Philosophy For Our Times

Once, Britain was the dominant power, then the US. Now, with the largest economy in the world by purchasing power, it seems China's turn has come. Should we accept, even welcome, the passing of the West? Or is there a response that would enable the West to retain significance, if not the dominance it once had? In this episode of Philosophy for our Times, Linda Yueh, Rana Mitter, and David Aaronovitch explore whether it is the end of the West. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The anonymity of the internet has enabled an epidemic of abuse. Was Hobbes right after all, and humankind are at core wicked and requiring constraint? In this episode of Philosophy for our Times, former director at MI6 Nigel Inkster, assistant editor at Spiked Ella Whelan, renowned journalist Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, and novelist Janne Teller ask should we abolish online anonymity to create a better world? See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Few now doubt that China will soon eclipse the US to become the world's largest economy. Is the sun setting on Western ideas as well as Western economies? In this episode of Philosophy for our Time, philosopher Julian Baggini, politician and academic Jamie Whyte, and Professor of Contemporary China Studies at Oxford University, Vivienne Shue, discuss the future of Western and Chinese thought. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Constrained by our genes, manipulated by technology and the cultural zeitgeist, there seems little space left for individual freedom. Should we conclude that the very idea of freedom was a mistake? Or is this a madness that threatens our personal lives and the culture on which the West was built? In this episode of Philosophy for our Times, Julian Baggini, Paul Broks, Hilary Lawson and Hannah Dawson go in search of freedom. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Identity politics has become ever more influential. Does our desire to belong to one tribe or another make conflict with others inevitable? Could we do away with tribal allegiances and see ourselves as part of the same human family? Or are group identities based on class, race, sexuality or nationality the only effective vehicles for political change? In this episode of Philosophy for our Times, David Blunkett, Dawn Butler and Phillip Blond dispute the politics and perils of identity. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Although most of us are critical of gender stereotypes, few deny the existence of two discrete biological sexes. Yet biology itself shows dozens of combinations of human sex chromosomes. Could biological sex itself then be an illusion, constructed from human categories? Or is this a futile attempt to deny the reality of two biological sexes? In this episode of Philosophy for our Times, Head of Psychobiology at Tel Aviv University Daphna Joel, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatrist at KCL Stuart Ritchie and sociologist of science Barry Barnes rethink sex and gender. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

As we explore the planets of the solar system and look out at those beyond, researchers hope they will find evidence of life. But would it be like life on earth? Or is the wish to find other life forms a science fiction fantasy that serves Hollywood well but has little to do with reality? In this episode of Philosophy for our Times, Biochemist and author of The Vital Question Nick Lane, Head of Future Missions at Airbus Ralph Cordey, and leading British space scientist Monica Grady grapple with the mysterious puzzles of life. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

An ever growing number of people are being treated for mental illness. Some blame the modern world, yet critics warn that psychiatrists and big pharma have an interest in describing normal human behaviour as an illness or disorder. Might we do better to give up the notion that mental distress implies illness? In this episode of Philosophy for our Times, author of Madness Explained Richard Bentall, clinical psychologist Lucy Johnstone, and consultant for Public Health Wales and Swansea Professor of Medicine Ann John examine the evidence. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Many would argue that for at least a century we have been moving away from the moral certainties of traditional Christianity. Yet now a new form of moral certainty is reappearing, with much of our culture seemingly gripped by a focus on virtue and a tightly policed sense of right and wrong. Should we welcome this return to virtue and embrace a new moralism that will purge society of its newly found sins? In this episode of Philosophy for our Times, Matthew Taylor, Rebecca Roache and Hilary Lawson grapple with the new moralism. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Fifty years ago we landed on the moon, and imagined that in 2001 we would be travelling vast distances through space. But the fantasy died, and we went nowhere. Now a new age of space exploration is underway - this one driven by companies, billionaires, and new players like China and India. Is it an essential trait of being human to reach out into the unknown? In this episode of Philosophy for our Times, Astronomer Royal Martin Rees, philosopher and author of Nobody Owns the Moon Tony Milligan, and Senior Strategist for Airbus Elizabeth Seward reach out to the cosmos. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

For much of human history, nature was our god. Yet now science and technology, which once we used to tame nature, are increasingly seen as plundering the planet and wrecking the climate. Were the ancients right, and nature the source of all things and that which we should guard most closely? Or should we instead renew our belief in progress and human ingenuity to solve our current problems? In this episode of Philosophy for our Times, David King, Sister Jayanti and Natalie Bennett tackle modern crises with ancient gods. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Ever since the discovery of DNA, we have fanstasised about creating new species of animals, or even 'improved' humans. But it is only in the last few years that a new gene editing technology, CRISPR, has made this a reality. Many claim it is already unstoppable, that we will always demand solutions to diseases if they are possible. Is CRISPR the key to improving health and defeating ageing? In this episode of Philosophy for our Times, Natalie Kofler, Steve Fuller and Angela Saini ask if we are now the masters of the universe. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Should we seek to eradicate offence? Last year Ireland voted to get rid of its blasphemy laws, and most applauded the new right to offend the Catholic Church. Yet to avoid giving offence, student campuses are introducing no-platforming and safe spaces. Should we seek to eradicate offence to create a more tolerant and equal society? In this episode of Philosophy for our Times, Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, David Aaronovitch and Joanna Williams pull no punches. Please be aware that, due to the nature of this debate, this podcast may contain language that some listeners may find offensive. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In a world obsessed with Trump, alternative facts have not had a great press. But it is a century and more since Nietzsche claimed 'there are no facts, only interpretations' - and fifty years since Thomas Kuhn argued that facts were theory dependent. Is an insistence on 'the facts' the dogmatic prejudice of believers in their particular truth? In this episode of Philosophy for our Times, Barry Barnes, Joanna Kavenna and John Ellis explore the prejudice of facts. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Seeing is believing, yet cognitive scientists seem to have uncovered these views as incorrect. Evolution led us to perceive what is best for survival and it turns out this has little to do with what we call 'reality'. Is reality then a creative construct that helps us to live but doesn't reflect the world? In this episode of Philosophy for our Times, cognitive psychologist and author Donald Hoffman, philosopher Maria Baghramian and post-realist Hilary Lawson embark on a radical rethink of reality. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The brutal mechanism of natural selection gave rise to all life on our planet. Or so the Darwinian story goes. But from mice to great whales, it now appears that animals inherit socially acquired characteristics. Is the theory of natural selection a Victorian relic, about to be replaced by a new science of cultural evolution? In this episode of Philosophy for our Times, philosopher of science Massimo Pigliucci, psychologist and primatologist Zanna Clay and professor of philosophy Tim Lewens ask if there is more to evolution than we might think. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode of Philosophy for our Times, Saul Kripke and Timothy Williamson discuss why language has come to dominate their field, why logic matters, and what the future for the Anglo-American tradition looks like. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Many philosophers have concluded that morality is a subjective human invention. Should we then simply encourage and argue for acts we support and do without morality altogether? Or is the authority of morality the tenuous thread that holds society together? In this episode of Philosophy for our Times, Justin Smith, Jason Alexander McKenzie and Barry C. Smith question the necessity of morality. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We admire achievers, from James Watt to Mandela, Marie Curie to Emmeline Pankhurst. Yet many spend their lives waiting for weekends and holidays. And does not play, both as sex, drugs and rock and roll, and as creative and physical endeavour provide us with the most memorable events in life? In this episode of Philosophy for our Times, Helen Lederer, Julian Baggini and Susan Neiman debate what it's all for. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Talk of other universes has become fashionable amongst physicists and string theory alike. Should we recognise ours as the only universe and give up on others as fantasy science? Or is slipping through a worm hole into another universe a credible reality rather than a Hollywood fairytale? In this episode of Philosophy for our Times, Cumrun Vafa, Mary-Jane Rubenstein and John Ellis go in search for the meaning of the multiverse. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.