Philosophy Talk Starters

316: Nations and Borders

27 Jan 2016

Contributed by Lukas

More at philosophytalk.org/shows/nations-and-borders. Borders and immigration control restrict people from going where they want to pursue a better l...

395 - Dignity Denied: Life and Death in Prison

11 Jan 2016

Contributed by Lukas

According to the Treatment Advocacy Center, there are more people living with mental illness in prisons than in psychiatric hospitals across the count...

394 - The Examined Year: 2015

31 Dec 2015

Contributed by Lukas

What ideas and events took shape over the past year that prompt us to question our assumptions and to think about things in new ways? What significant...

393: Taoism – Following the Way

14 Dec 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/taoism-following-way. Taoism (sometimes Daoism) is one of the great philosophical traditions of China. Lao-Tz...

392: Self and Self-Presentation

07 Dec 2015

Contributed by Lukas

We craft personal brands or images to accompany or represent ourselves in various situations. These personas are malleable – how we portray ourselve...

295: The Evolution of Storytelling

02 Nov 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/evolution-storytelling. Humans are unique as the only creatures on this planet who tell stories. Whether...

294: Forbidden Words

02 Nov 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Some words, like n****r, ch*nk, and c*nt, are so forbidden that we won't even spell them out here. Decent people simply don't use these words to refer...

293: Prostitution and the Sex Trade

02 Nov 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/prostitution-and-sex-trade. Some consider the commodification of sexual services inherently wrong, something ...

292: Regulating Bodies

02 Nov 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/regulating-bodies. Most countries allow their citizens to smoke cigarettes, get intoxicated, and eat unhealth...

291: Why Be Moral

02 Nov 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/why-be-moral. Morality tells us how we ought to behave, if we want to do the right thing. But is there a reas...

290: The Nature of Wilderness

02 Nov 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/nature-wilderness. Nowadays we think of wilderness as a fully natural environment that contrasts sharply with...

289: The Moral Costs of Climate Change

02 Nov 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/moral-costs-climate-change. Global climate change confronts us not only with well-known pragmatic challenges,...

288: Neuroscience and the Law

02 Nov 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/neuroscience-and-law. Recent advances in neuroscience have revealed that certain neurological disorders, like...

287: Gut Feelings and the Art of Decision-Making

02 Nov 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/gut-feelings-and-art-decision-making. We may think of ourselves as rational decision-makers, but we often bas...

286: Hypocrisy

02 Nov 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/hypocrisy. Hypocrites believe one thing, but do another. Jefferson opposed slavery, but owned slaves. Jesus p...

285: Identities Lost and Found in a Global Age

02 Nov 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/identities-lost-found-global-age. Throughout human history, people have tended to live and die in the place t...

284: Corporations and the Future of Democracy

02 Nov 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/corporations-and-future-democracy. The US prides itself on the strength of its democratic institutions and co...

283: What Might Have Been

02 Nov 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/what-might-have-been When we make claims about things that could have been—what philosophers call counterfa...

282: Summer Reading List 2012

02 Nov 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Summer is the perfect time to dig in to deep reading. Plato's Collected Dialogues may be a bit much to take on vacation, but there are lots of readabl...

281: Freedom, Blame, and Resentment

02 Nov 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/freedom-blame-and-resentment When someone acts without regard for our feelings or needs, a natural response i...

279: What Are Leaders Made of?

02 Nov 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/what-are-leaders-made. There seems to be a paradox in leadership: the qualities of ruthlessness and opportuni...

277: Epicurus and the Good Life

02 Nov 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/epicurus-and-good-life. Though his name is often misleadingly associated with indulgence in sensual pleasures...

276: Pantheism

02 Nov 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/pantheism. Pantheism is the doctrine that the world is either identical with God or an expression of His natu...

275: The 2012 Dionysus Awards

02 Nov 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/2012-dionysus-awards. Movies play a large role in modern life. We enjoy watching them; we idolize the actors ...

274: Black Solidarity

02 Nov 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/black-solidarity. From the abolition of slavery to the Black Power movement, black unity has been considered ...

273: The Right to Privacy

02 Nov 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/right-privacy. Is the right to privacy – the right to be left alone and to control one’s personal informa...

272: Is Democracy a Universal Value?

02 Nov 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/democracy-universal-value. Americans value democracy, and expect others to value it. But is it a universal va...

271: The Examined Year - 2011

02 Nov 2015

Contributed by Lukas

A new year offers an opportunity to reflect on significant moments of the past twelve months. But what ideas and events that took shape over the past ...

270: Forgive and Forget

02 Nov 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/forgive-and-forget. At least forgive OR forget. Get things behind you. All good advice for those who don't wa...

269: The Military – What Is It Good For?

02 Nov 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/military-what-it-good. Is the military draft a natural expression of democratic values, or a challenge to our...

268: Is Nothing Sacred Anymore

02 Nov 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/nothing-sacred-anymore. Tribal societies lived in a world of the sacred and profane, ritual and taboo. Is the...

267: Miracles

02 Nov 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/miracles. Religions rely on miracles to demonstrate the authenticity of figures thought to have supernatural ...

266: Thinking Inside the Box

02 Nov 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at philosophytalk.org/shows/thinking-inside-box. Speaking to the National Association of Broadcasters in May 1961, FCC Chairman Newton Minow ...

265: Cooperation and Conflict

02 Nov 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/cooperation-and-conflict. The Prisoner’s Dilemma is a problem studied in game theory that shows how two peo...

264: Morality and the Self

02 Nov 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/morality-and-self. Social psychologists have discovered that our self-images play a surprising role in our th...

263: Wisdom

02 Nov 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/wisdom. Philosophy is the love of wisdom – or is it? Is this traditional definition outmoded? Is wisdom an ...

262: Latin-American Philosophy

02 Nov 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/latin-american-philosophy. Latin American Philosophy began centuries before anything of much philosophical co...

261: Deconstructing the College Admissions Rat Race

02 Nov 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/deconstructing-college-admissions-rat-race. America's elite colleges and universities spend millions of dolla...

260: Time, Space, and Quantum Mechanics

02 Nov 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/time-space-and-quantum-mechanics. Quantum physics is regarded by many as the most powerful predictive theory ...

259: The State of Public Philosophy

02 Nov 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/state-public-philosophy. In the 18th and 19th Century, philosophers and intellectuals were immersed in politi...

258: Philosophy and Everyday Life

02 Nov 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/philosophy-and-everyday-life. Philosophy isn't just about cosmic issues. Every day is full of events that rai...

257: The Psychology of Evil

02 Nov 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/psychology-evil. True evil seems easy to recognize: the killing of innocent children; assigning whole populat...

256: Atheism and the Well-Lived Life

01 Nov 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/atheism-and-well-lived-life. Atheists don't believe in God – does that mean they don't find life meaningful...

255: Whodunit - The Language of Responsibility

01 Nov 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/whodunit-language-responsibility. Who is responsible for the broken vase in the foyer? How harshly should cri...

254: Gay Pride & Prejudice

01 Nov 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/gay-pride-prejudice. The question of gay rights has become a hot button issue, with opposition taking on the ...

253: Summer Reading List 2011

01 Nov 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Summer's just around the corner – what philosophers, philosophies, or philosophical issues do you want to read up on? Kant's "Critique of Pure Reaso...

252: Cities, Gentrification, and Inequality

01 Nov 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at: http://philosophytalk.org/shows/cities-gentrification-and-inequality. In the 1960s, as many American cities burst and burned, the upper and ...

251: Should Marriage Be Abolished?

01 Nov 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/should-marriage-be-abolished. State-sanctioned marriage has long been regarded as one of the bedrocks of a st...

250: The Extended Mind

01 Nov 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/extended-mind. An increasing number of psychologists and philosophers believe that to understand how the mind...

249: What Is an Adult?

01 Nov 2015

Contributed by Lukas

In the Middle Ages, people married, had children, went off to war and took on all the traditional trappings of adulthood by their early teens. But tod...

248: Is It All Relative?

01 Nov 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/it-all-relative. We've all heard a disenchanted teenager claim that everything is relative and that there is ...

247: John Locke

01 Nov 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/john-locke. Thomas Jefferson identified John Locke as one of “the three greatest men that have ever lived, ...

246: The 2011 Dionysus Awards

01 Nov 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/movie-show-2011. It's the third annual Philosophy Talk Dionysus Awards show! With the help of listeners and s...

245: Procrastination

01 Nov 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/procrastination. Everyone procrastinates – academics are especially prone to it. But why do we procrastinat...

244: Derrida and Deconstruction

01 Nov 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/derrida-and-deconstruction. Jacques Derrida was one of the most influential and also one of the most polarizi...

243: Abortion

01 Nov 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/abortion. Nothing stirs up controversy like abortion. To some, it carries the steep moral cost of destroying ...

242: The Moral Costs of Free Markets

01 Nov 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at: http://philosophytalk.org/shows/moral-costs-free-markets. We live in a market-driven society – our day-to-day lives consist of buying and ...

241: Philosophy for Children

31 Oct 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/philosophy-children. Because of their innocent approach to things, do children make good philosophers? Or do ...

240: The Power of Thought

31 Oct 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/power-thought. Human thought is an amazing thing. It has given us not only science, literature, and morality,...

239: Disagreement

31 Oct 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/disagreement. Sometimes people who seem to be your epistemic peers – that is, people as experienced, as wel...

238: Reading, Narrative, and the Self

31 Oct 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/reading-narrative-and-self. Reading is a lot of fun, especially narrative fiction – everyone loves a good s...

236: Bargaining with the Devil

31 Oct 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/bargaining-devil. Compromise is the condition of peace and progress. But there are times when we should not c...

235: Philosophy and the Alma Mater

31 Oct 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/philosophy-and-alma-mater. Scholars from Berkeley and from Stanford have played a big role on Philosophy Talk...

234: Meaning and the Revolution

31 Oct 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/meaning-and-revolution. The American Revolution was saturated with meaning and ambiguity, from the words of t...

233: Philosophy for the Young – Corrupting or Empowering?

31 Oct 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/philosophy-young-corrupting-or-empowering. Socrates was executed for corrupting the youth. In America, youth ...

232: Self-Deception

31 Oct 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/self-deception. Self-deception sounds like a contradiction: intentionally convincing yourself of something yo...

231: Humanism

31 Oct 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/humanism. Humanism as a movement arose with the Renaissance. It took powerful expression with the Enlightenme...

230: Social Reality

30 Oct 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/social-reality. Few things affect our lives as much as the fact that we are citizens of one country rather th...

229: Loyalty

30 Oct 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/loyalty. Loyalty is usually reckoned to be an important virtue; even loyalty to lost causes is often admired....

228: Democracy and the Press

30 Oct 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at: http://philosophytalk.org/shows/democracy-and-press. Our founding fathers believed that a free press would serve democracy by promoting unfe...

227: What Are Human Rights?

30 Oct 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/what-are-human-rights. According to the Declaration of Independence, the basic human rights of life, liberty ...

226: The Corporation as Person

30 Oct 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/corporation-person. The Supreme Court recently decided that corporations had the right of free speech under t...

224: Live Highlights

30 Oct 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at: http://philosophytalk.org/shows/philosophy-talk-live-highlights. It's a Philosophy Talk highlight reel for the membership drive! In this spe...

223: Mental Illness and Culture

30 Oct 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at: http://philosophytalk.org/shows/mental-illness-and-culture. Paranoia, depression, schizophrenia, bipolarity, and all the other ways American...

222: Faces, Feelings, and Lies

30 Oct 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/faces-feelings-and-lies. According to Proverbs, lying lips are an abomination to the Lord. But lies on human ...

221: The Ethics of Torture

30 Oct 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/ethics-torture. According to former Vice President Cheney, practices widely regarded as torture prevented fur...

220: What Is a Wife?

29 Oct 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/what-wife. The concept of a wife has been embedded in cultures, religious practices, social customs and econo...

219: Fear

29 Oct 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/fear. Fear is an emotion, but it is one with a long history in both political theory and politics in the real...

218: What Is 'Normal'?

29 Oct 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/what-normal. What does it mean to be normal? And abnormal? Who gets to decide, and what are the repercussions...

216: Mind Reading

29 Oct 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/mind-reading. We base many decisions every day not only on the belief that other people have minds, but on de...

215: Philosophy in Fiction

29 Oct 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/philosophy-fiction. Philosophers think a lot about fiction. But do novelists think about philosophy? Do philo...

214: Nihilism and Meaning

29 Oct 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/nihilism-and-meaning. The ancients believed in an enchanted universe – a universe suffused with meaning and...

212: Is It Wrong to Wreck the Earth?

29 Oct 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/it-wrong-wreck-earth. There are too many people, doing too much damage to the ecosystem, essentially guarante...

209: From the Minds of Babies

29 Oct 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/minds-babies. Consciousness, morality, meaning and truth have perplexed and puzzled generations upon generati...

207: Healthcare – Right or Privilege?

29 Oct 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/health-care-right-or-privilege. Do we have a right to healthcare, and to good high quality healthcare, in any...

206: Schizophrenia and the Mind

29 Oct 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/schizophrenia-and-mind. To be human, philosophers have often said, is to be rational. But many people, for bi...

205: War, Sacrifice, and the Media

29 Oct 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/war-sacrifice-and-media. The media often present a sanitized and one sided narrative of war, torture and othe...

204: What Are Words Worth?

29 Oct 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/what-are-words-worth. How do words shape our minds? Do the French suffer because they have no word for berry ...

203: Philosophy Talk Highlights

29 Oct 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/philosophy-talk-highlights. It's a Philosophy Talk highlight reel for the membership drive. In this special e...

202: The Postmodern Family

29 Oct 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/postmodern-family. What is a family, and what distinguishes it from other kinds of associations? Is the tradi...

201: Pornography

29 Oct 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/pornography. Is pornography an art form, or simply anything that depicts genitals in action? Where does mere ...

200: Money and Morality

29 Oct 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/money-and-morality. Does our system of credit and money make upward social mobility possible for anyone willi...

199: The Prison System

29 Oct 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/prison-system. As of June 30, 2007, the prisons and jails in the land of the free held 2,299,116 inmates; one...

198: Social Networking

29 Oct 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/social-networking. From online bulletin boards at the dawn of the internet to the modern mammoths of Facebook...

197: Summer Reading List 2009

29 Oct 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/summer-reading-list-2009. Even if you're not going to Biarritz for the summer as usual, you can relax in the ...

196: The Mind and the World

29 Oct 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/mind-and-world. What kinds of contact can the mind have with the world? Can we know how the world is in itsel...

194: Worship

29 Oct 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/worship. Worship is the feeling or expression of reverence and adoration for something. The attitude of worsh...

193: Beliefs Gone Wild

29 Oct 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/beliefs-gone-wild. Our brains evolved on the African savannah, but are now expected to deal with complex stat...

192: Desire

29 Oct 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/desire. There are two ways to have your desires fulfilled: you can either get what you want (if you're lucky ...

191: Too Much Information

29 Oct 2015

Contributed by Lukas

More at: http://philosophytalk.org/shows/too-much-information. “We’re just never going to catch up,” writes David Weinberger in "Everything Is ...