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Spinoza was famously heretical in his views. No surprise then that he defended free expression. Here Steven Nadler discusses Spinoza's views on this topic with Nigel Warburton.
What is the status of something that is an absence, like a hole? Suki Finn explores the metaphysics of nothing in this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast. Suki is also the editor of a new book based on Philosophy Bites interviews with women philosophers selected from our archive Women of Ideas, to be published by Oxford University Press in April.
Jacques Derrida was a controversial philosopher whose writing could be fiendishly difficult to read. Nevertheless he had many followers. Here Pete Salmon, author of a recent biography of Derrida, manages to give a clear account of what Derrida meant by deconstruction.
This episode was sponsored by St John's College. For more information about the college go to www.sjc.edu/podcast
Arthur Schopenhauer is best known for the deep pessimism of his book The World as Will and Representation. Here we focus on a slightly less pessimistic aspect of his philosophy: his views on compassion. Very unusually for an early nineteenth century thinker, he was influenced here by his reading of Indian philosophy. David Bather Woods is the interviewee.
We are very grateful for sponsorship for this episode from St John's College.
Hannah Arendt's experience of the Eichmann trial in 1961 led her to reflect on the nature of politics, truth, and plurality. Samantha Rose Hill, author of a biography of Arendt, discusses the context for this, and the key features of Arendt's views. We are grateful for support for this episode from St John's College - for more information about the college, including online options, go to sjc.edu/podcast
David Edmonds has co-authored a children's book, Undercover Robot. Here in this bonus episode (originally released on the Thinking Books podcast) he discusses it with Nigel Warburton.
Baruch Spinoza was perhaps most famous for his equation of God with Nature - a view that his contemporaries, probably correctly, took to be atheist. But what did he think about death? Steven Nadler, author of A Book Forged in Hell and Think Least of Death, discusses this aspect of his thought with Nigel Warburton.
In this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast Cornell philosopher Kate Manne discusses the notions of misogyny, male entitlement, and the term that she coined 'himpathy' with Nigel Warburton.
Verificationists believe that every meaningful statement is either true by definition or else empirically verifiable (or falsifiable). Anything which fails to pass this two-pronged test for meaningfulness is neither true nor false, but literally meaningless. Liam Bright discusses Verificationism and its links with the Vienna Circle with David Edmonds in this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast.
For this special episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast (produced under lockdown) Nigel Warburton interviews David Edmonds about his bestselling book, written with David Edinow, Wittgenstein's Poker. It focuses on a heated argument between the two great Viennese philosophers Karl Popper and Ludwig Wittgenstein, and the differing accounts that were give of it by those who were there.
This guy is a disgrace; if the University of Melbourne doesn't want to be the laughing stock of academia worldwide, they'd better rethink this: Melbourne University vice-chancellor Duncan Maskell has warned staff that their right to academic freedom does not...A longtime member of the philosophy faculty at Haverford College, Professor Kosman also taught as a visiting professor at several leading PhD programs. He was well-known for his contributions to scholarship on ancient philosophy, especially Aristotle. The Haverford memorial notice...A props the QAnon craziness, a couple of readers point out that some number of survey respondents (maybe 4% on average?) are either inattentive to the questions being asked or simply mischievous. That's worth remembering, but hardly reassuring given that......at 3:16 AM. An excerpt: [T]he original motivation for Grounding would be obviously enthymematic to anyone familiar with work in the metaphysics of science and mind, where it has been recognized since the 1970s that modal and conceptual/representational approaches to...I strongly agree with this piece by a colleague in the law school here. We recently made a proposal like this to the incoming President of the University.You know that you're not just creeping towards authoritarianism, but have arrived, when the journalists who don't toe the party line are taken away in handcuffs.Back in 2017 (and also).Philosopher Laurie (L.A.) Paul (Yale) discusses.There are many ways civilized countries can disintegrate, the Weimar-to-Nazism case is only one, even if it looms very large for understandable reasons. Consider now the ramifications of this: 15 percent of Americans say they think that the levers of......they get their own line of coffee shops! (Thanks to David Zimmerman for the pointer.)by Rick LewisTwo Philosophers’ Prizes • Two Philosophers’ Deaths • One Philosopher’s Birthday — News reports by Anja Steinbauerby Matt QvortrupAndrew Hyams recognises what fuels protest movements.Charlotte Curran tells us precisely why fat shaming is unethical.Frank Thermitus says prepare for the worst to achieve the best.Elad Uzan argues that although it may well be, this doesn’t necessarily justify a warlike response.Gerard Elfstrom asks what such creatures, if they exist, would be like and how much it matters morally.Ji Young Lee and Andrea Bidoli discuss how artificial womb technology will shape the abortion rights discussion.Karen Parham explores the collection of curious concepts Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari use in their organic perception of reality.Grant Bartley from Philosophy Now (and author of The Metarevolution) is joined by members of London philosophy groups Philosophy For All and the Philosophical Society of England to debate an argument advanced by PFA member Kieran Quill that according to quantum mechanics the universe is mental in nature. Join us to hear the fallout. First broadcast on 29 June 2014 on Resonance FM.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.Might Nietzsche be right, claiming that lying is “a condition of life?” – Or Kant, arguing that lying means annihilating human dignity? Is it ever acceptable for governments to lie to the public or for individuals to lie to the government? Anja Steinbauer is joined by politician and philosopher Shahrar Ali and moral philosopher Piers Benn to discuss whether lying can be a good thing. First broadcast on 15 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 John Callanan from King’s College, London, and Andrew Ward from the University of York to talk about the most important idea you’ve never heard of, and some other persuasive arguments from revolutionary but unfortunately unknown-to-the-world philosopher Immanuel Kant. First broadcast on 1 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.What has Buddhism to offer the 21st Century? Join Anja Steinbauer and her guests, Martin Muchall and Rick Lewis, for a critical discussion of ideas in and about Buddhism. First broadcast on 18 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.Look inside the mind of a famous thinker: Grant Bartley from Philosophy Now and writer Daryn Green talk to author and Philosophy Now columnist Raymond Tallis about his latest book, In Defence of Wonder, and about the influences and motivations which have made him a philosopher. Recorded on 31 May 2012.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 and Julian Savulescu An edited version of this was published in The Conversation The UK government is set to announce that COVID-19 vaccination will become mandatory for staff in older adult care homes. Staff will be given 16 weeks to undergo vaccination; if they do not, they will face redeployment from frontline services […]Written by Lisa Forsberg and Isra Black Last night the Guardian was first to report that staff working in older adult care homes will be required to get vaccinated against Covid-19. According to BBC News, ‘Care staff are expected to be given 16 weeks to have the jab—or face being redeployed away from frontline care […]Two (contrasting) perspectives on the news this morning about planned mandatory vaccination of care home workers. Professor Julian Savulescu “The proposal to make vaccination mandatory for care home workers is muddle-headed. Vaccination should be mandatory for the residents, not the workers. It is the residents who stand to gain most from being vaccinated. Young care […]Written by Stephen Rainey How to manage the inevitable disruptions to life brought about by the emergence of a viral pandemic – a question that for many seemed remote has now had us all preoccupied for well over a year. With our just-published article, entitled The Post-Normal Challenges of COVID-19: Constructing Effective and Legitimate Responses, […]by Roger Crisp At a recent New St Cross Ethics seminar, Gopal Sreenivasan, Crown University Distinguished Professor in Ethics at Duke University and currently visitor at Corpus Christi College and the Oxford Uehiro Centre, gave a fascinating lecture on whether valid informed consent requires that the consenter have understood the relevant information about what they are […]In this Thinking Out Loud interview with Dr Katrien Devolder (Philosophy, Oxford), Professor Aaron S. Gross (Theology and Religious Studies, San Diego) explains why factory farms are breeding grounds for pandemics, and what we, as individuals, can do to reduce the risk of new pandemics arising (even if we don’t feel ready just as yet […]Written by F M Kamm This post originally appeared in The Philosophers’ Magazine When the number of people who have died of COVID-19 in the U.S. reached 500,000 special notice was taken of this great tragedy. As a way of helping people appreciate how enormous an event this was, some commentators thought it would help to […]
Dominic Wilkinson, University of Oxford; Jonathan Pugh, University of Oxford, and Julian Savulescu, University of Oxford Moderna and Pfizer have released data suggesting that their vaccines are well tolerated in adolescents and highly effective in preventing COVID-19. Canada, the US and the EU have already authorised the Pfizer vaccine in children as young as 12. […]By Dominic Wilkinson, Cross post from the Open Justice Court of Protection blog In a case in the Court of Protection last week, a judge authorised the use of force, if necessary, to ensure that a young woman gives birth in hospital rather than at home. The woman (call her ‘P’) has severe agoraphobia, and has barely […]Response to the: ISSCR Guidelines for Stem Cell Research and Clinical Translation “The new ISSCR guidelines provide a much welcomed framework for research that many find ethically contentious. Genome editing, the creation of human gametes in a lab, and the creation of human/non-human chimeras raise fundamental ethical issues that scientists can no longer overlook. The ISSCR […]
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