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
What can genes tell us?
May 03, 2020 07:30 - 28 minutes - 26.2 MBCan our genes tell us if we're gay? Or intelligent? Science says the answer is complex, and that genetic determinism — the idea that we're genetically hardwired for certain outcomes — shouldn't be taken seriously. But genetic determinism has taken hold of the public imagination.
Border patrol
April 26, 2020 07:30 - 28 minutes - 26.2 MBRefugees are often spoken and written about as victims: people on the far side of a border that separates them from all the things we citizens know and love about our homeland. But what if the refugee actually knows things about Australia that we don't?
Thinking a pandemic
April 19, 2020 07:30 - 28 minutes - 26 MBWe're told that COVID-19 is an unprecedented event, one that's upended all our old certainties — so it's perhaps strange that we're thinking about it in very familiar ways. Considering the history, the politics and the ethics of COVID-19 can reveal fascinating and uncomfortable insights about ourselves and our society.
Time in a time of excess time
April 12, 2020 07:30 - 28 minutes - 26.2 MBMany of us have extra time on our hands at the moment, and for many of us that time can feel like a burden. But what is this mysterious relationship between what time feels like and what it really is?
Honour in the institution
April 05, 2020 07:30 - 28 minutes - 26 MBInstitutions shape every aspect of our lives, yet they can be strangely amorphous things, operating according to norms and conventions that often undermine each other. For women, this can result in institutional discrimination – in workplaces and public organisations, but also in less tangible institutions like the family and the law. This week we’re talking feminist institutionalism, and the need for a women’s honour code. ...
AI and moral intuition: use it or lose it?
March 29, 2020 06:30 - 28 minutes - 26 MBArtificial intelligence is helping us to make all sorts of decisions these days, and this can be hugely useful. But if we outsource our moral intuition to AI, do we risk becoming morally de-skilled?
LGBT elders, isolation and loneliness
March 22, 2020 06:30 - 28 minutes - 26 MBAs LGBT people grow old, they can become particularly vulnerable to social isolation and loneliness. Simone de Beauvoir had a keen appreciation of the challenges of ageing – “old age exposes the failure of our entire civilisation” – so can we find resources in her brand of existentialism that address some of the issues raised by LGBT elders?
Dangerous minds
March 15, 2020 06:30 - 28 minutes - 26.1 MBHeidegger was an unrepentant Nazi. Nietzsche's later work contains passages that openly advocate slavery and genocide. Today, with far-right extremism on the rise around the world, how concerned should we be when reading – and teaching – the work of these canonical figures?
The many and the one
March 08, 2020 06:30 - 28 minutes - 26 MBWe casually talk about "Australia" as though it were a single entity. But what exactly is such a collective? And how can it be held responsible for its deeds - or misdeeds? This week we're talking group duties - and for International Women's Day, a conversation about gender and progress in philosophy.
The why of philosophy
March 01, 2020 06:30 - 28 minutes - 26.1 MBIs philosophy experiencing an unprecedented crisis? And are universities becoming a hostile environment for philosophers?
Is reason enough?
February 23, 2020 06:30 - 28 minutes - 26.1 MBThese days it seems that critical thinking could be failing us – and we’re not sure why. Have too many people strayed from the path of reason? Or is reason insufficient – ever overrated – as an ingredient in the formation of good citizens?
Plato's woman problem
February 16, 2020 06:30 - 28 minutes - 26 MBIn The Republic, Plato outlines a role for women in his ideal society that seems revolutionary, i.e. that they should occupy the highest position in public life. In Athenian society at the time, women were completely excluded from politics, so this is a radical proposal. But elsewhere, Plato expresses doubt about women’s natural abilities. What did he really think? And how does this tension persist today for women in philosophy? ...
In praise of mortality
February 09, 2020 06:30 - 35 minutes - 32.5 MBEver since we humans became conscious of the fact that we’re all going to die, we’ve dreamed of immortality. Life is good, so wouldn't eternal life be even better? Today's guest offers a robust critique of the ideal of immortality - and one that takes a fascinating turn to politics.
Remembering Roger Scruton
February 02, 2020 06:30 - 28 minutes - 26.1 MBAn avowed conservative of a kind mistrusted by both modern-day left and right, Scruton remained steadfast in his first principles. He pitted his intellect against what he saw as the encroachments of modernity on human life, including the overreach of science and technology. Wishful thinker, or beacon in a sea of error?
Uluru and the heart of the liberal state
January 26, 2020 06:30 - 28 minutes - 26 MBThe fundamental challenges for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia are systemic, they run much deeper than any single issue – education, health, rates of incarceration – can capture. But the Uluru Statement from the Heart calls for a series of reforms that could address the key issue for all Indigenous Australians.
The Bonhoeffer moment
December 15, 2019 07:30 - 28 minutes - 26.1 MBDietrich Bonhoeffer was a German pastor and theologian whose involvement in the plot to kill Hitler has given rise to the term "Bonhoeffer moment" - a crisis point where morally repugnant acts might be considered in order to head off greater evil. And these days, it seems everyone is having a Bonhoeffer moment.
Happy?
December 08, 2019 06:30 - 28 minutes - 26 MBWhat is happiness, and why are we incapable of getting a fix on it? Is the happiness industry really in the business of making us unhappy? And can philosophy help?
Philosophy in the wake of Empire part 5: Tracks of thought
December 01, 2019 06:30 - 28 minutes - 26.1 MBAs a young girl, Aileen Moreton-Robinson learned to track in the bush, and this was the beginning of her philosophical education, as she learned how all things are connected. Today she sees Western thought as disconnected, disjointed, and badly in need of a relational approach that might get us talking properly about race and power.
Philosophy in the wake of Empire part 4: Africa
November 24, 2019 06:30 - 28 minutes - 26 MBAfrica has a history of rich and ancient philosophical traditions. Those traditions were rendered invisible by European colonisers, who sought to overlay Africa's past with the values of the Enlightenment. Today, African philosophy is being uncovered and introduced to the West - but is the West listening?
Philosophy in the wake of Empire pt. 3: Missionary feminism
November 17, 2019 06:30 - 28 minutes - 26 MBFeminist arguments in the West have been used to advance imperialist projects that inflict suffering on women in Iraq and Afghanistan. And the Western feminist focus on individual rights can be disastrous when played out in non-Western contexts. Is it time to rethink “missionary feminism”?
Philosophy in the wake of Empire pt. 2: Migrants and other Others
November 10, 2019 06:30 - 28 minutes - 26 MBAs refugees from the former colonies make their way to Europe, notions of “European life” and “European values” are facing unprecedented challenges. As postcolonial subjects, how should these migrants be received and understood?
Philosophy in the wake of Empire pt. 1: The white way to think
November 03, 2019 06:30 - 28 minutes - 26.1 MBThe West has a history of colonisation and empire-building. How has this shaped the discipline of philosophy? This week – first in a five-part series – we look at racism and the unfortunate legacy of Immanuel Kant, who believed the non-white races were incapable of philosophical reflection.
The problem with humanism
October 20, 2019 06:30 - 28 minutes - 26 MBHow well does humanism's account of itself hold up in philosophical terms?
Feminism, ecology, motherhood
October 13, 2019 06:30 - 28 minutes - 26 MBThe climate debate isn't just about science; it's also about gender and power. Ecofeminism takes this seriously - but does it also perpetuate negative stereotypes about women's supposedly "natural" connection to the earth and to nurturing?
Genetically obsolete
October 06, 2019 07:30 - 28 minutes - 26.1 MBThe prospect of human genetic enhancement raises moral concerns. Will a genetically enhanced human in 2060 will be rendered “obsolete” by technological advances that come along in 2070? What happens when we blur the distinction between person and product?
Richard Rorty and transcendence
September 29, 2019 07:30 - 28 minutes - 26 MBA professional academic philosopher, the American neo-pragmatist Richard Rorty was also a provocative critic of his own discipline. He had little time for what he saw as the pretensions of analytic philosophers and their ambitions to transcendence. But his work is tangled up in its own ambitions and fascinating contradictions.
Classical ethics, modern problem
September 22, 2019 07:30 - 28 minutes - 26.1 MBPlato and Aristotle were acute observers and analysts of the world around them, but they never had to deal with climate change. Trust, virtue and reason seem to be in short supply today. Can the ancients show us how to recover these essential aspects of social harmony?
Philosophy on the couch
September 15, 2019 07:30 - 28 minutes - 26.1 MBSigmund Freud had mixed feelings about philosophy – he thought that philosophers and people experiencing psychosis had a lot in common. So how has contemporary philosophy come to owe such a huge debt to the father of psychoanalysis?
Gloomy Sunday
September 08, 2019 07:30 - 28 minutes - 26 MBOur reactions to suicide often depend on the era in which it takes place: when practised by ancient philosophers, it has a noble lustre. When practised by modern celebrities, it’s an emblem of the emptiness of fame and fortune. And now, the advent of voluntary euthanasia is changing our perceptions once again.
Politics at the extremes
September 01, 2019 07:30 - 28 minutes - 26.1 MBPolitics has never been a gentle pursuit - but these days the gloves are well and truly off. How did we get here? What are the implications for political philosophy, and for politics in general? As for where we might be headed, there are fascinating – if rather terrifying – clues in the work of French thinker René Girard.
Dementia and deception
August 25, 2019 07:30 - 28 minutes - 26.1 MBIf you’re caring for a person with dementia, what do you do if they demand to see their spouse, who in fact died long ago? If you resort to telling the person that their spouse has just gone to the shops and will be back soon, you’re not alone. “Therapeutic deception” is a time-saver for carers, and it can also be humane, a means of alleviating distress. But like all lying, it’s morally problematic.
Why the Humanities?
August 18, 2019 07:30 - 28 minutes - 26.1 MBIn an era of university funding cuts, economic rationalism and the creeping perception that human progress comes to us principally via science and technology, who needs the Humanities?
The (other) melancholy Dane
August 11, 2019 07:30 - 28 minutes - 26.1 MBShakespeare’s Hamlet is perhaps the most famous Danish depressive, but Soren Kierkegaard gives him a run for his money. He wrote uncompromisingly difficult philosophical works, so it’s not surprising that he’s an outsize but rather remote figure in the popular cultural imagination. This week’s guest wants to change all that – she’s written a biography of Kierkegaard that brings the man and the work into sharp, sympathetic focus. ...
Remembering Agnes Heller
August 04, 2019 07:30 - 28 minutes - 26 MBHungarian philosopher Agnes Heller was a Holocaust survivor, a dissident under Hungary’s communist regime, and one of the great modern political thinkers. She was also a wonderfully engaging speaker, and this week we hear her in conversation from 2013, as well as the reflections of a close friend and colleague.
Rock star philosopher, and rocks
July 28, 2019 07:30 - 28 minutes - 26 MBEarly 20th century French thinker Henri Bergson was a celebrity. Today he’s a more obscure figure, but we're asking if his ideas should be restored to the intellectual map of the 20th century. Also: a philosopher-geologist on rocks, science and climate change.
Women and the Dhamma
July 21, 2019 07:30 - 29 minutes - 26.7 MBBuddhist teaching is radically egalitarian, and yet the need for a Buddhist feminism is pressing. Is gender irrelevant to Buddhist teaching? And for women who have been denied agency or a sense of identity, how reasonable is the doctrine of non-self?
The world in a different light: Iris Murdoch’s philosophical vision
July 14, 2019 07:30 - 28 minutes - 26.1 MBIn a century that produced a dizzying array of philosophers and philosophical approaches, few philosophers were as distinctive, and stood out quite so conspicuously, as Iris Murdoch (1919-1999).
Thinking the country
July 07, 2019 07:30 - 28 minutes - 26.1 MBWhat constitutes a "philosophical" conversation? You might reasonably expect such a conversation to be conceptual, exploring abstract notions of self, time, being, ethics and so on. For indigenous Australian philosophers, the conversation gets real very fast.
Witnessing and translating
June 30, 2019 07:30 - 28 minutes - 26 MBWhat happens when we take philosophy into the field? This week we’re talking archaeology, with focus on feminism, tensions between indigenous and Western scientific knowledge, and the principles of reconciliation.
Public health and the open society
June 23, 2019 07:30 - 28 minutes - 26.1 MBKarl Popper's idea of "the open society" promoted values of inclusivity, transparency and democratic freedom. Today, some fear that the open society is under threat, with negative consequences for a lot of things we've come to take for granted - including public health.
Drone homicide, jiggling brains and neurobionic revenge porn
June 09, 2019 07:30 - 28 minutes - 26.1 MBThe march of technology never stops, and sometimes institutions have trouble keeping up with the changes. This week we’re looking at possible future crimes committed via technology that’s already with us: brain-computer interfaces, which enable things to happen in the physical world by means of neural impulses – thoughts and imaginings, rather than movements.
Analytic philosophy: the leading brand
June 02, 2019 07:30 - 28 minutes - 26.1 MBA quick scan of leading philosophy journals reveals that what passes for "philosophy" is selectively screened, with analytic philosophy clearly the dominant style. We look at the history of this phenomenon, some of the likely consequences, and how might it be addressed.
Mind, matter and motherhood
May 26, 2019 07:30 - 28 minutes - 26.1 MBWhen Nicola Redhouse had each of her two children, she experienced shattering post-natal anxiety that sent her deep into the mystery of the self, and the relationship between mind and body. A long standing participant in psychoanalysis, she found herself up against the practical limits of Freudian theory - but would science provide more useful insight?
The blind spot
May 19, 2019 07:30 - 28 minutes - 26.1 MBCan science potentially reveal everything, giving us a "God's eye view" of the world? Some hope that the answer is (or will one day be) Yes - other more cautious observers wonder if science can ever overcome its blind spot.
Irrationality
May 12, 2019 07:30 - 28 minutes - 26.1 MBIn 1944, Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer published their famous claim that "Enlightenment reverts to mythology" - meaning that any rational order sooner or later collapses into irrationality. Seven decades later, it seems they were were right on the money. Is human society fated to be irrational? And why is the alt-right having all the crazy fun these days?
Mugged by reality
May 05, 2019 07:30 - 28 minutes - 26 MBReality TV draws increasing concern from observers who fear that cast, producers and audiences alike could be participating in something morally reprehensible - and that serious consequences for society lie ahead.
Guilty
April 28, 2019 07:30 - 28 minutes - 26 MBResentment, blame and guilt are generally placed on the negative side of the ledger of human emotions. Nobody particularly enjoys the way they feel. But they are morally important all the same, both in the public sphere and in the realm of interpersonal relationships.
Politics and the sacred
April 21, 2019 07:30 - 28 minutes - 26 MBAccording to Italian philosopher Giorgio Agamben, modern secular politics is theological from the ground up – which may come as a nasty surprise to the many people who believe, often for very good reasons, that religion and politics should be kept as far from each other as possible.
Nutting it out
April 14, 2019 07:30 - 28 minutes - 26.1 MBHow are your critical thinking skills? Fine, you say. Everybody sees themselves as a competent critical thinker. But when you break critical thinking down to its component skills, it turns out to be more complicated and difficult than you might expect.
Artificial intelligence, real emotions
April 07, 2019 07:30 - 28 minutes - 26.1 MBArtificial intelligence is pretty impressive these days. An AI robot can interact with humans in ways that give a strong impression of empathy, intellectual engagement and independent thought. A robot can smile, frown and respond to emotional cues offered by human faces and voices. But can it experience real emotions of its own?