Philosophy Talk Starters
Episodes
190: The Root of All Evil?
29 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Money makes the world go around. But what sort of thing is money? Bits of paper and metal? An elaborate set of IOUs to be redeemed with more IOUs? An ...
189: The Copyright Wars
29 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/copyright-wars. Today there is an entire generation of people who have never paid for music. From Napster to ...
188: Challenges to Free Will
29 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/challenges-free-will. We seem to be able to decide our behavior for ourselves – what we do is up to us. But...
187: Bi-racial Identities
29 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/bi-racial-identities. Many people identify strongly with the ethnic or racial group to which they belong – ...
186: Different Cultures, Different Selves
29 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/different-cultures-different-selves. Why do we do what we do? To please others? To live up to what culture ex...
185: The Movie Show
28 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/movie-show. Movies play a large role in modern life. We enjoy watching them; we idolize the actors and actres...
183: Civil Disobedience
28 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/civil-disobedience. Thoreau, Gandhi, and Martin Luther King all engaged in civil disobedience, and are widely...
182: Philosophy of History
28 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/philosophy-history. Is history just a series of events, or an interpretation of those events? Is there progre...
181: The Idea of the University
28 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/idea-university. Is a university a research institute with students, or and educational institution with rese...
179: Bodies For Sale
28 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/bodies-sale. I can sell my house, the things I make, and the services I provide. So why can't I sell one of m...
178: Levels of Reality
28 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/levels-reality. Are there levels of reality, with each level emerging from the other in a way that provides a...
176: William James
28 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/william-james. William James is a great figure, historically important as a philosopher (pragmatism and radic...
175: Making Decisions
28 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/making-decisions. When we make decisions we think we're in control, making rational choices. But are we? This...
174: Digital Selves
28 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/digital-selves. Second Life and dozens of other online adventures involve creating digital selves, and millio...
173: Overcoming the Terror of Death
28 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/overcoming-terror-death. To many death is terrifying. But why? As David Hume pointed out, all the years we di...
172: The Morality of Food
28 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/morality-food. Veganism, freeganism, organic, sustainability, simplicity, biofuel, animal rights, worker's ri...
171: Utilitarianism
28 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/utilitarianism Can morality be quantified? Can the good be calculated? Utilitarianism says the right action i...
170: Global Justice and Human Rights
28 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at philosophytalk.org/shows/global-justice-and-human-rights. What constitutes a just society? What are the obligations of liberal democracies to...
169: Dualism
28 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/dualism. What is the relationship between the mind and the brain? Monists believe that there is only one subs...
168: Philosophy and Pop Culture
28 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at www.philosophytalk.org/shows/philosophy-and-pop-culture. From Star Trek and the Grateful Dead to South Park and Stephen Colbert, philosophica...
167: Giving and Keeping
28 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/giving-and-keeping. How should people allocate their assets – however modest or grand – ethically an...
166: The Luck of the Draw
28 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at: http://philosophytalk.org/shows/luck-draw. Sometimes it isn't possible to distribute goods evenly. When this happens, we often leave it up t...
165: Altruism
28 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More athttp://philosophytalk.org/shows/altruism. Are people genuinely altruistic, or is altruism just a type of selfish-behavior? Are other animals a...
163: The Problem of Evil
28 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/problem-evil. Many religions tell us that God is perfect: all-knowing, all-powerful, and beneficent. Why then...
162: Summer Reading List 2008
28 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/summer-reading-list-2008. Summer's just around the corner – what books are you going to pack with your Spee...
161: Promises
28 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/promises. What is a promise: a prediction? A statement of intention? Is promising rational? Does it create an...
160: Experimental Philosophy
28 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/experimental-philosophy. Philosophical reasoning relies on intuitions. John Rawls called this method "reflect...
159: Varieties of Love
28 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/varieties-love. Is love a single thing, or just a word we use to express any number of unrelated emotions? Is...
158: Politics and Cognitive Science
28 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/politics-and-cognitive-science. Can cognitive science explain the difference between liberals and conservativ...
157: Philosophy of Wine
28 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/philosophy-wine. The discriminating wine palate: bouquet, nose, great vintages, genius vintners. Are these ju...
156: Apologizing
28 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/apologizing. Can you be sorry without intending to change your behavior in the future? Without being ashamed?...
155: Science vs. Pseudoscience
28 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/science-vs-pseudo-science. Astronomy is science; Astrology is pseudo-science. Evolutionary Biology is science...
154: Infinity
28 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/infinity. Infinity is a puzzling concept. Mathematicians say there are as many odd numbers as there are numbe...
153: Connectionism
28 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/connectionism. Does the human mind work like a computer? If so, what kind of computer? A theory known as conn...
152: Paradoxes
28 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/paradoxes. A paradox is a persuasive argument that something, which we judge must be false, is true. Zeno's P...
151: Saint Augustine
28 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/st-augustine. The philosopher Saint Augustine of Hippo is one of the most important figures in the history of...
150: Persons, Selves, Souls, and Loops
28 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/persons-selves-souls-and-loops. Can a self, a consciousness, an "I" arise out of mere matter? If it cannot, t...
149: Why Music Matters
28 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/why-music-matters. There is something deeply mysterious about music. Why does it affect us so powerfully? Is ...
147: Personal Identity
28 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/personal-identity. What is necessary for a person to survive over time? Is it the continued existence of the ...
146: The Concept of God
28 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/concept-god. What does "God" mean? Is God a concrete thing like a chair or a human; or is it an abstract thin...
145: Political Correctness
28 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/political-correctness. What is political correctness? Has it always existed? What's "political" about it? Som...
144: Islamic Philosophy
28 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/islamic-philosophy. Some of the many topics discussed in Islamic philosophy are the Qur'an, knowledge, dreams...
143: Immigration and Citizenship
28 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/immigration-and-citizenship. What are the effects of immigration on culture in America? Does it promote homog...
142 Philosophy and Literature
28 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/philosophy-and-literature. What can we learn from studying philosophy? What can we learn from reading great (...
141: Predicting the Future
28 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/predicting-future. People who predict the future well are sometimes said to be psychic. But we all make predi...
140: Faith, Reason, and Science
28 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/faith-reason-and-science. Does faith obscure reason? Does reason obscure faith? Or perhaps their subject matt...
139: Love, Poetry, and Philosophy
28 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/love-poetry-and-philosophy. For Plato, love and philosophy were closely related. Love of beauty causes one to...
138: Math and the Mind
28 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/math-and-mind. How does a bunch of grey matter in our skulls have the ability to solve mathematical problems?...
137: The Value of Art
28 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/value-art. An art lover will argue that art brings beauty to our surroundings and provides occasions for inte...
136: Postmodernism
28 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/postmodernism. In art, architecture, music, film, literature, sociology, communications, fashion and philosop...
135: Firting With Philosophy
28 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/flirting-philosophy. What is flirting? Can you flirt without intending to? Can you flirt by dressing a certai...
134: Philosophy Through Humor
28 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/philosophy-through-humor. Why did Nietzsche cross the road? To get beyond good and evil! How is a good joke l...
133: Capital Punishment
28 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/capital-punishment. The death penalty: An effective deterrent? A just retribution for horrendous crimes? Or a...
131: Summer Reading List 2007
28 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/summer-reading-list-2007. Are there philosophers, philosophies, or philosophical issues you want to read up o...
130: Aging and the Well-Lived Life
27 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/aging-and-well-lived-life. Aging is a physical process that will always be with us. But conceptions of aging,...
129: Artificial Intelligence
27 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/artificial-intelligence. At least some versions of artificial intelligence are attempts not merely to model h...
128: Science, Ethics, and Censorship
27 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/science-ethics-and-censorship. Science is, on the one hand, a huge enterprise funded to a great extent by the...
127: Autonomy
27 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/autonomy. Philosophers call a person autonomous if she is responsible not just for what she does but also for...
126: Ethics In Journalism
27 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/ethics-journalism. Freedom of speech tells us the government shouldn't restrict the journalist. But should an...
125: Can Science Explain Consciousness?
27 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/can-science-explain-consciousness. Human are conscious, billiard balls are not, and computers aren't either. ...
124: APhilosophical Shout-Out
27 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/philosophical-shout-out. On this special pledge-week episode, John and Ken open the phones and the inbox to t...
123: Skepticism
27 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/skepticism. Various forms of skepticism play important roles in the history of philosophy. Do we really know ...
122: Immortality and the Afterlife
27 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/immortality-and-afterlife. Many religions contemplate some form of personal continued existence after death: ...
120: Ludwig Wittgenstein
27 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/wittgenstein. The Austrian/British philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein exercised enormous influence over philosop...
119: The Judiciary in Democracy
27 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/judiciary-democracy. In many democracies, the judiciary is protected, to one degree or another, from the vote...
118: Mental Imagery
27 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/mental-imagery. In the Early Modern period many philosophers took ideas to be mental images of the objects th...
117: If Truth Is So Valuable, Why Is There So Much BS?
27 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/if-truth-so-valuable-why-there-so-much-bs. Everywhere we look -- in the media, in our political campaigns, in...
116: Legal Ethics
27 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/legal-ethics. Lawyers are often thought to be hardly better than hired guns, who, in the words of Plato, are ...
115: We've Been Framed: How Language Shapes Politics
27 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/weve-been-framed-how-language-shapes-politics. Does the hijacking of words by political forces tell us someth...
114: The Promise and Perils of the New Genomics
27 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/promise-and-perils-new-genomics. John and Ken welcome their special guest, noted scientist and entrepreneur, ...
113: Philosophy and Film
27 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/philosophy-and-film. Despite the crass commercialism that drives the production of many movies, there's no do...
112: Philosophy and Neuroscience
27 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/philosophy-and-neuroscience. Philosophers have always been concerned with the mind. What is consciousness? Re...
111: American Pragmatism
27 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/american-pragmatism. Pragmatism is perhaps America's most distinctive contribution to philosophy. Developed b...
110: What is a Child?
27 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/what-child. Back in the middle ages, people thought of children simply as little adults. Modern psychology ha...
109: Dreaming
27 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/dreaming. A scary dream brings all the fears that a scary real situation can, and a happy dream can make us f...
108: Separation of Powers
27 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/separation-powers. In America, there's not just one governing body, there are three: executive, legislative, ...
107: Believing in God
27 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/believing-god. Some have argued that there aren't any good arguments for believing in God. Is belief in God j...
106: Language and Thought
27 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/language-and-thought. You might think our thoughts simply determine what we say. But maybe the language we sp...
104: Jewish Philosophy
27 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/jewish-philosophy. Rabbis and Talmudic scholars have spent centuries puzzling over theology, texts, and life....
103: Philosophy of Music
27 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/philosophy-music. Most people enjoy music daily and have strong listening preferences. Music – along with l...
102: War Crimes
27 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/war-crimes. In war, people do awful things to other people. But the concept of 'war crime' suggests that some...
101: Liberty vs. Security
27 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/liberty-vs-security. Edward Gibbon and James Madison both noted how liberties in Rome were among the victims ...
100: 100th Episode
26 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/100th-episode. It’s our anniversary! Join the philosophers for a celebration of the program that questions ...
99: Language in Action
26 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/language-action. How do we communicate ideas with language? Where does the literal meaning of a word end and ...
98: Athletic Beauty
26 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/athletic-beauty. Figure skating is athletic and beautiful. How about a bone-crunching tackle? Or a spikes-hig...
97: Race, Class, and Inequality
26 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/race-class-and-inequality. The concept of equality is as important to America's self-conception as it is conf...
96: The Future of Philosophy
26 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/future-philosophy. Ken and John discuss the future of philosophy with three rising stars in American philosop...
95: Stoicism
26 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/stoicism. People who don't seem affected by emotions are often called "stoic." But there's a lot more to Stoi...
94: Leadership
26 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/leadership. At certain crucial times, such as the American Revolution, the Civil War, and World War II, Ameri...
92: The Nature Of Imagination
26 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/nature-imagination. A lot of our thinking, and even our perception, has to do not only with what is, but what...
91: Summer Reading List 2006
26 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/philosophical-summer-reading-list. Are there some philosophers, philosophies, or philosophical issues you wan...
90: Justice Across Boundaries
26 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/justice-across-boundaries. Philosophical conceptions of justice have most often been directed at the nature o...
89: What Is Art
26 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/what-art. Anything someone wants to call art? Or are there some objective criteria, that not every instance o...
88: Philosophy and the Law
26 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/philosophy-and-law. With what right do governments make and enforce laws? To what extent are citizens obligat...
87: The Value of Truth
26 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/value-truth. The pursuit of truth is often thought to be "intrinsically" valuable. Scientists and philosopher...
85: Suicide
26 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/suicide. Taking human life is wrong. But what if it is one's own life? Is suicide worse or less bad than murd...
84: What Are Numbers?
26 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/what-are-number. Plato claimed that numbers exist in some mind-independent abstract heaven. Nominalists claim...
83: Existentialism
26 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/existentialism. Being and Nothingness, the for-itself and the in-itself, bad faith, and the existential predi...
82: The Science of Humor
26 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/science-humor. Being funny isn't easy. Figuring out what makes things funny is even harder. Still, a number o...
81: Marriage And Monogamy
26 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/marriage-and-monogamy. Monogamy is traditional in most cultures, and it is the law throughout America since U...