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
Nov 29, 2005 • 50min
Friendship
Who do we call friends? Do we need friends out of love for others or for ourselves? Is a life with friends necessarily a better life? Ancient philosophers, such as Aristotle, wrote extensively on the topic. John and Ken examine just what friendship means in the modern life with their friend, Martha Nussbaum, Professor of Law and Ethics, University of Chicago.
Nov 22, 2005 • 48min
Language of Fiction
What are we talking about when we talk about Sherlock Holmes or Santa Claus? Something that doesn’t exist? Something that exists only in the mind? Something that exists only in a fictional or imaginary world? Are statements about fictional objects true? Is there a distinction between literal truth and “fictional truth?” John and Ken uncover the facts about fiction with Joshua Landy from Stanford University.
Nov 1, 2005 • 49min
George Berkeley
Berkeley founded and defended idealism, the doctrine that there is not a material world; reality is the orchestration of ideas in minds, nothing more. He influenced Hume, Mill, Russell, and many other philosophers. John and Ken explore Berkeley’s ideas with David Hilbert from the University of Illinois at Chicago, author of Color and Color Perception: A Study in Anthropocentric Realism.
Oct 18, 2005 • 52min
The Willing Suspension of Disbelief
Why don’t we run out of the movie theatre when a monster shows on the screen? What kind of mental state is the willing suspension of disbelief? Why do fiction and drama affect our emotions even when we know they are not real? John and Ken examine the role of suspension of disbelief in the enjoyment of theatre, movies, video games, and what this trait reveals about the human mind in general.
Oct 11, 2005 • 53min
Reconciliation
Justice, truth, and identity; race, society, and law—these all come into dramatic play as South Africa makes the tumultuous transition to a post-apartheid democracy. How has the new South Africa constructed its concepts of reconciliation? How has its historical emergence meant a rethinking, reimaging, re-experiencing, relabeling, and repoliticizing of race? John and Ken discuss reconciliation with Daniel Herwitz, a philosopher who has spent much time in South Africa.
Oct 4, 2005 • 49min
The Strange World of Quantum Reality
Quantum mechanics is an astoundly successful, mathematically elegant, explanatorily deep, even beautiful scientific theory. Yet it reveals a truly puzzling world of micro-entities: entities that can be at two places at once, that can “travel” from here to the other side of Alpha Centauri in an instant without traversing the space in between, that behave like waves when unobserve but like particles when observed. Join John, Ken and their guest, Jenann Ismael as they try to make philosophical sense of the strange world of quantum reality.
Sep 27, 2005 • 40min
Ethics in War
After World War II the Nurenberg trials and the conventions that arose out of them codified the idea that there are right and wrong ways to wage war. That prisoners of war have definite rights, and that non-combatants should be treated differently than soldiers. Some think the idea of a morality of warfare makes no sense, and that the distinction between soldiers and non-combatants is meaningless in the setting of modern warfare. John and Ken discuss these issues in the light of philosophical theories of right and wrong.
Sep 20, 2005 • 51min
Language of Politics
Politics, especially American politics, puts pressure on words like “liberal”, “conservative” and “values” as they are used more as weapons than as tools for communication. John and Ken discuss this process and the philosophical shifts that often accompany changes in meaning with famed San Francisco linguist Geoff Nunberg, a regular on “Fresh Air.”
Aug 30, 2005 • 49min
Saints, Heroes, and Well-Lived Lives
Some actions are right, and some are wrong. But aren’t some even better than right—the kinds of things that heroes and saints do? Yet some philosophers think that such “supererogatory” acts make no sense; we should always do the best thing open to us, and there is no room for better than best. John and Ken discuss the philosophy and psychology of saints and heroes with Susan Wolf from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill.
Aug 2, 2005 • 51min
Descartes
The 17th Century philosopher Rene Descartes is often considered the father of modern philosophy. His Meditations are a staple in introductory philosophy courses, and his views on the relation of mind and body have dominated philosophical discussion of this issue for three hundred years. John and Ken discuss the life, times, and philosophy of this fascinating French philosopher with Ron Rubin from Pitzer College, author of Silencing the Demon’s Advocate: The Strategy of Descartes’ Meditations.
