Philosophy Talk Starters

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 abstract accounting tool? If money is real, how can billions disappear on the stock market? And where does it go? Ken and John follow the money – its nature, its utility, and whether it is the root of all evil – with Stanford Economist Alex Gould. More at: http://philosophytalk.org/shows/root-all-evil

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 YouTube, some of our most innovative and inventive young people have been the targets of lawsuits by entertainment industry lawyers for violating copyright laws. What are the ideas behind copyright protection? What is the philosophical and practical basis of copyright? Can rethinking the issues suggest the form of a truce between generations? Ken and John sample the copyright debate with Larry Lessig, author of "Remix: Making Art and Commerce Thrive in the Hybrid Economy."

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 if everything that we do can be explained by physics, does this leave room for freedom? Are all of our actions pre-determined? Are we slaves to fate? Is freedom compatible with determinism, or does science teach us that we're nothing but complex machines, following out a complicated program that a good enough physicist could have predicted centuries ago? And what are the implications for morality and responsibility? John and Ken exercise their will with Manuel Vargas from the University of San Francisco.

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/bi-racial-identities. Many people identify strongly with the ethnic or racial group to which they belong – as Jews, or African-Americans, or Latinos. But to which groups does a person truly belong? President Obama has a white mother from Kansas and an African father from Kenya. Why is he seen as our first African-American President, rather than our forty-fourth white president? How does racial identity work? Is such identification a positive or a negative factor in a person's life? Must we choose among our potential identities? Ken and John discuss racial and bi-racial identity with Michele Elam from Stanford University, author of "Mixed Race in the New Millennium."

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 expects? Or for our own reasons –- as "autonomous agents"? Americans tend to admire (at least in theory) the autonomous individual, the person who knows what he wants, and sets out to get it, no matter what the world might think. Is this true of all cultures? John and Ken are joined by Stanford Psychologist Hazel Markus to explore differences in motivation and action across cultures.

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 actresses who appear in them; we analyze the directors. What is special about cinema as an art form, a mode of learning, a technique of propaganda? Do movies pose special problems for aesthetics? With the Oscars coming, Ken and John discuss the most philosophically-oriented films of this and past years, announcing the recipients of Philosophy Talk's first annual Dionysus Awards.

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/civil-disobedience. Thoreau, Gandhi, and Martin Luther King all engaged in civil disobedience, and are widely admired for doing so. But how can democratic society function if each person's conscience has to be satisfied for a law to be obeyed? When is civil disobedience justified? When is it required? How does the concept fit with the great ethical and political philosophies? John and Ken discuss the ethics of protest and punishment with Kimberley Brownlee from the University of Manchester.

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/philosophy-history. Is history just a series of events, or an interpretation of those events? Is there progress in history? Can history be objective, or is it, as Napoleon said, just the version of past events that people have decided to agree upon? Ken and John delve into the past and its meaning with Daniel Little, Chancellor of the University of Michigan-Dearborn and author of "History's Pathways" and "Varieties of Social Explanation."

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/idea-university. Is a university a research institute with students, or and educational institution with research around the edges – or something in between? To whom does the university answer – the trustees? The administration? The faculty? The students? Or something more abstract, like knowledge and wisdom? John and Ken examine the very idea of a university with Stanford Provost John Etchemendy.

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 my kidneys? What is the philosophical basis for the taboo against selling parts of our bodies? There is an (illegal) market in body parts; shouldn't we trust the wisdom of the market and make it legitimate? Or would doing so undermine the very dignity of persons and human life? Ken and John dissect the issues with Stanford Philosopher Debra Satz, author of "Why Some Things Should Not Be for Sale: On The Limits of Markets."