Why do some people have a strange desire to do weird things for no (good) reason? There's something fascinating about kids who eat laundry soap as part of a “challenge,” or people who deliberately... Read more
New Blog Policy
Philosophy Talk
26 February 2010
Well, it's been awhile since we've updated our blog. Since both John and Ken are extremely busy -- not only putting on episodes of philosophy talk, but with full time day jobs and research agendas (which means books and articles to write) -- they just don't get around to blogging that often, as you can see. We always invite our guests to blog, but they are busy people too and seldom take us up on the invitation. We had contemplated just closing down our blog, but thought before taking that step, we'd try one more innovation. What we're going to do is for every show, post something more or less based on the opening segment of the show -- which we think through hard in advance -- in order to just get the discussion started. It should be up and running each week before the show actually airs on Sunday -- either Friday or Saturday or perhaps at the latest Sunday morning itself.
We will open comments and we will monitor comments during the show, at least if the broadcast is not one of our growing number of pre-recorded shows. But be warned that we will also feel free to delete comments that are simply spam, irrelevant, inappropriate, etc.
We hope this policy revives our blog. We love the idea of a blog. It's just that our two principals and our many guests are very, very busy people.
We start with this week's Dionysus Awards show. We should have a post up shortly to get the discussion going. We've received dozens of e-mails and comments on our face book page. Hopefully, there will be lots of traffic here too.
Blog Archive
Making a better world would be a great thing—but do we need philosophers to help us do that? Famously (or infamously), not all philosophers have been such great people. So are they the folks we... Read more
In her time—the 4th century CE—Hypatia was one of the most famous philosophers in Alexandria, and indeed in the ancient world. She studied and taught mathematics,... Read more
Mexican philosophy is full of fascinating ideas, from Mexica ("Aztec") and Mayan thought to Sor Juana’s feminism and Emilio Uranga’s existentialism... Read more
Your friendly neighborhood Senior Prodcuer here, once again stepping out from behind the mixing board to bring you some bonus content from this week's 17th (!) annual Summer Reading special.... Read more
Gender is a controversial topic these days. To some, gender is an oppressive system designed to keep women down: people go around saying "girls are made of sugar and spice and boys are made of... Read more
Fascism is on the rise, new infectious diseases keep cropping up, and we’re on the verge of environmental collapse: how on earth could art possibly save us? The arts are may be nice distraction,... Read more
Some say the world is full of contradictions, like “parting is such sweet sorrow.” Parting is sweet, but parting is also sad; and sweetness and sadness are opposites. But logicians would say that... Read more
Our minds are amazing prediction machines—and sometimes they can even make their predictions come true!
Does reading that strike you as something out of The Secret—like if you... Read more
Derek Parfit was a really interesting thinker when it came to identity and the self. He had a particularly cool thought experiment involving tele-transportation.
Suppose you’re on your... Read more
When philosophers talk about perception, they tend to focus on what we see and hear, and rarely on what we smell. But olfaction is a strange sense that deserves greater philosophical scrutiny. For... Read more
A caller in this week's episode nominated "Women Talking" for a Dionysus Award. Guest co-host Jeremy Sabol takes that as a springboard to blog about movies and... Read more
This week we’re thinking about Cancel Culture, which some consider a real problem: people losing their jobs, being harassed online, their home addresses being shared—all because they said... Read more
This week we’re asking why we should trust science—which may sound like a weird question. After all, why would we doubt the method that helps us build bridges and skyscrapers, formulate life... Read more
Following up on last year's not-so-new experiment, here's a little behind-the-scenes look into the brief audio montages (produced... Read more
This week we’re asking what it’s... Read more
This essay also appears at the website of Oxford University Press, publisher of Josh's new book,
"The World According to Proust."
... Read more
This week we’re thinking about how to create a world in which our leaders are not just effective legislators, but also good people.
Some might think there are not enough leaders like that... Read more
This week we're thinking about the British Liberal tradition and its relationship to colonialism and self-government. Classical Liberal thinkers, like John Locke and John Stuart Mill, held that... Read more
This week we’re thinking about Collective Action and Climate Change. With floods and fires getting more frequent and intense, and with the summer just ended shattering heat records around the... Read more
This week we’re thinking about cultural appropriation and asking who owns culture—which may be a weird way of thinking about it. It's easy to see how somebody can own the rights to a song they... Read more
This week we’re questioning Effective Altruism. That’s Peter Singer’s idea that you should do the most good you can, and you should figure out what that is by doing your homework and choosing the... Read more
This week we're asking what Political Inequality is. Sounds easy to define, right? That’s when some people don’t get an equal voice in society, because they’re not represented in government, or... Read more
This week we're asking whether it's rational to be optimistic—which seems like bit of a crazy question if you've been reading the news lately. After all, what could possibly justify the belief... Read more
This week we're thinking about the Changing Face of Antisemitism—a program recorded last month at the Stanford Humanities Center for our first live, in-person event in 2-1/2 years.
... Read more
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Blog Archive
Why do some people have a strange desire to do weird things for no (good) reason? There's something fascinating about kids who eat laundry soap as part of a “challenge,” or people who deliberately... Read more
Making a better world would be a great thing—but do we need philosophers to help us do that? Famously (or infamously), not all philosophers have been such great people. So are they the folks we... Read more
In her time—the 4th century CE—Hypatia was one of the most famous philosophers in Alexandria, and indeed in the ancient world. She studied and taught mathematics,... Read more
Mexican philosophy is full of fascinating ideas, from Mexica ("Aztec") and Mayan thought to Sor Juana’s feminism and Emilio Uranga’s existentialism... Read more
Your friendly neighborhood Senior Prodcuer here, once again stepping out from behind the mixing board to bring you some bonus content from this week's 17th (!) annual Summer Reading special.... Read more
Gender is a controversial topic these days. To some, gender is an oppressive system designed to keep women down: people go around saying "girls are made of sugar and spice and boys are made of... Read more
Fascism is on the rise, new infectious diseases keep cropping up, and we’re on the verge of environmental collapse: how on earth could art possibly save us? The arts are may be nice distraction,... Read more
Some say the world is full of contradictions, like “parting is such sweet sorrow.” Parting is sweet, but parting is also sad; and sweetness and sadness are opposites. But logicians would say that... Read more
Our minds are amazing prediction machines—and sometimes they can even make their predictions come true!
Does reading that strike you as something out of The Secret—like if you... Read more
Derek Parfit was a really interesting thinker when it came to identity and the self. He had a particularly cool thought experiment involving tele-transportation.
Suppose you’re on your... Read more
When philosophers talk about perception, they tend to focus on what we see and hear, and rarely on what we smell. But olfaction is a strange sense that deserves greater philosophical scrutiny. For... Read more
A caller in this week's episode nominated "Women Talking" for a Dionysus Award. Guest co-host Jeremy Sabol takes that as a springboard to blog about movies and... Read more
This week we’re thinking about Cancel Culture, which some consider a real problem: people losing their jobs, being harassed online, their home addresses being shared—all because they said... Read more
This week we’re asking why we should trust science—which may sound like a weird question. After all, why would we doubt the method that helps us build bridges and skyscrapers, formulate life... Read more
Following up on last year's not-so-new experiment, here's a little behind-the-scenes look into the brief audio montages (produced... Read more
This week we’re asking what it’s... Read more
This essay also appears at the website of Oxford University Press, publisher of Josh's new book,
"The World According to Proust."
... Read more
This week we’re thinking about how to create a world in which our leaders are not just effective legislators, but also good people.
Some might think there are not enough leaders like that... Read more
This week we're thinking about the British Liberal tradition and its relationship to colonialism and self-government. Classical Liberal thinkers, like John Locke and John Stuart Mill, held that... Read more
This week we’re thinking about Collective Action and Climate Change. With floods and fires getting more frequent and intense, and with the summer just ended shattering heat records around the... Read more
This week we’re thinking about cultural appropriation and asking who owns culture—which may be a weird way of thinking about it. It's easy to see how somebody can own the rights to a song they... Read more
This week we’re questioning Effective Altruism. That’s Peter Singer’s idea that you should do the most good you can, and you should figure out what that is by doing your homework and choosing the... Read more
This week we're asking what Political Inequality is. Sounds easy to define, right? That’s when some people don’t get an equal voice in society, because they’re not represented in government, or... Read more
This week we're asking whether it's rational to be optimistic—which seems like bit of a crazy question if you've been reading the news lately. After all, what could possibly justify the belief... Read more
This week we're thinking about the Changing Face of Antisemitism—a program recorded last month at the Stanford Humanities Center for our first live, in-person event in 2-1/2 years.
... Read more
Comments (6)
Guest
Friday, February 26, 2010 -- 4:00 PM
Ah yes, the old time squeeze thing. Since many hanAh yes, the old time squeeze thing. Since many hands lighten the load, perhaps your appeal to your audience will indeed generate some traffic. I'll do my part by commenting here whenever I have something to add.
Philoso?hy talk is a must listen podcast for me. Thanks for all you guys are doing to keep us thinking.
Dave K.
Guest
Saturday, February 27, 2010 -- 4:00 PM
In addition to my phoned-in nomination for "KawasaIn addition to my phoned-in nomination for "Kawasaki's Rose" (directed by Jan Hrebejk of the Czech Republic) for the Dionysus award, I would like to make a strong honorable mention for "Na Putu" ("On the Path"), which recently premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival.
Directed by Jasmila Zbanic, who won Berlin's top award in 2007 for "Esma's Secret," the film is set in present-day
Sarajevo. But while "Esma's Secret" revolves around a rape survivor's struggle to conceal her trauma from her daughter, who was fathered by a Serb soldier, Luna, the protagonist in ?On The Path,? has a choice about motherhood.
The film opens on her relationship with Amar, her partner, at cruising altitude (she?s an airline attendant; he?s a flight controller), but fertility issues prevent her from getting pregnant. Once Amar is fired after getting busted for schnapps in his coffee mug on the job, the couple?s relationship is severely tested, but not because of Amar?s unemployment. When an old war buddy offers him a job teaching IT at a rural youth camp that turns out to be an Islamic fundamentalist community, he begins to drift from the western lifestyle he and Luna once took for granted. As a result, both partners are challenged to rethink their repressed war traumas, their love for each other, and their deepest beliefs, while Luna?s longing for motherhood is soon warped by the partner she barely recognizes. The film moves at an easy, natural pace, but its philosophical charge is power-packed.
Guest
Sunday, February 28, 2010 -- 4:00 PM
Hey Alexa: Good suggestion. And thanks for the gHey Alexa:
Good suggestion. And thanks for the great phone call from Berlin. That was way cool. If you get a chance, though, can you move your comment to the Dionysus Awards Post. That way it may generate more discussion.
Thanks
Ken
Guest
Tuesday, March 2, 2010 -- 4:00 PM
Hi Ken! I moved the post...sorry it was in the wroHi Ken! I moved the post...sorry it was in the wrong place to start with, but it wasn't loadable anywhere else at first. Will you be uploading the Feb. 28 broadcast of PT soon? I have to send it ASAP to some at Berlinal HQ.
Thanks again for taking my call...It was much more fun talking about that Czech film in English than in German...
Cheers, or Tchüss as they say 'over here' -
Alexa
Guest
Thursday, September 9, 2010 -- 5:00 PM
Ah yes, the old time squeeze thing. Since many hanAh yes, the old time squeeze thing. Since many hands lighten the load, perhaps your appeal to your audience will indeed generate some traffic. I'll do my part by commenting here whenever I have something to add.
Bill
Monday, September 20, 2010 -- 5:00 PM
Thanks for not closing down the blog like you wereThanks for not closing down the blog like you were thinking. It's great material for deep thinking