Philosophy Talk Starters

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/philosophy-fiction. Philosophers think a lot about fiction. But do novelists think about philosophy? Do philosophers make good fictional characters? Can good stories be built around philosophical problems? When awarding its Genius prize to philosopher-novelist Rebecca Goldstein, the MacArthur Foundation said "[her] writings emerge as brilliant arguments for the belief that fiction in our time may be the best vehicle for involving readers in questions of morality and existence.'' Ken and John explore philosophy in fiction with Rebecca Newberger Goldstein, author of "The Mind-Body Problem" and "36 Arguments for the Existence of God: A Work of Fiction."

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/nihilism-and-meaning. The ancients believed in an enchanted universe – a universe suffused with meaning and purpose. But with the dawn of modernity, philosophy and science conspired together to disenchant the universe, to reveal it as entirely devoid of meaning and purpose. Must any rational and reflective person living in the 21st century accept such nihilism? Or is there a way to re-infuse the disenchanted universe with meaning and purpose? Join John and Ken for a thought-provoking discussion of nihilism and meaning with Hubert Dreyfus, co-author of "All Things Shining: Reading the Western Classics to Find Meaning in a Secular Age."

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/it-wrong-wreck-earth. There are too many people, doing too much damage to the ecosystem, essentially guaranteeing that future generations will have a damaged Earth, and will have to invest incredible amounts of time, money and labor to repairing what can be repaired. But future generations are made up of people who don't yet exist – what obligations do we have to them? And what obligations, if any, do we have to our fellow fauna and the flora we all depend on? Ken and John welcome environmental ethicist and celebrated author Kathleen Moore from Oregon State University.

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/minds-babies. Consciousness, morality, meaning and truth have perplexed and puzzled generations upon generations of philosophers. But could it be that we have been looking in all the wrong places to solve these imponderable mysteries? Could the minds of babies hold the key to philosophical progress? John and Ken are joined by renowned developmental psychologist Alison Gopnik, author of The Philosophical Baby: What Children's Minds Tell us about Truth, Love, and the Meaning of Life."

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 precise and defensible sense? Or is the "right to healthcare" just a nice way to say it would be very nice if everyone had healthcare? John and Ken take a philosophical lens to the alleged right to healthcare and health insurance with Laurence Baker from the Center for Health Policy at Stanford University.

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/schizophrenia-and-mind. To be human, philosophers have often said, is to be rational. But many people, for biological reasons, are clearly not rational. Schizophrenia is not only a malady, it is also a window on how the human mind works, and what it means to be human. Ken and John examine schizophrenia and its lessons for philosophers with John Campbell from UC Berkeley, author of "Reference and Consciousness."

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/war-sacrifice-and-media. The media often present a sanitized and one sided narrative of war, torture and other forms of violence that blots out the faces and silences the voices of many of the main victims: the refugees, the victims of unjust imprisonment and torture, and the immigrants virtually enslaved by their starvation and legal disenfranchisement. John and Ken probe the limits of the media representations of war and other forms of violence with renowned UC Berkeley professor Judith Butler, author of "Frames of War: When Is Life Grievable?"

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 or cozy? Do we suffer because we have no word for schadenfreude? Why do we adopt new words, or give old words new meaning? Can we eliminate a concept by renaming it, or eliminating the word for it? Ken and John welcome back Geoff Nunberg, author of "The Years of Talking Dangerously."

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/philosophy-talk-highlights. It's a Philosophy Talk highlight reel for the membership drive. In this special episode, John and Ken relive some favorite moments from the Philosophy Talk archives. Listen to cognitive scientist Margaret Boden on creativity, computers, and the emotions, Stanford University's Kara Dansky on the nature of crime and punishment, Georgetown Provost James O'Donnell on the contemporary relevance of Saint Augustine, Stanford's Michele Elam on biracial identities in the age of Obama, and Berkeley psychologist Alison Gopnik on her favorite philosophical movie. Plus selected commentaries from Ian Shoales, the Sixty-Second Philosopher.

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/postmodern-family. What is a family, and what distinguishes it from other kinds of associations? Is the traditional role of the family merely grounded in custom and habit, or is there a deeper philosophical justification for it? How has the structure of families changed over the ages, and how does it differ across cultures? John and Ken examine the structure and function of the family in relation to morality, values, and evolution with Stanford sociologist Michael Rosenfeld, author of "The Age of Independence: Interracial Unions, Same-Sex Unions and the Changing American Family."