Philosopher's Zone
243 episodes - English - Latest episode: almost 2 years ago - ★★★★★ - 155 ratingsThe simplest questions often have the most complex answers. The Philosopher's Zone is your guide through the strange thickets of logic, metaphysics and ethics.
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Episodes
Misogyny
July 04, 2021 07:30 - 28 minutes - 26.1 MBIt's strange to think that in a supposedly egalitarian democracy like Australia, we could have a misogyny problem. But the never-ending toll of intimate partner violence, sexual assault and casual workplace sexism confirms it, as does the growing "men's rights" backlash against any attempt to foreground the problem. What light can philosophy - a notoriously male dominated profession - throw on the issue?
The death of analytic philosophy?
June 20, 2021 07:30 - 28 minutes - 26.1 MBThe death of analytic philosophy has been confidently predicted for almost as long as analytic philosophy has been around. But today, with profound challenges posed by feminism, postcolonialism and critical race theory, could its long-heralded demise finally be on the horizon? And what exactly do we mean when we talk about analytic philosophy anyway – is it a science, a tradition or little more than a style?
Marxism pt 2: Black Marxism
June 13, 2021 07:30 - 28 minutes - 26 MBThere’s an influential critique of Marx that accuses him of failure to take sufficient account of race in his analysis of capitalism. But is this a fair assessment? What happens when we bring racial analysis to the Marxist tradition? And how “Marxist” is a contemporary liberation movement like Black Lives Matter?
Marxism pt 1: Marx the philosopher
June 06, 2021 07:30 - 28 minutes - 26 MBKarl Marx's interest in philosophy took an early swerve into journalism, and he famously wrote that "philosophers have only interpreted the world - the point is to change it". On one hand he was a revolutionary who favoured getting his hands dirty in the muck of history over abstract theorising, but on the other hand he was also a man of ideas who engaged with many of the philosophers of his day, in particular Hegel. Was Marx himself a philosopher? ...
Ethics, philosophy and immigration
May 30, 2021 07:30 - 38 minutes - 35.4 MBDoes anti-racism require open borders? Should refugees be selected on the basis of the skills they offer? Can immigration restrictions conform to the demands of justice? Conventional wisdom says that philosophers approach these kinds of questions from a normative perspective - their job is to establish principles for how a society should be run, as distinct from the job of a historian or a sociologist. But is that really the case? ...
What can David Hume teach us?
May 16, 2021 07:30 - 28 minutes - 26 MBScottish philosopher David Hume was an amiable 18th century gentleman - cultured, generous, well liked by all who knew him. And yet he's become something of a "thinker's thinker", hugely admired by academic philosophers, but never quite managing to fire the public imagination or attain the mythic status of a Socrates or a Nietzsche. Our guest this week believes it's time to embrace Hume as a philosopher who can teach us how to live. ...
Chronomobilities
May 09, 2021 07:30 - 28 minutes - 26.1 MBGoing from one country to another is mostly thought of as a movement in space - a change of one physical location for another. But migration can also make profound changes in the everyday experience of time, and this is especially acute in cases where migration status is uncertain - on a temporary visa, say, or in immigration detention.
Logic in Indian philosophy
May 02, 2021 07:30 - 28 minutes - 26.1 MBLogic in Western philosophy can have formal perfection, but limited epistemic value. "All chairs are 50 feet tall, my mother is a chair, therefore my mother is 50 feet tall" is a sound piece of logical deduction, but it doesn't tell us anything true or useful about the world. In Indian intellectual tradition, logic is more like scientific reasoning - its aim is to increase knowledge. This week we're looking at logic in one of the classical schools of ...
Ecocultural identity
April 25, 2021 07:30 - 28 minutes - 26.1 MBEach of us is made up of a mix of identities - political, sexual, class, gender and so on. But how often do we stop to think of our ecocultural identity? This week we hear from the co-editors of a new book whose message is that in order to arrest the slide into ecological calamity, we urgently need to de-throne our species and embrace a new humility.
Philosophy and ecology
April 18, 2021 07:30 - 28 minutes - 26.1 MBWhat happens when we recognise non-human animals as sentient beings with rights? Why do women have a particular stake in environmental justice? What exactly do we mean when we talk about sustainability? Anyone looking for a way into these important contemporary questions could start by exploring the work of Val Plumwood, the pioneering Australian eco-feminist philosopher who died in 2008.
Restlessness
April 11, 2021 07:30 - 28 minutes - 26.1 MBFeeling a little distracted lately? Most of us are, and not just lately. We tend to view withering attention spans and the compulsion to seek change for its own sake as curses of the social media era, but restless dissatisfaction has been the subject of philosophical inquiry for centuries.
Neurophenomenology and embodied sensemaking
April 04, 2021 07:30 - 28 minutes - 26 MB“Making sense” of something is often understood as a rational, purely mental process – an understanding based on the Cartesian separation of mind and body. But what about the role of the senses in sensemaking? This week we’re looking at sensemaking as an embodied phenomenon in such highly rational, technocratic environments as seafaring and air control.
The problem with "moral machines"
March 28, 2021 06:30 - 28 minutes - 26.2 MBThere’s a lot of talk these days about building ethics into artificial intelligence systems. From a philosophical perspective, it’s a daunting challenge – and this has to do with the nature of ethics, which is more than just a set of principles and instructions. Can machines ever really be moral agents?
Identity politics
March 14, 2021 06:30 - 28 minutes - 26.1 MBIdentity politics is grounded in the appeal to a stable, unified self and the authority of testimony. But this week we’re asking whether that foundation is solid, and if deconstructing it might allow for a more flexible approach to social justice.
Living like a Stoic
March 07, 2021 06:30 - 28 minutes - 26 MBWhat does it mean to live according to Stoic philosophical principles - and what do the ancient Greeks and Romans have to tell us in the modern world?
Cultural appropriation
February 21, 2021 06:30 - 28 minutes - 26 MBIn an increasingly connected, globalised world, borrowing freely between cultures can draw moral condemnation. Cultures have fuzzy edges, and it can be hard for the unwary artist to know exactly when and where respectful homage tips into cultural appropriation. This week we’re looking at where the moral lines are drawn, and asking if “cultural appropriation” might be a term that obscures more than it reveals.
Civilisation and the salon
February 14, 2021 06:30 - 28 minutes - 26 MBWhat is civilisation? A place, an ideal, a culture? Is civilisation under threat - and if so, who are the barbarians? Also, the art of the salon, a refined 18th century tradition that bridged the gap between high intellectual culture and practical everyday life. Is the salon due for a revival?
Free will, retribution and just deserts
January 31, 2021 06:30 - 34 minutes - 31.7 MBIs free will an illusion? If so, it’s a very useful one. Belief in moral responsibility can keep us from behaving in ways that are anti-social or criminal. But if free will and moral responsibility can’t be justified philosophically, how should we deal with wrongdoers?
In the wild
December 20, 2020 06:30 - 28 minutes - 26.1 MBFor centuries, “the wild” has been thought of as the place where humans rarely or never go. Our cities are meant to be refuges from the wild, and the policies that govern our lives are intended to impose order on chaos. But climate change is showing us that the wild and the urban environments are closely intertwined – and as Indigenous communities know well, policy is beset with incoherences and cruelties that make it anything but rational. Is it time...
The inside of anger
December 13, 2020 06:30 - 28 minutes - 26 MBAnger is a normal human emotion, we seem to be hard wired for it. And there's a body of ethical opinion that says anger can be useful - as a means of communication, as a means of appreciating injustice rather than just recognising it, as as a spur to restorative action. But could we get along without it?
Phenomenology
December 06, 2020 06:30 - 28 minutes - 26 MBWhat if even the most ordinary experience could reward close and detailed analysis, revealing fascinating insights into the structures of consciousness and the world? This is the question asked by phenomenology, which investigates the experience of experience, and this week’s guest has written a new book exploring phenomenology from the ground up.
Anti-social media
November 29, 2020 06:30 - 28 minutes - 26.1 MBWhat can social media platforms deliver in the way of genuine personal connection and moral truth? And how good - or bad - are Facebook and Twitter for the philosophy community?
Science, misinformation and dissent
November 22, 2020 06:30 - 28 minutes - 26.2 MBScience welcomes dissent. Scientific progress depends on challenging and dismantling theories as well as verifying them. But how should we deal with misinformation about science, and the ways it can erode such liberal democratic values as personal autonomy?
Refugees and moral obligation
November 15, 2020 06:30 - 28 minutes - 26.2 MBRefugees have been with us for millennia, but the modern refugee exists under a distinctively modern set of circumstances. Moral philosophers addressing the refugee issue often fail to take these circumstances into account, and to acknowledge the ways in which the West can be responsible for refugee crises.
Philosophy in a nutshell pt 6: Becoming a woman
November 08, 2020 06:30 - 28 minutes - 26.3 MBSimone de Beauvoir wrote that “One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman”. It’s a much-quoted phrase that appears to speak presciently to modern concerns around sex and gender. But how well is Beauvoir understood by contemporary feminists?
Philosophy in a nutshell pt 5: Ubuntu
November 01, 2020 06:30 - 28 minutes - 26.1 MBUbuntu is an African tradition of thought whose ethical orientation is captured in the well-known aphorism “I am, because we are”. But what gets lost when Ubuntu is framed as a philosophical discourse in the Western intellectual tradition? And where do we see its successes and failures in the reconstruction of post-colonial Africa?
Philosophy in a nutshell pt 4: Nietzsche and nihilism
October 25, 2020 06:30 - 28 minutes - 26.2 MB"God is dead, and we have killed him" — a statement that's fuelled the popular misapprehension of Nietzsche as a crusading atheist, or militant nihilist. In fact, he was neither of those things, and "God is dead" is a much more interesting proposition than is often thought.
Philosophy in a nutshell pt 3: Derrida and the text
October 18, 2020 06:30 - 28 minutes - 26.2 MBIn 1967, French philosopher Jacques Derrida wrote "There is nothing outside the text". Or did he? It's a bad translation that's launched a thousand bad interpretations - but it's gone on to become a key element of Derrida's work.
Philosophy in a nutshell pt 2: Confucius, wealth and politics
October 11, 2020 06:30 - 28 minutes - 26.2 MBIn the Analects, Confucius is recorded as saying "When a country is well governed, poverty is something to be ashamed of. When a country is badly governed, wealth is something to be ashamed of". It's an interesting aphorism to consider in the light of China today, as the government seeks to promote Confucian ethics, while at the same time running an economy that's delivered vast wealth to a small political elite.
Philosophy in a nutshell pt 1: The aphorism
October 04, 2020 06:30 - 28 minutes - 26.2 MBFirst program in a series exploring famous philosophical fragments. Philosophy is often thought of as proceeding via elaborate conceptual systems. But sometimes, a choice phrase is all you need to get you thinking.
PRESENTS — Ideas
September 21, 2020 16:00 - 6 minutes - 8.28 MBIdeas is a program from CBC Canada and it's about... well, ideas. Each episode takes a concept and dives deep into its past, present and possible future. Whether you're interested in the meaning of community, the history of the saxophone, the environmental downside to jean manufacturing, the lure of political authoritarianism or our cultural obsession with serial killers, Ideas has an idea that's going to keep you listening. Pulling apart concepts,...
Progressive Islam
September 20, 2020 07:30 - 34 minutes - 31.7 MBProgressive Muslim thought seeks to establish an Islam that's equipped for the modern world - and still embedded within the Islamic intellectual tradition.
The abominable heretic
September 13, 2020 07:30 - 29 minutes - 26.7 MBIn July 1656, the young philosopher Baruch Spinoza was cast out of his Jewish community for "abominable heresies". We don't know what those crimes were, but we do know that Spinoza has remained a polarising figure within Judaism ever since.
Shifting the frame on COVID-19
September 06, 2020 07:30 - 28 minutes - 26.4 MBWhen we think about COVID-19 as a medical issue first and foremost, what are we missing? This week we explore the ways in which legal, economic, cultural and ethical perspectives on COVID-19 could be just as important as the medical.
Lev Shestov: staying awake in the dark
August 30, 2020 07:30 - 28 minutes - 26 MBLev Shestov is one of the great forgotten modern philosophers, and now could be the time to rediscover him. His was a philosophy of hope in the face of hopelessness, and the parallels between his time and our own are compelling.
Moral grandstanding
August 23, 2020 07:30 - 28 minutes - 26.2 MBMoral grandstanding is not a harmless pastime. It’s insidious and corrosive, eating away at the foundations of public discourse and deepening the divisions between us. But how to stop it?
AI home devices: A feminist perspective
August 16, 2020 07:30 - 28 minutes - 26.2 MBSmart home devices make life easier, and they're increasingly popular. But are they gender-neutral entities, or "smart wives"?
Inhumanity
August 09, 2020 07:30 - 28 minutes - 26.2 MBOur capacity to do terrible things to each other seems boundless. But we'd find it a lot more difficult without recourse to a neat conceptual trick: dehumanisation.
What are we doing when we argue?
August 02, 2020 07:30 - 28 minutes - 26 MBArgument and debate don’t need to be blood sports. Done properly, argument can be about beneficial mutual exchange and trust.
Nihilism and utopia
July 26, 2020 07:30 - 28 minutes - 26.2 MBCOVID-19 has exposed a streak of nihilism in 21st century capitalist societies. How do we move forward without succumbing to despair on one hand, or utopian thinking on the other?
Montesquieu and despotism
July 12, 2020 07:30 - 28 minutes - 26.2 MBMontesquieu was the 18th century French philosopher who introduced the term "despotism" into our political vocabulary. Today, his analysis is as relevant as ever.
The digital dead
July 05, 2020 07:30 - 51 minutes - 47.4 MBWhen we die, our digital selves sometimes live on. The line between death and life — already blurred by medical technology — is even blurrier in the digital domain. How should we prepare for our electronic afterlives?
Philosophy by postcard
June 28, 2020 07:30 - 28 minutes - 26 MBA fascinating public philosophy project, celebrating a major figure whose work deserves greater recognition — not just as a philosopher, but as a pioneering woman in a very male world.
The ethics of uterus transplantation
June 21, 2020 07:30 - 28 minutes - 26.2 MBIf a woman wants to experience pregnancy but can't, the answer could be a uterus transplant. The technology is promising, if still very new — but how ethically sound is it?
Race in America pt 2: Lewis Gordon
June 14, 2020 07:30 - 28 minutes - 26 MBAny conversation about racial justice has to go back to basics: questions about the nature of humanity and the meaning of freedom. Philosopher Lewis Gordon explores these questions in the light of COVID-19 and America's current upheavals.
Race in America pt 1: George Yancy
June 07, 2020 07:30 - 36 minutes - 33.3 MBSpeaking out against racism by insisting on the collusion of white people — even well-meaning ones — in a system that's racist to the core can bring serious consequences. George Yancy knows this well.
Choosing a personal philosophy: Existentialism
May 31, 2020 07:30 - 28 minutes - 26.2 MBTired of having a casual, abstract flirtation with philosophy? It might be time to commit. A personal philosophy of life can be hugely helpful — but which one to choose?
Driverless cars, inequality and the 'trolley problem' in a high-tech world
May 24, 2020 07:30 - 28 minutes - 26.2 MBThe road has always been a great social leveller — we all get stuck in the same traffic jams. But with the advent of driverless cars, that could all be about to change, with troubling ethical consequences.
Citizens and urban planning
May 17, 2020 07:30 - 28 minutes - 26.2 MBConsensus among citizens in the development of cities is always the goal — but it's rarely achieved. This week we explore the philosophical foundations of a more realistic model for citizen participation in urban planning.
The big snore
May 10, 2020 07:30 - 28 minutes - 26.2 MBBoredom hasn't received a lot of philosophical attention — which isn't surprising, given that it suggests a radical absence of anything to talk about. But even the most tedious things can prove on inspection to be complex, multi-layered and... well, interesting.