Philosophy Talk
Episodes
Ethics in Sport
08 Feb 2005
Contributed by Lukas
Once upon a time, student athletes were students first, athletes second; the Olympics was about amateurism and the pursuit of excellence, not the pur...
Evil
01 Feb 2005
Contributed by Lukas
Is there such a thing as pure evil in the world? How should we confront evil? Can evil ever be finally overcome? If the universe was created by a supr...
Aristotle
25 Jan 2005
Contributed by Lukas
Aristotle’s philosophical doctrines have permeated and helped shape Western Culture in spheres as disparate as cosmology, biology, ethics, ...
The Mystery of Mind
11 Jan 2005
Contributed by Lukas
Modern science tells us that the mind is just the brain working. But science cannot yet tell us how consciousness, rationality, free will, autonomy,...
Gender
04 Jan 2005
Contributed by Lukas
Are gender roles and differences fixed, once and for, all by biology? Or is gender socially constructed and culturally variable? How does gender dif...
Nature vs. Nurture
14 Dec 2004
Contributed by Lukas
The philosopher John Locke thought we had no innate ideas; our minds are blank slates, upon which experience writes.  Nurture is everything,...
Disability
07 Dec 2004
Contributed by Lukas
The Americans with Disabilities Act recognizes that people with disabilities are often prevented from leading productive and satisfying lives because ...
Love
30 Nov 2004
Contributed by Lukas
Is love just a (second-hand) emotion? Is it a feeling? A disparate group of feelings, glandular responses, and ill-considered commitments called...
Truth and Relativism
16 Nov 2004
Contributed by Lukas
Is there such a thing as absolute truth, independent of who is doing the thinking, and where? Or is truth relative to backgrounds, cultures, creeds, t...
Time
09 Nov 2004
Contributed by Lukas
Time is the most familiar thing in the world, and yet philosophically one of the most puzzling. Is the present what’s left when you subtract wha...
Is This Any Way to Run a Democracy?
02 Nov 2004
Contributed by Lukas
America prides itself on being the oldest continuous democracy in the world. But criticisms of the America system are widespread. Our system is tailor...
Karl Marx
19 Oct 2004
Contributed by Lukas
The ideas of Karl Marx vie with those of Rousseau, Locke and Jefferson for shaping the politics of the twentieth century. Are Marx’s ideas of re...
Feminism
12 Oct 2004
Contributed by Lukas
Some feminists hold that there are specially feminine ways of knowing, and the current scientific research is flawed for not recognizing them. Some ho...
The Environment and Global Justice
28 Sep 2004
Contributed by Lukas
Our current way of life is unsustainable. Depletion of the ozone layer, the dwindling of the rain forest, the loss of animal habitat, and toxic runoff...
Corporations
21 Sep 2004
Contributed by Lukas
Corporations are recognized as persons in the eyes of the law. But if they are persons, they would seem to be pathologically self-interested persons, ...
Plato
14 Sep 2004
Contributed by Lukas
From his theory of the Forms, to his views about morality, justice, and the soul Plato was one the greatest and most influential philosophers of all t...
Happiness
31 Aug 2004
Contributed by Lukas
Is happiness a mere psychological state? And if so, what’s so important about it? Is there anything more to being happy than just thinking you&#...
Gambling
24 Aug 2004
Contributed by Lukas
Rolling the dice in a game you’re rigged to lose sounds like a bad idea. So why is it so much fun? Is gambling an exciting pastime, or a vicious...
Affirmative Action
17 Aug 2004
Contributed by Lukas
Is affirmative action a way of balancing out inequality? Or is it just another form of bias in admissions and hiring practices? And where’s the ...
Who Owns Ideas?
20 Jul 2004
Contributed by Lukas
You can own a car or a bicycle. But what about an idea? If you invent a program it seems like you should have some say about its use. But can you real...
Paternalism and Health
14 Jul 2004
Contributed by Lukas
Paternalism and Health: Some diseases such as Alzheimer’s inhibit our abilities to make decisions and lessen our quality of life. In cases like ...
Humans: The Irrational Animal
29 Jun 2004
Contributed by Lukas
Some psychologists claim to have demonstrated that humans are systematically, deeply and perhaps irredeemably irrational in their reasoning and decisi...
Virtue
15 Jun 2004
Contributed by Lukas
What is virtue? Is virtue the key human happiness and flourishing, as the ancients held, or a quaint notion of at best secondary interest for ethics,...
Dignity and the End of Life
08 Jun 2004
Contributed by Lukas
Is physician assisted suicide morally okay? What about active euthanasia for patients suffering terminal illnesses? If we begin traveling down this pa...
Terrorism
01 Jun 2004
Contributed by Lukas
We like to think that terrorism is always wrong. But what if the cause is just? Do the ends ever justify the means? And how do we define “terror...
Meaning of Life
18 May 2004
Contributed by Lukas
Does life have a meaning? If we were created by a powerful God, would that give our lives meaning? Who gave God’s existence meaning? What if we ...
Animal Rights
11 May 2004
Contributed by Lukas
We shouldn’t be mean to animals. Is that because animals have rights, like people do? Or is it just because people care about animals? Is it int...
Whose Language Is It?
04 May 2004
Contributed by Lukas
Is there a right and a wrong way to speak English? Is there really something wrong with saying, “Hopefully, we’ll have a good century,R...
Baseball
27 Apr 2004
Contributed by Lukas
What can we learn from baseball? Are the passions we have for our baseball teams and heroes irrational? If so, what makes passions for families, cit...
Taxation
14 Apr 2004
Contributed by Lukas
How is taxation different from stealing? What right does the government have to take some of our money? No taxation without representation? What diffe...
Consciousness
06 Apr 2004
Contributed by Lukas
Is the conscious mind just the brain or something more? Can science explain consciousness? How does Ken know that John is a conscious being and not ju...
Humor
30 Mar 2004
Contributed by Lukas
What is humor? What makes some jokes funny? Why did the chicken cross the road? Tune in for deep thoughts and big laughs as Ken, John and guest Ted Co...
Has Science Replaced Religion?
23 Mar 2004
Contributed by Lukas
Has science replaced religion? Can one be religious and maintain a scientific viewpoint? Does belief in evolution undermine morality or belief in God,...
Nietzsche
16 Mar 2004
Contributed by Lukas
Nietzsche. Ken and John and Übermensch-at-large Brian Leiter discuss everyone’s favorite syphilitic philosopher. Was he a mysogynistic Nazi-sup...
Markets and Morality
09 Mar 2004
Contributed by Lukas
Does the free market provide incentives for behavior that is problematic from a moral perspective? Or does the free market punish morally problematic ...
Genetic Engineering and Cloning
02 Mar 2004
Contributed by Lukas
When is genetic manipulation morally permissible? For health? Beauty? Wit? What sorts of animals is it acceptable to clone? Should we ban stem cell re...
Drug Legalization
24 Feb 2004
Contributed by Lukas
Does America’s drug problem rest on confused philosophy? Ken and John discuss the philosophical issues underlying arguments for and against the ...
The Insanity Defense
17 Feb 2004
Contributed by Lukas
Ken and John debate (use?) the insanity defense. What difference does it make if the person who commits a crime is, in one way or another, mentally il...
Patriotism versus Cosmopolitanism
10 Feb 2004
Contributed by Lukas
Patriotism versus Comopolitanism: Is your loyalty to America and Americans more important than the common humanity you share with everyone on the glob...
Marriage and the State
02 Feb 2004
Contributed by Lukas
With what right does the state say who can and cannot marry? The state has, at various times, said that people of different races cannot marry, that p...
What Is Race?
28 Jan 2004
Contributed by Lukas
Is race a discredited pseudo-scientific category? Or a real dimension of difference among humans? Or a socially constructed reality? What difference d...
Would You Want to Live Forever?
20 Jan 2004
Contributed by Lukas
Pick your favorite age. You are healthy, career thriving, family intact (at least pretend!). Would you like to live forever at that age, in that healt...
The Bush Doctrine of Preemptive Self-Defense
13 Jan 2004
Contributed by Lukas
What is the difference between mere aggression and preemptive self defense? Can you really permissibly “defend” yourself against an atta...
Live Pilot: Is Lying Always Bad?
20 Aug 2003
Contributed by Lukas
Many philosophers have been tempted to condemn lying as an absolute evil. The problem is that as soon as you articulate some absolute principle such a...
Demo #2: What Is Terrorism?
01 Jan 2003
Contributed by Lukas
What is terrorism? Is terrorism morally worse than other forms of warfare. Was Truman’s decision to drop the A-bomb and act of terrorism? Is the...
Demo #1: Can Machines Think?
01 Jan 2002
Contributed by Lukas
Will Computers someday be able to have humanlike consciousnes and intelligence? Will they someday outstrip the thinking of humans? Would it matter if...