Philosophy For Our Times

The spectre of the Enlightenment

What the Enlightenment a net positive or a net negative? Or is that the wrong question, and should we look at it simply as a historical period?

Join Professor of History Aviva Chomsky as she dissects one of the most important periods in modern history from the lens of a critical historian. The Enlightenment was not just a period that produced thoughts and ideas - it was an excuse and a reorde...

Why Marx was right

Having fallen out of favour around the turn of the century, Marxism is now back in fashion, often playing the role of an alternative to the increasingly right-wing politics of the modern world. Once the guiding ideology of Korean guerillas and Hampstead screenwriters alike, Marxism is back and taking universities and intellectual circles by storm, capturing the minds of students and teachers alike. In a t...

Lost in stories

Is life a story or a sequence of events?

Our narratives enable us to make sense of the complex, often confusing, world that we live in. And yet there is a risk that rather than helping us to truly understand this world, narratives can hide reality from us, providing delusional states of mind in its place. From witch hunts to cults, from war propaganda to religious honour killings, people are prepared to kill ...

The dark side of 'mental health' with Susie Orbach

Why are psychotherapy, psychology, psychoanalysis, therapy so popular today? Do these respond to a new need in our society or are they evolutions of age-old human approaches to resolution and knowing oneself?

Join psychotherapist and psychoanalyst (famously Princess Diana's therapist!) Susie Orbach as she delves into her relationship with her profession and why it so necessa...

Peter Singer is one of the world's leading philosophers, renowned for his challenging and often controversial views. From animal ethics to effective altruism, Singer has shaped the philosophical landscape. In this episode we uncover the key events in his life that led to his ideas, and hear him answer his critics and defend the convictions that have made him the force that he is today.

"The Dangerous Philosopher." - The Ne...

Under capitalism, it can be hard to disentangle an idea of 'value' from that which the market sets as 'valuable' - that is to say, expensive items. Is the price mechanism in any way a useful or accurate way of representing value, or are we unable to measure what we really value through it?

Join our panel of four diverse social scientists to make sense of this question: Abby Innes is Associate Professor of Political Economy ...

Is genuine originality a realistic goal for artists?

From fashion to fantasy, entertainment to enterprise, we seek the 'new' as the means to originality, change, and creativity. And for the most part, we imagine the new is always identifiable as a radical break from the past. But the nature of the new is more elusive and unknown than it first appears. Is the new an illusion, and the search for originality a mistake? Should ...

We take it for granted that through language and communication we can learn about the experience of others. But it remains unknown whether we can fully know what it is like to be another human being. James Baldwin and Jean-Paul Sartre take radically different approaches. For Sartre, the experience of others is unknown to us. Fundamentally, we are alone with our own subjectivity. While for Baldwin, "to encounter oneself is ...

What do Friedrich Nietzsche, the Korean War, and Homer's Odyssey have in common?

Join the team at the IAI for four articles about the history and philosophy of geopolitics, ranging from Nietzsche's impact on Russia's imperialist strategies to the importance of Ancient Greek tragedies during the decline of the West. Written by Slavoj Žižek, John Milbank, Stathis Kalyvas, and Andy Owen, these four articles offer a deep and wi...

The philosophy of dehumanisation with David Livingstone Smith

In this exclusive interview, philosopher David Livingstone Smith explores the history, nature, and evolution of dehumanisation. As what is 'acceptable' in society changes, so do the tactics of undercover dehumanisation. How can we identify these, and how might we progress? Smith's solutions vary from holding up the mirror to reveal there are no 'monsters', to his...

Consciousness is one of the most fundamental aspects of our existence, but it remains barely understood, even defined. Across the world scholars of many disciplines - philosophy, science, social science, theology - are joined on a quest to understand this phenomenon.

Tune into one of the more original and controversial thinkers at the forefront of consciousness research, Stuart Hameroff, as he presents his ideas. Hameroff i...

Metaphysics vs consciousness

Panpsychism has recently become something of a household term in philosophical and scientific conversations alike. Deceivingly simple, it defends the view that consciousness is the primary 'stuff' of reality, and that all things have mind-like qualities.

Join philosopher Philip Goff, one of the world's leading defenders of panpsychism, in this conversation with philosopher Hilary Lawson, a post-r...

Re-thinking the limits of the mind

Most scientists think that consciousness is created by the brain. After all, most assume consciousness vanishes if the brain is destroyed. But what if this consensus view is radically mistaken? Join distinguished scientist Rupert Sheldrake as he argues that the mind extends beyond the brain and explores the radical implications of this account.

Rupert Sheldrake is a preeminent biologist and...

The consciousness test

Could an artificial intelligence be capable of genuine conscious experience?

Coming from a range of different scientific and philosophical perspectives, Yoshua Bengio, Sabine Hossenfelder, Nick Lane, and Hilary Lawson dive deep into the question of whether artificial intelligence systems like ChatGPT could one day become self-aware, and whether they have already achieved this state.

Yoshua Bengio is a T...

Should we sacrifice the present for a better future?

Join the team at the IAI for three articles about effective altruism, longtermism, and the complex evolution of moral thought. Written by William MacAskill, James W. Lenman, and Ben Chugg, these three articles pick apart the ethical movement started by Peter Singer, analysing its strengths and weaknesses for both individuals and societies.

William MacAskill is a Scottish p...

Why do we love evil?

We may condemn tyrants and abhor serial killers, but we are obsessed with evil and violence. Our news and our entertainment focus on such material. Are we fascinated by evil, violent characters because they make life more exciting? Or because they express our true nature? Should we look to end this morbid obsession, or accept it as a feature of humanity?

Join Terry Eagleton, Susan Neiman, and Stephen...

Morality and prejudice

Is there such a thing as morality? And, if so, can we know what it is and act on it? Or is morality rather a shield for the powerful and a defence of their interest? The answer may have life-changing consequences...

Join a heated debate between three philosophers with three different perspectives on the meaning of morality and the role it should play in our lives: Tommy Curry, Chair of Africana philoso...

Humans are not morally superior

Is the meat industry a monstrous tyrant?

Join YouTuber Alex O'Connor for a thought-provoking talk on the ethics, or lack thereof, of eating meat. From a horrifying look at the practices of the meat industry to provocative analogies and compelling arguments, Alex doesn't hold back as he holds up a mirror to our modern dietary culture.

Alex O’Connor, also known by his YouTube alias ‘CosmicSkeptic...

Humanity and the gods of nature

Do animals and nature have an ethical life of their own? Must, or should, we extend our morality to non-human entities, or are their limits to notions of ethics?

Tune in to hear three world-famous philosophers on ethical issues discuss these questions from their different perspectives: Peter Singer has made a name for himself defending the rights and feelings of all sentient creatures; Slavoj ...