We keep looking for something more... for a reason. Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Pilgrimage is undergoing a revival across Europe. But why are so many non-religious people drawn to spiritual journeys? Author of Ways To Go Beyond Rupert Sheldrake asks why we are attracted to holy places. Rupert Sheldrake is a biologist, author and parapsychology researcher, best known for his hypothesis of morphic resonance. He is a critic of New Atheis...
Jun 08, 2021•28 min•Transcript available on Metacast Can we crack to key to happiness once and for all? Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Most of us think of suffering as a necessary feature of life. But what if that's just a lie we tell ourselves because we can't imagine the alternative? In this interview, David Pearce explores the practical possibilities of biomedically engineering a world of intelligent bliss. David Pearce is an eminent figure within the transhumanist movement, and co-foun...
Jun 01, 2021•21 min•Transcript available on Metacast Is your experience of this episode even real? Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes We are working toward a true account of the universe, and the world we see around us is an accurate picture of reality. Or so most of us believe. At the same time we think we, along with our experience, are a product of evolution. Yet evolution is driven by survival not by truth. Some scientists go further and argue that evolution rules out even the possibility ...
May 25, 2021•41 min•Transcript available on Metacast What even is "expertise"? Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes We turn to experts for guidance in uncertain times, but what happens when the experts disagree? Should we just wait until they figure it out, or disregard evidence and go with our gut? Professor of Philosophy at Stockholm University Anandi Hattiangadi investigates the logical labyrinth of expertise. Anandi Hattiangadi is a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Stockholm, wit...
May 18, 2021•33 min•Transcript available on Metacast Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes If we put barriers up to silence 'unpleasant' ideas, what's to stop the silencing of any discussion? Professional sceptic and bestselling author of 'Giving the Devil his Due' Michael Shermer explores the dangerous possibility of a world without free speech. Michael Shermer is the founder of The Skeptics Society, the editor-in-chief of its magazine 'Skeptic', and a Presidential Fellow at Chapman University, ...
May 11, 2021•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast Is it possible to tell the truth? Or is it time to accept that lying has a central role in all social discourse? Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes On today’s episode The Times journalist David Aaronovitch, author of Freedom In the Age of Alternative Facts Santiago Zabala, and philosophy of the mind specialist Åsa Wikforss lock horns over whether telling the truth still matters at all. There are thousands of big ideas to discover ...
May 04, 2021•41 min•Transcript available on Metacast Could they possibly be connected? Listen to find out! Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Many have argued that Western civilisation was born in Ancient Greece by combing art, democracy, religion and science. Fewer have explored the role that psychedelic experiences played in building these traditions as we know them. On today’s episode we’re joined remotely by New York Times bestseller Brian Muraresku who takes us on a trip back in tim...
Apr 27, 2021•31 min•Transcript available on Metacast Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes A decade ago scientists enabled a monkey to control a robot on the other side of the world with its mind. Now the technique has been extended to enable paraplegics to move robotic arms with their thoughts, and Elon Musk claims to be launching mind control technology this year. Today we’re asking whether this marks the beginning of a new age in which humans control things around them with their mind al...
Apr 20, 2021•41 min•Transcript available on Metacast There are thousands of big ideas to discover at IAI.tv – videos, articles, and course waiting for you to explore. Find out more: https://iai.tv/podcast-offers Today we release the fifth and final episode of Beyond Us, a mini-series made in association with Essentia Foundation , which explores four concepts that define the modern world: knowledge, competition, language and growth. In each of the previous four episodes, series hosts Fred Matser and Bernardo Kastrup were joined by a leading thinker...
Apr 16, 2021•47 min•Transcript available on Metacast Are humans any good at making decisions? Listen to find out! Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Are we motivated by reason? Or are humans evolved to make social and emotional decisions, relying on the value and importance of crowd responses? On today’s episode we’re asking whether the best strategy for survival is emotion or reason. Joining us remotely to discuss rationality is Professor of Psychology and Behavioural Economics at Duke U...
Apr 13, 2021•46 min•Transcript available on Metacast Listen to hear about Daniel Dennett's journey to becoming a philosopher! Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Award winning author Daniel Dennett is one of the best known living philosophers of today. Shooting to notoriety as one of the 'four horsemen' in the New Atheist movement, he has written with acclaim on topics ranging from free will, consciousness and the self. But how does he reconcile being an unbeliever with believing so vehemently ...
Apr 06, 2021•32 min•Transcript available on Metacast Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes The notion that there is no self has won over philosophers and scientists since Hume argued that the self is nothing but a 'bundle of perceptions'. So is our experience of a unified, continuous self merely illusory? And if the self does exist, how should it be understood? Joining us remotely to ask whether the self is an illusion is author of Self and Other Dan Zahavi, Philosophy Professor at the Unive...
Mar 30, 2021•47 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today we bring you the fourth episode of Beyond Us, an IAI mini-series made in association with Essentia Foundation. Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes The ancient concept of growth referred to a function of nature, the development of natural phenomena and their qualities. While in many modern contexts growth simply means 'bigger' on some numerical scale, the word has come to play a key role in almost everything we consider important a...
Mar 26, 2021•45 min•Transcript available on Metacast Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes It is the question that has rocked humanity for millennia, the conundrum that has confounded scientists, philosophers, politicians, artists and everyone in between: which came first, the chicken or the egg? And here we find ourselves, in need of help from the world’s greatest thinkers to settle this issue once and for all. To ask whether we’re looking at life wrong we’re joined remotely by three leading thi...
Mar 23, 2021•46 min•Transcript available on Metacast Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Why do people trust some experts but not others? And how can we improve trust between the public and experts. On today’s episode we’re exploring the philosophical relationship between trust and relativism. To help us we’re joined by one of the world’s leading experts on moral and epistemological relativism, Professor of American Philosophy at University College Dublin, Maria Baghramian. There are thousands ...
Mar 16, 2021•18 min•Transcript available on Metacast Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes When we look back our century will undoubtably be defined by the rise of intelligent machines. But in the future will humans and artificial coexist symbiotically? And is it possible that we'll ever be able to merge with AI? On today’s episode we’re joined remotely by American philosopher and cognitive scientist Susan Schneider who delves into the future of AI-human relations. There are thousands of bi...
Mar 09, 2021•35 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today we bring you the third episode of Beyond Us, an IAI mini-series made in association with Essentia Foundation. Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Language is at once one of the most fulfilling and frustrating of human faculties. It allows us to communicate vital information and to organise communities. But language also has limited use in conveying the feelings and intuitions experienced by individuals. We often take this limitati...
Mar 05, 2021•41 min•Transcript available on Metacast Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes For centuries we have distinguished between our experience and the world, between the subjective and the objective, between consciousness and material reality. Might the very distinction between subject and object, conscious experience and the world, be the mistake? Or could we formulate a new conceptual framework that might enable us to escape the puzzle? To help us discuss the relationship between experie...
Mar 02, 2021•59 min•Transcript available on Metacast Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Is empathy a prerequisite for a successful society? Or is empathy an irrational emotion which appeals to our narrow prejudices? This week we’re asking whether empathy is our best base for morality and we explore the implications of empathy in the modern world. On Today’s episode we’re joined remotely by Oxford professor of Philosophy and Director of the Centre for Subjectivity Research, Dan Zahavi, who expl...
Feb 23, 2021•31 min•Transcript available on Metacast Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes How should we treat time in our lives? What should time mean to us? And can psychedelic experiences allow us to reconfigure our sense of time? On today’s episode we’re joined by philosopher of the mind, metaphysician and associate lecturer at The University of Exeter Dr Peter Sjöstedt-H, who breaks down our relationship to time through the lens of psychedelic experience. There are thousands of big idea...
Feb 16, 2021•34 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today we bring you the second episode of Beyond Us, an all-new series made in association with Essentia Foundation. Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Evolution favours cooperation as well as competition. But to what extent is human competitiveness culture-bound? Is the competitive dynamic environmentally, politically and psychologically sustainable, or excessive, delusional and bound for disaster? Do the values and assumptions that dr...
Feb 12, 2021•40 min•Transcript available on Metacast How much can we possibly know about the universe? And where do the boundaries of scientific knowledge lie? Listen to find out! Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes The more we discover, the more we realise we have yet to learn. On today’s episode we’re discussing the philosophy of science and the limits of what we can know. We’re joined remotely by palaeontologist, evolutionary biologist and senior editor of the scientific journal Nature Henry...
Feb 09, 2021•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes On today’s episode we’re discussing the role of idealism in the world of politics. Whether it's tribal nationalism, radical socialism, or environmental activism, the goals and ideals of politics are once again taking centre stage. Is a return to idealism dangerous or a necessary antidote to a bland politics that has served no one other than the ruling elite? To help us discuss idealism in politics we’re joi...
Feb 02, 2021•57 min•Transcript available on Metacast Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes In Western society, individualism is everywhere – whether it’s being fuelled by capitalism, technology or populist politics, we are being encouraged to think of ourselves more than ever before. But how do other parts of the world understand the self? Chakravarthi Ram-Prasad, FBA is the Distinguished Professor of Comparative Religion and Philosophy at Lancaster University. His research focuses on Indian reli...
Jan 26, 2021•30 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today we bring you the first episode of Beyond Us, an all-new series made in association with Essentia Foundation. Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Few things are more valued by 21st century humans than knowledge. But how is it acquired? Cognitive psychology tells us that we leverage a variety of functions which can be roughly divided into two classes: the 'mental' and the 'feeling' faculties. Our culture increasingly champions knowl...
Jan 22, 2021•35 min•Transcript available on Metacast How should we redress the wrongs done to the LGBT+ community in the past? And is it even possible? Peter Tatchell discusses. Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes The LGBT+ community has won many hard fought battles, but that doesn't make up for the years of suffering caused by prejudice and oppression. On today’s episode we’re joined by Renowned LGBT+ activist Peter Tatchell who outlines a direction to move forward without forgetting our past....
Jan 19, 2021•23 min•Transcript available on Metacast Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Philosophy for Our Times is pleased to announce the upcoming launch of Beyond Us , an all-new podcast series by the IAI, exploring four concepts that define the modern world: knowledge, competition, language and growth. In each episode, humanitarian Fred Matser and philosopher Bernardo Kastrup are joined by a leading thinker with a unique take on one of these fascinating topics. Episode one, released ...
Jan 15, 2021•56 sec•Transcript available on Metacast Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Is the greatest emergency in our current age the absence of emergency itself? And how helpful is freedom in tackling emergencies? On today’s episode we’re discussing the philosophy of crises and how society should respond to emergencies. Santiago Zabala is a philosopher and ICREA Research Philosopher at the Pompeu Fabra University, where he currently teaches contemporary and political philosophy. There are ...
Jan 12, 2021•14 min•Transcript available on Metacast Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes We value the feeling of happiness above all else. But is it time we outgrew this self-centred ideology? On today’s episode we’re discussing happiness and the future of our society. Joining us to share his vision for a post-liberal society is John Milbank, renowned theologian and President of the Centre of Theology and Religion at the University of Nottingham. There are thousands of big ideas to discover at ...
Jan 05, 2021•30 min•Transcript available on Metacast How has language informed the evolution of philosophy? And is there a point where the usefulness of words ends? Our experts discuss. Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes On today’s episode we’re discussing philosophy’s linguistic turn as well as the general relationship between language and philosophy. To help us discuss our descriptions of the world we’re joined remotely by professor of philosophy Jennifer Hornsby, Pulitzer Prize winning poet...
Dec 29, 2020•50 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
