Philosophy Bites

An interview exploring the key ideas of Frederick Douglass and W.E.B.

Alexander Guerrero proposes lottocracy—replacing elections with random selection of political representatives.

Tarun Khaitan discusses the movement to decolonise constitutions in India and South Africa, critiquing arguments that framers had a 'colonised imagination'.

Janet Radcliffe Richards explores the nature of philosophy, emphasizing logic and consistency through real-world examples like organ-selling ethics and historical debates on women's rights.

Chike Jeffers defines Africana philosophy as a broad category encompassing African and diaspora thought, tracing its origins from Africana studies.

Angie Hobbs discusses Plato's views on power, focusing on dialogues like Gorgias and Republic.

Samuel Scheffler discusses the philosophical puzzle of why grief diminishes over time despite the permanence of loss, comparing it to other emotions and exploring human resilience and successor attitudes.

Philosopher Edouard Machery discusses his research on cultural variations in responses to thought experiments, examining cases like the Gettier problem, Kripke's Gödel example, Putnam's Twin Earth, and the trolley problem.

Lewis Gordon discusses Frantz Fanon's life and philosophy, focusing on his critique of colonialism in Black Skin, White Masks, his existentialist humanism, and his nuanced views on violence and decolonization.

David Edmonds discusses Peter Singer's shallow pond thought experiment, which argues that we have a moral obligation to help distant strangers in poverty just as we would save a drowning child.

Carlos Alberto Sánchez discusses the distinctiveness of Mexican philosophy as a post-colonial tradition focused on identity, freedom, and concepts like Nepantla and Zazobra.

Palestinian philosopher Sari Nusseibeh discusses how philosophy can address the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by encouraging self-reflection and understanding opposing viewpoints.

Philosophy Bites hosts David Edmonds and Nigel Warburton interview philosopher Ellie Robson about the work of Mary Midgley, the British philosopher who lived from 1919 to 2018 and didn’t publish her first book until age 59.

Robert Talisse discusses the concept of civic solitude, arguing that democracy requires not only collective action but also solitary reflection to counteract group polarization and partisan toxicity.

Hanno Sauer discusses the evolutionary and cultural origins of morality, arguing that it functions to scale up cooperation in human societies.

Takeshi Morisato explains the complex history of Japanese philosophy, tracing its development through Shinto, Confucian, Taoist, and Buddhist traditions.

Melissa Lane challenges the traditional view of Plato as anti-democratic, arguing that his Republic advocates a constitutionalist system with strict controls on rulers to prevent corruption.

Agnes Callard discusses lessons from Socrates, exploring his method of philosophical inquiry through untimely questions, its application to politics, love, and death, and its contrast with thinkers like Wittgenstein.

Emily Herring discusses Henri Bergson, a once-celebrated French philosopher now largely forgotten.

Lyndsey Stonebridge discusses Hannah Arendt's life and work, exploring her formative relationship with Martin Heidegger, her rejection of traditional philosophy after witnessing Nazi complicity, and her controversial ideas on totalitarianism and the banality of evil.

Robert Williams discusses decision-making under indeterminacy, distinguishing it from uncertainty using examples like vagueness in heaps and colors.

Ofra Magidor discusses epistemicism and moral vagueness, arguing that vague concepts like 'tall' or moral terms have sharp cutoffs we cannot know.

Philosopher Peter Godfrey Smith tells Philosophy Bites hosts David Edmonds and Nigel Warburton how diving encounters with giant cuttlefish and octopuses transformed his approach to the philosophy of mind.

David Edmonds and Nigel Warburton interview Richard Bourke, Professor of the History of Political Thought at Cambridge, on Hegel's philosophy of history.

Philosopher Jonathan Birch discusses the edge of animal sentience, exploring which animals might feel pain or pleasure and the ethical implications.

Cheryl Misak discusses Frank Ramsey, the brilliant Cambridge philosopher who died at 26, exploring how his socialist upbringing, pragmatist philosophy, and warm character influenced his groundbreaking work in economics, mathematics, and philosophy.

Elizabeth Harman discusses moral heroes, arguing that some actions beyond duty are things we should do, using examples from small favors to life-saving risks.

Philosopher Walter Sinnott Armstrong discusses how AI can assist in ethical decision-making, focusing on a hybrid approach that combines principles with public input to address dilemmas like kidney allocation, while considering biases and practical applications in medicine and beyond.

David Edmonds discusses the life and philosophy of Derek Parfit, exploring how Parfit's eccentric personality—such as his disregard for his body and extreme impartiality—shaped his ideas on personal identity and morality.

Yascha Mounk discusses his concept of 'the identity trap,' arguing that contemporary identity politics has become counterproductive by rejecting universalist traditions of justice.

Mark Rowe discusses J.L.

Yascha Mounk discusses the 'identity trap,' critiquing how modern identity politics prioritizes group identities over universal values, potentially harming social justice and free speech.

James Klagge discusses Ludwig Wittgenstein's life and his only published work, the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, exploring how his wealthy background, family tragedies, and experiences in World War I influenced his philosophy.

David Chalmers discusses techno-philosophy and the extended mind hypothesis, arguing that technology like smartphones and AI can literally extend our minds beyond the brain.

Agnes Callard explores the philosophy of sex, arguing that erotic desire centers on reciprocal wanting to be wanted, which creates logical puzzles and distinguishes it from other forms of desire.

Michael Lamb, author of a book on Augustine's political thought, argues to Philosophy Bites host Nigel Warburton that Augustine of Hippo — widely read as one of the great pessimists of Western thought for his analysis of human pride, lust for domination, and moral corruption — actually develops a nuanced and sophisticated account of hope as a virtue.

Seth Lazar discusses how AI transforms political philosophy by introducing algorithmic intermediaries that shape power relations.

Philosophy Bites hosts Nigel Warburton and David Edmonds interview historian of ideas Hannah Dawson of King's College London about Mary Wollstonecraft's A Vindication of the Rights of Woman.

Scott Hershovitz argues that law and morality are not separate domains; instead, legal practices like legislation and adjudication are part of our moral lives, aiming to create genuine moral rights and responsibilities.

Carissa Veliz discusses digital ethics, highlighting issues like AI regulation, privacy, and algorithmic bias.

Philosopher Theron Pummer discusses the 'rules of rescue,' exploring moral obligations in emergency situations.

Kieran Setiya explores the philosophy of loneliness, distinguishing it from solitude and discussing its harms, including brain activation similar to physical pain and links to health issues.

William MacAskill discusses longtermism, the view that positively impacting the long-term future should be a key priority, arguing that future generations matter morally as much as current ones.

Edith Hall discusses Aristotle's practical ethics, focusing on eudaimonia as a lifelong practice of virtue, the role of emotions like anger, and how his ideas apply to modern life, including personal reflection and societal evolution.

Philosopher L.A.

Josiah Ober discusses the civic bargain as essential for democracy's survival, emphasizing agreements on security, welfare, and living without a boss.

Philosopher Skye Cleary discusses Simone de Beauvoir's concept of authenticity, explaining it as a process of creating one's essence through free choices while acknowledging unchangeable facts.

Philosopher Peter Railton discusses the ethical challenges of AI, from learning systems like AlphaGo to issues of responsibility and bias in decision-making.

Philosopher Clare Chambers argues for valuing the 'unmodified body' as a political principle against societal pressures to alter appearances.

Peter Singer discusses consequentialism, explaining its core principle that actions are judged by their consequences.

Cécile Fabre discusses the ethics of spying, arguing that espionage should protect individuals, not just states, and must adhere to moral constraints like Kantian principles.

Interview with Congressman Ro Khanna discussing dignity in the digital age and how to regulate digital platforms for democracy.

An interview with Benjamin Lipscomb about four influential female philosophers at Oxford University.

An interview with psychologist Paul Bloom about psychological hedonism, the theory that all human actions are ultimately motivated by the pursuit of pleasure and avoidance of pain.

Philosopher Myesha Cherry discusses the distinction between anger and rage, and whether anger can be justified, challenging the Stoic view that it should be suppressed.

Nigel Warburton and David Edmonds interview philosopher Agnes Callard about the nature and significance of complaint.

Philosopher David Miller discusses the philosophical issues surrounding immigration and border controls.

Neuroscientist Sophie Scott discusses the science of laughter, including its physiological mechanisms and evolutionary origins.

Philosopher Cecil Farb discusses the ethics and meaning of war remembrance practices, including memorials and ceremonies.

David Edmonds and Nigel Warburton interview Jesse Prince about the philosophical debate on whether thinking involves mental images.