Are we living in a simulation? Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Modern technology has ushered in a new era of augmented reality - one so sophisticated that some argue within a century we will be unable to distinguish the 'real' from the 'virtual'. Yet with increasing concerns that virtual reality is simply a flawed escapism, could we imagine ourselves living meaningful lives inside a virtual world? World-renowned philosopher and cogni...
Aug 16, 2022•26 min•Transcript available on Metacast Is government responsible for people's happiness? Paul Dolan tells us how to reach happiness and how public policy could get involved. Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes From ancient philosophers to modern scientists we have been perplexed by happiness. In this interview, Professor of Behavioural Science at the LSE, Paul Dolan, discusses what happiness is and whether it should affect public policy. He engages with purpose vs happiness and ho...
Aug 09, 2022•20 min•Transcript available on Metacast Should we see nature as a divine source, or will doing so lead to self-annihilation? Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes From Greece’s Gaia to the Hindu Prithvi, many cultures have seen the Earth as a divine being. Christianity and Western culture however removed god from nature deriding such outlooks as 'pagan'. The earth was recast as a resource for humans, to be conquered, settled and tamed. Now it seems the tides may be changing again. Ri...
Aug 03, 2022•43 min•Transcript available on Metacast How our brains lie to us and science follows. Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes With a background in psychiatry, neuroimaging, and philosophy, Iain McGilchrist has a unique perspective on the world, the mind, and everything in between. Here, he discusses his new book, The Matter with Things: Our Brains, Our Delusions, and the Unmaking of the World. Iain McGilchrist is psychiatrist, writer, and former Oxford literary scholar. He is committed...
Jul 26, 2022•20 min•Transcript available on Metacast Is rationality productive or is it a method for manipulation? Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Rationality, once revered, has had a bad press. Increasingly derided as the rhetorical bluster of the educated elite, typically powerful and male. And seen as the prejudiced claim of those who are sure they are right. Yet in its absence public debate becomes ever more rancorous and tribal. Do we need less emotion, more calm, and more rational con...
Jul 19, 2022•42 min•Transcript available on Metacast Should we be scared of AI? Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Joanna Bryson discusses how she became interested in the ways different species use intelligence, how the typical tropes in science fiction misunderstand AI and the problem of anthropomorphism. In this interview, Bryson discusses the most pressing ethical challenges concerning the future of artificial intelligence and whether or not we can stabilize democracy when we have so much ...
Jul 12, 2022•19 min•Transcript available on Metacast Will science ever come on top? Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes In a survey of academic philosophers 85% identified as atheists. In Europe established religion has been in decline for a century; even in the States attendance is falling. Yet globally religion remains a potent force, and predictions of its demise have not materialised. Amongst those who have abandoned established religion new forms of spirituality, such as mindfulness ...
Jul 05, 2022•44 min•Transcript available on Metacast Can you be an atheism 'expert'? And if you are, what do you have to say? Listen to find out. Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes The first decade of the 21st century saw an extraordinary rise in confident atheism. Now the whirlwind has settled, what does the future of belief look like? In this talk philosopher and author of Atheism: A Very Short Introduction, Julian Baggini explores the new landscape of atheism. Julian Baggini is a Brit...
Jun 28, 2022•32 min•Transcript available on Metacast Are scientific metaphors a real description of reality? A discussion between our scientists and philosophers. Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes From string theory to the Big Bang, black holes to dark matter, our big scientific theories are increasingly conveyed through metaphor. Yet from Newton to the latest theories, science is largely founded on mathematics. Could Newton have chosen to call forces 'spirits' and Einstein have called fields...
Jun 21, 2022•45 min•Transcript available on Metacast The case for nihilism, demons of materialism, and jazz?! Join us for a fascinating discussion. Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes On this week’s episode we are joined by Professor of Metaphysical Philosophy at Keele University, James Tartaglia, to discuss the meaning of life and common misconceptions surrounding nihilism. We dive into a fascinating conversation about the role of materialism in our contemporary experience of the world, and Ja...
Jun 14, 2022•16 min•Transcript available on Metacast Should the origins of ideas matter as much as their substance? Our experts discuss. Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes There has always been dispute over which ideas are most significant. But at least there used to be broad agreement about the hallmarks of quality and the great works in each field. Now, from literature to the social sciences, there are claims that previous standards were structures of prejudice and oppression, and calls are ...
Jun 07, 2022•50 min•Transcript available on Metacast Are you ready for a different kind of 'trip'? Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes We have a very special episode for you today, a truly fascinating (and at times even funky) philosophical discussion. From Silicon Valley to the treatment of depression, psychedelics have entered the mainstream. And with them come new political, economic and philosophical horizons. Join us as scientist Rupert Sheldrake and philosopher Peter Sjöstedt-Hughes ...
May 31, 2022•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast Is the brain just a computer? Are AI conscious? Or could they be? Our experts debate. Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes The idea of the brain as a computer is everywhere. So much so we have forgotten it is a model and not the reality. It’s a metaphor that has lead some to believe that in the future they'll be uploaded to the digital ether and thereby achieve immortality. It’s also a metaphor that garners billions of dollars in researc...
May 24, 2022•34 min•Transcript available on Metacast Has science become the philosophical belief of our time? Leading scientists and philosophers discuss. Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes In less than a lifetime, the first half of the twentieth century brought a series of life changing inventions. In combination with the all encompassing new stories of physics, science, once a branch of philosophy, became the philosophical belief of our time. Some claimed philosophy was over. Yet in the last...
May 17, 2022•45 min•Transcript available on Metacast Can science accommodate human subjectivity? Sabine Hossenfelder responds. Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes In this interview, leading physicist and author, Sabine Hossenfelder, discusses the relationship between physics and philosophy. She examines the scientific community’s desire to find a unified theory of everything, and contemplates how science can accommodate human subjectivity. She also considers the role of physics in helping us ta...
May 10, 2022•19 min•Transcript available on Metacast Is our obsession with data healthy or dangerous? Our specialists discuss. Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Look to the science' was the call from politicians and the public alike throughout the pandemic. As if science has a single definitive view, and the data one interpretation. Yet science is full of competing and sometimes contradictory views particularly at the edge of current understanding. And increasingly scientists see themse...
May 03, 2022•43 min•Transcript available on Metacast Does philosophy really have an impact on our daily life? Timothy Williamson explains. Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes In this interview, professor of Logic at the University of Oxford, Timothy Williamson examines how common sense can sometimes not be fully self-consistent and can even lead us into certain logical paradoxes. The philosopher discusses in what ways philosophy is comparable to the natural sciences and how language is ill-equi...
Apr 26, 2022•25 min•Transcript available on Metacast What do memes really mean? Listen to find out! Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Memes are everywhere. But the term was coined only a few decades ago by Richard Dawkins to describe ideas and cultural behaviour that can be passed on from one individual to another. He argued that memes are a stage in evolution, and just as humans are carriers for genes, we are also carriers for memes. We don't so much choose our memes as they choose us. Its c...
Apr 19, 2022•45 min•Transcript available on Metacast All the questions. Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes What exists? Why is there anything at all? Are there realities beyond physics? What is consciousness, personal or cosmic? Robert Lawrence Kuhn, host of the long-running 'Closer to Truth' television series and acclaimed website, has spent over 20 years interviewing the greatest thinkers and exploring the deepest questions. In this talk, he uncovers the common thread running through the mos...
Apr 12, 2022•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast Is our obsession with enhancing ourselves leading to the end of humankind? Luke Robert Mason explains. Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes The transhumanist dream, the merging of humans with machines, may soon be a reality. Elon Musk's NeuraLink is developing quickly, and before long, with the rise of more forms of human biotechnology, we may find that more and more of us are becoming half-human, half-machine. Futures theorist Luke Robert Mas...
Apr 05, 2022•28 min•Transcript available on Metacast Has contemporary culture abandoned the quest for the sublime? Our experts try to find out. Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes From Rembrandt to Rothko, Mozart to Wagner, art and music have the capacity to give us a feeling of the sublime and transcendent wonder. Yet in contemporary culture the sublime is rare and for the most part not even desired. Few would claim that watching the WAP video or Takashi Murakami's art are gateways to the subl...
Mar 29, 2022•45 min•Transcript available on Metacast Is metaphysics back in fashion? Or is philosophy getting increasingly lost? Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes The twentieth century began with a revolutionary new approach to philosophy. The great arguments about the nature of reality and human experience were deemed empty and meaningless. A new philosophical broom, in the form of analytic philosophy, claimed to sweep away vacuous grand theories and replace them with hard logic and analysis...
Mar 22, 2022•42 min•Transcript available on Metacast How does panpsychism clash with fundamental physics? Does it? Can we find a theory that supports science AND philosophy to finally explain consciousness? Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes In this episode Philip Goff responds to recent critiques of panpsychism by theoretical physicists Sean Carroll and Sabine Hossenfelder, and then explores some implications for the science of consciousness. Philip Goff is a philosopher of consciousness at D...
Mar 15, 2022•26 min•Transcript available on Metacast How do we make decisions regarding our children in an impossibly complicated digital world? Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Technology is changing parenthood. From children raised by smartphones, to making choices about gene-editing and enhancement, Melanie Challenger asks what it means to be a parent in a technological age. Melanie Challenger is a researcher on the history of humanity and the natural world, and on environmental philosoph...
Mar 08, 2022•25 min•Transcript available on Metacast Is the abandonment of ritual a contemporary mistake? Listen to what our experts have to say. Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes From greetings and introductions, to love and relationships, church services and dances, formality and ritual were once a central part of our lives. But form and ritual have been in retreat for more than a century. Many now see formality as outdated, an unnecessary sign of deference, and welcome a less constrained, ...
Mar 01, 2022•39 min•Transcript available on Metacast How wrong was Descartes exactly? Listen to find out! Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Professor of Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience Anil Seth explores the ultimate mystery of our consciousness experience. In this interview, Seth discusses the misconceptions surrounding the difference between consciousness and intelligence, the link between consciousness and self-consciousness and why consciousness can be seen as similar to a contro...
Feb 22, 2022•16 min•Transcript available on Metacast Can morality lead society down dangerous roads? Listen to how our speakers deconstruct our idea of right and wrong. Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Many would argue that for at least a century we have been moving away from the moral certainties of traditional Christianity. Yet, a new form of moral certainty is now reappearing, with much of our culture seemingly gripped by a focus on virtue and a tightly policed sense of right and wrong. S...
Feb 15, 2022•37 min•Transcript available on Metacast Free will? Nah... Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Do we have free will? Are we exercising our agency or following our predetermined destiny? How would we structure our society if we believed that individuals are not responsible for their actions? Or maybe we already do? In this interview analytic philosopher Galen Strawson discusses free will, ultimate moral responsibility and the thin veneer of our own rationality. Strawson probes at how...
Feb 08, 2022•23 min•Transcript available on Metacast Does life have meaning or is it time to embrace nihilism? Listen to find out! Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes Humans have always sought meaning beyond themselves in stories about the gods and the “beyond”. Yet today contemporary culture and thought has left many alone with only human, and contradictory, perspectives on the universe. In the absence of something beyond ourselves some would argue we have also lost meaning and purpose. Do we ...
Feb 01, 2022•44 min•Transcript available on Metacast Can AI really help us reach our human potential? How reliant should we be on technology? Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimes We all know that the world of AI is rapidly changing. What is less obvious are the ways in which we change with it. In this talk, complex systems expert and pioneer of the world’s first empathic technology, Fotini Markopoulou, explores how we co-evolve with our technologies, and what this means as we build a new world o...
Jan 25, 2022•23 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
