Hello good sir! If you do not mind me saying, you look as if you’re in limbo. Lost? It might please you to know that most of the tourists, and the locals for that matter, don’t know where they’re heading in these parts. If I could be so bold as to make an assessment, I would take you for the sophisticated type but with a little bit of an edge? Your smile says it all. Nothing wrong with indulging in the simple things in life every now and then. Do you see that bar over there? Yes, the one with th...
Apr 28, 2019•36 min
Believe it or not, humans have been debating questions concerning God for as long as couples have been discussing what they fancy for dinner. Does God exist? Is God all-power, all-knowing and all-loving? Shall we try that new Mexican restaurant on Bold Street? In this episode, we’re going to be discussing the existence of God in relation to the problem of evil, more specifically, on what has come to be known as ‘the evil-god challenge’. Roughly stated, our question is as follows: why is belief i...
Apr 21, 2019•50 min
Emily Thomas is an Assistant Professor in Philosophy at Durham University; whose work focuses primarily on the history of metaphysics and the metaphysics of space and time. Thomas’ work in these areas has had a great impact, most notably, through her 2018 books Absolute Time: Rifts in Early Modern British Metaphysics and Early Modern Women on Metaphysics. In this episode, we’ll be discussing Emily Thomas’ forthcoming work on The Idealism and Pantheism of May Sinclair . Born in 1863, May Sinclair...
Apr 14, 2019•41 min
Emily Thomas is an Assistant Professor in Philosophy at Durham University; whose work focuses primarily on the history of metaphysics and the metaphysics of space and time. Thomas’ work in these areas has had a great impact, most notably, through her 2018 books Absolute Time: Rifts in Early Modern British Metaphysics and Early Modern Women on Metaphysics. In this episode, we’ll be discussing Emily Thomas’ forthcoming work on The Idealism and Pantheism of May Sinclair . Born in 1863, May Sinclair...
Apr 07, 2019•46 min
Specialising in philosophy of mind, Sam Coleman is a reader in philosophy at the University of Hertfordshire. Coleman’s main work centres around questions concerning consciousness, predominantly, on what has come to be known as ‘the hard problem of consciousness’. To paraphrase Colin McGinn, the problem can be summarised as follows: how does soggy grey matter give rise to vivid technicolour experience? In this episode, we’re going to be focusing on Coleman’s views concerning ‘Personhood, Conscio...
Mar 31, 2019•36 min
Specialising in philosophy of mind, Sam Coleman is a reader in philosophy at the University of Hertfordshire. Coleman’s main work centres around questions concerning consciousness, predominantly, on what has come to be known as ‘the hard problem of consciousness’. To paraphrase Colin McGinn, the problem can be summarised as follows: how does soggy grey matter give rise to vivid technicolour experience? In this episode, we’re going to be focusing on Coleman’s views concerning ‘Personhood, Conscio...
Mar 24, 2019•43 min
Rutger Bregman is a historian and author, best known for his bestselling book, Utopia for Realists: and how we can get there . Arguing for new utopian ideas such as a fifteen-hour work week and universal basic income, Utopia for Realists has been translated into over 30 different languages, making headlines and sparking movements across the world. Despite the fact we’ve never had it better, says Bregman, here in the Land of Plenty, we lack the desire and vision to improve society. The crisis of ...
Mar 17, 2019•35 min
Rutger Bregman is a historian and author, best known for his bestselling book, Utopia for Realists: and how we can get there . Arguing for new utopian ideas such as a fifteen-hour work week and universal basic income, Utopia for Realists has been translated into over 30 different languages, making headlines and sparking movements across the world. Despite the fact we’ve never had it better, says Bregman, here in the Land of Plenty, we lack the desire and vision to improve society. The crisis of ...
Mar 10, 2019•51 min
Published in 1915, Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis is a gruelling and ironic depiction of the pressures imposed by family and profession in the Twentieth Century. The novella centres around travelling salesman Gregor Samsa who, one morning, finds himself transformed into an insect. What follows, depending on the interpretation, is a reflection of how modern life provides a misunderstanding of predicament and a lack of empathy towards those who have been beaten down by an unforgiving capitalist s...
Mar 03, 2019•36 min
Published in 1915, Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis is a gruelling and ironic depiction of the pressures imposed by family and profession in the Twentieth Century. The novella centres around travelling salesman Gregor Samsa who, one morning, finds himself transformed into an insect. What follows, depending on the interpretation, is a reflection of how modern life provides a misunderstanding of predicament and a lack of empathy towards those who have been beaten down by an unforgiving capitalist s...
Feb 24, 2019•46 min
Published in 1915, Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis is a gruelling and ironic depiction of the pressures imposed by family and profession in the Twentieth Century. The novella centres around travelling salesman Gregor Samsa who, one morning, finds himself transformed into an insect. What follows, depending on the interpretation, is a reflection of how modern life provides a misunderstanding of predicament and a lack of empathy towards those who have been beaten down by an unforgiving capitalist s...
Feb 17, 2019•49 min
Published in 1915, Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis is a gruelling and ironic depiction of the pressures imposed by family and profession in the Twentieth Century. The novella centres around traveling salesman Gregor Samsa who, one morning, finds himself transformed into an insect. What follows, depending on the interpretation, is a reflection of how modern life provides a misunderstanding of predicament and a lack of empathy towards those who have been beaten down by an unforgiving capitalist sy...
Feb 10, 2019•37 min
Currently Visiting Professor of Science and Religion at Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York, Robert Wright’s work in journalism, psychology and philosophy has been deeply influential. Robert is the author of many best-selling books including ‘ The Moral Animal: Why We Are the Way We Are: The New Science of Evolutionary Psychology ’ , ‘ Nonzero: The Logic of Human Destiny ’ , ‘ The Evolution of God ’ , and most recently, ‘ Why Buddhism is True: The Science and Philosophy of Meditat...
Feb 03, 2019•48 min
Currently Visiting Professor of Science and Religion at Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York, Robert Wright’s work in journalism, psychology and philosophy has been deeply influential. Robert is the author of many best-selling books including ‘ The Moral Animal: Why We Are the Way We Are: The New Science of Evolutionary Psychology ’ , ‘ Nonzero: The Logic of Human Destiny ’ , ‘ The Evolution of God ’ , and most recently, ‘ Why Buddhism is True: The Science and Philosophy of Meditat...
Jan 27, 2019•49 min
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900), a man who suffered greatly from bodily ills, considered himself somewhat of a physician. Yet, his remedies were not aimed towards physical conditions of the body, but rather the personal and societal ills of his time. Nietzsche, often poetically and rhetorically, dissected what he perceived to be the root of the suffering or apathy many of his contemporaries were facing. His diagnosis focussed primarily on the human tendency to deny life. Life denying, for Nietzs...
Jan 20, 2019•54 min
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900), a man who suffered greatly from bodily ills, considered himself somewhat of a physician. Yet, his remedies were not aimed towards physical conditions of the body, but rather the personal and societal ills of his time. Nietzsche, often poetically and rhetorically, dissected what he perceived to be the root of the suffering or apathy many of his contemporaries were facing. His diagnosis focussed primarily on the human tendency to deny life. Life denying, for Nietzs...
Jan 13, 2019•44 min
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900), a man who suffered greatly from bodily ills, considered himself somewhat of a physician. Yet, his remedies were not aimed towards physical conditions of the body, but rather the personal and societal ills of his time. Nietzsche, often poetically and rhetorically, dissected what he perceived to be the root of the suffering or apathy many of his contemporaries were facing. His diagnosis focussed primarily on the human tendency to deny life. Life denying, for Nietzs...
Jan 06, 2019•1 hr 2 min
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900), a man who suffered greatly from bodily ills, considered himself somewhat of a physician. Yet, his remedies were not aimed towards physical conditions of the body, but rather the personal and societal ills of his time. Nietzsche, often poetically and rhetorically, dissected what he perceived to be the root of the suffering or apathy many of his contemporaries were facing. His diagnosis focussed primarily on the human tendency to deny life. Life denying, for Nietzs...
Dec 30, 2018•1 hr 5 min
Dr Skye Cleary is a philosopher and author, best known for her work in the field of existentialism. As well as teaching at Columbia, Barnard College and the City College of New York, Skye is also the associate director of the Center for New Narratives in Philosophy at Columbia University. Skye’s contribution to the world of public philosophy has been extensive, writing for a wealth of publications, including The Paris Review , TED-Ed , the Los Angeles Review of Books , Aeon , Business Insider , ...
Dec 23, 2018•44 min
Dr Skye Cleary is a philosopher and author, best known for her work in the field of existentialism. As well as teaching at Columbia, Barnard College and the City College of New York, Skye is also the associate director of the Center for New Narratives in Philosophy at Columbia University. Skye’s contribution to the world of public philosophy has been extensive, writing for a wealth of publications, including The Paris Review , TED-Ed , the Los Angeles Review of Books , Aeon , Business Insider , ...
Dec 16, 2018•59 min
Simone de Beauvoir was a pioneer for the second-wave feminist movement and one of the most famous philosophers to have lived. Strikingly, Beauvoir did not label herself as a philosopher, since she never attempted to provide an original treatise which aimed to fully encapsulate the truth of the world or the human condition. Instead, she considered herself as a writer, commentator and novelist. Beauvoir’s identification should not, however, discredit her as a philosopher. Jean-Paul Sartre’s work o...
Dec 09, 2018•51 min
Simone de Beauvoir was a pioneer for the second-wave feminist movement and one of the most famous philosophers to have lived. Strikingly, Beauvoir did not label herself as a philosopher, since she never attempted to provide an original treatise which aimed to fully encapsulate the truth of the world or the human condition. Instead, she considered herself as a writer, commentator and novelist. Beauvoir’s identification should not, however, discredit her as a philosopher. Jean-Paul Sartre’s work o...
Dec 02, 2018•58 min
Simone de Beauvoir was a pioneer for the second-wave feminist movement and one of the most famous philosophers to have lived. Strikingly, Beauvoir did not label herself as a philosopher, since she never attempted to provide an original treatise which aimed to fully encapsulate the truth of the world or the human condition. Instead, she considered herself as a writer, commentator and novelist. Beauvoir’s identification should not, however, discredit her as a philosopher. Jean-Paul Sartre’s work o...
Nov 25, 2018•1 hr 3 min
Simone de Beauvoir was a pioneer for the second-wave feminist movement and one of the most famous philosophers to have lived. Strikingly, Beauvoir did not label herself as a philosopher, since she never attempted to provide an original treatise which aimed to fully encapsulate the truth of the world or the human condition. Instead, she considered herself as a writer, commentator and novelist. Beauvoir’s identification should not, however, discredit her as a philosopher. Jean-Paul Sartre’s work o...
Nov 18, 2018•1 hr 2 min
Rachael Wiseman is a lecturer of philosophy at the University of Liverpool and previously an Addison Wheeler Research Fellow at Durham University. She, and her colleague Dr Clare MacCumhaill, are co-leaders on the British Academy funded project, In Parenthesis , which explores the work and friendship of the philosophical wartime quartet: Mary Midgley, Elizabeth Anscombe, Philippa Foot, and Iris Murdoch. Dr Wiseman, along with her colleague Professor Amber Carpenter, are also co-leaders of the In...
Nov 11, 2018•45 min
Rachael Wiseman is a lecturer of philosophy at the University of Liverpool and previously an Addison Wheeler Research Fellow at Durham University. She, and her colleague Dr Clare MacCumhaill, are co-leaders on the British Academy funded project, In Parenthesis , which explores the work and friendship of the philosophical wartime quartet: Mary Midgley, Elizabeth Anscombe, Philippa Foot, and Iris Murdoch. Dr Wiseman, along with her colleague Professor Amber Carpenter, are also co-leaders of the In...
Nov 04, 2018•54 min
Corey Mohler is a software engineer from Portland, Oregon, USA. With no formal education in philosophy, it might come as a surprise that Corey is the author of the incredibly popular philosophy webcomic, Existential Comics . Founded in December 2013, Existential Comics describes itself as “a philosophy webcomic about the inevitable anguish of living a brief life in an absurd world. Also jokes.” The comic receives well over one million views per month, making it one of the most popular philosophy...
Oct 28, 2018•39 min
Corey Mohler is a software engineer from Portland, Oregon, USA. With no formal education in philosophy, it might come as a surprise that Corey is the author of the incredibly popular philosophy webcomic, Existential Comics. Founded in December 2013, Existential Comics describes itself as “a philosophy webcomic about the inevitable anguish of living a brief life in an absurd world. Also jokes.” The comic receives well over one million views per month, making it one of the most popular philosophy ...
Oct 21, 2018•46 min
Professor Rebecca Newberger Goldstein is one of the most influential thinkers in the world of public philosophy. Amongst many other philosophical texts, Goldstein is the author of The Mind-Body Problem , Betraying Spinoza: The Renegade Jew Who Gave Us Modernity , 36 Arguments for the Existence of God: A Work of Fiction and Plato at the Googleplex: Why Philosophy Won’t Go Away . For many, Goldstein’s talent for bringing philosophy to life through her wit and beautiful storytelling is unapparelled...
Oct 14, 2018•47 min
Welcome to 'Episode 48 (Part I)', where we'll be talking to Rebecca Newberger Goldstein about the nature and purpose of philosophy. Professor Rebecca Newberger Goldstein is one of the most influential thinkers in the world of public philosophy. Amongst many other philosophical texts, Goldstein is the author of The Mind-Body Problem , Betraying Spinoza: The Renegade Jew Who Gave Us Modernity , 36 Arguments for the Existence of God: A Work of Fiction and Plato at the Googleplex: Why Philosophy Won...
Oct 07, 2018•59 min
