Philosophy For Our Times

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Freedom is often seen as the vital oxygen of creativity. Yet Shakespeare worked within a framework of censorship, Don Quixote was written from prison and Leonardo argued that at 'lives on constraint and dies of freedom'. Can oppression help produce masterpieces or do the free always write the greatest poetry?...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes According to current theories, Dark Energy and Dark Matter make up 95% of all the stuff in the universe. Yet we still have no direct evidence for them. Might we need to rethink our account of the universe entirely? In this episode of Philosophy for our Times, String theorist Erik Verlinde, astrophysicist Cath...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes The left has traditionally seen itself as progressive, with history and morality on its side. But is history on anyone's side? And as for morality, don't all politicians think they're in the right? Should the left then give up its claim to the moral high ground and argue for policies on pragmatic grounds alon...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Neuroscientists believe that our minds and consciousness are no more than matter and mechanism. But if they are right, is all meaning, purpose and feeling illusory? Or do the secrets of experience lie beyond neuroscience's grasp? In this episode of Philosophy for our Times, Raymond Tallis, Susana Martinez-Con...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Once beauty was about goodness and truth, now we think it means little more than models, products and outdated art. Have practical concerns and the economy of desire made beauty trivial and expendable? Is there a difference in the feeling of pleasure one gets from looking at a Magritte painting, or at Kim Kar...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Many think Donald Trump a buffoon and a threat to world peace. But with IS weakened, and signs of progress in North Korea, perhaps his supporters can point to some initial successes. Could a belligerent approach to foreign policy make for a safer world? In this episode of Philosophy for our Times, George Gall...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes We think that lightning strikes, and waves crash, even if there is no one to see them. Yet according to quantum physics, the observer is critical to reality. Theoretical physicist Werner Heisenberg even argued that, in contemporary physics 'objective reality has evaporated'. Is a world independent of the obse...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes From Milton's Paradise Lost to bad boys and femmes fatales, we are seduced by the dark and dangerous. Why does the devil have all the best tunes? Have we sanitised the good and made it vacuous? In this episode of Philosophy for our Times, moral philosopher Christopher Hamilton, theologian and Zizek collaborat...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes From yoga retreats to mindfulness, meditation is fashionable and now even prescribed by the UK's National Health Service. Yet in some cases it can lead to depression and even psychosis. Is it a mistake to think that self-exploration and being at one with ourselves are necessarily good things? In this episode...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes The idea that the world is made of physical stuff alone has been central to scientific progress. But our theories do not account for experience or thought. Might materialism be a profound mistake? In this episode of Philosophy for our Times, CERN physicist John Ellis, Consciousness author Susan Blackmore and...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes From gene therapy and fad diets to cryonically frozen corpses, many still hope to find a way to live forever. But Heidegger famously thought life's transience gave it meaning. So should science one day banish death's shadow? In this episode of Philosophy for our Times, Philosopher and author of 'Post-Human Et...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Patricia MacCormack is Professor of Continental Philosophy at Anglia Ruskin University, known for her work on Posthuman ethics. In this exclusive interview, Patricia explains why she thinks the world would be a better place without humans. In association with the New College of the Humanities. bit.ly/2FdPgLD...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Many believe that porn's dark fantasies risk corrupting relationships and society. Has this arisen because pornography is largely created by men? Or is porn fundamentally incompatible with intimacy and a problem for all of us until its abolished? In this episode of Philosophy for our Times, feminist thinker F...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Brooke Magnanti is best known by her pen name Belle de Jour, from the blog behind Secret Diary of a Call Girl. In this exclusive interview, Brooke explains how we should free ourselves from the shackles surrounding sex from shame, to guilt and toxic femininity. In association with the New College of the Human...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes 'Dare to know' was the radical rallying cry of the Enlightenment. But since then, philosophers from Nietzsche to Derrida have argued there are limits to knowledge so profound that truth is an impossible goal. Is the enlightenment dream over? In this episode of Philosophy for our Times, A Short History of Trut...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Hilary Lawson is a post realist philosopher, known for his theory of Closure. In this exclusive interview, Hilary explains how we should understand truth in a post truth world and why we need Enlightenment thinking now more than ever. In association with the New College of the Humanities bit.ly/2FdPgLD There...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes The fundamental problem of philosophy, argued Heidegger, is 'why is there something rather than nothing?'. Now, some scientists claim nothing doesn't exist and that even deepest space is full of virtual particles. Have we misunderstood the very idea of nothing? In this episode of Philosophy for our Times, Tem...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Rupert Sheldrake is a renowned author and biologist, known for his research into parapsychology. In this exclusive interview, Rupert shares with us the secrets of consciousness, putting forward a panpsychist view of what it is to be conscious and debunking why materialism has failed. In association with the N...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes There are many who see Trump and Putin as a threat to world peace. But are they in power because we believe that strong leaders are good for us? Is it a mistake to imagine that leaders can solve all of our problems? Can we imagine a politics where we voted for policies rather than personalities? In this episo...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Jon Barnes is a guest lecturer at the world's top business schools, innovator and author. In this exclusive interview, Jon shares with us how technology is already being used to shape the way we vote, organise and think about politics. From Democracy Squared to Tech Monopolies, Jon's work has focused on the r...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes How have ideas across the world shaped the places from which they emerged? In this episode of Philosophy for our Times, author and philosopher Julian Baggini explores global thinking and its varied influence on our cultures, our ideals and how we see ourselves. In association with the New College of the Human...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Can our legal system ever keep its promise of justice? In this episode of Philosophy for our Times, author of ‘In Your Defence’ Sarah Langford tells her story of a life in the courtroom, and shows us how our attitudes and actions can shape not only the outcome of a case, but the legal system itself. In associ...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes From medieval legends to Hollywood endings to the horoscope, we are led to believe that lifelong love means happiness. But a recent survey of 814 separate studies showed single people to be happier, more fulfilled and less stressed. Is it time to stop seeing romantic love as all-important? In this episode of...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Where once we made sense of the world using the idea of God, most of us now believe in a more scientific story, of an unfolding universe and evolution. Yet scientists increasingly see their theories as useful models rather than ultimate accounts. Is science then just another human description limited by langu...

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here:  https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes We think everyone should be treated equally. Yet we also think we are right to care most about our family, our friends and our lovers, and 82% of charitable donations in the UK are given to the causes closest to home. Should we just accept that our ethics are in practice tribal? In this episode of Philosophy...