Philosophy Talk

Is philosophy the queen of the sciences, with the job of synthesizing, interpreting and evaluating the results of the particular sciences? Or should we adopt John Locke’s conception of philosophy as a handmaiden to science: clarifying concepts, definitions and assumptions? During the twentieth century the discipline of the philosophy of science emerged as a central part of philosophy. Ken and John...

Is there any reason to think the cause or causes of order in the universe bear an even remote analogy to human intelligence? Even if they did, would that mean these intelligent causes had the benevolence and sense of justice required of a Christian God? Is this whole issue one of science, religion, or philosophy? These questions, considered by Hume, have now become the focus of a national debate....

Does the value of preserving our environment conflict with the development of a world community in which all enjoy the fruits of human progress? Is the environment important intrinsically, or only as a source of pleasure and other goods for human beings? Ken and John discuss these and other issues with Terry Tamminen, Cabinet Secretary to California Governor Schwarzenegger, and an environmental ac...

The question of whether or not God exists is profoundly fascinating and important. What are the proofs of the existence of God? How can one prove that God does not exist? Join us as John and Ken explore issues such as religious experience, the Bible, evil, eternity, the origin of the universe, design, and the supposed connection between morality and the existence of God with Walter Sinnott-Armstro...

Immanuel Kant introduced the human mind as an active originator of experience rather than just a passive recipient of perception.  How has his philosophy influenced the world after him?  John and Ken dig into the brilliantly active mind of Kant with Peter Gilgen from Cornell University, editor of Back to Kant II: The Fate of Kant in a Time of Crisis.

The Constitution grants the freedom of speech to every citizen.  Journalists value it more than anything else.  Should the freedom of speech be unlimited?  Would unlimited freedom of speech do more good or bad to our society?  Would limited freedom of speech impact the monitoring power of news media and therefore threaten our society?  John and Ken discuss the philosophy behind the freedom of spee...

Who do we call friends?  Do we need friends out of love for others or for ourselves?  Is a life with friends necessarily a better life?  Ancient philosophers, such as Aristotle, wrote extensively on the topic.  John and Ken examine just what friendship means in the modern life with their friend, Martha Nussbaum, Professor of Law and Ethics, University of Chicago.

What are we talking about when we talk about Sherlock Holmes or Santa Claus? Something that doesn’t exist?  Something that exists only in the mind? Something that exists only in a fictional or imaginary world? Are statements about fictional objects true?  Is there a distinction between literal truth and “fictional truth?” John and Ken uncover the facts about fiction with Joshua Landy from Stanford...

Berkeley founded and defended idealism, the doctrine that there is not a material world; reality is the orchestration of ideas in minds, nothing more.  He influenced Hume, Mill, Russell, and many other philosophers.  John and Ken explore Berkeley’s ideas with David Hilbert from the University of Illinois at Chicago, author of Color and Color Perception: A Study in Anthropocentric Realism.

Why don’t we run out of the movie theatre when a monster shows on the screen? What kind of mental state is the willing suspension of disbelief? Why do fiction and drama affect our emotions even when we know they are not real? John and Ken examine the role of suspension of disbelief in the enjoyment of theatre, movies, video games, and what this trait reveals about the human mind in general.

Justice, truth, and identity;  race, society, and law—these all come into dramatic play as South Africa makes the tumultuous transition to a post-apartheid democracy.  How has the new South Africa constructed its concepts of reconciliation?  How has its historical emergence meant a rethinking, reimaging, re-experiencing, relabeling, and repoliticizing of race?  John and Ken discuss reconciliation...

Quantum mechanics is an astoundly successful, mathematically elegant, explanatorily deep, even beautiful scientific theory.  Yet it reveals a truly puzzling world of micro-entities: entities that can be at two places at once, that can “travel” from here to the other side of Alpha Centauri in an instant without traversing the space in between, that behave like waves when unobserve but like particle...

After World War II the Nurenberg trials and the conventions that arose out of them codified the idea that there are right and wrong ways to wage war.  That prisoners of war have definite rights, and that non-combatants should be treated differently than soldiers.  Some think the idea of a morality of warfare makes no sense, and that the distinction between soldiers and non-combatants is meaningles...

Politics, especially American politics, puts pressure on words like “liberal”, “conservative” and “values” as they are used more as weapons than as tools for communication. John and Ken discuss this process and the philosophical shifts that often accompany changes in meaning with famed San Francisco linguist Geoff Nunberg, a regular on “Fresh Air.”

Some actions are right, and some are wrong. But aren’t some even better than right—the kinds of things that heroes and saints do? Yet some philosophers think that such “supererogatory” acts make no sense; we should always do the best thing open to us, and there is no room for better than best. John and Ken discuss the philosophy and psychology of saints and heroes with Susan Wolf from the Universi...

The 17th Century philosopher Rene Descartes is often considered the father of modern philosophy.  His Meditations are a staple in introductory philosophy courses, and his views on the relation of mind and body have dominated philosophical discussion of this issue for three hundred years.  John and Ken discuss the life, times, and philosophy of this fascinating French philosopher with Ron Rubin fro...

Where would we be without emotions?  Many philosophers throughout history have thought the emotions serve only to cloud our judgments and actions.  Phrases like “He’s just acting emotionally” or “Her judgment is clouded by emotion” are phrases of condemnation, not of praise.  Still, some philosophers have argued the emotions have an intelligence of their own and that the emotions are indispensable...

It would be nice if we always knew the morally right thing to do, if our choices and commitments were painted in stark black and white.  Unfortunately life is full of gray areas, including situations in which all the choices that confront us seem morally problematic, in which all the people who surround us seem composed of equal parts good and evil.   John and Ken explore the extent to which reali...

What is the sound of one hand clapping?  Does Zen Buddhism provide a unique perspective on the world that transcends the wisdom in Western Philosophy?  Is there a special kind of Zen logic?  Or is it just one more religion?  John and Ken welcome Robert Scharf from UC Berkeley, author of Coming to Terms with Chinese Buddhism.

Does a hungry child in a far away land have any less of a demand on your good will and aid than a hungry child from your own family or neighborhood?  Does each individual have the duty to give to the worldwide alleviation of poverty up to the point at which further giving would cause his or her own family more harm than it would do good for others?  Or is responsibility for others a mostly local a...

What makes me who I am? Is it fair of me, or others, to take my race or ethnicity as part of whom I am? How does the age-old virtue of standing up for kith and kin comport with the demands of fairness as cosmopolitanism? Join John and Ken and Philosophy Talk regular Anthony Appiah from Princeton.

Parents have duties to their children. But do grown up children have obligations to their parents? More generally, do the younger members of a society have obligations to their elders? Where would such obligations come from? What are their limits? John and Ken investigate the moral ties that bind the generations together with Norm Daniels from Harvard University, author of From Chance to Choice: G...

Is the human mind a relatively inflexible program bequeathed to us by evolution, and culture just a veneer that gives age-old urges a respectable cover?   Or our minds largely the product of language, culture, and civilization, with evolution having supplied only the most basic hardware and operating system?   John and Ken welcome Leda Cosmides to shed some light on the human mind.

Is prostitution morally objectionable?   Should it be illegal?   Or is it simply a market transaction, where one party sells a service for a price that another party is willing to pay, and no third party is harmed?   Philosophy Talk favorite Debra Satz joins John and Ken.

Confucius laid down a pattern of thinking followed by more people for more generations than any other human being on the face of the earth. No matter what religion, no matter what form of government, the Chinese (and most other East Asian civilizations) and their way of thinking can in some way be shown to have Confucian elements about them. John and Ken discuss the ancient wisdom of Confucius wit...