Philosophy For Our Times

Why do people believe in conspiracy theories? Looking for a link we mentioned? Find it here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes In this intimate interview, Michael Shermer explores how conspiracy theories undermine objective truth or the generally accepted scientific, materialist paradigm. He covers everything from his most recent work to why conspiracy theories are so good at creating...

Is complexity a cop-out? Looking for a link we mentioned? Find it here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes From consciousness to free will, and even life itself, it has become commonplace for philosophers and neuroscientists to explain some of the most puzzling phenomena in the universe as 'emergent'. Some even make the claim that nothing in science makes sense without emergence, the id...

Is it time to abandon the Golden Rule? Looking for a link we mentioned? Find it here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Join us as world-leading cognitive scientist Donald Hoffman discusses his cutting-edge research about consciousness and perception, as well as its astonishing implications for the ultimate nature of reality. Donald Hoffman is an American cognitive psychologist working...

Why do so many of us in the present day belief in conspiracy theories? Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Join professor and psychologist Dan Ariely as he discusses the main tenets of his 2023 book 'Misbelief: What Makes Rational People Believe Irrational Things.' With great sympathy for those, including some of us, who tend to believe various unsub...

Can we look for consciousness outside the realm of space-time? Looking for a link we mentioned? Find it here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Join us as world-leading cognitive scientist Donald Hoffman discusses his cutting-edge research about consciousness and perception, as well as its astonishing implications for the ultimate nature of reality. Donald Hoffman is an American cognit...

What role can religion play in our contemporary secularised lives? Why do many (of us) still feel the need for it today? Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Join former Archbishop of Canterbury, theologian, and poet Rowan Williams in a deep-dive interview into his professional and theological trajectory. He reflects on what he's learned, including th...

Should we treat animals and humans equal? Looking for a link we mentioned? Find it here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Almost forty years after these two philosophers helped create the idea of animal rights, what do they believe would constitute further progress in our attitudes to other forms of life? Live from Melbourne, Australian philosopher, Princeton professor and author of&n...

Is 'energy' as a concept suited to the 21st century? Or is it a simplification of processes we do not understand, whose nature may be more mystical rather than purely rational? Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Join leading minds in the world of physics - Priyamvada Natarajan, Avshalom Elitzur, and Bernard Carr - as they face head on the necessity,...

Is standard philosophy too conservative, overly relying on common sense? Can rationality and reason actually lead us to mysticism? Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Join philosopher Michael Della Rocca as he defends his radical interpretation of what philosophy tells us of the world. He encourages us to interpret reality without any distinctions of...

Can we attribute societal progress to enlightenment ideals? Looking for a link we mentioned? Find it here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes The Enlightenment advocated reason, science, democracy, and universal human rights as a grounding for human morality and social organization. In the quarter millennium since, to what extent have these ideals been realized? Has the Enlightenment in...

How do the seemingly modern discussions around transgender and transsexuality relate to age-old philosophical queries? Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Join philosopher Sophie Grace Chappell in this honest interview in which she reflects both on her personal experience as transgender and also on its connections with well-known philosophers such as...

Doestoevsky vs Nietzsche - where do we find meaning in life? Looking for a link we mentioned? Find it here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Dostoevsky and Nietzsche both regarded the creeping nihilism and meaninglessness of their time as a fundamental threat to humanity. While both were critical of modernity and rationalism, their solutions were radically opposed. Dostoevsky looked t...

Does our very need for God point to the fact that he (or perhaps she, they) does not exist? Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Join well-known comedian and author David Baddiel in this honest (and funny!) conversation about humanity's deepest fears and desires with Chine McDonald, Director of Theos. Baddiel reads and cites from his 2023 book - 'The...

Rethinking economics - what is the meaning of productivity in the 21st century? Looking for a link we mentioned? Find it here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes "Productivity isn't everything, but in the long run, it is almost everything" claimed Paul Krugman. Throughout the twentieth century productivity, the average level of output for each hour worked, improved dramatically across t...

How do we save freedom? And, please, would you like coffee without cream or coffee without milk? Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Join renowned philosopher and cultural critic Slavoj Zizek as he divulges his ideas regarding the apocalypse, ideology, freedom in the present moment, and more through a classic Zizekian mix of personal anecdotes, pop c...

An interview with Isabel Millar. Looking for a link we mentioned? Find it here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Questions over artificial intelligence seem to dominate our contemporary. But underpinning the technology are an array of presuppositions - about thinking, knowledge and consciousness - that are in dire need of philosophical scrutiny. In this fascinating interview, Dr Isabe...

Who are we? Why are we here? Does life have a meaning beyond itself? Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Join former Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, and ground-breaking psychiatrist, literary scholar and author of 'The Matter with Things', Iain McGilchrist, to explore the nature of meaning, and why we should move beyond the assumption...

What is the difference between narcissism and self-love, vanity and pride, in today's self-obsessed world? Looking for a link we mentioned? Find it here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes From books to podcasts, we are now told to embrace the idea of ‘self-love’. But are we creating a generation of narcissists? Join renowned philosopher Simon Blackburn to unpack the uses and abuses of...

Can humans ever be inherently good or evil? Looking for a link we mentioned? Find it here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Whether we see humans as essentially good or essentially selfish and violent has been central to our politics, our account of society, and our vision for social progress. But is this very distinction itself a mistake? Recently, Harvard scientists have shown human...

Have we entered a post-knowledge era? Or was the idea that we can attain knowledge misleading in the first place? Looking for a link we mentioned? Find it here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes The acquisition of knowledge has been a central factor driving advance. And since Descartes, Western thought has placed the question of what we know, and how we know what we know, at the centre...

Getting to Truth... Looking for a link we mentioned? Find it here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Join groundbreaking psychiatrist, writer, philosopher, and literary scholar Iain McGilchrist in this exclusive studio interview with post-postmodern philosopher Hilary Lawson. The two thinkers explore McGilchrist's early introduction to philosophy, the nature of truth and the cosmos, an...

Does our rhetoric shape reality? Looking for a link we mentioned? Find it here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Hugely powerful, we assume language enables us to represent reality. But some argue language, from the greatest narratives to the finest theories, not only fails to describe reality it actually distorts and misleads us. Language, the critics argue, formulates a world in its...

How do we assess claims to scientific knowledge? Looking for a link we mentioned? Find it here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes What is it possible to know? Is the physical universe all there is, or is the immaterial part of reality too? Join radical scientist, Rupert Sheldrake, and world-leading sceptic, Michael Shermer, as they go head-to-head on where the edges of knowledge lie. G...

Is it ever right to lie? Is honesty ever wrong? Looking for a link we mentioned? Find it here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Honesty is upheld as an age-old virtue of civilisation. Yet there are many instances where we deem lying desirable. Few would think it right for parents to be honest with their offspring about their favourite child, or to be honest about talents or abilities...