Philosophy Talk Starters

More at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/arts-all. When we think of “real” art, we often think of expensive, highbrow pieces that are displayed in museums and galleries, and critiqued by the elite. In fact, people commonly lament that they don’t know enough about art to truly understand or appreciate the works that they encounter. So should art aim to be accessible to everyone? Or is it ever o...

More at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/democracy-numbers. The United States prides itself on being “the world’s greatest democracy,” which adheres to the principle, “one person, one vote.” Despite this, its elections are often highly contentious—presidents can be elected after losing the popular vote, there is widespread gerrymandering and voter purging, and not everyone has equal representa...

More at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/rhetoric-big-tech. Big Tech is known for its "disruption" of established industries and changing fundamental aspects of our lives from shopping and delivery to communication and transit. While many welcome these changes, there are also worries about privacy, fairness, and deregulation. So how do tech companies think about what it is they are doing and w...

More at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/minds-and-matter. Everything that seems to have a mind also has a body made of flesh and blood. But if we look at the diversity of animals found in the world, we find a huge variety of species that perceive and interact with the world in very different ways. Is there something all these species have in common? Are neurons and ganglia required, or can ev...

More at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/are-we-all-blame. It’s easy to identify the pressing issues facing our world today, but it’s much more difficult to assign responsibility for them. Often the blame is placed on collectives — on entire governments, nations, and societies. But does the responsibility truly all fall to them? How can we identify precisely whose fault it is, for example, tha...

More at: http://philosophytalk.org/shows/kierkegaard. Philosophy usually suggests a striving for rationality and objectivity. But the Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard advocated subjectivity and the leap of faith – his conception of how an individual would believe in God or act in love. Kierkegaard, whose best-known work is "Fear and Trembling," is often considered the father of Existentialism....

More at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/power-prediction. You’re standing at the top of a mountain, surveying the vast landscape below. The information your senses take in flows to your brain, which processes it to create a representation of the scene. Or does it? What if instead of directly perceiving the world around us, the brain is more like a prediction machine that hallucinates a pictur...

More at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/why-we-hate. The Southern Poverty Law Center reports that the number of hate groups operating in the U.S. has risen to a record high. There has also been a corresponding increase in hate crime violence. So where does all this hate come from? Do we hate others because we feel a deeper sense of alienation or fear towards them? Is hating always the wrong r...

More at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/whats-game. Games have been an integral part of human society since the earliest civilizations. They are played around the world by people at every rank and station, at every stage of life, from childhood to old age. Why do we love games so much? Are they just a pleasant way of whiling away some empty hours or escaping the daily grind? Or do we play gam...

More at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/why-poetry-matters. Some people say they find poetry impenetrable. Yet readership is increasing: in a 2017 survey, the National Endowment for the Arts found that nearly 12% of adults in the US had read poetry in the last year. So what explains the enduring appeal of poetry as an art form? Are there any limits to who counts as a poet, or what counts as p...

More at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/science-and-skepticism. In recent decades, we’ve witnessed intense cultural wars waged on scientifically established phenomena, such as climate change and the benefit of vaccines. Of course, we might agree that some degree of skepticism about the world around us is good—it would be impractical and even dangerous for us to blindly accept everything we ar...

More at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/2023-dionysus-awards. What movies from the past year challenged your assumptions and made you think about things in new ways? Josh and guest co-host Jeremy Sabol present our annual Dionysus Awards for the most thought-provoking movies of 2022, including: • Meatiest Meditation on Mortality and Meaning (in the British Isles) • Coolest Contemplation of Com...

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/darwin. More than 200 years after his birth, Charles Darwin's theory of evolution continues to shape our thinking, not only in biology, but also in psychology, economics, and all other attempts to understand human beings including philosophy. Ken and John delve into Darwin's theory and its implications for philosophy with Daniel Dennett of Tufts University,...

More at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/citizenship-and-justice. Securing citizenship to a developed country could guarantee people enormous privileges and opportunities. Some condemn those who try illegally to reap the benefits that come with such citizenship. But are our ways of determining who gets to enter borders arbitrary and unfair? Should we grant border access to people born in a nat...

More at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/merits-meritocracy. For centuries, the promise of the “American Dream” has been that as long as someone buckles down and works hard, she can achieve her goals. In other words, we’ve perpetuated the meritocratic notion that the more effort one puts in and the more ability one possesses, the more success one can attain. But is this really the case? Given...

More at www.philosophytalk.org/shows/can-streets-discriminate. City streets play an important role in our everyday lives. We commute to work, walk our dogs, meet our friends, and stage protests on city streets. In theory, streets are open for anyone to physically access. But do streets, by their design, actually discriminate against certain people? If so, who has less access to city streets? Is th...

More at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/examined-year-2022. What happened over the last twelve months that challenged our assumptions and made us think about things in new ways? • The Year in Developed Nations at War with Tamsin Shaw from NYU, author of "Nietzsche's Political Skepticism" • The Year in Supreme Court Controversy with Bernadette Meyler from the Stanford Law School, author of "Th...

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/how-relevant-jesus. Some people think Jesus was the son of God, though many who are skeptical about that still think he was a great moral teacher. But if we really knew what Jesus would think about moral issues that he didn't confront while he lived – abortion, terrorism, euthanasia, gay marriage or the destruction of old-growth redwoods – would it be that h...

More at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/effective-altruism. Most people agree that it's good to help others, but philosophers disagree about how much good we need to do, and for whom. Effective altruists claim that you have a moral obligation to do the most good you can—even when that means setting aside the needs of your nearest and dearest in order to help strangers. So what does morality d...

More at www.philosophytalk.org/shows/ethical-jerk. Ethics philosophers are more ethical than the average person — right? Well, maybe not. Studies show that philosophy professors are just as biased as the rest of us, and no more generous in their charitable giving. So does that mean they’re not any more ethical too? What’s the point of doing moral philosophy if it’s not to make ourselves more ethic...

More at www.philosophytalk.org/shows/why-money-matters. Money, they say, does not buy happiness; but having none can make life extraordinarily hard. Whether we have a little or a lot, we are all familiar with how much money matters in our daily lives. But what exactly is money? Is it a commodity that evolved spontaneously from systems of barter? Or is it purely an invention of government, used as...

More at www.philosophytalk.org/shows/covid-conundrums. In just months the world changed radically, and we have all had to adjust our lifestyles to stop the spread of Covid-19. Those working on the frontlines are taking on great personal risk while the rest of us are required to socially distance. But even if you follow all the guidelines, you may still face moral dilemmas. Is it ethical to order n...

More at www.philosophytalk.org/shows/pet-ethics. Many of us, even the staunchest animal activists, usually take it for granted that keeping a pet is morally acceptable. But regardless of how well we treat our animal “companions,” by keeping pets we are declaring ownership and paternal authority over other living creatures, and confining them to our homes. Is there any good moral justification for...

More at www.philosophytalk.org/shows/philosophy-and-superhero. Philosophy is replete with thought experiments featuring characters like Descartes’ “Evil Genius” and Davidson’s “Swampman.” Some of the scenarios philosophers conjure up seem like they could’ve been plucked from a superhero comic. Or is it the other way around? Why do philosophy and superhero comics employ such similar thought experim...

More at www.philosophytalk.org/shows/self-illusion. Most of us think it’s obvious that we have a self, but famously, both Buddhism and British philosopher David Hume are skeptical that such a thing exists. What in the world could it mean to deny that the self exists? Could ‘the self’ just refer to a series of perceptions and feelings we have over time? If so, then whose perceptions and feelings ar...