Philosophy Talk
Philosophy Talk
"The program that questions everything—except your intelligence." Philosophy Talk began as a weekly one-hour radio series and has been on the air for more than two decades. The host-professors bring clarity, depth, and humor to everyday topics that are lofty (Truth, Beauty, Justice), arresting (Terrorism, Intelligent Design, Suicide), and engaging (Baseball, Love, Happiness). This is not a lecture or a college course; it's philosophy in action! From timeless philosophical questions about the ultimate nature of things to contemporary social and political issues, as well as our most fundamental beliefs about science, morality, and the human condition, Philosophy Talk invites you to challenge your assumptions and think about things in new ways.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Mar 21, 2021 • 51min
What Is Masculinity?
Strong, in control, and stoic—these are traits of the ideal masculine man. Men who fail to conform to this ideal are often penalized, particularly if they are men of color, queer men, working-class men, or men with disabilities. So how do we create different visions of masculinity that make room for all kinds of men? Should we abandon the idea of masculinity altogether, or would that be throwing out the baby with the bathwater? Which models of masculinity will bring us closer to gender justice in the 21st century? The philosophers man their mics with Robin Dembroff from Yale University, author of Real Men on Top: How Patriarchy Weaponizes Gender (forthcoming).
Feb 28, 2021 • 51min
What Has Replaced Freud?
Although the concept that we can have thoughts and desires hidden from consciousness can be traced back to antiquity, it was Freud who truly popularized it in the twentieth century. Now Freud’s theory of the unconscious mind has mostly been abandoned for being unscientific and lacking in empirical evidence. So what has replaced it? Are newer theories that reference “automatic systems” or “implicit attitudes” any more scientific than Freud’s? And why is so much research about the unconscious mind being conducted in business schools? Josh and Ray are quite conscious of their guest, Blakey Vermeule from Stanford University, author of “The New Unconscious: A Literary Guided Tour.”
Jan 31, 2021 • 51min
The Rhetoric of Big Tech
Big tech is known for its “disruption” of established industries and changing fundamental aspects of our lives from shopping and delivery to communication and transit. While many welcome these changes, there are also worries about privacy, fairness, and deregulation. So how do tech companies think about what it is they are doing and what justifies it? Who are their philosophical sources, and do they use them responsibly? What role does New Age thinking, Ayn Rand, Martin Heidegger, and even Samuel Beckett play in shaping the rhetoric of big tech? Josh and Ray debug the code with Adrian Daub from Stanford University, author of What Tech Calls Thinking: An Inquiry into the Intellectual Bedrock of Silicon Valley.
Jan 17, 2021 • 51min
Democracy By Numbers
The United States prides itself on being “the world’s greatest democracy,” which adheres to the principle, “one person, one vote.” Despite this, its elections are often highly contentious—presidents can be elected after losing the popular vote, there is widespread gerrymandering and voter purging, and not everyone has equal representation in the Senate. So what can we do to make elections in the US more fair? And how do we decide what counts as fair in the first place? Is there some test or algorithm we can use to determine equal representation? Josh and Ray watch the polls with Moon Duchin from Tufts University, co-editor of Political Geometry: Rethinking Redistricting in the US with Math, Law, and Everything In Between.
Dec 27, 2020 • 53min
The Examined Year: 2020
The Year in Pandemic Ethics with Karen Stohr from Georgetown University, Senior Research Scholar at the Kennedy Institute of Ethics and author of a coronavirus ethics column for The Washingtonian magazine.
The Year in Misinformation and Conspiracy Theories with Tamsin Shaw from New York University, author of Nietzsche’s Political Skepticism.
The Year in Virtual Learning and Communication with Iris Berent from Northeastern University, author of The Blind Storyteller: How We Reason about Human Nature.
Plus poetry from this year’s recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature, Louise Glück (read by Director of Research Laura Maguire).
Dec 13, 2020 • 50min
Minds and Matter
Everything that seems to have a mind also has a body made of flesh and blood. But if we look at the diversity of animals found in the world, we find a huge variety of species that perceive and interact with the world in very different ways. Is there something all these species have in common? Are neurons and ganglia required, or can evolution generate consciousness in different ways? What can the study of evolutionary biology tell us about the nature of the mind? Josh and Ray sail away with Peter Godfrey-Smith from the University of Sydney, author of Metazoa: Animal Life and the Birth of the Mind.
Nov 19, 2020 • 50min
The Arts For All?
When we think of “real” art, we often think of expensive, highbrow pieces that are displayed in museums and galleries, and critiqued by the elite. In fact, people commonly lament that they don’t know enough about art to truly understand or appreciate the works that they encounter. So should art aim to be accessible to everyone? Or is it ever okay to sacrifice accessibility for other competing aims that art can pursue? Do artists have a duty to make their work more available or accessible in other ways? Josh and Ray paint their masterpiece with Catharine Abell from the University of Oxford, author of Fiction: A Philosophical Analysis.
Nov 15, 2020 • 51min
Are We All to Blame?
It’s easy to identify the pressing issues facing our world today, but it’s much more difficult to assign responsibility for them. Often the blame is placed on collectives — on entire governments, nations, and societies. But does the responsibility truly all fall to them? How can we identify precisely whose fault it is, for example, that we are experiencing climate change, or that hate crimes occur, or that there is a gender wage gap? Or do we as individuals hold a certain amount of responsibility for such pervasive, systemic issues? Josh and Ray point no fingers with Marion Smiley from Brandeis University, author of Moral Responsibility and the Boundaries of Community.
Oct 25, 2020 • 51min
What’s In a Game?
Games have been an integral part of human society since the earliest civilizations. They are played around the world by people at every rank and station, at every stage of life, from childhood to old age. Why do we love games so much? Are they just a pleasant way of whiling away some empty hours or escaping the daily grind? Or do we play games to form social bonds and build important life skills? Are there some games we should never play? And what exactly makes something a “game” in the first place? Josh and Ray team up with Thi Nguyen from the University of Utah, author of Games: Agency as Art.
Oct 18, 2020 • 51min
Why We Hate
The Southern Poverty Law Center reports that the number of hate groups operating in the U.S. has risen to a record high. There has also been a corresponding increase in hate crime violence. So where does all this hate come from? Do we hate others because we feel a deeper sense of alienation or fear towards them? Is hating always the wrong response, or is there an appropriate kind of hate? Can we love and hate at the same time? And what’s the difference between hate and other reactive attitudes like anger, disgust, and contempt? Josh and Ray shake off the haters with Berit Brogaard from the University of Miami, author of Hatred: Understanding Our Most Dangerous Emotion.
