Thoughts: Philosophy Untangled

In this episode Alexandros and Calum sit down with Dr Alexander Douglas, a senior lecturer at the University of St Andrews, to discuss the life and work of Baruch Spinoza. They touch on several topics, including Spinoza's controversial theological stances, his substance monism and the implication of his views for how society should operate.

This week, Emilia Wilson from Univeristy of St Andrews joins us to discuss erotica, pornography and oppression. They talk about the differences between erotica and pornography, and what this means for us socially, ethically and politically. Trigger warnings: sexual violence, sexual assault, consent, rape  Content warnings: discussion of sexual acts, pornography, sexual violence, ejaculation, BDSM,...

When is speech 'free' speech? Are we free to think anything we want? Can thought ever truly be 'free'? In this episode, Calum and Jonah discuss what it means to have freedom of speech and thought, with Dr. Derek Ball. They discuss how the structure of our mind, our language and our world can constrain the content of our ideas, and whether some kinds of content constraints may in fact be necessary....

This week Jonah and Amelia are joined by Dr Michelle O'Reilly, who'll be discussing her work on 'Digital Ethics of Care' - how we can improve conduct online, how adolescents think about themselves and others on social media, how philosophy might help, and much more.

In this episode, Jasmine and Arianna talk to Prof Cohen Shabot, Chair of The Women's and Gender Studies Graduate Program at the University of Haifa about how philosophy can be used in our everyday lives, specifically looking at medical gaslighting and obstetric violence.  Trigger warnings include miscarriage, non-consent and gender-based violence.

How does one go about living a good life? In this episode Calum and Alex talk to Dr Margaret Hampson who is a lecturer in Ancient Philosophy at the University of St Andrews. They explore how Aristotle thinks about virtue in the Nichomachean Ethics, including what it consists of and how it links to the idea of living a good, flourishing life. The conversation then goes into more depth about the pro...

Calum and Neil get the opportunity to talk to Peter Krykant, who is a political activist and Project Lead with the harm reduction charity Cranstoun, and Dr Saket Priyadarshi, who is an Associate Medical Director with Greater Glasgow and Clyde Alcohol and Drug Services. This episode discusses the distinctions between different forms of drugs, the issues surrounding drug use within society, the caus...

How do we understand ethics in a secular world? In this episode, Isabel and Jonah talk to Geoffrey Moore, about his new book: ‘The Infinite Staircase’. We attempt to weave a thread from metaphysics to consciousness, and culture, right through to ethics. We explore how each of these ‘stairs’ is dependent upon the one that precedes it, how reliable the concepts of good and bad are and...

This is an excerpt from our physicalism episode with Donnchadh O’Conaill, a researcher at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland.

This week Keir and Jasmine take a dive into physicalism with Donnchadh O’Conaill, a researcher at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland. We explore the issues that zombies (bodies with no brains) and ghosts (brains with no bodies) pose for physicalism. We find out if physicalists should be checking under their beds at night or walking confidently into the dark... For more information and links t...

In the episode, Keir and Jasmine have and in-depth discussion with Dario Mortini, a fourth year PhD student and lecturer at the University of Glasgow about legal epistemology, the nature of the law and real-life legal cases. We discuss fairness and luck, testimony and evidence, and how the law and epistemology influence one another. 

In this episode, Isabel and Jasmine talk to Dr Pettigrove about his own experience grappling with the ethics of lying and the effects it might have had on his children. We discuss what Kant would say and whether this is a plausible account for honesty or a 'grinch' perspective. 

Trigger Warning: mentions of child abuse  Do we have duties towards Children? If so, what are they? Who should be doing something about them? How should we be doing something about them? All these questions and more in today's episode of Thoughts, where Jonah and Alexandros delve into the philosophy of the duties that we have towards Children with Areti Theofilopoulou, a postdoctoral fellow a...

During his lifetime, Ludwig Wittgenstein published only one book-length work of philosophy. Yet it remains one of the most influential philosophical works of the past 200 years. Jonah Woodward and Alexandros Constantinou sit down with PhD student Nick Purches-Knabb, to discuss the changing interpretations of Wittgenstein’s work and how it completely undermines our understanding of language, ethics...

The definition of art has been the subject of longstanding debate in aesthetics. In this episode, Katie and Hamish meet Jerrold Levinson, a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Maryland. They explore the different definitions on the market, and Levinson offers his own intentional-historical definition - that art is “something that has been intended by someone for regard or treatment in som...

Hamish Stewart and Alexandros Constantinou talk to Bjoern Freter, an independent Scholar from Knoxville Tennessee to understand how superiorism underpins our modern world. To find out more about Bjoern's work, visit: https://bjornfreter.academia.edu/

What really is ‘Nature’? Why should we care about preserving it? Jonah Woodward and Alexandros Constaninou are joined by Martin Bunzl, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at Rutgers University and author of the new book ‘Thinking While Walking: Reflections on the Pacific Crest Trail’. They discuss how the human conception of the natural world has changed over time, the difficulties we face in attempt...

Can Philosophy help you become a better person? Yes! But, also, no...In this episode our hosts, Arianna Clark and Jonah Woodward talk to Francis Brewer about his path to Veganism, the power and limitations of philosophy, aliens, robots, the neural networks of plants, and how he used to think his mum was crazy.

Has Philosophy ever actually helped anyone? Yes, yes it has. This week our hosts, Arianna Clark and Alex Constantinou, talk to philosopher, novelist and therapist Dr Luis de Miranda - where he explains just how philosophy can help us, and how it helped him. From dissecting reality to RuPaul’s Drag Race, we just about scratch the surface of the theoretical underpinnings of Luis’ work – and, like us...

If you’ve ever wondered what people actually do with philosophy, this is the episode for you. From miserable existentialism to ethics in the office - this week our host, Arianna Clark, talks to the resourceful writer and philosopher and communications expert, Ben Van Loon, about his life in Chicago and how he’s navigated it, using his philosophical training to carve a space in the world for him. Y...

Thoughts is excited to present Escaping the Ivory Tower , a brand new series in which our co-host Arianna Clark speaks to guests from all over the world about the impact that philosophy has made on their lives.

In this episode, Katie and Ross chat to Dr. Ian Kidd about Misanthropy – the view that it is appropriate to morally condemn humanity.

What are the abilities of self-regulation and self-control over our mental lives? What does it mean to say that we are at one with ourselves? Dr. Dorothea Debus, Professor of Theoretical Philosophy at the University of Konstanz joins Alexandros Constantinou and Keir Aitken to discuss these questions and many more in this episode of Thoughts.

How do you choose a dissertation topic? What are some common dissertation mishaps? In this episode, co-hosts Alex and Jasmine talk to Dr Emma Gordon, a research fellow in applied ethics and epistemology at the University of Glasgow who was voted Best Dissertation Supervisor at the University of Glasgow in 2020. They explore questions surrounding philosophy dissertations and discuss how to get arou...

What’s so good about democracy? Is it really better than the alternatives? In this episode, co-hosts Katie and Keir talk to Dr Lewis Ross, a fellow in Philosophy and Public Policy at the London School of Economics. They explore the limits of democracy and some alternatives that have been proposed: Lottocracy, Epistocracy and Lewis’ favoured approach, Plato’s philosopher kings.