Philosophy Feeds

...and why we need different, cheaper, less accurate tests. Interesting, and not as strange as it sounds!

You can't call on members of the community to sign an "anti-racism pledge," just like you can't call on them to sign a loyalty oath to American capitalism. Of course, this isn't quite as bad as mandating as a condition...

The Free Will Show, from philosophers Taylor Cyr (Samford) and Matt Flummer (Porterville College).

...at 3:16 AM.

I started the blog 17 years ago on Monday, August 3--I forgot! Reflections on the 14th and 10th anniversary are still relevant. I note that at the 10-year mark the blog had averaged 2.3 million visits and 3 million page...

Woman Philosopher of Year is Ann Garry • UNESCO invites public to comment on AI ethics rules • Steiner and Kohák dead — News reports by Anja Steinbauer

Brett Wilson judges the case for laws for robots.

Joakim Vindenes says VR could be a useful addition to the philosopher’s toolkit.

James K. Wight looks at how cultures define our views of machines.

Frank Martela relates how science destroyed the meaning of life, but helps us find meaning in life.

Ludwig Wittgenstein worked out how language has meaning, twice. He also thought that some of the most important things we can know we can’t express at all. Grant Bartley from Philosophy Now finds out the meaning and limits of language from guest Daniel Hutto from the University of Wollongong, NSW. First broadcast on 22 June 2014 on Resonance FM.

What is meta-ethics? How does meta-ethics differ from ethics, and what does it tell us about ethics? Why is it important for how we should live our lives? Join Grant Bartley from Philosophy Now and his guests Edward Harcourt from Keble College, Oxford, and Richard Rowland from the University of Warwick, to find the answers to these questions and more. First broadcast on 8 June 2014 on Resonance FM.

Join Grant Bartley from Philosophy Now and guests Philip Goff from the University of Liverpool and Tom McClelland from the University of Manchester as they try to work out how all that electricity between your nerve cells relates to and produces all your experiences and thoughts. First broadcast on 25 May 2014 on Resonance FM.

Isaiah Berlin said of David Hume, “No man has influenced the history of philosophy to a deeper or more disturbing degree.” Join Grant Bartley from Philosophy Now plus guests Jane O’Grady, Peter Kail and James Arnold to find out why. First broadcast on 11 May 2014 on Resonance FM.

Both philosophy and literature represent the world and reflect on it. They are clearly different, yet converge, overlap and relate to one another in various ways. Can anything be gained philosophically by examining literature? Conversely, does it add to our understanding of literature to look at it from a philosophical point of view? Anja Steinbauer, President of Philosophy For All, and her guests Gregory Currie from the University of Nottingham, Stacie Friend from Heythrop College, University of London, and Edward Harcourt from Keble College, University of Oxford, discuss truth and ethics in philosophy and literature. First broadcast on 27 March 2012 on Resonance FM.

By Dominic Wilkinson @Neonatalethics and Michael Dunn @ethical_mikey In a high court case reported last week, a judge strongly criticised a London hospital’s clinical ethics committee (CEC). The case related to disputed treatment for a gravely ill nine-year old child. There had been a breakdown in the relationship between the clinical team and the child’s […]

Written by Farbod Akhlaghi (University of Oxford) The coronavirus pandemic rages on. To the surprise of many, the enforcement of mask wearing, imposition of lockdowns, and other measures taken to try to halt the pandemic’s march have been met with some heavy and vocal resistance. Such resistance has materialised into protests in various countries against […]

Written by Farbod Akhlaghi (University of Oxford) Suppose you have a moral obligation to take care of your ailing parent tomorrow. If you did something that would lower your chances of fulfilling that moral obligation – like going out partying all night tonight – would you thereby have done something morally wrong? We do things […]

Cross-Posted with The Boston Review By Professor Frances Kamm, Harvard University Policy discussions during the pandemic have raised concerns for me, as a moral philosopher, about how policy analysts and policy makers are thinking about deaths from COVID-19 and the right way to combat them. The policy discussions I have in mind have ranged from […]

Written by Ben Davies I recently watched an excellent panel discussion, ‘Statues, Slavery and the Struggle for Equality’ with Labour MP Dawn Butler, historian David Olusoga, philosopher Susan Neiman, chaired by writer Yassmin Abdel-Magied. The discussion was wide-ranging but, as the title suggests, included a focus on the recent resurgence of demands to remove various […]