative about who we are and what we are up to in order to make the everyday and the big decisions in our lives. But who is the I that writes the story of ourselves and how do we choose the narrative of our life? Are our choices more like reflexes and decisions an illusion? Or do we create both...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes From love at first sight to falling head over heels, it seems love isn’t something we do but something that happens to us. Yet relationship experts say successful relationships are built on hard work. Can we construct the romantic narrative? Would power over love’s story improve the experience? Or is love a w...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes We’re happy taking drugs to fight depression. But what about a pill for engineering romance? Oxford neuroscientist and Future of Humanity Institute fellow Anders Sandberg makes the case for chemically enhancing our love lives. There are thousands of big ideas to discover at IAI.tv – videos, articles, and cour...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes In this podcast we’re going to be uncovering the unknown by pitting science against religion in the ultimate quest for truth. Theologian Rosie Harper, chemist Peter Atkins and philosopher Steve Fuller debate whether science is the only way to truth. There are thousands of big ideas to discover at IAI.tv – vid...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Socrates famously claimed 'the unexamined life is not worth living'. Yet from surfing to sex, playing an instrument to riding a bike, our most joyous moments are not when we are lost in thought but when we are lost in experience. Do we reflect too much and should we explore just 'being' more? Philosopher and...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Is Theoretical Physics on the cusp of discovering a new theory of gravity? Theoretical physicist Erik Verlinde outlines how spacetime and gravity dissolve. 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/pod...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Can you ever really know yourself? And if you can’t know yourself, how can you ever know the people around you, even those closest to you? Professor of Contemporary Literature Robert Eaglestone, theoretical psychologist and author of 'Soul Dust' Nicholas Humphrey and Oxford philosopher Anita Avramides investi...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Visions of a violent and lawless future are a commonplace, yet strangely crime has fallen 66% in the UK in the last two decades. Do we want to imagine the world is dangerous because our lives have become too safe? Or is the world scarier than the figures suggest? Former Anglican Priest Chris Bryant, feminist...