Philosophy For Our Times

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Philosopher of science Tim Maudlin discusses interpretations of quantum mechanics, explaining the pilot wave theory and objective collapse theory, and considers what we stand to learn from quantum theory about the nature of our universe. Tim Maudlin, author of Philosophy of Physics, is an American philosopher...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes From remote groups in Papua New Guinea to Pentecostal Christians, what can values and desires around the world tell us about the nature of morality? Cambridge anthropologist Joel Robbins tours the globe in search of the good. Joel Robbins is the Sigrid Rausing Professor of Social Anthropology at Cambridge Uni...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes For millennia, humans have looked to philosophy to help them understand the world, but why is it then that so many people find philosophy confusing? Is the confusion perhaps part of the solution? Philosopher of logic Timothy Williamson outlines how philosophy can help us think more clearly, such as Alan Turin...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes From populist demagogues to liberal elites, Fox News to the BBC, the warring tribes of our troubled world agree on few ideals and still fewer facts. Yet they all share the belief that they are right. Are we all suffering from the illusion that we can uncover the truth? Should we embrace a world of competing f...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes What does mathematics have to do with the nature of human thought? How does it change how philosophers think of reality? Philosopher and author of 'Ineffability and its Metaphysics', Silvia Jonas explains how mathematics has come to shape our politics, ethics and our very idea of what the world is. There are...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes In a post-truth world, tribal agreement seems to have replaced reason and evidence. But is a world where our truths are tribal sustainable? Don't we need a shared framework of thought to prevent fragmentation and confrontation? Can we rely on evidence and reason whilst abandoning absolute truth, or do we need...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes We all get dressed. But how often do we pause to think about the place of clothes in our lives? Can a philosophy of living be wrapped up in a winter coat? Can we see a suit not just as an object, but as an idea? Philosopher, broadcaster, and author of 'Dressed: The Secret Life of Clothes', Shahidha Bari, unve...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes We all want to lead a good life. But that goal seems always elusive. What can we learn from the ancient Stoics? Hear philosopher of science and author of How to be a Stoic Massimo Pigliucci explain how the philosophy that inspired the great emperor Marcus Aurelius can help us focus on what really matters, and...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes From Cleopatra to Beyoncé, women have used sexuality to increase their power and influence. But many feminists warn that it is undermining to be seen as a sex object, and some in the #MeToo movement propose culture should banish such behaviour. In this episode of Philosophy for our Times, Minna Salami, Rowan...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Once we assumed that reason and rationality would gradually uncover the truth. But from quantum mechanics to set theory, paradox it seems is found at the heart of our most revered theories and at the cornerstones of our thought. Are these paradoxes evidence that our theories are wrong and is it essential that...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Once, Britain was the dominant power, then the US. Now, with the largest economy in the world by purchasing power, it seems China's turn has come. Should we accept, even welcome, the passing of the West? Or is there a response that would enable the West to retain significance, if not the dominance it once had...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes The anonymity of the internet has enabled an epidemic of abuse. Was Hobbes right after all, and humankind are at core wicked and requiring constraint? In this episode of Philosophy for our Times, former director at MI6 Nigel Inkster, assistant editor at Spiked Ella Whelan, renowned journalist Yasmin Alibhai-B...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Few now doubt that China will soon eclipse the US to become the world's largest economy. Is the sun setting on Western ideas as well as Western economies? In this episode of Philosophy for our Time, philosopher Julian Baggini, politician and academic Jamie Whyte, and Professor of Contemporary China Studies at...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Constrained by our genes, manipulated by technology and the cultural zeitgeist, there seems little space left for individual freedom. Should we conclude that the very idea of freedom was a mistake? Or is this a madness that threatens our personal lives and the culture on which the West was built? In this epis...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Identity politics has become ever more influential. Does our desire to belong to one tribe or another make conflict with others inevitable? Could we do away with tribal allegiances and see ourselves as part of the same human family? Or are group identities based on class, race, sexuality or nationality the on...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Although most of us are critical of gender stereotypes, few deny the existence of two discrete biological sexes. Yet biology itself shows dozens of combinations of human sex chromosomes. Could biological sex itself then be an illusion, constructed from human categories? Or is this a futile attempt to deny the...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes As we explore the planets of the solar system and look out at those beyond, researchers hope they will find evidence of life. But would it be like life on earth? Or is the wish to find other life forms a science fiction fantasy that serves Hollywood well but has little to do with reality? In this episode of P...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes An ever growing number of people are being treated for mental illness. Some blame the modern world, yet critics warn that psychiatrists and big pharma have an interest in describing normal human behaviour as an illness or disorder. Might we do better to give up the notion that mental distress implies illness?...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Many would argue that for at least a century we have been moving away from the moral certainties of traditional Christianity. Yet now a new form of moral certainty is reappearing, with much of our culture seemingly gripped by a focus on virtue and a tightly policed sense of right and wrong. Should we welcome...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Fifty years ago we landed on the moon, and imagined that in 2001 we would be travelling vast distances through space. But the fantasy died, and we went nowhere. Now a new age of space exploration is underway - this one driven by companies, billionaires, and new players like China and India. Is it an essential...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes For much of human history, nature was our god. Yet now science and technology, which once we used to tame nature, are increasingly seen as plundering the planet and wrecking the climate. Were the ancients right, and nature the source of all things and that which we should guard most closely? Or should we inst...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Ever since the discovery of DNA, we have fanstasised about creating new species of animals, or even 'improved' humans. But it is only in the last few years that a new gene editing technology, CRISPR, has made this a reality. Many claim it is already unstoppable, that we will always demand solutions to disease...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Should we seek to eradicate offence? Last year Ireland voted to get rid of its blasphemy laws, and most applauded the new right to offend the Catholic Church. Yet to avoid giving offence, student campuses are introducing no-platforming and safe spaces. Should we seek to eradicate offence to create a more tole...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes In a world obsessed with Trump, alternative facts have not had a great press. But it is a century and more since Nietzsche claimed 'there are no facts, only interpretations' - and fifty years since Thomas Kuhn argued that facts were theory dependent. Is an insistence on 'the facts' the dogmatic prejudice of b...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Seeing is believing, yet cognitive scientists seem to have uncovered these views as incorrect. Evolution led us to perceive what is best for survival and it turns out this has little to do with what we call 'reality'. Is reality then a creative construct that helps us to live but doesn't reflect the world? In...