Love & Philosophy

Send a love message   Give Support with a Subscription 'Needful Freedom' comes from the work of philosopher Hans Jonas and though this podcast is not about Jonas, Andrea and Mike discuss this term towards understanding the skill of the future. Mike's bio: "Ex-tech exec, now a reluctant Cassandra. Penning dispatches from democracy's peril at notesfromthecircus.com . Unmaski...

Send a love message #paradox of #love and #agency Yogi aka. Johannes Jaeger like to fashion himself as a natural philosopher. After having his own lab and being the director of an institute in Vienna he left academia for pursuing intellectual production independently. He is part of an science-art collective in Vienna called The Zone. His focus has been primarily focused on his book, Beyond the Age...

Send a love message  Elena Clare Cuffari is a Professor at Franklin and Marshall College. Shay Welch is a professor at Spelman College in Atlanta. In this episode, they discuss embodied cognition and participatory sensemaking in relation to marginalized body epistemologies. They share insights from a recent conference that brought together diverse perspectives on how embodied cognition intersects...

Send a love message Support the show In this episode, which was recorded in the autumn of 2024, Andrea Hiott talks with environmental philosopher and public intellectual Rupert Read . They delve into Read's realization that 'this civilization is finished,' his engagement with Wittgenstein's philosophy (especially the book he edited with Alice Crary), his subsequent involvement...

Send a love message  Decoding the Empowerment Measurement in AI and Robotics with Dari Trendafilov. Dari has a PhD in Computing Science from the University of Glasgow, UK. His research interests are situated at the intersection of Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and Human–Computer Interaction. He specialized in probabilistic information-theoretic modelling of complex systems and analysis of comp...

Send a love message   Exploring Human Embodiment and Conviviality with Thomas Fuchs, the Karl Jaspers Professor of Philosophy and Psychiatry, Heidelberg University, Germany Join Andrea for an insightful conversation with Thomas Fuchs, a philosopher and psychiatrist at Universität Heidelberg, as they delve into his book, 'In Defense of the Human Being.' Explore the profound questions abou...

Send a love message   Give Support with a Subscription  Mark Solms | Part 2 | Can love bring us beyond traditional divides? Mark Solms is a professor in the Department of Neuropsychology at the University of Cape Town: " My early research focused on the brain mechanisms of sleep and dreaming led to an interest in consciousness, which is currently my major focus. My emphasis is on brainstem me...

Send a love message  Logic, Self-consciousness, and the continuity of mind and life: This episode is with Karen Ng, author of Hegel's Concept of Life, and an Associate Professor of Philosophy at Vanderbilt University. Andrea and Karen discuss Hegel's concept of life, self-consciousness, and the problem of contradiction, emphasizing how life and love are fundamental to understanding his i...

Send a love message   Happy 2025 ❤️ everyone. Philosopher Evan Thompson discusses 'The Blind Spot' which delves into the complexities of human perception, science, and the interconnectedness of nature. Together Andrea Hiott and Evan Thompson explore themes such as the impact of idealized scientific models on our understanding of reality, the importance of integrating arts and humanities...

Send a love message   Karl Friston has ranked as ' the most influential brain scientist in the world ' and been called a genius (as in the WIRED magazine piece ), though many find his work mysterious. The melody of this unique conversation between Karl and Andrea, however, is the concept of 'flow' and how it relates to making the right choices within a constantly changing world...

Send a love message A look into the ideas of ecological psychology with legendary Harry Heft. Known for his renowned contributions to environmental and ecological psychology, Heft discusses the concept of affordances, a term coined by JJ Gibson, and its application across various fields. Heft traces the intellectual lineage from William James to Gibson, emphasizing a relational rather than dualist...

Send a love message Neuroscience, AI, and Philosophy with Paul from Brain Inspired Can we think about education (and age) differently? Was it worth it to give up academia, move into an RV and create a podcast? Can we think differently about computation and representation? Paul Middlebrooks is no gadfly but as you'll hear, the one thing he knows is that he does not know (as Plato quotes Socrat...

Send a love message Minna Salami is a Nigerian-Finnish and Swedish feminist author, social critic and currently Program Chair at THE NEW INSTITUTE. She is the author of Can Feminism Be African? (forthcoming Harper Collins) and Sensuous Knowledge: A Black Feminist Approach for Everyone (Bloomsbury 2020) which has been translated into multiple languages. Minna is a leading voice of contemporary femi...

Send a love message Frank O'Hara, John Ashbery, Ludwig Wittgenstein, dualism, physics, and more. "John Koethe was born on December 25, 1945. He began writing poetry in 1964 during his undergraduate years at Princeton University and went on to receive a PhD in philosophy from Harvard University. Give Support with a Subscription Koethe’s Ninety-fifth Street (Harper Perennial, 2009) won the...

Send a love message Exploring Perspectival Realism: Are there many paths to the right place? In this episode, Andrea talks with Michela Massimi, a philosopher renowned for her book 'Perspectival Realism.' They look at what these terms mean, discussing the relevance of perspectivism in the philosophy of science and its implications for understanding scientific models, realism, and plurali...

Send a love message Love and Philosophy? Beyond Dichotomy? What is this all about? A few unscripted thoughts today in the diary on thinking paradoxically. These diaries are not usually published on the podcast (just on the Substack and YouTube) but this one seemed relevant to post here too as a trailer or sorts. Hugs and love to you all, Andrea Hiott Give Support with a Subscription Full intro and...

Send a love message RESEARCH CONVERSATION about the many ways the term consciousness is used in science, philosophy and everyday life. We also discuss cognitive processes, empathy, the meaning of life, the inevitability of death & of course, metaphysical idealism. SA Article , Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell 03:02 Intro 08:08 Metaconsciousness 19:11 Personal Experiences & Consciousness 25:...

Send a love message Alva Noë is Professor of Philosophy, and Chair of the Department of Philosophy, at the University of California, Berkeley, where he is also a member of the Center for New Media, and the Institute for Cognitive and Brain Sciences. Professor Noë is a 2012 recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and a 2018 recipient of the Judd Hume Prize in Advanced Visual Studies. Until the end of...

Send a love message  Give Support with a Subscription Consciousness is feeling. Thoughts are ways we maintain our homeostasis. A quick conversation with Mark Solms and Andrea Hiott on the topics of Mark's book The Hidden Spring. Mark Solms is a South African psychoanalyst and neuropsychologist known for his discovery of the brain mechanisms of dreaming and his use of psychoanalytic methods in...

Send a love message A conversation about Life, Longevity, and Human Connection between Sheng-Hung Lee, a designer, engineer, and educator from MIT’s Age Lab with experience at IDEO, and Andrea Hiott, a philosopher working in Heidelberg and the Netherlands. Together they discusses Lee's unique approach to design. He emphasizes design as a human skill rather than a hard or soft skill, focusing...

Send a love message Join Michael Wheeler and Mirko Prokop as they dive into Heidegger’s phenomenology and its relevance for cognitive science as well as Michael’s recent work in the nascent field of the cognitive arts and humanities. Touching on philosophical and existential questions about the nature of mind and our relationship to the world and others, they explore the structure of human experie...

Send a love message Join us in an intriguing exploration of the connections between the brain, body, and environment with esteemed neuroscientist and philosopher, Dr. Georg Northoff. Discover Dr. Northoff's ground-breaking research on spatiotemporal patterns in brain activity, which illuminates our understanding of consciousness and mental states such as depression and mania. Learn about the...

Send a love message Paco Calvo leads the MINT Lab and is the renowned author of 'Planta Sapiens,' as we explore the revolutionary concepts of plant intelligence and co-evolution. In today’s rapidly advancing scientific world, the idea of plant intelligence often sparks a heated debate. Can plants think? Do they possess some form of intelligence or cognition? Paco Calvo, the renowned cogn...

Send a love message Andrea Hiott chats with award-winning designer Alastair Duckworth to investigate the influential role of polarity and paradox in our lives and creations. They discuss how engaging with seemingly contradictory elements—from religious texts to marketing campaigns like Michael Jordan's Nike ad and VW Beetle—can enhance our understanding and spark creativity. The dialogue cove...

Send a love message Lucas shares his journey from being driven by societal pressures and material success to finding deeper meaning and purpose through conversations, psychedelics, and a profound connection with nature. We discuss his recent studies in Egyptology, his thoughts on thinkers like René Girard, and his shift from superficial goals to becoming a school teacher. Lucas also opens up about...