Philosophy For Our Times

Are scientific metaphors a real description of reality? A discussion between our scientists and philosophers. Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes From string theory to the Big Bang, black holes to dark matter, our big scientific theories are increasingly conveyed through metaphor. Yet from Newton to the latest theories, science is largely found...

The case for nihilism, demons of materialism, and jazz?! Join us for a fascinating discussion. Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes On this week’s episode we are joined by Professor of Metaphysical Philosophy at Keele University, James Tartaglia, to discuss the meaning of life and common misconceptions surrounding nihilism. We dive into a fascin...

Should the origins of ideas matter as much as their substance? Our experts discuss. Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes There has always been dispute over which ideas are most significant. But at least there used to be broad agreement about the hallmarks of quality and the great works in each field. Now, from literature to the social sciences,...

Are you ready for a different kind of 'trip'? Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes We have a very special episode for you today, a truly fascinating (and at times even funky) philosophical discussion. From Silicon Valley to the treatment of depression, psychedelics have entered the mainstream. And with them come new political, economic and philo...

Is the brain just a computer? Are AI conscious? Or could they be? Our experts debate. Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes  The idea of the brain as a computer is everywhere. So much so we have forgotten it is a model and not the reality. It’s a metaphor that has lead some to believe that in the future they'll be uploaded to the digital eth...

Has science become the philosophical belief of our time? Leading scientists and philosophers discuss. Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes In less than a lifetime, the first half of the twentieth century brought a series of life changing inventions. In combination with the all encompassing new stories of physics, science, once a branch of philos...

Can science accommodate human subjectivity? Sabine Hossenfelder responds. Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes In this interview, leading physicist and author, Sabine Hossenfelder, discusses the relationship between physics and philosophy. She examines the scientific community’s desire to find a unified theory of everything, and contemplates how...

Is our obsession with data healthy or dangerous? Our specialists discuss. Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes  Look to the science' was the call from politicians and the public alike throughout the pandemic. As if science has a single definitive view, and the data one interpretation. Yet science is full of competing and sometimes contradic...

Does philosophy really have an impact on our daily life? Timothy Williamson explains. Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes In this interview, professor of Logic at the University of Oxford, Timothy Williamson examines how common sense can sometimes not be fully self-consistent and can even lead us into certain logical paradoxes. The philosopher...

What do memes really mean? Listen to find out! Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Memes are everywhere. But the term was coined only a few decades ago by Richard Dawkins to describe ideas and cultural behaviour that can be passed on from one individual to another. He argued that memes are a stage in evolution, and just as humans are carriers f...

All the questions. Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes What exists? Why is there anything at all? Are there realities beyond physics? What is consciousness, personal or cosmic? Robert Lawrence Kuhn, host of the long-running 'Closer to Truth' television series and acclaimed website, has spent over 20 years interviewing the greatest thinkers and...

Is our obsession with enhancing ourselves leading to the end of humankind? Luke Robert Mason explains. Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes The transhumanist dream, the merging of humans with machines, may soon be a reality. Elon Musk's NeuraLink is developing quickly, and before long, with the rise of more forms of human biotechnology, we may f...

Has contemporary culture abandoned the quest for the sublime? Our experts try to find out. Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes From Rembrandt to Rothko, Mozart to Wagner, art and music have the capacity to give us a feeling of the sublime and transcendent wonder. Yet in contemporary culture the sublime is rare and for the most part not even des...

Is metaphysics back in fashion? Or is philosophy getting increasingly lost? Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes The twentieth century began with a revolutionary new approach to philosophy. The great arguments about the nature of reality and human experience were deemed empty and meaningless. A new philosophical broom, in the form of analytic ph...

How does panpsychism clash with fundamental physics? Does it? Can we find a theory that supports science AND philosophy to finally explain consciousness? Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes In this episode Philip Goff responds to recent critiques of panpsychism by theoretical physicists Sean Carroll and Sabine Hossenfelder, and then explores so...

How do we make decisions regarding our children in an impossibly complicated digital world? Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Technology is changing parenthood. From children raised by smartphones, to making choices about gene-editing and enhancement, Melanie Challenger asks what it means to be a parent in a technological age. Melanie Challen...

Is the abandonment of ritual a contemporary mistake? Listen to what our experts have to say. Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes From greetings and introductions, to love and relationships, church services and dances, formality and ritual were once a central part of our lives. But form and ritual have been in retreat for more than a century. Ma...

How wrong was Descartes exactly? Listen to find out! Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Professor of Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience Anil Seth explores the ultimate mystery of our consciousness experience. In this interview, Seth discusses the misconceptions surrounding the difference between consciousness and intelligence, the link b...

Can morality lead society down dangerous roads? Listen to how our speakers deconstruct our idea of right and wrong. 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, a new form of moral certainty is now reappearing, with much of...

Free will? Nah... Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Do we have free will? Are we exercising our agency or following our predetermined destiny? How would we structure our society if we believed that individuals are not responsible for their actions? Or maybe we already do? In this interview analytic philosopher Galen Strawson discusses free wi...

Does life have meaning or is it time to embrace nihilism? Listen to find out! Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Humans have always sought meaning beyond themselves in stories about the gods and the “beyond”. Yet today contemporary culture and thought has left many alone with only human, and contradictory, perspectives on the universe. In the...

Can AI really help us reach our human potential? How reliant should we be on technology? Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes We all know that the world of AI is rapidly changing. What is less obvious are the ways in which we change with it. In this talk, complex systems expert and pioneer of the world’s first empathic technology, Fotini Markopo...

Can language ever truly capture reality? Is there anything unsayable? Listen to what the experts have to say. Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes "What we cannot speak about we must pass over in silence", famously claimed the philosopher Wittgenstein. He primarily had in mind the relationship between language and the world, and more generally t...

Have you ever wondered how animals, robots and even aliens think? Listen to find out! Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes How do non-human minds think? Acclaimed science writer Philip Ball provides a whistle-stop tour of the kinds of minds that might exist in the universe and how these might be similar to and different from our own. Philip Ball...

Is there a universal moral code? Or are we lying to ourselves? Listen to find out. Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Absolute moral claims are making a resurgence along with demands for action in response. Yet at the same time many proclaim the value and importance of upholding diverse cultural outlooks with sometimes radically different mora...