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Philosophy Bites

Philosophy Podcasts

David Edmonds (Uehiro Centre, Oxford University) and Nigel Warburton (freelance philosopher/writer) interview top philosophers on a wide range of topics. Two books based on the series have been published by Oxford University Press. We are currently self-funding - donations very welcome via our website http://www.philosophybites.com

David Edmonds (Uehiro Centre, Oxford University) and Nigel Warburton (freelance philosopher/writer) interview top philosophers on a wide range of topics. Two books based on the series have been published by Oxford University Press. We are currently self-funding - donations very welcome via our website http://www.philosophybites.com

Location:

London, United Kingdom

Description:

David Edmonds (Uehiro Centre, Oxford University) and Nigel Warburton (freelance philosopher/writer) interview top philosophers on a wide range of topics. Two books based on the series have been published by Oxford University Press. We are currently self-funding - donations very welcome via our website http://www.philosophybites.com

Language:

English

Contact:

c/o Institute of Philosophy University of London Senate House Malet Street London WC1E 7HU United Kingdom +44 (0)20 7862 8738

Episodes

David Bather Woods on Schopenhauer on Compassion

1/10/2021
Arthur Schopenhauer is best known for the deep pessimism of his book The World as Will and Representation. Here we focus on a slightly less pessimistic aspect of his philosophy: his views on compassion. Very unusually for an early nineteenth century thinker, he was influenced here by his reading of Indian philosophy. David Bather Woods is the interviewee. We are very grateful for sponsorship for this episode from St John's College.

Duration:00:24:05

Samantha Rose Hill on Hannah Arendt on Pluralism

12/6/2020
Hannah Arendt's experience of the Eichmann trial in 1961 led her to reflect on the nature of politics, truth, and plurality. Samantha Rose Hill, author of a biography of Arendt, discusses the context for this, and the key features of Arendt's views. We are grateful for support for this episode from St John's College - for more information about the college, including online options, go to sjc.edu/podcast

Duration:00:20:40

David Edmonds on Undercover Robot

11/28/2020
David Edmonds has co-authored a children's book, Undercover Robot. Here in this bonus episode (originally released on the Thinking Books podcast) he discusses it with Nigel Warburton.

Duration:00:12:49

Steven Nadler on Spinoza on Death

11/12/2020
Baruch Spinoza was perhaps most famous for his equation of God with Nature - a view that his contemporaries, probably correctly, took to be atheist. But what did he think about death? Steven Nadler, author of A Book Forged in Hell and Think Least of Death, discusses this aspect of his thought with Nigel Warburton.

Duration:00:19:58

Kate Manne on Misogyny and Male Entitlement

10/4/2020
In this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast Cornell philosopher Kate Manne discusses the notions of misogyny, male entitlement, and the term that she coined 'himpathy' with Nigel Warburton.

Duration:00:21:12

Liam Bright on Verificationism

9/16/2020
Verificationists believe that every meaningful statement is either true by definition or else empirically verifiable (or falsifiable). Anything which fails to pass this two-pronged test for meaningfulness is neither true nor false, but literally meaningless. Liam Bright discusses Verificationism and its links with the Vienna Circle with David Edmonds in this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast.

Duration:00:27:28

David Edmonds on Wittgenstein's Poker

7/7/2020
For this special episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast (produced under lockdown) Nigel Warburton interviews David Edmonds about his bestselling book, written with David Edinow, Wittgenstein's Poker. It focuses on a heated argument between the two great Viennese philosophers Karl Popper and Ludwig Wittgenstein, and the differing accounts that were give of it by those who were there.

Duration:00:17:54

Nigel Warburton on A Little History of Philosophy

6/24/2020
For this first of two special lockdown episodes of Philosophy Bites we interviewed each other. Here David Edmonds interviews Nigel Warburton about his bestseller A Little History of Philosophy. In the companion episode Nigel interviews David about his bestseller Wittgenstein's Poker.

Duration:00:15:39

Cheryl Misak on Frank Ramsey and Ludwig Wittgenstein

5/30/2020
Cheryl Misak has recently published a biography of F.P. Ramsey, the great Cambridge thinker who died at the age of only 26, but who nevertheless made a significant impact in several different fields including philosophy, mathematics, and economics. In this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast she discusses Ramsey's interactions with Wittgenstein. The two thinkers had very different personal styles and their philosophies reflect this.

Duration:00:19:44

Philip Goff on Galileo and Consciousness

5/9/2020
Philip Goff discusses some of Galileo's insights into the nature of matter. He then goes on to discuss his own view about consciousness, panpsychism. Goff believes that matter is conscious at some level.

Duration:00:18:46

Elizabeth Anderson on 'Let's Talk'

4/19/2020
In this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast, recorded before the Covid-19 lockdowns, the political philosopher Elizabeth Anderson explains why we need to be prepared to talk more, even with people with whom we strongly disagree.

Duration:00:20:41

Christian List on Free Will

2/5/2020
What is free will? Do we have it? These are difficult questions. Neuroscience seems to point in the direction of determinism. But Christian List suggests that there might still be room for genuine free will.

Duration:00:23:52

Emily Thomas on Wildly Implausible Metaphysics

10/21/2019
Some philosophers have drawn very strange conclusions about the nature of reality. Despite this Emily Thomas believes that their work may still be worth studying. They usually have had good reasons for what they concluded. In this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast she discusses several wildly implausible metaphysical theories with Nigel Warburton. We are grateful for support from the Marc Sanders Foundation and from our Patreon donors.

Duration:00:19:36

James Wilson on Real World Ethics

9/21/2019
Are thought experiments the best way of doing practical ethics? Not according to James Wilson. He thinks we need the rich detail of real cases or complex imaginary cases not a simplified version of reality to make sense of the moral problems we face. We are grateful for support for this episode from the Marc Sanders Foundation and from our supporters on Patreon.

Duration:00:20:11

Kate Kirkpatrick on the life and work of Simone de Beauvoir

7/8/2019
In this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast, Kate Kirkpatrick, author of a new biography of Beauvoir, Becoming Beauvoir, discusses the relationship between the life and work of Simone de Beauvoir. Beauvoir is often portrayed as applying Jean-Paul Sartre's existentialism to the condition of women. Is this a fair assessment? We are grateful for support from the Marc Sanders Foundation.

Duration:00:17:06

Kathleen Stock on What is a Woman?

5/21/2019
'What is a woman?' has become a contentious question with practical implications. The philosopher Kathleen Stock gives an account of the category 'woman' and how we should think about it. She gives a different answer to this question which Amia Srinivassan addressed in a previous Philosophy Bites interview on this topic.

Duration:00:30:08

Christian Miller on the Character Gap

2/25/2019
Christian Miller believes that there is a character gap, a gap between what we think we are like morally and how we actually behave. In this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast he explores the psychology of moral behaviour, and how we can become better people. We are grateful for support from the Marc Sanders Foundation.

Duration:00:20:37

Philip Pettit on the Birth of Ethics

2/25/2019
Where did ethics come from? Philip Pettit tells an 'as if' story about the birth of ethics that is designed to illuminate what ethics is and why it evolved on this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast. We are grateful for support from the Marc Sanders Foundation and from Patreon donors for this episode.

Duration:00:20:43

Helen Beebee on Possible Worlds

1/14/2019
Philosophers often talk about possible worlds. Is this just a way of describing counterfactual situations? As Helen Beebee explains, some of them believe that possible worlds actually exist. This episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast is supported by the Marc Sanders Foundation and by Patreon donations.

Duration:00:16:37

Paul Sagar on Scepticism about Philosophy

11/27/2018
Throughout its history there have been challenges to the status of philosophy. Paul Sagar discusses some of these in this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast. We are grateful for support from the Marc Sanders Foundation in making this podcast, and for donations from Patreon patrons.

Duration:00:20:49

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