Philosophy Talk Starters
595 episodes - English - Latest episode: 7 days ago - ★★★★ - 54 ratingsBite-size episodes from the program that questions everything... except your intelligence. Learn more and access complete episodes at www.philosophytalk.org.
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Episodes
488: Explanation at Its Best
April 24, 2022 00:00 - 10 minutes - 9.99 MBMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/explanation-its-best. In both everyday life and science, we often feel the pull of simpler, more elegant, or more beautiful explanations. For example, you notice the street is wet and infer the best explanation is that it rained earlier. But are we justified in assuming these tidy explanations are most likely to be true? What makes an explanation “simple” or “elegant” in the first place? And can the “loveliness” of an explanation ever be a good gu...
485: The Doomsday Doctrine
April 03, 2022 00:00 - 10 minutes - 9.44 MBMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/doomsday-doctrine. The doctrine of mutually assured destruction is supposed to deter both sides in a war from launching the first nuclear strike. However, the strategy of the US, NATO, and other super powers has been to plan the destruction of nearly all life on Earth. If near total annihilation would be monstrous, ethically speaking, then what should we say about preparing for and planning it? Can there be any moral justification for plausibly th...
487: Changing Minds on Climate Change
March 27, 2022 00:00 - 10 minutes - 9.69 MBMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/changing-minds-climate-change. There is consensus among scientists that global warming is real and that it’s caused by human activity. Despite the overwhelming evidence and the urgency to act, there are still many who are skeptical of or flat-out deny climate change. Are these climate deniers simply impervious to scientific evidence? Or have they just not been exposed to the right kind of information? When it comes to ideologically driven views, i...
486: Reading the Troubled Past
March 13, 2022 00:00 - 10 minutes - 9.16 MBMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/reading-troubled-past. Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe lambasted Joseph Conrad’s novel Heart of Darkness as a deeply racist work that should be removed from the Western canon. Defenders of Conrad say the novel is simply an expression of its time and not an endorsement of the racist attitudes it represents. So how do we judge the moral legitimacy of older works of literature and philosophy? Should we shun writers for holding racist or sexist views? O...
541: #MeToo: Retribution, Accountability, and Justice
March 07, 2022 03:21 - 9 minutes - 8.69 MBMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/metoo-retribution-accountability-and-justice. The #MeToo movement exposed how pervasive sexual harassment and abuse are, and how rare it is for perpetrators to be held accountable. Although some recent high profile cases have resulted in convictions, more often punishment is meted out by public shaming. So why is it so difficult to hold sexual abusers legally responsible for their actions? Is social retribution a way to achieve some form of justic...
484: Is Postmodernism Really to Blame for Post-Truth?
February 27, 2022 00:00 - 9 minutes - 8.54 MBMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/postmodernism-really-blame. Postmodernism is often characterized by its rejection of concepts championed by the Enlightenment, like meaning, truth, reason, and knowledge. Some philosophers blame postmodernism for making cynicism about truth and facts now respectable in political debate. So is postmodernism responsible for “fake news” and “alternative facts”? Or does it simply provide the tools to describe popular distrust of traditional authoritie...
437: Polyamory
February 13, 2022 00:00 - 9 minutes - 8.89 MBMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/polyamory. In most if not all modern Western societies, monogamy is the dominant form of romantic relationship. In polyamorous or "open" relationships, however, each person is free to love multiple partners at once. Just as our friendships are non-exclusive, advocates of polyamory believe our romantic relationship should be too. So why do so many people find polyamory distacteful, or even despicable? Is it immoral to love more than one person at a...
539: Marcus Aurelius
January 31, 2022 13:20 - 9 minutes - 8.73 MBMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/marcus-aurelius. Marcus Aurelius was a 2nd century Roman emperor and Stoic philosopher. He is most famous for his Meditations, which was written as a private guide to himself on how to live a life where virtue is the only good and vice the only evil. So how do we figure out how to live a truly Stoic life? What’s the relationship between the wellbeing of an individual and the interest of the larger community? And what can we learn from Marcus about...
477: Hacking the Brain – Beyond the Five Senses
January 23, 2022 00:00 - 10 minutes - 9.43 MBMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/hacking-brain. Humans evolved to have a variety of senses—smell, sight, touch, etc.—that provide information about the world around us. Our brains use this sensory information to construct a particular picture of reality. But what if it were technologically possible to hack our brains and create new senses for humans, such as echolocation or magnetoception? How would our brains integrate this new kind of information? What would it be like to perce...
371: The Art of Non-Violence
January 17, 2022 00:00 - 11 minutes - 10.5 MBMore at philosophytalk.org/shows/art-non-violence. We all hope for peace. Yet in the face of violence, it often seems the only recourse is more violence. Advocates of non-violence claim it’s not necessary to respond to war in kind, and that responding violently, even in self-defense, just perpetuates the cycle of violence. So how can we practice non-violence under the direct threat of violence? Can non-violent acts be spread to stop aggression and war? And are there times when violence is, i...
537: The Examined Year – 2021
December 27, 2021 06:09 - 15 minutes - 14.4 MBMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/examined-year-2021. What happened over the past 12 months that challenged our assumptions and made us think about things in new ways? • The Year in Political Insurrection with former co-host and current Stanford Dean Debra Satz • The Year in Space Tourism with Brian Green from Santa Clara University, author of "Space Ethics" • The Year in the Post-Pandemic Workplace with Quill Kukla from Georgetown University, author of "City Living: How Urban ...
481: The Limits of Tolerance
December 19, 2021 00:00 - 11 minutes - 10.2 MBMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/limits-tolerance. In order to reach compromise, people try to be tolerant of others with different beliefs. Despite its value, there are numerous factors that may hinder our exercise of tolerance. As the schisms between our beliefs grow larger, what happens when our moral and political ideals put us deeply at odds with your fellow citizens? Do we begrudgingly tolerate them by agree to live and let live? Do we shun them and their benighted views as...
480: What Is Religious Belief?
December 05, 2021 00:00 - 11 minutes - 10.6 MBMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/what-religious-belief. Many people profess to believe in an all-powerful, all-knowing, benevolent God. Yet psychological data shows that people often think and reason about God in ways contrary to their professed religious beliefs. So, are these so-called religious beliefs genuinely held? Or are “believers” just playing an elaborate game of pretense? Is there a difference between ordinary factual belief and religious belief? And what role do peopl...
479: Is Philanthropy Bad for Democracy?
November 21, 2021 00:00 - 11 minutes - 10.9 MBMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/philanthropy-bad-democracy. In a liberal democracy, individuals should have the freedom to give money to charities of their choice. But there’s a difference between charitable giving from ordinary individuals and philanthropic giving from extremely wealthy individuals. Whose interests are served when the wealthy give? Should the state continue to encourage big philanthropy with massive tax breaks for the rich? Or should it focus more on taxing ext...
237: The Occult Philosophy
October 31, 2021 00:00 - 9 minutes - 9.13 MBMore at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/occult-philosophy. The occult is routinely dismissed in our times as the province of quacks, the irrational, and the superstitious. But during the Renaissance, many of the best minds in Europe studied the philosophy and science of the occult. The period witnessed an outpouring of systematic philosophical and scientific treatises on the occult. References to the occult pervade the works of Shakespeare and other literary writers of the time. Many scholar...
417: John Dewey and the Ideal of Democracy
October 17, 2021 00:00 - 11 minutes - 10.7 MBMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/john-dewey. John Dewey is regarded by some as the American philosopher. In the first half of the 20th century, he stood as the most prominent public intellectual whose influence reached into intellectual movements in China, Japan, and India. Although we hear less of Dewey nowadays, his pragmatic political philosophy has influenced the likes of Richard Rorty and other political thinkers. What were the basic ideas in his philosophy of democracy? Doe...
476: Immigration and Multiculturalism
October 03, 2021 00:00 - 11 minutes - 10.4 MBMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/immigration-and-multiculturalism. Whether for economic reasons or to flee violence and persecution, immigration rates continue to climb globally. At the same time, opposition to immigration and intolerance of multiculturalism is also growing. Should cultural or ethnic identity ever be a factor in immigration policy? Do immigrants have an obligation to assimilate to the dominant culture? Or should we make cultural accommodations for immigrants who ...
177: Gandhi as a Philosopher
September 26, 2021 00:00 - 10 minutes - 9.67 MBMore at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/gandhi-philosopher. Gandhi is famous as the leader of the movement for Indian independence, which he based on his philosophy of non-violence, an important influence on Martin Luther King Jr. Gandhi's ideas and the effects of his leadership continue to influence the world and its leaders. What was the philosophical basis these ideas? Is non-violence a strategy for a certain purpose, or the basis for a way of life? Ken and John welcome Akeel Bilgrami,...
474: What Do We Owe Future Generations?
September 19, 2021 00:00 - 11 minutes - 11 MBMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/what-do-we-owe-future-generations. We talk about owing future generations a better world. We might also think that we should do things for future generations even if our actions might not benefit present-day people. But is it possible to have obligations to people who are not yet born? Can people who do not exist be said to have rights that we should respect? And if they do, what do we do if our rights and theirs conflict? Josh and Ken are obliged...
478: Authority and Resistance
September 12, 2021 00:00 - 10 minutes - 9.78 MBMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/authority-and-resistance. Authority can refer to people or institutions that have the political power to make decisions, give orders, and enforce rules. It can also refer to a certain kind of expertise or knowledge that we might defer to. Sometimes we respect authority, and sometimes we resist it or even revolt against it. But where exactly does authority come from, and when, if ever, ought we defer to it? How do we challenge authority? What makes...
526: (End of) Summer Reading List 2021
September 05, 2021 00:00 - 16 minutes - 14.9 MBMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/summer-reading-list-2021. As some parts of our lives return to some kind of normal, Josh and Ray ask authors and philosophers about what's been on their summer reading lists. • Cory Doctorow on "Making Hay," his short story in "Make Shift: Dispatches from the Post-Pandemic Future" • Helen De Cruz from Saint Louis University, co-editor of "Philosophy Through Science Fiction Stories: Exploring the Boundaries of the Possible" Plus Michaela Bronste...
530: The Ethics of Awesomeness
August 29, 2021 19:54 - 10 minutes - 9.71 MBMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/ethics-awesomeness. The word “awesome” once meant inspiring extreme fear or dread. Nowadays it’s mostly used as a general purpose exclamation of approval. So when we describe a person as awesome, are we saying that they exemplify some general form of excellence? Or are awesome people those who break specific social norms to generate moments of creative expression and social connection? Would the world be a better place if we all aimed to be more a...
473: Envy – Vice or Virtue?
August 22, 2021 00:00 - 10 minutes - 10.1 MBMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/envy-vice-or-virtue. Bertrand Russell said that envy was one of the most potent causes of unhappiness, and it's well known as one of the seven deadly sins. But is envy always a bad thing? Is it simply a petty emotion we should try to avoid, or could envy help us understand ourselves more? Is envy rooted in unhealthy comparison with others, or does it come from our own vision of excellence? Could envy even be used to improve ourselves? Josh and Ken...
469: The Creative Life
August 08, 2021 00:00 - 9 minutes - 9.1 MBMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/creative-life. Parents and students alike often think that a college major defines possible career options. Yet what distinguishes today's work world from bygone times is that it's quite common for adults to have a variety of different careers in a single lifetime. So what can students do now to ensure happiness and fulfillment in all possible future careers? Are there some majors that cultivate greater creativity in our career choices? And what u...
521: The 2021 Dionysus Awards
August 01, 2021 00:00 - 16 minutes - 15.4 MBMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/2021-dionysus-awards. After a year in which "entertainment" took on a whole new meaning, what were the movies that challenged our assumptions and made us think about things in new ways? Josh and guest co-host Jeremy Sabol talk to philosophers and listeners as they present our eighth annual Dionysus Awards for the most thoughtful films of the past year, including: • Best Film Painting a World Without Men • Best Picture That Packs All of American H...
528: Referring to the World — Ken's Final Work
July 27, 2021 09:37 - 9 minutes - 8.89 MBMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/referring-world. On December 2, 2019, Ken Taylor announced that he finally had “an almost complete draft” of a book he had been writing for years. “I think I'll pour a glass of wine to mark the occasion, before plunging back into the work that is still to be done,” he wrote. Tragically and unexpectedly, he died later that same day. Thanks to the hard work and dedication of some colleagues, his book, "Referring to the World: An Opinionated Introduc...
471: Foreign Aid – or Injury?
July 18, 2021 00:00 - 11 minutes - 10.2 MBMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/foreign-aid-or-injury. Many of us might think that developed nations should lead the effort to end global poverty. But decades of foreign aid—from governments and non-governmental organizations—has failed to produce sustainable growth in the developing world. How can we empower local actors to become self-sufficient rather than dependent on foreign aid? Is there a way to help those in the developing world without inadvertently giving more power to...
527: Your Brain on Literature
July 09, 2021 14:37 - 10 minutes - 9.2 MBMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/your-brain-literature. Cognitive science has revolutionized our understanding of the brain and how it functions. Researchers have even used fMRI to detect differences in the way people engage with literature. But can contemporary science really teach us anything about how novels, poems, and movies work? Do new understandings of the unconscious help us appreciate the brilliant magic tricks that writers pull off? And could a better picture of mental...
470: Foucault and Power
July 04, 2021 00:00 - 11 minutes - 11 MBMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/foucault-and-power. Michel Foucault was a 20th century philosopher known for his work concerning power and knowledge. Foucault is often cited for his theory of knowledge and power, which are inextricably linked. But what exactly is Foucault's philosophy of power? Is it a universal theory intended to be applied in any context, or was Foucault simply responding to the specific power dynamics of his time? Josh and Ken take power from Gary Gutting fro...
468: Does Reputation Matter?
June 27, 2021 00:00 - 11 minutes - 10.2 MBMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/does-reputation-matter. We think about about our own reputation all the time, and we constantly reference the reputations of the people we meet and interact with. But why do we care so much about reputation? Is it rational for us to rely on reputation so heavily in our day-to-day lives? Are judgments about reputation just a handy social screening mechanism or something much more nefarious? Josh and Ken manage their reputations with Gloria Origgi f...
526: Summer Reading List 2021
June 20, 2021 22:20 - 16 minutes - 14.9 MBMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/summer-reading-list-2021. As some parts of our lives return to some kind of normal, Josh and Ray ask authors and philosophers about what's been on their summer reading lists. • Cory Doctorow on "Making Hay," his short story in "Make Shift: Dispatches from the Post-Pandemic Future" • Helen De Cruz from Saint Louis University, co-editor of "Philosophy Through Science Fiction Stories: Exploring the Boundaries of the Possible" Plus a post-pandemic ...
467: Can Reason Save Us?
June 13, 2021 00:00 - 11 minutes - 10.6 MBMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/can-reason-save-us. To an optimist, things are constantly getting better: disease and extreme poverty are down; life expectancy, literacy, and equality are up; and it’s all thanks to the glory of human reason. But a pessimist would point to the continuing presence of injustice, oppression, and war, and the dangers of global warming and nuclear annihilation. So who's right? Are we really living in an age of progress? And can reason really save us? ...
465: The Psychology of Cruelty
May 30, 2021 00:00 - 10 minutes - 9.29 MBMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/psychology-cruelty. Throughout history, people have committed all kinds of cruel, degrading, and evil acts toward other people. Many believe that for evil acts like genocide to be even possible, the victims must first be dehumanized by the perpetrators, starting with dehumanizing language or propaganda. But is this lack of empathy always at the heart of human cruelty? When we call others “vermin,” “roaches,” or “animals” are we thereby denying the...
464: The Athlete as Philosopher
May 16, 2021 00:00 - 10 minutes - 9.53 MBMore as https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/athlete-philosopher. For the ancient Greeks, sport was an integral part of education. Athletic programs remain in schools today, but there is a growing gap between the modern sports experience and enduring educational values such as self-discovery, responsibility, respect, and citizenship. Is there a way to bridge this gap? Can sports be a means to teach values such as these? Josh and Ken try out with Heather Reid from Morningside College, author ...
523: Disinformation anf the Future of Democracy
May 07, 2021 14:47 - 9 minutes - 8.36 MBMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/disinformation-and-future-democracy. The 2020 election and startling events that followed show that the US is as polarized as ever. Not only is there fundamental disagreement over values and goals, but people can’t seem to agree on the most basic, easily verifiable facts, like who actually won. With so many seemingly living in an alternative reality, how do we continue the business of democracy together? Should we adopt paternalistic policies towa...
461: Radical Markets - Solutions for a Gilded Age?
May 02, 2021 00:00 - 11 minutes - 10.1 MBMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/radical-markets. Many people think that growing inequality, the rise of populism and nativism, and the decay of democratic institutions all have the same cause—the overreach of markets. The solution, they believe, is to limit the market through regulation. But what if rather than shrinking the market, the answer lies in expanding the market? Is it possible that we haven't let markets go far enough? Do our current regulations lead to too many monop...
522: Montaigne and the Art of the Essay
April 25, 2021 21:00 - 10 minutes - 9.41 MBMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/montaigne-and-art-essay. French thinker Michel de Montaigne invented a whole new genre in which to do philosophy: the essay. But in his use of that form, Montaigne repeatedly digresses and contradicts himself. So why did he think the essay was a good medium for philosophy? What impact did Montaigne’s invention have on his own philosophical work, and on the centuries of thought that followed? Are there particular forms of writing that help us live ...
463: The Ethics of Algorithms
April 18, 2021 00:00 - 11 minutes - 10.3 MBMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/morality-algorithms. Recent years have seen the rise of machine learning algorithms surrounding us in our homes and back pockets. They're increasingly used in everything from recommending movies to guiding sentencing in criminal courts, thanks to their being perceived as unbiased and fair. But can algorithms really be objective when they are created by biased human programmers? Are such biased algorithms inherently immoral? And is there a way to r...
462: Does Science Over-reach?
April 04, 2021 00:00 - 10 minutes - 9.9 MBMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/does-science-over-reach. We've all heard the phrase, "You can't argue with science." Appealing to scientific fact as a way to settle a question makes sense given the amazing advancements science has brought us in understanding how the world works. But should we take the accomplishments of science as evidence for scientism—the view that science is the best and only way to acquire genuine knowledge? Does faith in science require that we disregard al...
458: Repugnant Markets – Should Everything Be For Sale?
March 28, 2021 00:00 - 11 minutes - 10.8 MBMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/repugnant-markets. We might ban buying or selling horse meat in the US not for the protection of horses, but because we find it morally repugnant. Yet this moral repugnance is clearly not universal, and on some level may even be arbitrary, given France's attitude toward horse meat. What role, if any, should moral repugnance play in determining the rules of our marketplaces? Even if we want to eliminate the influence of moral repugnance, can we? De...
451: Misogyny and Gender Inequality
March 14, 2021 00:00 - 11 minutes - 10.3 MBMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/misogyny. With the recent #MeToo viral campaign, along with the wave of prominent male figures toppled for being serial sexual harassers or worse, the topic of misogyny has come into sharp focus. But what exactly is misogyny? And how does it differ from sexism? What set of beliefs or attitudes makes someone a misogynist? And why does misogyny persist despite the fact that traditional gender roles are being abandoned more and more? Ken and Debra ex...
459: The Value of Care - Feminism and Ethics
March 07, 2021 00:00 - 11 minutes - 10.5 MBMore at www.philosophytalk.org/shows/value-care. We sometimes think of the domains of ethics and morality as divorced from feeling and emotion. You keep your promises because it maximizes good. But what if care were thought of as the bedrock of morality? While we know that more care work is performed by women, would a care-based approach to ethics be feminist, or merely feminine? What would it look like for us to build our institutions around the goal of promoting care? Debra and Ken take ca...
459: The Value of Care — Feminism and Ethics
March 06, 2021 00:00 - 11 minutes - 10.5 MBMore at www.philosophytalk.org/shows/value-care. We sometimes think of the domains of ethics and morality as divorced from feeling and emotion. You keep your promises because it maximizes good. But what if care were thought of as the bedrock of morality? While we know that more care work is performed by women, would a care-based approach to ethics be feminist, or merely feminine? What would it look like for us to build our institutions around the goal of promoting care? Debra and Ken take ca...
180: John Rawls
February 21, 2021 00:00 - 10 minutes - 9.23 MBMore at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/john-rawls. John Rawls was one of the most influential political philosophers of the twentieth century. In his book "A Theory of Justice" he articulated a concept of justice as fairness, which won many fans among liberals, and provoked important responses from thoughtful libertarians such as Robert Nozick. Ken and John explore Rawls' ideas with one of his students, Joshua Cohen from UC Berkeley (formerly of Stanford University).
280: What Is Love?
February 14, 2021 00:00 - 10 minutes - 9.59 MBMore at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/what-love. It may seem doubtful that philosophers have much to tell us about love (beyond their love of wisdom). Surely it is the poets who have the market cornered when it comes to deep reflection on the nature of love. John and Ken question the notion that love cannot be captured by the light of reason by turning their attention to the philosophy of love with philosopher-poet Troy Jollimore from CSU Chico. Troy is the author of "Love’s Vision," as we...
80: W.E.B. Du Bois
February 06, 2021 00:00 - 8 minutes - 7.91 MBMore at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/web-du-bois. Sociologist, historian, philosopher, editor, writer, and activist, W.E.B. DuBois was one of the most influential intellectuals of the twentieth century. The first African-American Ph.D. from Harvard University, DuBois died in Ghana after having renounced his American citizenship. In between he co-founded the NAACP and wrote "The Souls of Black Folk" (1903) as well as a number of other influential books that had a decisive impact on the dev...
455: Trolling, Bullying, and Flame Wars - Humility and Online Discourse
January 24, 2021 00:00 - 11 minutes - 10.2 MBMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/trolling-bullying-and-flame-wars. Open up any online comments section and you’ll find them: internet trolls, from the mildly inflammatory to the viciously bullying. It seems that the ease of posting online leads many to abandon any semblance of intellectual humility. So can we have intellectual humility on an anonymous forum with little oversight and accountability? Does current online behavior portend the end of humility in the public domain? How...
502: Comforting Conversations (Part 2)
January 10, 2021 00:00 - 13 minutes - 12.8 MBMore at www.philosophytalk.org/shows/comforting-conversations-pt2. In troubling, uncertain times, the arts and humanities are more important than ever. Engaging with works of literature can provide both much needed insight into our current struggles and a sense of perspective in a crisis. In what ways do novels or plays help us come to terms with human suffering? Can fictional narratives about past pandemics shed light on our current situation? And how can storytelling or music help bring us...
501: Comforting Coversations (Part 1)
January 03, 2021 00:00 - 12 minutes - 11.7 MBMore at www.philosophytalk.org/shows/comforting-conversations-pt1. In troubling, uncertain times, the arts and humanities are more important than ever. Engaging with works of literature can provide both much needed insight into our current struggles and a sense of perspective in a crisis. In what ways do novels or plays help us come to terms with human suffering? Can fictional narratives about past pandemics shed light on our current situation? And how can storytelling or music help bring us...
516: The Examined Year – 2020
December 26, 2020 17:28 - 18 minutes - 17.1 MBMore at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/examined-year-2020.