Forum for Philosophy: Recent Episodes
Forum for Philosophy
David Edmonds, Maria Carla Galavotti, and Cheryl Misak discuss the life and work of Moritz Schlick, the informal leader of the Vienna Circle murdered in 1936
David Edmonds, Maria Carla Galavotti, and Cheryl Misak discuss the life and work of Moritz Schlick, the informal leader of the Vienna Circle murdered in 1936
C Thi Nguyen, Or Rosenboim, and Ahmed Sinno explore the complex history, philosophy, and politics of food
Monica Vieira, Rachel Muers, and Naomi Waltham-Smith offer perspectives on silence from philosophy, religion, and political thought
Kathryn Belle, Skye Cleary, and Kate Kirkpatrick on the life, legacy, and literature of Simone de Beauvoir
Alexandra Georgakopoulou, Daniel Miller, and Rebecca Roache on what philosophy, linguistics, and anthropology tell us about how we communicate today
Klara Anna Capova, Neil McDonnell, and Kelly Smith discuss the philosophy, ethics, and anthropology of space travel
Adam Etinson, Yoriko Otomo, and Lyndsey Stonebridge discuss the advantages and limitations of the human rights model
Michael Beaney, Siobhan Chapman, and Peter West discuss Stebbing, a pioneer of analytic philosophy who applied her technical expertise to pressing social issues
Molly Mathieson, Alexander Mazonowicz, and Hanna Pickard explore the relationship between addiction, recovery, identity, and philosophy
In this episode, we talk to Lucy about self-knowledge, sheepdogs, and pinhole photography…
Adrian Alsmith, Tim Lewens, and Lauren Slater trace the development of our modern ideas about the mind
Anita L Allen, Rebecca Buxton, and Désirée Lim discuss The Philosopher Queens and the history of women in philosophy
Maria Balaska, Jason Mohaghegh, and Adam Roberts draw on philosophy, psychoanalysis, and art to re-assess fantasy
In this episode, Kristin Andrews, Sarah Brosnan, and Susana Monsó explore whether non-human animals can be moral
In this episode, Robert Newman, Kieran Setiya and Zoe Walker explore what's philosophically interesting about comedy
In this episode, Fiona Hughes and Adrian Moore discuss Alan Montefiore’s latest book, Philosophy and the Human Paradox
In this episode, Philip Ball, Vanessa Seifert, and Jessica Wilson assess the prospects for a general theory of everything
Sara Uckelman, Justin Vlasits and Audrey Yap on the history of logic, from Aristotle and medieval thought to its role in the so-called culture wars
Julia Ng, Jonathan Rée, and Justin E H Smith explore more and less familiar histories of philosophy
Ödül Bozkurt, Brian O’Connor, and Judy Wajcman ask whether we work too much, and if it's making us bad citizens and unhappy humans
David Bather Woods, Serene Khader, Mark Neocleous and David Westley trace the philosophical traditions of resilience and explore its modern forms.
The Philosophers’ Book Club is joined by Thomas Karshan and Olga Sobolev to discuss Tolstoy's The Death of Ivan Ilyich.
COVID-19 has transformed our cities and our homes. Katie Beswick, Julia King, and Antoine Picon discuss planning for future public and private spaces.
What’s the value of travel? Why is it politicized? Colin Clark, Nick Hayes and Emily Thomas on the future of travel in the twenty-first century.
Quassim Cassam, Lisa Bortolotti, and Cailin O’Connor consider the world's misinformation problem, its causes, and some potential solutions.
More than simply an idea, but not a material object either, Steven French asks what kind of thing a scientific theory is
Mehreen Chida-Razvi, Ben Quash, and Lieke Wijnia discuss how traditions of religious art differ and what role art plays in religion today
James Burton, Lewis Powell, and Lisa Walters explore philosophy and science fiction's shared history, putting the ‘phi’ back into ‘sci-fi’.
Celebrating the thought of Mary Midgley, whose writing ranges across animal ethics, religion, and science, connecting philosophical thought to lived experience.
Artist Adrian Holme and philosopher Milena Ivanova discuss the nature of beauty and the relationship between art and science.
What role does empathy play in our social, moral, and political life? What are its limits? Laura Cull Ó Maoilearca, Nadine El-Enany and Danielle Sands discuss.
Ian Cross, Diana Omigie, and Barry Smith explore the phenomenon and evolution of music. How deep does music go in human history? Is the ability to hear music uniquely human?
Katherine Furman, Rohin Francis, and Heidi Larson discuss the causes of and cures for distrust in medical expertise.
The Philosophers’ Book Club is joined by Hannah Marije Altorf, Lucy Bolton, and Mara-Daria Cojocaru to discuss Iris Murdoch’s Under the Net.
Ammar Azzouz, Elizabeth F. Cohen, and Matthew Soteriou discuss the politics and philosophy of time
We talk to Brian Glenney about perception, illusion and (literally) seeing the world through the eyes of another being…
Katherine Furman talks about AIDS denialism, expertise, and growing up in South Africa…
Richard Ashcroft discusses his recent work on utopias, his love of trains, and 'the other Richard Ashcroft'…
Steven French discusses his current interest in phenomenological approaches to quantum mechanics, and his early forays into art-rock journalism
Shahidha Bari talks to Jonathan Birch and Clare Moriarty about what's been going on at the Forum
Jonathan Safran Foer discusses themes from Eating Animals, his exhaustively argued account of one man's decade-long struggle with vegetarianism.
Are humans exceptional among living beings? How should we understand our relationship with the natural world? Jennifer Gabrys and Simon James discuss.
In this episode, John Ó Maoilearca, Undine Sellbach, and Lynn Turner discuss the role animals play in our understanding of issues as wide as ethics, art, friendship, and technology.
What should we do when cultural or religious traditions appear to conflict with current ideas about animal welfare? In a world where animal rights are often used as a cover for racism, David Grumett, Angie Pepper, and Varun Uberoi discuss how to advocate for animals without reinstating cultural imperialism.
When does conservation become 'green xenophobia'? Fred Pearce, Chris Thomas, and Emma Townshend discuss theoretical and practical responses to non-native species.
Anat Pick, Mark Post and Adam Shriver discuss the science, ethics and meaning of cultured (or lab-grown) meat.
In this episode, philosopher Elizabeth Anderson and Runnymede Trust Director Omar Khan discuss affirmative action. What is it? Why is it so controversial?
Are we more or less prejudiced than at other points in history? And is prejudice always wrong, or even avoidable? If it is avoidable, how can this be achieved? Marco Cinnirella, Katharine Jenkins, Joe Mulhall, and Amir Saeed discuss.
Michael Burns, Madhu Krishnan and John Narayan explore what Fanon's work can teach us about the contemporary world.
In this episode, Kwame Anthony Appiah, Priyamvada Gopal, and Nasar Meer consider what we understand by race, and the relationships between race, inequality, and prejudice.
Are some types of political violence more rational, ethical, or justifiable than others? Maeve Cooke and Kimberley Hutchings discuss.
Some people and events are remembered by communities, others forgotten. Who and what ought to be remembered? Should some memorials be removed? And who should decide? Michelle Codrington-Rogers, Margaret O'Callaghan, and Rahul Rao explore these questions and more.
Christopher Bennett, Kimberley Brownlee, and Andrew Neilson discuss the arguments against the use of imprisonment as a dominant form of punishment. Why do they so often fall on deaf ears?
Should the state be allowed indefinitely detain people who have committed no crime? What does detention tell us about the ethics of immigration control? In this episode, Mishka, Mary Bosworth, and Matthew Gibney take a closer look at immigration detention.
Some people crossing borders are called refugees while others are not. But who is a refugee? What precisely is the relationship between migration and seeking refuge? Can we justify the distinction between refugees, migrants, and displaced people? Ahmad Al-Rashid, Phillip Cole, and Elspeth Guild discuss whether current legal definitions are need of modification, and if so, what should be altered and why.
John Breuilly and Cara Nine on what gives a territory the right to become an independent country, and under what conditions can or should a state prevent it from doing so.
In this episode, Serena Ferente, Carmen Pavel and David Runciman explore 'sovereignty' and ask whether it is still a useful concept in the twenty-first century.
Most would agree that we have a right to leave our country of origin. But since this usually means arriving in another, do we also have a right to immigrate? Chris Bertram, Emily Dugan, Matthew Gibney, and Madeleine Sumption discuss these and related questions.
In this episode, John Burnside, Barbara Taylor, and James Warren explore the idea of loneliness and solitude, in philosophy, art and politics, as well as in our own lives.
Stephen Cave and John Gray ponder immortality. Might science provide the route to everlasting life? Should we even want it to? And is the will to live forever a blessing or a curse?
What is the future for feminism? How does feminism interact with concerns about other forms of oppression, such as those based on race and class?
What makes a life good? Is the good life a happy life? We address the meaning and significance of the ‘good life’ today.
Marina Benjamin, Russell Foster and Simon Morgan discuss the science, literature and philosophy of sleep.
What is the self? Should we turn to philosophy, psychology, or science in order to better understand it? Does the self even exist?
Sacha Golob/ Robert Montgomery/ Stephanie Schwartz Listen to the recording here or on YouTube What is protest art? What are its limits and what are its possibilities? Might there be a unique role for art in protest or does the political statement diminish the art? And once a piece of art becomes popular … Continued
Louise Ellison, Gloria Origgi, and Stephen Vullo discuss whether the principle of innocent until proven guilty can be reconciled with believing the victims of sexual offences
Eimear McBride and Kaye Mitchell discuss what literature and philosophy can tell us about the self
In this episode, we probe the philosophical underpinnings of grammar and how it functions in communication, understanding and humour.
Political discussion often turns ugly. John Crace, Catarina Dutilh Novaes, William Outhwaite, and Jo Phillips explore whether spin and negative campaigning are an unavoidable, even essential, feature of political life.
In this episode, Emma Byrne, John Gallagher and Rebecca Roache navigate the deeper issues around swearing, slurring, and slander.
Fay Dowker, Eleanor Knox, and Simon Saunders discuss the strange consequences of the ‘many-worlds interpretation’ of quantum mechanics and why it's so controversial.
Eleanor Knox, Bryan Roberts, and Mairi Sakellariadou discuss why is it that abstract pieces of mathematics, like imaginary numbers, often later turn out to be surprisingly effective in describing the natural world
How seriously should we take philosophical worries about mathematics? And should mathematical results ever force our philosophical hands? Nicholas Bingham, Tim Button, Mary Leng, and Adam Ostaszewski on the trouble with numbers.
Paul Glendinning and Charlotte Werndl discuss the insights gained from chaos research about unpredictability, as well as the evolution of mathematical ideas.
Adam Roberts, Bryan Roberts, and Emily Thomas discuss time travel, and how thinking and writing about it has changed science and philosophy.
Stephen Baxter, Amelie Saintonge, and Karim Thébault discuss the science, philosophy, and science fiction of black holes
are we more or less prejudiced than at other points in our history? And is prejudice always wrong, or even avoidable? If it is avoidable, how can this be achieved? We put these questions to Marco Cinnirella, Katharine Jenkins, Joe Mulhall, and Amir Saeed.
Ulrika Carlsson, Stephen Grosz, and Erin Plunkett explore responses to unrequited love in philosophy, psychoanalysis and art. Should we mourn or celebrate it? What can it teach us about ourselves?
Shame is often depicted as playing only a negative role, but might it have have an important, positive role, for individuals and societies? Phil Hutchinson, Vasudevi Reddy, and Jonathan Webber on the nature and development of shame.
Why do we tend to judge hypocrites more harshly than those whose actions, however bad, appear consistent with their beliefs? Joanna Burch-Brown, Jussi Suikkanen, and Demetris Tillyris discuss whether hypocrisy is a moral dead-end or a step on the path to better behaviour.
Is guilt one emotion or many? What is the relationship between different kinds of guilt? Robert Eaglestone and Edward Harcourt on guilt.
Aristotle may be well known, but is he still relevant? Almost two and a half millennia on, what can he tell us about modern life? Joachim Aufderheide, Sophie Grace Chappell, and Sophia Connell on contemporary lessons from Aristotle.
Ian McBride, Katherine O'Donnell, and Tom Stoneham explore the Irish Enlightenment and its turbulent politics. Is something distinctively Irish about this group of thinkers?
Sarah Bakewell, Andy Martin, and Stella Sandford on the allure of existentialism. How can it be, at once, avidly consumed by modern audiences and unapologetically esoteric?
Tim Lewens/ David Papineau Listen to the podcast here Darwin was primarily a biologist rather than a philosopher, but his work has had huge significance for how philosophers think about many of philosophy’s central problems. For example, to what extent is Darwinian thinking important for developing a satisfactory account of human nature? Tim … Continued
Alexander Douglas/ Peter Millican/ Kirsten Walsh Listen to the podcast here or on YouTube ‘Reason’ and ‘knowledge’, and the relationship between them, were major themes in Enlightenment philosophy, and drew the attention of some of the most respected philosophers of the time, including Decartes, Leibniz, and Spinoza, often referred to as the rationalists, … Continued
Matthew Festenstein/ Clara Fischer/ Paniel Reyes Cardenas Listen to the recording here or on YouTube What if instead of worrying about truth as a fundamental, objective notion, we just focused on what works? What if we just believed in what is practical or beneficial to us to believe? Pragmatism is the great American … Continued
Danielle Sands/ Anatasia Scrutton/ Tom Stern Listen to the recording here The ‘most depressing lesson’ of suffering, Slavoj Žižek writes, is that ‘there is nothing to be learned from it’. Is Žižek’s bleak view convincing, or is there evidence to suggest that suffering can educate or even improve us? If so, do some types of physical … Continued
Victoria Dutchman-Smith/ Emmy Eklundh/ Matthew Ratcliffe Listen to the recording here or on YouTube At the intersection of the personal and the political, we explore the relationship between mental health and economics, politics, and society at large. Is it even possible to distinguish between mental illness that derives from an individual’s physiology or childhood experience and … Continued
Lisa Conlan/ Jean Khalfa/ Stella Sandford/ Alistair Stewart Listen to the recording here or on YouTube Mental disorders are widely held to have a chemical basis best treated with medication, and contemporary psychiatry is more closely allied with the neuro- and behavioural sciences than with philosophy. So what, if anything, does philosophy have … Continued
Rachel Cooper/ Eileen Munro/ Emily Simonoff Listen to the recording here The classification, identification, and treatment of mental illnesses in children raises particular challenges. For example, what are the appropriate criteria for diagnosing children with a mental disorder? How can we avoid the risk of stigmatisation that some children and their families experience? … Continued
Beverley Clack / Molly Macdonald / John Skorupski Listen here or on YouTube There is a rich tradition of claiming therapeutic powers for philosophy, but if philosophy is the love of wisdom, is ignorance bliss? Is philosophy only about sharp arguments and subtle distinctions, or can it help us find better ways to … Continued
Matthew Broome/ Bonnie Evans/ Tim Thornton Listen to the recording here How should we think of mental illness? Is the classification and treatment of mental illness related to broader societal issues, or can mental disorders be reduced solely to neurobiological disorders? Can the study of mental illness can teach us something about ‘normal’ cognition? And … Continued
Christine Battersby/ Christopher Janaway/ Christopher Ryan Listen here or on YouTube Schopenhauer’s work prefigured important developments in philosophy, psychology, and political thought. On the two-hundredth anniversary of the publication of his The World as Will and Representation, we examine the life and work of Arthur Schopenhauer. How can we better understand his relationship with Eastern … Continued
Liam Kofi Bright/ Brian Kelly/ Meera Sabaratnam Listen to the recording here or on YouTube W. E. B. Du Bois is usually remembered as a sociologist and civil rights campaigner, and his analysis of race and racism continues to shape the way social scientists think about these issues today. But a genuine polymath, … Continued