Podcasts by Philosophy For Our Times

Language and the World | Corine Besson, Nancy Cartwright, Hilary Lawson from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

We effortlessly use language to describe the world. Yet the puzzle of how language achieves this has stumped philosophers for a century. Are we simply missing the right theory? Or is something more...

The Universe Code | Peter Atkins, Chiara Marletto, James Ladyman from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

We think information provides facts about the world around us. Yet some in quantum physics now claim that information is primary, more fundamental than matter. Could information provide the ultimat...

Life On The Edge | Sebastian Farquhar from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

How can we rethink society to halt existential crises as rapidly as the threats can occur? Director of the Centre for Effective Altruism Sebastian Farquhar outlines his solution.

Imagining Imaginations | Terry Eagleton, Paul Boghossian, Joanne Harris from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

From writing to art, the intense to the light hearted, imagination transports us to untold fantasy worlds. Yet Picasso claimed "everything you can imagine is real". Should we dismiss this as the o...

Politics and the Patriarchy | Angela Eagle from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Has Westminster made progress to equality? Cameron told Shadow Secretary for Business Angela Eagle to “Calm down dear”; here she forecasts the future of sexism in politics. Music: Apache Force by L...

Catching Sight of Ourselves | Christopher Hamilton, Adjoa Andoh, Daniel Miller from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Far flung destinations are often home to those seeking to 'find themselves'. Encouraged perhaps by Socrates’ maxim for an ethical life: 'know thyself'. But do any of us ever arrive? Is the self a...

The Good Fight | Charlotte Leslie from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Can the threat of terror be fought with compassion? Conservative politician and Spectator's 'Backbencher of the year' Charlotte Leslie issues a rallying cry for the politics of love. Music: Apache ...

The Vital Statistics | Helena Cronin from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Is statistical and scientific ignorance undermining the fight against sexism? Darwinian philosopher Helena Cronin argues sex difference should be accepted not ignored. Music: Apache Force by Little...

The Shame Game | Robin Ince, John Milbank, Helen Croydon from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

The shaming exposes and social media scandals of today can seem as backwards as the stocks or the pillory. Yet the fear of shame can bring the powerful to heel. What is our curious shame about sham...

On Air with Annie Nightingale from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

The first female to enter the Radio Hall of Fame, MBE recipient Annie Nightingale is the BBC's longest serving DJ. Join the "first lady of radio" as she discusses 50 years at the forefront of Brita...

Dreamland | Oliver Burkeman, Helen Lederer, Erwin James from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Fulfill your dreams and make the most of your life! So advocate headmasters, moralists and revolutionaries. Yet poet John Betjeman's principal regret was that he did not have more sex. Is life not ...

Love Me Tinder| Christopher Hamilton, Steve Carter, Anders Sandberg from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

At 10 billion matches, Tinder has made more connections than there are people. But neuroscience reveals that too much choice can increase expectations and reduce desire. Is choice actually a bad th...

Blind Data | Steve Carter from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Mathematics is rarely seen as a romantic discipline. But 30% of couples now meet using online algorithms. Could big data be the key to making love last? And if so what makes for the perfect match? ...

Space Hacks | Patricia Lewis from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Terror attacks on satellites would cause mass destruction within moments. Why are we ignoring the risks? Space security expert and Chatham House Research Director Patricia Lewis reveals the silent ...

After the Higgs Boson | John Ellis from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

In 2013 we found the Higgs boson. Then, in early 2016, we found Gravitational Waves. Eminent CERN physicist John Ellis asks: what's next for 21st-century physics?

A Politics of Hope | Owen Jones from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Where are the alternatives to injustice and uncertainty? Author of The Establishment Owen Jones makes the case for an end to despair and a new era of politics.

Gravity | Laura Mersini-Houghton, Erik Verlinde, Frank Wilczek from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

We all think we know what gravity is. But where gravity comes from stumped Newton, and 300 years later we are no closer to an explanation. We don't even have a mathematical account of gravity that ...

Beyond Experience | Tara Shears, Hilary Lawson, Alison Milbank from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

We think we know what is real and what is not. Yet strangely we can't even agree what reality is made of - everyday things, particles and energy, or language and thought. Is reality essentially in...

The Emperor's New Genes | Dennis Noble, Anne Bowcock, Rupert Sheldrake from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

The $3bn Human Genome project to uncover the genetic cause of disease was billed as ground breaking. Despite frequent positive newspaper headlines, critics argue we have uncovered almost nothing ab...

The Limits of Freedom | Claire Fox, Julian Le Grand, Theodore Dalrymple from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Freedom is a goal we all endorse. Yes as neuroscience shows and history suggests, we are less content when we have more choice. Is too much freedom paradoxically debilitating? Do we need constraint...

The Illusion of Sense | Hilary Lawson, Rupert Read, Ophelia Deroy from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

From bats to beetles, animals sense the world differently in order to survive. Yet we think seeing and feeling tell us how things really are. Might our senses be radically limited? Are science and ...

A Tribal World | Julie Bindel, Brendan O'Neill, Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, Simon Glendinning from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

We see community and society as good. Yet communities are also fortresses of privilege and conformity, as migrants know only too well. Is the tribe, from the football team to the nation, to be fear...

Madness and Wisdom | Richard Bentall, Patricia Casey, Robert-Rowland Smith from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Madness is understood as the opposite of reason. Yet as Van Gogh and Nietzsche attest, madness can also be an inexplicable source of insight. Might madness be a strange form of wisdom rather than i...

Love Story | Helen Croydon, Naomi Goulder and Anders Sandberg from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

We want "I love you" to mean forever. But neuroscientists claim three years into a relationship and romantic activity in the brain has ceased.  Can love only be known in short doses? Should we acce...

The Known, The Strange And The New | John Ellis, Robert Rowland-Smith, Janne Teller from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

From Aristotle to Einstein humans have tried to make sense of the world.  Yet despite huge advances a final explanation looks ever distant.  What makes our lives and the world so puzzling and inexp...

Dreaming The Future | Natalie Bennett, Phillip Blond, Roger Scruton from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

We all want a better world, and we seemingly make progress, with more technology and less prejudice. Yet ideals and utopias are strangely difficult to imagine, let alone achieve. Is it that we just...

Thinking Dangerously, Living Differently | Angie Hobbs, Adrian Moore, Mark Vernon from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Philosophy as therapy is an ancient idea. Endorsed by Wittgenstein and popularized by self-help books. But isn't philosophy about understanding even if the insights are uncomfortable? Can philosoph...

Sisters and Sisterhood | Myriam Francois, Margaret Heffernan, Kimberlé Crenshaw from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

More women MPs, more women CEOs, women it would seem are on the move. Yet the gap between successful women and the rest is growing. Might feminism's success paradoxically harbour the end of the sis...

The Future of Human Enhancement | Anders Sandberg, Richard Morgan, Nicky Ashwell from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Designer babies and human enhancement were once confined to fiction. Now biotechnology allows designer genetics, and many already choose the sex of their children. Where will this technology lead t...

Owning our Bodies | Anne Phillips, John Harris, Brooke Magnanti from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

If we have rights and ownership of anything it is surely of our own body. Yet we cannot dispose of it as we please, intoxicants are outlawed, and selling our body for sexual pleasure or organ donat...

When Time Stands Still | Lee Smolin, Michael Duff, Eleanor Knox from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

We structure our lives on the flow of time. Yet physicists since Einstein have argued that all time, past, present and future, is like space provided in a single block. Is the flow of time an illus...

The Good, Bad, & Controversial | Naomi Goulder, Brendan O'Neill, Sameer Rahim, Sam Roddick from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

We all want to do the right thing. But from suicide bombers to Catholic priests, we have never been able to agree on what the right thing is. Should we give up on morality and see it as a fiction d...

Dancing With The Devil | Simon Baron-Cohen, Rebecca Roache, Peter Dews from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

We think we've grown out of the belief in evil. It's not in our genes and people don't get possessed. But across media and culture, from Star Wars to Isis, evil still holds us strangely captive. Wh...

Is objective news an illusion? | John Lloyd, Hilary Lawson, Jonathan Calvert from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

We want news to accurately reflect the real world. But in an age when competing channels with different perspectives are instantly available should we recognise this goal as an illusion? Should we...

Missing Evidence | Tara Shears, Rupert Sheldrake, Massimo Pigliucci from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

We think science is based on facts and evidence. But from gravity to dark matter, string theory to parallel universes, its theories are curiously bereft of hard evidence. Is evidence less important...

How Men And Women Think | Gina Rippon, Simon Baron-Cohen, Helena Cronin from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Many neuroscientists believe disorders of the mind will be solved when we understand the differences between the male and female brain. Yet is is frequently argued that men and women are not born b...

March Of The Machines | Roger Penrose, Nigel Shadbolt, Warren Ellis from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Evil artificial intelligences are luckily confined to fiction. Yet leading scientists claim that intelligent machines are 'the most serious threat facing mankind'. Are they right or could a mind fr...

Love Incorporated | Catherine Hakim, Mark Salter, Richard Coles from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

As Romeo and Juliet showed, love is a wild and unpredictable force even when faced with reason and control. But we join online dating sites to increase our probability of finding it. Are emotions a...

The Dark Side of the Universe | Erik Verlinde, Michael Duff, Massimo Pigliucci from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Nearly twenty years have passed since scientists first proposed a mysterious force, Dark Energy, pushing our universe apart. Yet there is no direct evidence for it or any idea what it might be. Mi...

Eternal Tales | Stanley Fish, Joanna Kavenna, Barry Smith from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

While the world turns we think ideas, right or wrong, are eternal. Yet meaning changes over time and context. Should we conclude that, like the material world, ideas are transient and knowledge and...

Everything We Know Is Wrong | Lawrence Krauss, Kenneth Cukier, Steve Fuller from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

At a time of uncertainty and doubt, we often suppose that science alone can uncover the truth. Yet a recent paper found that 90% of scientific studies are not reproducible. Should we see science as...

The Crisis of the West | Gita Sahgal, Philip Collins, Kwasi Kwarteng from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Western values have been extraordinarily successful. Yet now we seem on the back foot, unsure of ourselves and sometimes embarraseed at our own past. Beset with postmodern doubts, do we need to rev...

Doing Right And Feeling Good | Anders Sandberg, Simon Baron-Cohen, Peter Dews from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

We think empathising with others is the route to a better world. But studies show that empathy encourages us to help one named child over ten anonymous others. Is morality perhaps not about empathy...

Playing Dice With The Universe | Chiara Marletto, Michael Duff, Peter Cameron from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

'God does not play dice with the universe' Einstein famously argued. Yet contemporary physics embeds just such dice playing at the core of its account. Is the universe really unknowable even to it...

The Dance Of Life | David Chalmers, Susana Martinez-Conde, Peter Hacker from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Our life is made up of experiences. But what experience is remains a mystery. Heidegger thought it inexplicable and neuroscientists cannot find its location. Do we just need a better theory to unco...

Capitalism And Anarchy | Aaron Bastani, Stephen King, Deirdre McCloskey from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Few take anarchism and the abandonment of organised government as a viable political goal.  Yet in economics, capitalism is just such a leaderless anarchic system.  Might a radically decentralised ...

The People's Champion | Owen Jones, Michael Howard, Phillip Blond from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

We believe democracy leads to a fairer world. Yet almost all governments claim to be democratic including China, Russia and Syria. And 50 years after the abolition of hanging, UK polls still show a...

Unnatural Laws | Nancy Cartwright, John Ellis, Rupert Sheldrake from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

From Newton's laws to E=mc2, we think we have uncovered the secrets of the universe. But some claim these laws evolve and others point to their human and cultural origins. Might eternal natural law...

Rethinking Capital | Paul Krugman, Stephen Dorrell, Alex Callinicos from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

As China and Russia adopt their own variants, the reign of capitalism seems absolute. Yet there are many who wish for an alternative and some who claim a final crisis is in the making. Is there a r...

Time, Space And Being | Michela Massimi, Julian Barbour, Huw Price from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

We think space and time are the structure of the universe. Yet Einstein argued 'space and time are modes by which we think and not conditions in which we live'. And philosophers, Kant and Heidegger...

The Word And The World | Paul Boghossian, Joanna Kavenna, Ray Monk from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

The power of words is a wonder, and language perhaps our greatest skill. Yet the gap between the sound of a bell and its description is huge. Are the limits to language so profound that the big que...

In Search Of The Self | Simon Blackburn, Mary Midgley, Colin Blakemore from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

There is no self, no 'I', only a flickering illusion. So claim many neuroscientists and philosophers. Yet for the rest of us, the denial of the self feels like a bitter pill to swallow. Is the self...

Mind, Myth And Madness | Richard Bentall, Simon Baron-Cohen, Dinesh Bhugra from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

From schizophrenia to depression we assume our psychiatric diagnoses are real. But as the mental health epidemic turns global, the categories now seem like the cause. Is it time to abandon our biol...

Matter And Mind | Markus Gabriel, Ray Brassier, Eva Jablonka from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Neuroscience has enabled us to explain how the brain affects the body. Yet there is no theory to explain how the matter of the brain creates thought and experience. Is consciousness inexplicable be...

After the End of Truth | John Searle, Hilary Lawson, Hannah Dawson from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

A generation raised on Foucault and Derrida has learned to distrust claims to objective truth. Yet the mantra that 'there is no truth' is a paradox. Do we need a new conception of fantasy and reali...

Beyond Us: Knowledge with Rebecca Goldstein from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Series hosts Bernardo Kastrup and Fred Matser discuss the fascinating topic of knowledge with Canadian philosopher and champion of the enlightenment project, Rebecca Goldstein.

Building the Future, Remembering the Past | Peter Tatchell from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Renowned LGBT+ activist Peter Tatchell who outlines a direction to move forward without forgetting our past.

Philosophy for our Times Presents: 'Beyond Us' from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Philosophy for Our Times is pleased to announce the upcoming launch of Beyond Us, an all-new podcast series by the IAI, exploring four concepts that define the modern world: knowledge, competition,...

How To Spot An Emergency | Santiago Zabala from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Author and philosopher Santiago Zabala explores the relationship between freedom, postmodernism and emergencies.

Ditching Selfish Ideologies | John Milbank from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Theologian John Milbank shares his vision for the future of happiness and the end of neo-liberalism.

Words and the World | Paul Muldoon, Jennifer Hornsby, Hilary Lawson, Rebecca Roache from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Paul Muldoon, Rebecca Roache, Hilary Lawson and Jennifer Hornsby discuss the limits of language and philosophy

The Tyranny of Meritocracy | Michael Sandel from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Harvard political philosopher Michael Sandel explains the dangers of sorting people by merit

Overwhelmed By Choice | Renata Salecl from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Philosopher and sociologist Renata Salecl discusses what happens when we have too much choice.

Surviving and Thriving On Curiosity | Garrick Jones from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Author Garrick Jones explores the role that curiosity can play in improving our lives

Morality Before Metaphysics | Simon Blackburn, Raymond Tallis, Joanna Kavenna from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Simon Blackburn, Raymond Tallis and Joanna Kavenna ask whether putting morality first is a good idea when proposing theories

Reality Uncovered | John Ellis, Sabine Hossenfelder, Jim Baggott from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

John Ellis, Sabine Hossenfelder and Jim Baggott discuss the future of particle physics.

Animal Rights and Human Wrongs | Peter Singer, Christopher Belshaw, Mary-Ann Sieghart, Peter Egan from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Peter Singer, Christopher Belshaw, Mary-Ann Sieghart and Peter Egan discuss the future of animal rights.

Do We Really Want To Save The World? | Vince Cable, Aaron Bastani, Emma Slade, John Zerzan from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Vince Cable, Aaron Bastani, Emma Slade and John Zerzan discusses political engagement and inaction.

Rational Animals | Steven Pinker, Daniel Kahneman, Shami Chakrabarti from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Steven Pinker, Daniel Kahneman and Shami Chakrabarti discuss risk, rationality and coronavirus.

Free Will Worth Wanting |Daniel Dennett, Helen Steward, Patrick Haggard from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Daniel Dennett, Patrick Haggard and Helen Steward deliberate over the existence of free will.

Why Choice is Not an Illusion | Raymond Tallis from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Cultural critic and philosopher Raymond Tallis unpicks the arguments against the existence of free will. 

Materialism Deconstructed| Bernardo Kastrup, Nancy Cartwright, Peter Atkins from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Is the world only made of material, physical stuff?

The Maths of Life | Silvia Jonas from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Philosopher Silvia Jonas explores the philosophy of ineffability and the philosophy of mathematics.

What do we really know? | Renata Salecl, Philip Goff & Simon Blackburn from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Renata Salecl, Philip Goff and Simon Blackburn debate the functions and limitations of supposedly objective truth.

Martyrdom and Sacrifice |Terry Eagleton from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Terry Eagleton breaks down the meaning behind sacrifice, martyrdom and atheism.

A Philosopher’s Duty? | Julian Baggini from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Julian Baggini discusses the everyday applications of philosophy

Understanding Consciousness | Bernardo Kastrup, Susan Blackmore, Tim Crane from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Tim Crane, Susan Blackmore and Bernardo Kastrup debate popular and alternative theories of consciousness.

The Ancient Indian Roots of Consciousness | Chakravarthi Ram-Prasad from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Professor Chakravarthi Ram-Prasad delves into ancient Indian systems of thought,.

A World of Illusions | Jan Westerhoff from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Oxford professor of Buddhist philosophy Jan Westerhoff breaks down illusions and dreams.

Panpsychism to the rescue | Philip Goff from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Philip Goff asks whether panpsychism can solve philosophy's core problems.

Power and Philosophy: East vs West |Julian Baggini, Jamie Whyte, Vivienne Shue from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Is the sun setting on Western ideas as well as Western economies?

Truth and Scientific Progress | Nancy Cartwright from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Philosopher of Science Nancy Cartwright discusses the role of authority within science.

Humanity's Distant Future | Anders Sandberg from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Fellow at Oxford’s Future of Humanity Institute Anders Sandberg investigates the road we must take to reach the mind-boggling possibilities and of a transhuman future.

Epiphanies, Experiences, and Ethics | Sophie-Grace Chappell from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Sophie Grace Chappell argues her case against systematic thought and for epiphanies as moments of truth.

Science and Spiritual Practices | Rupert Sheldrake from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Panpsychist Rupert Sheldrake explores the science behind everyday spiritual practices.

The Importance of Identity and Belonging | Homi Bhabha, Yassmin Abdel-Magied, David Miller from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Post-colonial theorist Homi Bhabha, activist Yassmin Abdel-Magied and political theorist David Miller debate tribal division.

Reality and Evolution | Donald Hoffman from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Cognitive psychologist Donald Hoffman breaks down the nature of reality

Doing Wrong To Do Right | Stephen de Wijze from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Political philosopher Stephen de Wijze explores what happens when doing wrong is right

Morality and Humanity | Simone Schnall, Joel Robbins, Rae Langton from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Psychologist Simone Schnall, philosopher Rae Langton and anthropologist Joel Robbins discuss morality relativity.

Unpacking The Ethics of Covid-19 |Susan Neiman, Peter Hitchens, Patricia Churchland from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Susan Neiman, Peter Hitchens and Patricia Churchland debate the big moral issues of the pandemic.

The Margins of Language | Stanley Fish, Genia Schönbaumsfeld, Hilary Lawson from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Stanley Fish, Genia Schönbaumsfeld and Hilary Lawson explore the limits of language.

How to Make the Right Decision | Jason McKenzie Alexander from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Knowledge Resistance | Åsa Wikforss from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Asa Wikforss helps us explore the importance of facts in our post truth world.

Mysteries of the Mind | Markus Gabriel from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Why is consciousness so perplexing to so many?

In Search of Freedom | Paul Broks, Julian Baggini, Hannah Dawson, Hilary Lawson from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Do we choose to follow the rules?

How To Overcome Wilful Blindness | Margaret Heffernan from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

CEO and author Margaret Heffernan explores ethical problems and turning a blind eye

Philosophy Vs Authority | Noam Chomsky, Deirdre McCloskey, Mark Lilla from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Noam Chomsky joins Mark Lilla and Deirdre McCloskey to discuss freedom, state power and authority.

The Value of Ethics | Bart Streumer from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Professor of Philosophy Bart Streumer discusses ethics, metaethics and issues surrounding morality.

Can we distinguish truth from lies? | Sacha Golob, Steve Fuller, Åsa Wikforss, Peter Pomerantsev from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

It seemed that we had all got used to the idea that rather than a single definitive truth there are a multiplicity of competing and alternative perspectives. Now with the rise of 'fake news' and th...

New Gods | Myriam François, Peter Atkins, Hilary Lawson from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

As our churches have emptied our belief in progress, science and reason has also begun to falter, and we find ourselves in a new space in which all beliefs are challenged, and perspectives jostle i...

The World That Disappeared | Peter Atkins, James Ladyman, Joanna Kavenna from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

No-one who has ever stepped on a Lego brick could doubt the reality of physical objects. Yet from Heraclitus to George Berkeley, many philosophers claimed to have disproven the existence of things....

The Mind and the World | Raymond Tallis from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Is the mind just a part of the world? Or is the world all in the mind? Neither, argues physician, philosopher and poet Raymond Tallis as he puts forward his take on how we make sense of experience.

The Myth of the Self | Julian Baggini, Angie Hobbs, John Milbank from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

It is said that Mother Theresa allowed many to die unnecessarily and glorified suffering. While Stalin was a loving son to his parents, and Hitler - a vegetarian who adored his dog. Are we wrong t...

Why Philosophy Won't Go Away | Rebecca Goldstein from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Has science killed philosophy as Hawking famously claimed? What would Plato make of the debates between psychoanalysts and tiger mums, atheists and the religious, or search engines like Google? In...

Philosophy Vs Quantum Theory | Tim Maudlin from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Philosopher of science Tim Maudlin discusses interpretations of quantum mechanics, explaining the pilot wave theory and objective collapse theory, and considers what we stand to learn from quantum ...

Is Morality Rooted In Culture? | Joel Robbins from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

From remote groups in Papua New Guinea to Pentecostal Christians, what can values and desires around the world tell us about the nature of morality? Cambridge anthropologist Joel Robbins tours the ...

How To Do Philosophy and Why | Timothy Williamson from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

For millenia, humans have looked to philosophy to help them understand the world, but why is it then that so many people find philosophy confusing? Is the confusion perhaps part of the solution? Ph...

Tribal Truths and New Wisdom | Paul Mason, Hilary Lawson, Ella McPherson from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

From populist demagogues to liberal elites, Fox News to the BBC, the warring tribes of our troubled world agree on few ideals and still fewer facts. Yet they all share the belief that they are righ...

How Maths Changed Philosophy | Silvia Jonas from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

What does mathematics have to do with the nature of human thought? How does it change how philosophers think of reality? Philosopher and author of 'Ineffability and its Metaphysics', Silvia Jonas e...

Philosophers vs Post-Truth | Homi Bhabha, Rebecca Goldstein, Hilary Lawson from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

In a post-truth world, tribal agreement seems to have replaced reason and evidence. But is a world where our truths are tribal sustainable? Don't we need a shared framework of thought to prevent fr...

A Philosophy of Fashion | Shahidha Bari from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

We all get dressed. But how often do we pause to think about the place of clothes in our lives? Can a philosophy of living be wrapped up in a winter coat? Can we see a suit not just as an object, b...

How to be a Stoic | Massimo Pigliucci from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

We all want to lead a good life. But that goal seems always elusive. What can we learn from the ancient Stoics? Hear philosopher of science and author of How to be a Stoic Massimo Pigliucci explain...

Is Sexuality a Vehicle For Power? | Minna Salami, Rowan Pelling, Julia Long from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

From Cleopatra to Beyonce women have used sexuality to increase their power and influence. But many feminists warn that it is undermining to be seen as a sex object and some in the #MeToo movement ...

The Problem with Paradoxes | Slavoj Žižek, Sophie Allen, Hilary Lawson from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Once we assumed that reason and rationality would gradually uncover the truth. But from quantum mechanics to set theory, paradox it seems is found at the heart of our most revered theories and at ...

The End of the West | Linda Yueh, Rana Mitter, David Aaronovitch from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Once, Britain was the dominant power, then the US. Now, with the largest economy in the world by purchasing power, it seems China's turn has come. Should we accept, even welcome, the passing of the...

The Dark and the Digital | Nigel Inkster, Ella Whelan, Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, Janne Teller from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

The anonymity of the internet has enabled an epidemic of abuse. Was Hobbes right after all, and humankind are at core wicked and requiring constraint? In this episode of Philosophy for our Times, ...

The Future of Thought | Julian Baggini, Vivienne Shue, Jamie Whyte from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Few now doubt that China will soon eclipse the US to become the world's largest economy. Is the sun setting on Western ideas as well as Western economies? In this episode of Philosophy for our Time...

In Search of Freedom | Julian Baggini, Paul Broks, Hilary Lawson, Hannah Dawson from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Constrained by our genes, manipulated by technology and the cultural zeitgeist, there seems little space left for individual freedom. Should we conclude that the very idea of freedom was a mistake?...

Tribal Identity and Tribal Conflict | David Blunkett, Dawn Butler, Phillip Blond from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Identity politics has become ever more influential. Does our desire to belong to one tribe or another make conflict with others inevitable? Could we do away with tribal allegiances and see ourselv...

The Rise and Fall of Sex | Daphna Joel, Barry Barnes, Stuart Ritchie from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Although most of us are critical of gender stereotypes, few deny the existence of two discrete biological sexes. Yet biology itself shows dozens of combinations of human sex chromosomes. Could biol...

The Mystery of Life | Nick Lane, Monica Grady, Ralph Cordey from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

As we explore the planets of the solar system and look out at those beyond, researchers hope they will find evidence of life. But would it be like life on earth? Or is the wish to find other life ...

A Mad World | Richard Bentall, Ann John, Lucy Johnstone from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

An ever growing number of people are being treated for mental illness. Some blame the modern world, yet critics warn that psychiatrists and big pharma have an interest in describing normal human be...

The New Moralism | Matthew Taylor, Rebecca Roache, Hilary Lawson from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Many would argue that for at least a century we have been moving away from the moral certainties of traditional Christianity. Yet now a new form of moral certainty is reappearing, with much of our ...

Into the Unknown | Martin Rees, Tony Milligan, Elizabeth Seward from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Fifty years ago we landed on the moon, and imagined that in 2001 we would be travelling vast distances through space. But the fantasy died, and we went nowhere. Now a new age of space exploration i...

Modern Crises and Ancient Gods | David King, Sister Jayanti, Natalie Bennett from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

For much of human history, nature was our god. Yet now science and technology, which once we used to tame nature, are increasingly seen as plundering the planet and wrecking the climate. Were the ...

Masters of the Universe | Natalie Kofler, Steve Fuller, Angela Saini from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Ever since the discovery of DNA, we have fanstasised about creating new species of animals, or even 'improved' humans. But it is only in the last few years that a new gene editing technology, CRISP...

The Right To Offend | David Aaronovitch, Joanna Williams, Yasmin Alibhai-Brown from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Should we seek to eradicate offence? Last year Ireland voted to get rid of its blasphemy laws, and most applauded the new right to offend the Catholic Church. Yet to avoid giving offence, student c...

The Prejudice of Facts | Barry Barnes, Joanna Kavenna, John Ellis from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

In a world obsessed with Trump, alternative facts have not had a great press. But it is a century and more since Nietzsche claimed 'there are no facts, only interpretations' - and fifty years sinc...

The Reality Illusion | Donald Hoffman, Maria Baghramian, Hilary Lawson from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Seeing is believing, yet cognitive scientists seem to have uncovered these views as incorrect. Evolution led us to perceive what is best for survival and it turns out this has little to do with wha...

Evolution After Darwin | Massimo Pigliucci, Zanna Clay, Tim Lewens from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

The brutal mechanism of natural selection gave rise to all life on our planet. Or so the Darwinian story goes. But from mice to great whales, it now appears that animals inherit socially acquired c...

Bonus Episode: In Conversation with Saul Kripke and Timothy Williamson from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

In this episode of Philosophy for our Times, Saul Kripke and Timothy Williamson discuss why language has come to dominate their field, why logic matters, and what the future for the Anglo-American ...

The Necessity of Morality | Justin Smith, Jason Alexander McKenzie, Barry C. Smith from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Many philosophers have concluded that morality is a subjective human invention. Should we then simply encourage and argue for acts we support and do without morality altogether? Or is the authority...

What's It All For? | Helen Lederer, Julian Baggini, Susan Neiman, Janne Teller from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

We admire achievers, from James Watt to Mandela, Marie Curie to Emmeline Pankhurst. Yet many spend their lives waiting for weekends and holidays. And does not play, both as sex, drugs and rock and...

The Meaning of the Multiverse | Cumrun Vafa, Mary-Jane Rubenstein, John Ellis from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Talk of other universes has become fashionable amongst physicists and string theory alike. Should we recognise ours as the only universe and give up on others as fantasy science? Or is slipping thr...

Lost in Language | Saul Kripke, Hilary Lawson, Paul Boghossian, Silvia Jonas from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Language is widely seen as the critical tool which has set our species apart. We assume that it is successful because our words are able to describe reality. Yet from Wittgenstein to Derrida, no sa...

The Problem with Love | Mark Salter, Helen-Ann Hartley, Phillip Blond from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

'Love conquers all' is a motto central to our culture and its Christian heritage. Yet Buddhists think love an obstacle to enlightenment. Nietzsche went further and called love barbaric ‘for it is p...

Are You An Illusion? | Julian Baggini, Joanna Kavenna, Jan Westerhoff, Silvia Jonas from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

The self is an illusion, our passions a by-product of the brain. Or so neuroscientists and philosophers would have us believe. Is dismissing the self a mistake driven by the desire to uphold a pure...

The End Of All Things | John Dupré, Subir Sarkar, Nancy Cartwright from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

We tend to think of physical, material things as the ultimate stuff of the universe. Yet contemporary physics has largely abandoned physical things in favour of energy and fields. Should we give u...

The Fascination With Evil | Terry Eagleton, Susan Neiman, Stephen de Wijze from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

We may condemn tyrants and abhor serial killers, but we are obsessed with evil and violence. Are we fascinated by evil, violent characters because they make life more exciting? Or because they expr...

The Right Way to Think | Paul Boghossian, Mary Jane Rubenstein, Alister McGrath from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Reason was traditionally seen as the Enlightenment’s great legacy and the origin of our success. Yet reason is increasingly derided as just the rhetorical bluster of the educated elite, typically p...

The Prejudice of Philosophy | Chakravarthi Ram Prasad, Nivi Manchanda, Timothy Williamson from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Many see the search for universal truths about the world as the noble aim of philosophy. Yet our universities largely dismiss non-Western philosophy, and critics argue that British students are tau...

The Illusion of Now | Julian Barbour, Tim Maudlin, Emily Thomas from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Past and future are worlds we can never inhabit. We live of necessity in the present. But physicists and philosophers with very different outlooks, from Einstein to Derrida, claim that the present ...

Is Oppression The Key To Creativity? | Lowkey, Joanna Kavenna, Andrew Motion from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Freedom is often seen as the vital oxygen of creativity. Yet Shakespeare worked within a framework of censorship, Don Quixote was written from prison and Leonardo argued that at 'lives on constrain...

The Dark Side of the Universe | Erik Verlinde, Catherine Heymans, Sabine Hossenfelder from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

According to current theories, Dark Energy and Dark Matter make up 95% of all the stuff in the universe. Yet we still have no direct evidence for them. Might we need to rethink our account of the u...

The Morality of the Left and Right | Peter Hitchens, Sophie Walker, Chris Bryant from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

The left has traditionally seen itself as progressive, with history and morality on its side. But is history on anyone's side? And as for morality, don't all politicians think they're in the right?...

The Neuroscience of Conciousness | Raymond Tallis, Susana Martinez-Conde, Markus Gabriel from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Neuroscientists believe that our minds and conciousness are no more than matter and mechanism. But if they are right, is all meaning, purpose and feeling illusory? Or do the secrets of experience l...

What Is Beauty? From Plato to Kim Kardashian | Bence Nanay, Justine Kolata, Sam Roddick from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Once beauty was about goodness and truth, now we think it means little more than models, products and outdated art. Have practical concerns and the economy of desire made beauty trivial and expenda...

Trump's Foreign Policy | George Galloway, Mark Leonard from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Many think Donald Trump a buffoon and a threat to world peace. But with IS weakened, and signs of progress in North Korea, perhaps his supporters can point to some initial successes. Could a bellig...

Is Reality Necessary? | Chiara Marletto, Gerard t'Hooft, Christopher Timpson from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

We think that lightning strikes, and waves crash, even if there is no one to see them. Yet according to quantum physics, the observer is critical to reality. Theoretical physicist Werner Heisenberg...

The Lure of Evil | Christopher Hamilton, Patricia MacCormack, John Milbank from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

From Milton's Paradise Lost to bad boys and femmes fatales, we are seduced by the dark and dangerous. Why does the devil have all the best tunes? Have we sanitised the good and made it vacuous? In ...

The Cult of Mindfulness | Vishpani Blomfield, Linda Woodhead, Miguel Farias from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

From yoga retreats to mindfulness, meditation is fashionable and now even prescribed by the UK's National Health Service. Yet in some cases it can lead to depression and even psychosis. Is it a mis...

The Problem with Materialism | John Ellis, Susan Blackmore, Hilary Lawson from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

The idea that the world is made of physical stuff alone has been central to scientific progress. But our theories do not account for experience or thought. Might materialism be a profound mistake? ...

Should We Live Forever? | Patricia MacCormack, Anders Sandberg, Janne Teller from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

From gene therapy and fad diets to cryonically frozen corpses, many still hope to find a way to live forever. But Heidegger famously thought life's transience gave it meaning. So should science one...

The End of Humans | Interview with Patricia MacCormack from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Patricia MacCormack is Professor of Continental Philosophy at Anglia Ruskin University, known for her work on Posthuman ethics. In this exclusive interview, Patricia explains why she thinks the wo...

The Future of Pornography | Brooke Magnanti, Finn Mackay, Rowan Pelling, Peter Tatchell from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Many believe that porn's dark fantasies risk corrupting relationships and society. Has this arisen because pornography is largely created by men? Or is porn fundamentally incompatible with intimacy...

The Sex Myth | Interview with Brooke Magnanti from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Brooke Magnanti is best known by her pen name Belle de Jour, from the blog behind Secret Diary of a Call Girl. In this exclusive interview, Brooke explains how we should free ourselves from the sha...

The New Enlightenment | Julian Baggini, Amie Thomasson, Hilary Lawson from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

'Dare to know' was the radical rallying cry of the Enlightenment. But since then, philosophers from Nietzsche to Derrida have argued there are limits to knowledge so profound that truth is an impos...

Truth in a Post Truth World | Interview with Hilary Lawson from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Hilary Lawson is a post realist philosopher, known for his theory of Closure. In this exclusive interview, Hilary explains how we should understand truth in a post truth world and why we need Enlig...

Why is There Something Rather than Nothing? | Amie Thomasson, George Ellis, Rupert Sheldrake from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

The fundamental problem of philosophy, argued Heidegger, is 'why is there something rather than nothing?' Now, some scientists claim nothing doesn't exist and that even deepest space is full of vir...

The Secrets of Consciousness | Interview with Rupert Sheldrake from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Rupert Sheldrake is a renowned author and biologist, known for his research into parapsychology. In this exclusive interview, Rupert shares with us the secrets of consciousness, putting forward a p...

Leadership in the Age of Trump | Jess Phillips, Jon Barnes, Tania Branigan from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

There are many who see Trump and Putin as a threat to world peace. But are they in power because we believe that strong leaders are good for us? Is it a mistake to imagine that leaders can solve al...

The Digital Revolution | Interview with Jon Barnes from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Jon Barnes is a guest lecturer at the world's top business schools, innovator and author. In this exclusive interview, Jon shares with us how technology is already being used to shape the way we vo...

Thinking Across the World | Julian Baggini from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

How have ideas across the world shaped the places from which they emerged? In this episode of Philosophy for our Times, author and philosopher Julian Baggini explores global thinking and its varied...

What Is Justice? | Sarah Langford from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Can our legal system ever keep its promise of justice? In this episode of Philosophy for our Times, author of ‘In Your Defence’ Sarah Langford tells her story of a life in the courtroom, and shows ...

Do we Need Romance to be Happy? | Bella DePaulo, Anders Sandberg, Heidi Rice from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

From medieval legends to Hollywood endings to the horoscope, we are led to believe that lifelong love means happiness. But a recent survey of 814 separate studies showed single people to be happier...

Truth, Science and the Universe | Peter Atkins, Sophia Roosth, Tim Lewens from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Where once we made sense of the world using the idea of God, most of us now believe in a more scientific story, of an unfolding universe and evolution. Yet scientists increasingly see their theorie...

The Morality of the Tribe | David Miller, Natalie Cargill, Peter Tatchell from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

We think everyone should be treated equally. Yet we also think we are right to care most about our family, our friends and our lovers, and 82% of charitable donations in the UK are given to the cau...

Fires of Progress | Steven Pinker, Tariq Ali, Elif Sarican from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Most think that social progress should be driven by ideas and persuasion not force. Yet from the French and Russian Revolutions to the Suffragettes, violent action has been instrumental to generati...

Bonus Episode: The Struggle for Social Justice | Angela Eagle from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Britain is one of the wealthiest nations in the world, so why do so many feel short-changed? In this episode of Philosophy for our Times, Labour MP and former minister Angela Eagle sees an urgent n...

Big Bang Creation Myths | Sean Carroll, Roger Penrose, Laura Mersini-Houghton from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

The big bang theory won out over the Steady State alternative 50 years ago because we discovered the universe was expanding. But now we know that the universe is in fact accelerating away from us. ...

Innocence and Punishment | Ritula Shah, Emma Sulkowicz, David Aaronovitch, Sarah Langford from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

'Innocent until proven guilty' is a core principle of democracy. Yet from the BBC's coverage of the Cliff Richard raid to the social media storms around MeToo, it seems we are increasingly happy to...

Reality in the Digital World | Laurence Scott from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Our worlds were once human and solid, but now our lives are increasingly virtual. What place has reality in this fantasy world? In this episode of Philosophy for our Times, ‘Picnic Comma Lightning’...

The Promise of Psychedelics | David Nutt, Amanda Feilding, Stephen Reid from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Besides being illegal, LSD has not had good press, associated with bad trips and psychological breakdown. But with a new craze for microdosing acid amongst Silicon Valley whizz kids and management ...

Does Universal Morality Exist? | Stanley Fish, Myriam Francois, Phillip Collins from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Is there a universal morality, and if not, are moral beliefs actually the cause of some of the greatest human suffering? To debate this issue, we have on our panel literary theorist Stanley Fish, w...

Minds, Madness And Medicine | Lucy Johnstone, David Nutt, David Healy from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Deaths from heart disease have fallen by almost two thirds since the 1960s, yet outcomes for those with mental illness have not improved for decades. Is this because we have the wrong categories an...

Who We Are | Diane Abbott, Kimberlé Crenshaw, Kemi Badenoch, Richard Reeves from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Ten years ago, the US elected its first black president. Yet race-related hate crime has increased 216% in the last year. Are we wrong to suppose that racial prejudice will be overcome by equal opp...

The Evolution of Suicide | Nicholas Humphreys from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Suicide is a terrible but commonplace event amongst all societies within the human race. But at what point in our evolution did suicide come into being, and for what purpose? Can suicide be explain...

Tale of Love and Hate | Rowan Williams, Renata Salecl, Robert Rowland Smith from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

We think love an indisputable force for good. Yet from Jihadi John to Anders Breivik, extremists often cite love of creed or country to justify atrocities. Might love of a person or group also be t...

The Good, the Bad and the Artist | Stanley Fish, Emma Sulkowicz, Nell Stevens, John Harvey from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

In the wake of the Weinstein scandal, many called for a boycott of the films of Roman Polanski and Woody Allen. Yet 20th century literary critics encouraged us to look at the text alone, citing "th...

Could the Universal Basic Income work? | Guy Standing vs Deirdre McCloskey from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Once dismissed as a utopian fantasy, universal income has now hit the mainstream. With new technologies, support from across the political spectrum, and advocates from Stephen Hawking to Mark Zucke...

Bonus Episode: Tribute to Mary Midgley from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

We are paying tribute to philosopher Mary Midgley who passed away last week at the age of 99 by revisiting our episode 'Are you an illusion?' in which Midgley investigates the self with fellow phil...

Mysteries of the multiverse | Catherine Heymans from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Can we ever observe universes beyond our own? Astrophysicist Catherine Heymans reveals the latest innovations that might help map out the multiverse.

The AI Revolution | Nigel Shadbolt from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

In a world with artificial intelligence, how will we maintain control? Sir Nigel Shadbolt, Open Data Institute co-founder and researcher at Oxford University, examines how AI looks set to reshape o...

Reason And The Gods | Myriam Francois, Anthony Gottlieb, Linda Woodhead from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Belief in the Gods once filled lives with purpose and a vision of truth. Now many in the secular West dismiss the divine yet also rue the loss of meaning and belief. Is this because evidence and re...

The Secrets Of Consciousness | Philip Goff, Nicholas Humphrey, Susan Blackmore from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Consciousness is one of the unresolved philosophical questions. There was hope that neuroscience might find some answers. But we still have no explanation for where brain activity ends and experien...

Against Meritocracy | Kwame Anthony Appiah from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Would a meritocratic society provide a fair equality of opportunity? Can discrimination based on merit ever be justified, or should we aim to solve social inequality through equality of outcome? Kw...

The End of the Theory of Everything | John Ellis, Huw Price, Joanna Kavenna from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Stephen Hawking once predicted a theory of everything by 2000. However, after decades without one he began to doubt its existence. Have we failed because no one theory can make sense of reality? Mu...

Beyond Men and Women | Finn Mackay, Angela Eagle, Patricia MacCormack from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

What does is mean to socially construct a gendered identity, and why do some feminists insist on separating this from the sex we are assigned at birth? On the panel: activist Finn Mackay, Labour po...

Generation Wars II | Diane Abbott, Anatole Kaletsky, Victor Adebowale, Joe Todd from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Some refer to millennials as entitled avocado-eating lay-about’s who care more about their social media presence than engaging with and caring about the world. Millennials, on the other hand, sooth...

Technology, Relationships and Freedom | Chi Onwurah, Kate Russell, James Ladyman from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

What’s the price we pay for the buzz we get from likes online? Are tech companies forcing us to follow their every whim? Mining us for data they can profit from? Or do we have the power to harness ...

Back from the end of time | Erik Verlinde, Huw Price, Alison Fernandez from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Isn’t it funny that a day at the office seems to drag by so slowly, and yet a day in the park is over in a flash? Is time, and the way it passes something that actually exists in the physical world...

Green Growth | Natalie Bennett from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

The dogma of development has left a society divided and a planet endangered. Former UK Green Party Leader Natalie Bennett envisions a radical new future.

Out of the apocalypse | Sophie Fiennes, Patricia MacCormack, Robert Rowland Smith from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Our obsession with the apocalypse is everywhere from fiction stories to news headlines. Is the belief that the end is nigh rooted in the changing reality around us, or is it just a story that sells...

The Tyranny of Evidence | Rupert Read from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

In a post-truth world, the evidence of experts is constantly being called into question. But is abandoning the expertise of learned folk a little extreme? Green Party politician and philosopher Rup...

Russia, China and the New World Order | Rana Mitter, Stephen King, George Galloway from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

China may be on the way to replacing the US as the world's dominant economic power, but with Russia also growing its reach, could the future be more dangerous still? Do we face an uncontainable mul...

Corruption and Climate Change | Piers Corbyn from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Is science more sinister than an honest pursuit of the truth? Is there enough evidence to support man-made climate change? Usually, we associate climate change critics with the right but this time ...

The Fractured Mind | Bence Nanay from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Is it better for us to resist temptations or avoid them altogether? Philosopher of perception and action Bence Nanay argues that our ability to say no is connected with the fragmentation of our minds.

How to make the right decision | Bence Nanay, Naomi Goulder, Barry C. Smith from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

From quitting a job or relationship in the heat of an argument to taking on a new project in a flush of excitement, we think emotional decisions are often bad decisions. But might it be that emotio...

Bonus Episode: The Philosophy of Action from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Can philosophy help us make real life decisions? Can actions speak louder than words? Our producer interviews philosophers Bence Nanay, Angie Hobbs, Christopher Hamilton, Barry Smith, Shahidha Bari...

Bonus Episode: Q&A With David Nutt | LSD, Cannabis and Mental Health from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

It's Philosophy Fest! A week of bonus content to celebrate our hundredth episode of Philosophy For Our Times. Today's bonus content is an audience Q&A with psychiatrist David Nutt, which followed o...

The Science of Psychedelics | David Nutt from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Is our attitude to drugs harming mental health patients? Imperial College psychiatrist and former UK government drugs adviser David Nutt argues for an evidence based revolution in drugs policy.

Bonus Episode: The Rojava Revolution | Elif Sarican from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

To celebrate our 100th episode of Philosophy for Our Times, we're treating you to a week of bonus content. To kick off, here's an interview with Elif Sarican, a Kurdish rights activist, about the e...

Elite Rule | Carne Ross, Yassmin Abdel Magied, Hugo Drochon from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Does our abuse of 'elites' ignore their necessity, or should all elites be challenged and dissolved? Author of The Leaderless Revolution Carne Ross, Political Theorist at Cambridge Hugh Drochon, an...

What is the Future of Art? | Don Paterson, Dylan Evans, Julian Stallabrass from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Many of us intuitively believe that art, philosophy and culture, from the evolution of cinema to the rise of performance poetry, is trying to constantly progress towards something better. But is th...

What happens to our bodies after we die? | Brooke Magnati from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

What happens to our bodies when we die? Forensic scientist and Belle de Jour blogger Brooke Magnanti anticipates life's strangest certainty.

After Evolution | Oliver Scott Curry, Daniel Everett, Janet Radcliffe Richards from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

In 1859, Charles Darwin changed the course of history for ever by publishing On the Origin of Species. In 1872 he published ‘The expression of the emotions in man and animals.’ Which didn’t rock th...

Bonus Episode | The Death Of God And The War On Terror | Terry Eagleton from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Outspoken critic of Richard Dawkins, and renowned Professor of English Literature Terry Eagleton launches himself heroically at the twin hornet’s nests of modern religious apathy & radicalism. Wher...

The Weird and the Wonderful: Eileen Barker, Ariane Sherine, Phil Rickman from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

In Europe, belief in organised religion continues to decline as science advances. Yet strangely interest in everything from ley lines to solstice rituals is on the rise. Should we dismiss this as e...

Is the sun conscious? | Rupert Sheldrake from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Is consciousness stranger than we thought? The Science Delusion author Rupert Sheldrake strikes out against orthodoxy and asks: is the sun conscious?

Being Certain: Are convictions dangerous? | Julian Baggini, Andrew Bowie, Edwina Currie from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

From Galileo to Mandela, history is made by those with strong convictions. Yet as Nietzsche argued and Islamic State attest, those most convinced of their righteousness are often the most dangerous...

Time's Arrow | Jim Al - Khalili, Raymond Tallis, Craig Bourne, Angie Hobbs from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Time appears to be the ultimate form of progress: an unavoidable direction imposed on the universe. Some physicists claim this is an illusion. How should we make sense of time? As a dimension, a fl...

Greater than Equal | Theodore Dalrymple, Sophie Walker, Helena Cronin from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

In today’s debate Sophie Walker, leader of the Women’s Equality Party faces Helena Cronin, Darwinian philosopher and a strong believer in natural sex differences. Joined by Psychiatrist Theodore Da...

Bonus Episode: Hidden Desires, Secret Thoughts | Shahida Bari, Barry C Smith, Richard Bentall from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Over a century after Freud wrote the interpretation of dreams, how much of our unconscious minds have we uncovered? Writer, academic and critic Shahida Bari, Philosopher and Director of the Institu...

Science, Sex and Stereotypes | Helena Cronin from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Darwinian philosopher Helena Cronin breaks a 21st century taboo: Did men and women evolve differently?

Running The World Differently | Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, Margaret Hodge, Ritula Shah from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

A world where men and women shared power equally is thought desirable. Yet from Angela Merkel and Mrs Thatcher, to Marissa Mayer and Sheryl Sandberg, leading women often appear to behave similarly ...

Bonus Episode: The Philosophy Of Being A Woman | International Women's Day 2018 from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Assistant Producer at the IAI, Bridey Addison-Child, speaks to some of our female speakers from our HowTheLightGetsIn Festival to find out what being a woman means in today's society, and explore s...

Do we need relationships? | Helen Croydon, Kit Opie, Susan Quilliam from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

In this week’s episode, we’re looking at the science behind monogamous relationships and asking the question: have we, as a species, evolved beyond them? Screw the Fairytale author Helen Croydon, U...

In Defense of Pornography | Peter Tatchell from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

There is perhaps, nothing more contentious in a romantic relationship, than our partner’s attitude to pornography. Here to break through this taboo is our speaker for today’s podcast - former MP an...

Bonus Episode: The Story of I | John Cottingham, Richard Morgan, Mark Salter from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

We rely on a narrative about who we are and what we are up to in order to make the everyday and the big decisions in our lives. But who is the I that writes the story of ourselves and how do we cho...

Changing the Love Narrative | Martha Fiennes, Chris Sherwood, Shahida Bari from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

From love at first sight to falling head over heels, it seems love isn’t something we do but something that happens to us. Yet relationship experts say successful relationships are built on hard wo...

Love Is the Drug | Anders Sandberg from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

We’re happy taking drugs to fight depression. But what about a pill for engineering romance? Oxford neuroscientist and Future of Humanity Institute fellow Anders Sandberg makes the case for chemica...

Is Science The Only Way To Truth? | Rosie Harper, Peter Atkins, Steve Fuller from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

In this podcast we’re going to be uncovering the unknown by pitting science against religion in the ultimate quest for truth. Theologian Rosie Harper, chemist Peter Atkins and philosopher Steve Ful...

How To Live In The Moment | Robert Eaglestone, Sam Roddick, Peter York from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Socrates famously claimed 'the unexamined life is not worth living'. Yet from surfing to sex, playing an instrument to riding a bike, our most joyous moments are not when we are lost in thought but...

Newton's Fall | Erik Verlinde from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Is Theoretical Physics on the cusp of discovering a new theory of gravity? Theoretical physicist Erik Verlinde outlines how spacetime and gravity dissolve.

Knowing Others And Knowing Oneself | Robert Eaglestone, Anita Avramides, Nicholas Humphrey from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Can you ever really know yourself? And if you can’t know yourself, how can you ever know the people around you, even those closest to you? Professor of Contemporary Literature Robert Eaglestone, th...

Bonus Episode: In Search Of Safety | Finn Mackay, Brendan O'Neill, Chris Bryant from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Visions of a violent and lawless future are a commonplace, yet strangely crime has fallen 66% in the UK in the last two decades. Do we want to imagine the world is dangerous because our lives have ...

What Is The Meaning Of Life?? | Mark Rowlands from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

We keep searching for life's meaning, but we still have no answer. Philosopher and author of 'Wolf' Mark Rowlands shows us where we might look.

Are Hospitals Bad For Us? | Diane Abbott, Natalie Bennett, David Healy, Mark Salter from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

A third of all deaths are due to medical intervention and some argue that eradicating poverty, not pathogens, makes the biggest difference. Is it a fantasy to believe that medical technology can so...

The Swindle Of The New | Terry Eagleton from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

In our topsy turvy post-modern world, we're held captive by the promise of the new. One of Britain's most influential cultural critics, Terry Eagleton, examines novelty's strange perils. Supported ...

Beware Bankers Bearing Gifts: Is Debt Good? | Anatole Kaletsky, Stephen King, Laura Bear from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

The world is awash with debt. Economists argue it is essential to growth and that repayment is a legal and moral obligation. Yet from Payday lending to the debts of Greece and the Third World many ...

Could Sex Robots Be Good For Us? | Kate Devlin from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

With technological advancements in the world of computer science and robotics, sci-fi sex robots such as Ava from Ex Machina, and Joi from Blade Runner 2049, are coming closer and closer to becomin...

The Fantasy Of Money | Nigel Dodd, Sarah Bird, Izabella Kaminska from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

There was a time when gold money had real value. Yet now it floats free, a fantasy made real by our belief. Are there alternative fantasies that we could create to generate different and perhaps b...

Understanding String Theory | James Ladyman from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Over 40 years have passed since string theory was first developed: what questions have been answered? Philosopher James Ladyman examines one of our strangest endeavours. "Challenging and provocativ...

Can lying ever be justified? | Helen Lederer, James Mahon, Mark Salter from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Weapons of mass destruction, the NSA, and Watergate: many have felt cheated by the lies of the powerful. Yet we all twist the truth to keep people happy and deceive in order to protect. Is lying od...

Power, Status And Sexuality | Catherine Hakim, Doon Mackichan, Peter Tatchell from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

The goal of feminism seemed simple: equal rights for both sexes. Yet tabloid controversy is raging now Beyonce, GaGa and Sandberg have claimed the label. Can female sexuality be a vehicle for femal...

Real Men | Julie Bindel, Diane Abbott, Rowan Pelling, Serena Kutchinsky from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Being a real man used to be about courage, grit, and determination. But in an age of increased empathy and softness the story is getting blurred. Is the 'real man' a fantasy we should be pleased t...

Why Are Humans Monogamous? | Kit Opie from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Only 3 percent of mammals are monogamous. The faithful few include beavers, wolves, bats, and, of course, humans. Why is monogamy so rare? And how did we come to practise it? UCL anthropologist Kit...

Diversity and Power | Sophie Walker from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Disillusioned with the mainstream, Sophie Walker joined and now leads the Women's Equality Party. Here she asks: is radical thinking enough to change society? Music: Apache Force by Little Glass Me...

The Good, The Bad And The Unknown | Gita Sahgal, David Owens, Sebastian Farquhar from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

We all want a better world and most see morality as helping to choose the right actions. Yet we can't know for sure the outcome of any action. Is morality therefore curiously independent of outcome...

Romancing Opiates | Theodore Dalrymple from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

What is the strange allure of opiate addiction? Author and former prison psychiatrist Theodore Dalrymple argues his personal take on the problems poppies pose. "A modern master" Guardian Music: Apa...

Neuroscience vs. Philosophy | Margaret Boden, Steven Rose, Barry C. Smith from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

From the existence of the self to the nature of free will, many philosophers have dedicated their lives to the problems of the mind. But now some neuroscientists claim to have settled these raging ...

A Philosophy of Confidence | Rowland Manthorpe from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Aristotle said that we "acquire a particular quality by acting a certain way" - he believed that you could fake it 'til you make it. But is this a reductive understanding of confidence? Are we righ...

After Buddhism | Stephen Batchelor from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

What could secular Buddhist philosophy bring to a dissatisfied West? Buddhist teacher and author Stephen Batchelor gives ancient wisdom a 21st century home. Music: Apache Force by Little Glass Men ...

What we Cannot Know | Marcus du Sautoy from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

The headlines of new discoveries about the universe continue, but are we approaching our limits? Mathematician and broadcaster Marcus du Sautoy explores. Music: Apache Force by Little Glass Men ava...

After the End of Truth | John Searle, Hilary Lawson, Hannah Dawson from 2016-08-31T00:00

Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes

A g...

After the End of Truth | John Searle, Hilary Lawson, Hannah Dawson from 2016-08-31T00:00

A generation raised on Foucault and Derrida has learned to distrust claims to objective truth. Yet the mantra that 'there is no truth' is a paradox. Do we need a new conception of fantasy and reali...