Artificial Meat

Is fake meat a real solution to the problems of meat consumption? We discuss the science, ethics and meaning of artificial meat.

Invasive Species

Are some non-native species friends and others foes? When does conservation become ‘green xenophobia’?

Multiculturalism and Animal Ethics

What should we do when cultural or religious traditions conflict with ideas about animal welfare?

Stewards of the Earth

Current ecological crises have led to an increased focus on human responsibilities to other species and the planet. Are humans exceptional among living beings?

Eating Animals

Jonathan Safran Foer on vegetarianism, factory farming, and the cultural significance of food.

Animals

What does our relationship with animals teach us about ethics, art, friendship, and technology?

The Politics of Memorials

What gets remembered and what forgotten, and who decides? What roles do memorials play in a community’s sense of identity? When, if ever, should memorials be removed?

Is Political Violence Ever Justified?

Can political violence ever achieve its long-term goals or does it simply perpetuate violence? Are some types of political violence more rational, ethical, or justifiable than others?

The Philosophy of Race

If race is simply another form of social classification grounded in inequality, conflict, and violence, how are we to understand race as a resource for cultural cohesion rooted in shared histories?

Prejudice

Are we more or less prejudiced than at other points in our history? And is prejudice always wrong, or even avoidable? If it is avoidable, how can this be achieved?

Affirmative Action

Women and minority groups are significantly underrepresented in politics and various other walks of life. ‘Affirmative action’ is one response in tackling this enduring issue. Why does it generates so much controversy?

Frantz Fanon and Political Activism

Fanon is best known for his reflections on the psychological impact of colonialism and imperialism. We explore his philosophical work and what it can teach us about the contemporary world.

Sovereignty

But what exactly is it, and why is it so highly prized? We explore this elusive concept, and ask whether it is still a useful concept in the twenty-first century.

A Right to Be an Independent State?

What gives a territory the right to become an independent country? Are all declarations of independence created equal? We discuss the history, philosophy, and politics of independence.

A Right to Migrate?

Most people would agree that we have a right to leave our country of origin. But since leaving one country usually means arriving in another, do we also have a right to immigrate?

Immigration Detention

Thousands of foreign nationals are currently held in immigration detention across the country. Should the state be allowed indefinitely detain people who have committed no crime?We reflect on politics and philosophy of immigration detention.

What Are Prisons For?

Why do we use prisons despite the high costs and their ineffectiveness as a means of deterrent? We discuss the arguments for and against prison, and explore what the alternatives might be.

Who Is a Refugee?

Some people crossing borders are called refugees while others are not. What precisely is the distinction and can we justify it? We explore current legal definitions and ask if they need modification.

The Self

What is the self? Should we turn to philosophy, psychology, or neuroscience in order to better understand it? Does the self even exist?

Sleep

Philosophers have diligently examined consciousness, but what about our nightly loss of consciousness? In an age of mindfulness, is there something to be said for sleepfulness too?

The Good Life

What makes a life good? Is the good life a happy life? And have changes in our understanding of the human also changed the notion of human flourishing?

Immortality

Every human culture has claimed some way of defeating death. Now many hope science will provide the route to everlasting life. But would immortality be a blessing or a curse?

Being Alone

From Augustine to Kant, philosophy has cherished the idea of solitude. We explore ideas of solitude and loneliness as aesthetic and socio-political phenomena, as well as existential questions.

Feminism

What is the future for feminism? How does it interact with concerns about other forms of oppression, such as those based on race and class? Is there one feminist movement or many?

Bad Language

Language allows us to charm, shock, delight, and offend. It is political and we can use it to harm and manipulate. We navigate the deeper issues around swearing, slurring, and slander.

Reason and Rhetoric

Political discussion often turns ugly. But is spin and negative campaigning an unavoidable, even essential, feature of political life? Are there or should there be standards for public political discussion?

Anatomy of a Language

There’s much more to grammar than meets the eye. In this episode we probe the philosophical underpinnings of grammar and how it functions in communication, understanding, and even humour.

A Right to Be Believed?

How do we address the longstanding problem of sexual offences going unpunished while also maintaining the principle of ‘innocent until proven guilty’?

Protest Art

Does a political statement diminish the art? Once a work becomes popular in the art world, can it still be protest art? We explore what protest art has been, what it is, and what it might be.

Streaming Consciousness

Is it possible to express the richness, variety, and depth of our inner experiences? What can literature and philosophy teach us and each other about understanding, expressing, and performing the self?

BLACK HOLES

The science of black holes has long inspired science fiction writers, but might science fiction help us understand science fact? We explore black holes, philosophy, and the long-standing and productive relationship between science and sci-fi.

TIME TRAVEL

Thinking about time travel has allowed us to visit possible and lost worlds, and rediscover the past through modern eyes. It also raises big puzzles. How has thinking and writing about time travel changed science and philosophy?

CHAOS

Chaos research has been hailed as having led to revolutionary scientific advances. We discuss the insights gained from chaos research about unpredictability, as well as the evolution of mathematical ideas.

THE UNREASONABLE EFFECTIVENESS OF MATHEMATICS

Galileo famously wrote that natural philosophy is ‘written in the language of mathematics’. Four hundred years later, the great physicist Eugene Wigner puzzled over why.  We discuss why abstract mathematics so often turns out to be surprisingly effective in describing the natural world.

PARALLEL UNIVERSES

Schrödinger’s cat is a thought experiment devised to illustrate a fundamental puzzle in quantum mechanics. In the ‘many-worlds interpretation’, the cat is both alive and dead, but in parallel universes. We discuss the strange consequences of this interpretation and why it’s so controversial.

THE TROUBLE WITH NUMBERS

How seriously should philosophical worries about mathematics be taken? And should mathematical results ever force our philosophical hands? We indulge in a bit of group therapy, examining some key cases of philosophical and mathematical interaction.

Guilt

What is the relationship between phenomenon like survivor guilt and everyday instances, like the guilt at breaking a diet? What role does culture and religion play? And what is the place of guilt in ‘developed’ and ‘primitive’ moral consciousness?

Hypocrisy

Why do we tend to judge hypocrites more harshly than those whose actions, however bad, appear consistent with their beliefs? We ask if hypocrisy is a moral dead-end or a step on the path to better behaviour.

Unrequited Love

The history of art and literature is a history of unrequited love. Should we mourn or celebrate unrequited love? What can it teach us about ourselves? Is anyone to blame?

Prejudice

Are we more or less prejudiced than at other points in our history? And is prejudice always wrong, or even avoidable? And if it is avoidable, how can this be achieved?

Strong Feelings

Reason is often contrasted with emotion, but what if emotion is essential for understanding traditional philosophical ideas? And how did we end up thinking that reason could ever do without emotion?

Shame

Shame is often depicted as playing a socially negative role. But might it also play an important positive role in our moral psychology, and for a flourishing political community? And how should we think about the developmental origins of shame?

Pragmatism

Pragmatism is the great American contribution to philosophy, and it has serious implications for politics, philosophy, and science. We discuss the history of this idea, and what might be entailed by ‘doing what works’.

Reason

‘Reason’ and ‘knowledge’, and the relationship between them, were major themes in Enlightenment philosophy. We discuss what was at stake in these debates, what we might say about these ideas today.

Darwin

Darwin was primarily a biologist rather than a philosopher, but his work has had huge significance for how philosophers think about many of philosophy’s central problems, such as the nature of knowledge, the foundations of morality, and what we might mean by ‘human nature’.

The Irish Enlightenment

How did the turbulent political times of eighteenth-century Ireland affect this intellectual landscape? Is there something distinctively Irish about this writing? We discuss the thought and times of this remarkable group of thinkers.

Aristotle

Aristotle is one of the most famous and influential philosophers. His work on logic, metaphysics, politics, and ethics were all pioneering, sowing the seeds of much later philosophical thought. But does he have anything to say about the complexities and concerns of modern life?

Existentialism

What is the allure of the existentialists that their reputations should endure in popular and contemporary culture? And how is it that existentialist philosophy can be, at once, avidly consumed by modern audiences and unapologetically esoteric?

The Philosophy of Mental Illness

Is mental illness related to broader societal issues, or can mental disorders be reduced solely to neurobiological disorders? And how does what we think about mental illness impact on questions about responsibility and morality?

Philosophy as Therapy?

There is a rich tradition of claiming therapeutic powers for philosophy, but if philosophy is the love of wisdom, is ignorance bliss? Is philosophy only about sharp arguments and subtle distinctions, or can it help us find better ways to live?

Thinking about Children’s Mental Health

Is there is an increased tendency towards medicalizing certain behaviours that might once have been seen as normal (if challenging)?

The Politics of Mental Health

At the intersection of the personal and the political, we explore the relationship between mental health and economics, politics, and society at large. Why do particular mental illnesses appear to characterize certain eras?

Can We Learn from Suffering

Is suffering meaningless, or is there evidence to suggest that suffering can educate or even improve us? Or does suggesting that suffering has value validate or demean the experience of suffering?

Philosophy and Psychiatry

Mental disorders are widely held to have a chemical basis best treated with medication. So what, if anything, does philosophy have to offer psychiatry today?

Schopenhauer

Schopenhauer’s work prefigured important developments in philosophy, psychology, and political thought. We examine the life and work of Arthur Schopenhauer. How can his work help us address current questions in art and ethics? And what can he teach us about human suffering?

Philippa Foot

Why be moral? May we kill one person to save others? Is morality objective? In writings renowned for their creativity, incisiveness, and humour, Philippa Foot made key contributions to these questions. We discuss Foot’s life and ideas.

W E B Du Bois

Du Bois is usually remembered as a sociologist and civil rights campaigner. But he was also a skilled philosopher and we consider his philosophical thought, from art, propaganda, and science, to the very purpose of philosophy itself.

Franz Fanon

A revolutionary thinker who drew upon influences from philosophy, political theory, and psychoanalysis, the philosophical value of Fanon’s work is finally being recognized, and we ask what it can teach us about the contemporary world.

The Young Wittgenstein

Written on the front lines during World War I, Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus is an unusual book by any standards. In it, Wittgenstein felt he had solved all the problems of philosophy. We take a look back at Wittgenstein’s early life and work.

Hilary Putnam

Does we have any reason to believe in an external world, or could I be a ‘brain in a vat’ that is fed information by a scientist? This is just one puzzle raised by Putnam. We explore his life and work.

The Ethics of Nudge

Better decisions versus autonomous choices: should policy makers try to influence people’s behaviour using techniques from the behavioural sciences when it comes to retirement savings, organ donation, and lunch choice? We discuss the ethical questions surrounding nudge theory.

The Open Society as Enemy

We find ourselves in a time when an unprecedented amount of information about our lives is made public, as well as held by private and governmental organisations. Jason McKenzie Alexander argues that instead of supporting the foundations of liberal democracy, this undermines it.

On Free Speech

We bring together philosophers and campaigners to examine the philosophical underpinnings of free speech, and how recent events should affect our thinking about it.

A Right to a Free Press?

Is there a right to a free press that is distinct from the freedom of speech? And given the press is often accused of invading people’s privacy or publishing material that is harmful to the national interest, where might the limits of press freedom lie?

Is Political Violence Ever Justified?

Does political violence ever achieve its long-term goals or does it simply perpetuate violence? Are some types of political violence more rational, ethical, or justifiable than others? Is there always a clear line between resistance and political violence?

The Worst Form of Government?

There have always been those who think alternatives to democracy are possible, and indeed preferable. So what are the philosophical arguments in favour of democracy, and do they stand up to scrutiny?

Consciousness

Other than humans, which animal species are conscious? When did consciousness first evolve, and what is its function? We consider what we know, what we don’t know, and what we may never know about the origins of consciousness.

The Minds of Birds

What is it like to be a bird? What do they think and how do they feel? We take a bird’s eye view on the world, and consider how human thought and culture have been shaped by interaction with birds.

The Social Lives of Microbes

What are microbial societies? In what ways do they resemble human societies and in what ways do they differ? And what can we learn from microbes about what it is to be human?

What’s It Really Like to Be a Bat?

Are bats conscious, and how can we tell? What is it like to use sound to navigate? We explore the latest research into the minds of bats and what it means for one of philosophy’s most famous problems.

Hive Minds

Swarms of bees make decisions as a ‘democratic’ collective, voting on various possible nest sites through waggle dances. We consider the nature of collective intelligence in bees, humans, and other animals.

The Minds of Whales

What is it like to be a whale? How are their social groups structured, and how do whale ‘cultures’ arise? And how have they influenced human culture? We discuss the inner lives of whales.