Philosophy Bites
Episodes
Tim Bayne on the Unity of Consicousness
11 Nov 2012
Contributed by Lukas
Is conscious experience unified? A tricky question. Philosopher of mind Tim Bayne investigates it in conversation with Nigel Warburton for this epi...
Liane Young on Mind and Morality
27 Oct 2012
Contributed by Lukas
An important aspect of understanding morality is accurate description of what happens when people make moral judgments. In this episode of the Philoso...
Gary Francione on Animal Abolitionism
13 Oct 2012
Contributed by Lukas
How should we treat animals? Jeremy Bentham argued that we should weigh animal suffering in our moral decision making, and Peter Singer's concept of s...
Richard Sorabji on Mahatma Gandhi as Philosopher
28 Sep 2012
Contributed by Lukas
Richard Sorabji discusses Mahatma Gandhi's philosophy of non-violence in this the 200th episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast. Philosophy Bites is m...
Tim Crane on Non-Existence
15 Sep 2012
Contributed by Lukas
How can we talk about things that don't exist? Tim Crane explores this question in conversation with Nigel Warburton in this episode of the Philosophy...
Michael Tye on Pain
31 Aug 2012
Contributed by Lukas
Consciousness of pain may seem straightforward, but as Michael Tye shows, in conversation with Nigel Warburton, a number of philosophical questions ar...
Daniel Dennett on Free Will Worth Wanting
18 Aug 2012
Contributed by Lukas
What is free will and why should we care about it? Daniel C. Dennett addresses these questions in a wide-ranging Philosophy Bites interview with Nigel...
Patricia Churchland on What Neuroscience Can Teach Us About Morality (originally on Bioethics Bites)
03 Aug 2012
Contributed by Lukas
Can science give us any insight into morality? In this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast, originally released on Bioethics Bites, neurophilosoph...
Rae Langton on Hate Speech
28 Jul 2012
Contributed by Lukas
Is it true that words can't harm you? What about hate speech? In the US the First Amendment protects a wide range of free expression, far wider than ...
Molly Crockett on Brain Chemistry and Moral Decision-Making (originally on Bioethics Bites)
22 Jul 2012
Contributed by Lukas
Can moral decision-making be affected by chemical means? And if so, should we use drugs for this purpose? Molly Crockett's research in this area is th...
Huw Price on Backward Causation
15 Jul 2012
Contributed by Lukas
Effects can't precede their causes, can they? The direction of causation is forwards not backwards. But this common belief doesn't mesh with every asp...
Hanna Pickard on Responsibility and Personality Disorder (originally on Bioethics Bites)
07 Jul 2012
Contributed by Lukas
Does a diagnosis of personality disorder exempt an individual from moral responsibility? Hanna Pickard discusses this question with Nigel Warburton in...
Jonathan Dancy on Moral Particularism
29 Jun 2012
Contributed by Lukas
Is morality a matter of applying general principles? Jonathan Dancy, a moral particularist, thinks not. In this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcas...
Tim Lewens on Selling Organs (originally on Bioethics Bites)
22 Jun 2012
Contributed by Lukas
Can it ever be acceptable to sell human body parts. Tim Lewens discusses this increasingly pertinent moral question with Nigel Warburton. This episode...
John Tomasi on Free Market Fairness
16 Jun 2012
Contributed by Lukas
Is free market fairness an oxymoron? John Tomasi, author of Free Market Fairness, argues that economic freedom and social justice are compatible. In t...
Jonathan Wolff on Political Bioethics (originally on Bioethics Bites)
10 Jun 2012
Contributed by Lukas
How should health resources be distributed? Jonathan Wolff discusses this and related questions in this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast. This ...
Fiery Cushman on Moral Luck
02 Jun 2012
Contributed by Lukas
Should morality be immune from luck? It seems so. Yet outcomes beyond participants' control seem to affect our judgements of culpability. Fiery Cushma...
Onora O'Neill on Trust (originally on Bioethics Bites)
27 May 2012
Contributed by Lukas
Trust is crucial in areas of medicine and health. But what sort of explicit consent should doctors obtain before medical treatment? Onora O'Neill disc...
Adina Roskies on Neuroscience and Free Will
20 May 2012
Contributed by Lukas
Some recent research in neuroscience seems to point to the conclusion that free will is an illusion. That's certainly the conclusion that some have dr...
NIck Bostrom on the Status Quo Bias
13 May 2012
Contributed by Lukas
Are we systematically biases against changing the status quo? It seems that we are. In this interview, originally released as part of the Bioethics Bi...
Galen Strawson on Panpsychism
05 May 2012
Contributed by Lukas
Could everything that exists have experiences? Is there something that it is like to be an electron? This sounds unlikey on first hearing, but in this...
Peter Singer on Life and Death Decision-Making (originally on Bioethics Bites)
29 Apr 2012
Contributed by Lukas
How should doctors, patients and family make end of life decisions? Peter Singer explores questions about euthanasia, abortion and autonomy in convers...
Philip Pettit on Republicanism
21 Apr 2012
Contributed by Lukas
What is republicanism? In this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast Philip Pettit outlines the key features of this important strand in political p...
Jeff McMahan on Moral Status (originally on Bioethics Bites)
15 Apr 2012
Contributed by Lukas
Disagreement about moral status is at the heart of many issues in practical ethics. In this bonus episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast (originally ...
Adrian Moore on Philosophy and Its History
06 Apr 2012
Contributed by Lukas
What is the point of studying philosophy's past? Is it just to learn about the history of ideas? Is there something special about the history of philo...
Julian Savulescu on Designer Babies (originally on Bioethics Bites)
02 Apr 2012
Contributed by Lukas
Is it ethical to select advantageous genes and select against disadvantageous genes when having babies? Julian Savulescu, Director of the Uehiro Cen...
Neil Levy on Moral Responsibility and Consciousness
23 Mar 2012
Contributed by Lukas
Do recent discoveries in neuroscience threaten the notion of moral responsibility? Could we have moral responsibility without full consciousness of th...
Ronald Dworkin on the Unity of Value
09 Mar 2012
Contributed by Lukas
Is liberty compatible with equality? Many philosophers think it can't be, and that pluralism is the correct response. In this episode of the Philosoph...
Guy Longworth on J.L. Austin and Ordinary Language
25 Feb 2012
Contributed by Lukas
J. L. Austin, who died in 1960, was an immensely influential philosopher whose method involved precise scrutiny of ordinary language: the precise wor...
Philip Schofield on Jeremy Bentham's Utilitarianism
11 Feb 2012
Contributed by Lukas
Jeremy Bentham, legal reformer and philosopher, was an early Utilitarian. In this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast Nigel Warburton interviews B...
Nicola Lacey on Criminal Responsibilityhttp
27 Jan 2012
Contributed by Lukas
What is criminal responsibility? Is it a timeless concept, or does it have a historical aspect? Nicola Lacey addresses these questions in conversation...
Alain de Botton on Atheism 2.0
16 Jan 2012
Contributed by Lukas
Some atheists despise religion and ridicule it as absurd. In this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast Alain de Botton, author of Religion for Athe...
Kit Fine on What is Metaphysics?http
01 Jan 2012
Contributed by Lukas
Metaphysics is the philosophical study of reality. But what does that mean in pratice, and what are the limits of what it can reveal? Kit Fine address...
Brian Leiter on the Analytic/Continental Distinction
18 Dec 2011
Contributed by Lukas
Is there a useful distinction to be made between analytic and continental philosophy? Brian Leiter thinks not. Listen to him in conversation with Nige...
Melissa Lane on Plato and Sustainability
03 Dec 2011
Contributed by Lukas
What can Plato teach us about sustainability? According to Princeton's Melissa Lane, author of Eco-Republic, quite a lot. Melissa discusses this topic...
Tim Crane on Animal Minds
20 Nov 2011
Contributed by Lukas
What sort of minds do other animals have? Tim Crane discusses this intriguing question with Nigel Warburton in this episode of the Philosophy Bites po...
Sean Kelly on Homer and Philosophy
05 Nov 2011
Contributed by Lukas
Homer is a great poet, but is he relevant to philosopy? Harvard University's Sean Kelly believes that he is and that we can glean important insights f...
Paul Boghossian on Moral Relativism
23 Oct 2011
Contributed by Lukas
Are moral judgements simply relative to culture? Are moral relativists in the grip of a fundamental confusion, or is that just the view of a philosoph...
Jonathan Glover on Systems of Belief
09 Oct 2011
Contributed by Lukas
Beliefs are important. Wars are fought over conflicting belief systems. Philosophers ask 'What is it reasonable to believe?' Can philosophers, then, g...
Dan Sperber on the Enigma of Reasonhthttp://www.dan.sperber.fr/
25 Sep 2011
Contributed by Lukas
Our reasoning capacity sets us apart from other animals. But reason is frequently prone to error. Why then did we evolve with a capacity for reason at...
Philip Pettit on Consequentialism
11 Sep 2011
Contributed by Lukas
Philip Pettit discusses some common criticisms of consequentialism and how they might be met in this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast. Philosop...
Frank Jackson on What Mary Knew
26 Aug 2011
Contributed by Lukas
Frank Jackson is responsible for one of the most famous thought experiments in the philosophy of mind, one designed to show that physicalism is false....
Nick Bostrom on the Simulation Argument
14 Aug 2011
Contributed by Lukas
Could you be part of a computer simulation of reality? Sounds unlikely, doesn't it. But Nick Bostrom might make you think again about this. In this ep...
Luc Bovens on Catholicism and HIV
31 Jul 2011
Contributed by Lukas
Luc Bovens, a philosopher at the London School of Economics argues that Catholic sexual morality should, on grounds of consistency within its doctrin...
Peter Singer on Henry Sidgwick's Ethics
17 Jul 2011
Contributed by Lukas
Henry Sidgwick, who died in 1900, is something of a philosophers' philosopher. In this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast Peter Singer explains ...
Victor Tadros on Punishment
03 Jul 2011
Contributed by Lukas
How can state punishment of criminals be justified? Is it right that wrongdoers suffer? Victor Tadros investigates these questions in conversation wit...
Alison Gopnik on the Imagination
17 Jun 2011
Contributed by Lukas
What role does imagination play in our lives? Why do we have an imagination at all? Alison Gopnik investigates these questions in conversation with Ni...
John Mikhail on Universal Moral Grammar
04 Jun 2011
Contributed by Lukas
Do we have an innate predisposition to form certain sorts of moral judgements? John Mikhail thinks we do. In this episode of the Philosophy Bites podc...
David Eagleman on Morality and the Brain
22 May 2011
Contributed by Lukas
Neuroscientist David Eagleman explores questions about responsibility and culpability in the light of recent brain research in this episode of the Phi...
Simon May on Love
07 May 2011
Contributed by Lukas
Can love be defined? In this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast Simon May, author of a recent book on the topic, argues that there's more in comm...
Paul Russell on David Hume's Treatise
25 Apr 2011
Contributed by Lukas
The standard reading of David Hume's Treatise is that it reveals him as a sceptic and also as an advocate of a science of man. These two aspects seem ...
Pascal Bruckner on the Pursuit of Happiness
22 Apr 2011
Contributed by Lukas
Is the attempt to find happiness self-defeating? Have people always been so obsessed with the pursuit of happiness? Pascal Bruckner dis cusses these q...
Noel Carroll on Humour
09 Apr 2011
Contributed by Lukas
What is humour? Why do we have a sense of humour? Philosophers have been asking this sort of question for a while. Noel Carroll gives some answers, an...
Catharine MacKinnon on Gender Crime
26 Mar 2011
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast Catharine MacKinnon talks to Nigel Warburton about the concept of Gender Crime. Philosophy Bites is ma...
Sarah Bakewell on Montaigne
12 Mar 2011
Contributed by Lukas
Michel de Montaigne is an unusual and likeable figure. His essays are quirky, honest, and strangely modern. Sarah Bakewell, author of a recent prize-...
Hugh Mellor on Frank Ramsey on Truth
26 Feb 2011
Contributed by Lukas
Frank Ramsey was a remarkable philosopher and mathematician who made substantial original contributions to philosophy, economics and mathematics despi...
Jonathan Glover on Personality Disorder and Morality
14 Feb 2011
Contributed by Lukas
The moral philosopher Jonathan Glover discusses questions about personality disorder, conscience, and responsibility in this episode of the Philosophy...
Cécile Fabre on Cosmopolitanism and War
31 Jan 2011
Contributed by Lukas
There is a long tradition of just war theory, but how does it square with moral cosmopolitanism, the idea that individuals, not nations, should be our...
Michael Sandel on Justice
14 Jan 2011
Contributed by Lukas
Harvard philosopher Michael Sandel discusses 3 different theories of Justice in this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast: Bentham's, Kant's and Ar...
Paul Russell on Fate
30 Dec 2010
Contributed by Lukas
Must it be? Do I really have a choice about what I do? I seem to be able to reason about what I will do, but do I have a choice about how I weight the...
Martha Nussbaum on the Value of the Humanities
24 Dec 2010
Contributed by Lukas
Why bother studying the Humanities? Surely when resources are limited we should be concentrating on subjects that have clear economic benefits, should...
Philip Pettit on Group Agency
18 Dec 2010
Contributed by Lukas
When a group of people acts together we can hold that group morally and legally responsible. But how does the group decide to act? Is a decision of th...
Helen Beebee on Laws of Nature
05 Dec 2010
Contributed by Lukas
What is a law of nature? Is it merely a generalisation about how things behave? Or does it have a different status? Helen Beebee investigates these qu...
Nick Phillipson on Adam Smith on What Human Beings Are Like
20 Nov 2010
Contributed by Lukas
Adam Smith, the great thinker of the Scottish Enlightenment, is best known as an economist. But much of his work was philosophical, and even his econo...
What is Philosophy?
14 Nov 2010
Contributed by Lukas
What is Philosophy? We asked some of our contributors this question for this bonus episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast. Philosophy Bites is made i...
Gideon Rosen on Moral Responsibility
07 Nov 2010
Contributed by Lukas
What is moral responsibility? Are there ever grounds for saying that we have diminished responsibility? Gideon Rosen addresses these questions in this...
Alex Voorhoeve on Inequality
25 Oct 2010
Contributed by Lukas
Does inequality really matter? Or should we be more concerned with raising the standards of the least well off than any disparity between those who ha...
Michael Dummett on Frege
07 Oct 2010
Contributed by Lukas
Gottlob Frege was one of the founders of the movement known as analytic philosophy. In this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast Michael Dummett ex...
Daniel Everett on the Nature of Languag
25 Sep 2010
Contributed by Lukas
Since John Locke declared the child's mind a blank slate, philosophers have long debated the degree to which language-learning is innate. Are there ar...
Cynthia Freeland on Portraits
11 Sep 2010
Contributed by Lukas
What is a portrait? What can it reveal? Cynthia Freeland explores the nature of portraits in this interview with Nigel Warburton for the Philosophy Bi...
Joshua Knobe on Experimental Philosophy
28 Aug 2010
Contributed by Lukas
Many people think that the idea of experiments in philosophy is a contradiction. Joshua Knobe disagrees. He is at the forefront of a new movement know...
Peter Singer on the Life You Can Save
15 Aug 2010
Contributed by Lukas
If you saw a child drowning in a shallow pond would you save that child? If you would, why don't you give the small amount of money necessary to save ...
Hillel Steiner on Exploitation
09 Aug 2010
Contributed by Lukas
What is exploitation? Hillel Steiner discusses this question with Nigel Warburton in this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast. Philosophy Bites is...
Stephen Neale on Meaning and Interpretation
18 Jul 2010
Contributed by Lukas
We interpret each others' words all the time. How do we do this? What part do intentions play? Does this have any implications for interpreting laws? ...
Susan Wolf on Meaning in Life
04 Jul 2010
Contributed by Lukas
What gives meaning to a life? Susan Wolf discusses this question with Nigel Warburton in this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast. Philosophy Bite...
Pat Churchland on Eliminative Materialism
19 Jun 2010
Contributed by Lukas
Pat Churchland argues that we may need to modify our concepts in the light of recent brain research in this episode of the podcast Philosophy Bites. P...
Jeff McMahan on Vegetarianism
04 Jun 2010
Contributed by Lukas
Why shouldn't you eat meat? Jeff McMahan argues that there are no good reasons not to be a vegetarianism (and many good reasons for being one) in this...
David Chalmers on the Singularity
22 May 2010
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast David Chalmers discusses the philosophical implications of the artificial intelligence of the future -...
Raymond Geuss on Realism in Political Philosophy
08 May 2010
Contributed by Lukas
Is it possible to be both utopian and realistic in political philosophy? In his second interview for the Philosophy Bites podcast Raymond Geuss argues...
Robert Stern on Hegel on Dialectic
25 Apr 2010
Contributed by Lukas
Hegel's philosophy is notoriously difficult to grasp. In this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast Robert Stern gives a lucid account of Hegel's no...
Ned Block on Consciousness
10 Apr 2010
Contributed by Lukas
Ned Block talks to Nigel Warburton about some phenomena of consciousness in the latest episode of the podcast Philosophy Bites. Philosophy Bites is ma...
Susan Neiman on Morality in the 21st Century
27 Mar 2010
Contributed by Lukas
How should we live now? This is the basic question that Susan Neiman addresses in conversation with Nigel Warburton for this episode of the podcast Ph...
Galen Strawson on the Sense of Self
13 Mar 2010
Contributed by Lukas
Does everyone have a sense of self? What is it? Galen Strawson grapples with these questions in conversation with Nigel Warburton in the latest episod...
Jonathan Wolff on John Rawls' A Theory of Justice
28 Feb 2010
Contributed by Lukas
John Rawls' A Theory of Justice is probably the most important work of political philosophy of the 20th Century. In this Philosophy Bites podcast Jona...
Jerrold Levinson on Music and Eros
15 Feb 2010
Contributed by Lukas
Jerrold Levinson examines analogies between music an eros in this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast.
Robert B. Talisse on Pragmatism
07 Feb 2010
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast Robert B. Talisse in discussion with Nigel Warburton explains what the philosphical movement of Pragma...
Thomas Pogge on Global Justice and Health
23 Jan 2010
Contributed by Lukas
In this interview for the Philosophy Bites podcast Thomas Pogge, Professor of Philosophy at Yale University, explores the difficult issue of how we ca...
Tzvetan Todorov on the Englightenment Today
10 Jan 2010
Contributed by Lukas
Tzvetan Todorov defends Englightenment values as important for us today in this episode of the philosophy podcast Philosophy Bites.
Don Cupitt on Jesus as Philosopher
24 Dec 2009
Contributed by Lukas
Don Cupitt, controversial theologian and philosopher, argues that Jesus is best seen as a moralist and a radical secular humanist in this episode of t...
A.C. Grayling on Bertrand Russell on Descriptions
20 Dec 2009
Contributed by Lukas
How our words relate to objects is a thorny philosophical conundrum. In this episode of the philosophy podcast Philosophy Bites A.C. Grayling explains...
Catalin Avramescu on the Idea of Cannibalism
06 Dec 2009
Contributed by Lukas
Catalin Avramescu discusses the fascinating topic of the part played by the idea of cannibalism in the history of philosophy in this episode of the Ph...
Jeff McMahan on Killing in War
21 Nov 2009
Contributed by Lukas
Jeff McMahan of Rutgers University discusses the morality of killing in war with Nigel Warburton in this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast.
Richard Bradley on Understanding Decisions
08 Nov 2009
Contributed by Lukas
What is involved in understanding a decision? Richard Bradley of the LSE addresses this question in this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast. As a...
Tony Coady on Dirty Hands in Politics
25 Oct 2009
Contributed by Lukas
This episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast focuses on the question of whether politicians need ever act immorally. Tony Coady (aka C.A.J. Coady), au...
John Campbell on Berkeley's Puzzle
11 Oct 2009
Contributed by Lukas
John Campbell explores Bishop Berkeley's puzzle about what our experience is of in this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast.
Brian Leiter on Nietzsche Myths
25 Sep 2009
Contributed by Lukas
Friedrich Nietzsche has been seen as the philosopher of the Overman, an anti-semite, and a precursor of postmodernist views about truth. But was he an...
John Armstrong on What You Can Do With Philosophy
13 Sep 2009
Contributed by Lukas
What can you do with Philosophy? Not very much, according to some people. John Armstrong disagrees. Find out why in this episode of the Philosophy Bit...
Walter Sinnott-Armstrong on Morality Without God
28 Aug 2009
Contributed by Lukas
Walter Sinnott-Armstrong argues that God isn't necessary for morality in this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast.
Sabine Doring on Emotion
14 Aug 2009
Contributed by Lukas
What is an emotion? How do emotions differ from moods? What part should the emotions play in our lives and in our understanding of what it is to be hu...
Ben Rogers on Pascal's Pensées
29 Jul 2009
Contributed by Lukas
Blaise Pascal's Pensées is the subject of this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast. Few philosophers know the Pensées well, apart from the pas...