Rebecca Newberger Goldstein on Mattering

We are the kind of creature that cares whether or not we matter and how. What follows from this? Rebecca Newberger Goldstein, author of Mattering, discuses this with David Edmonds.

Buddhist philosophy rejects the idea of the self. How then can there be any moral responsibility? Monima Chadha, Professor of Indian Philosophy at Oxford University, explains.  This episode was supported by the Ideas Workshop, part of the Open Society Foundations

Predictions aren't quite what they seem to be, according to Carissa Véliz, author of the book Prophecy. They often are intended to persuade you of the inevitability of a certain outcome, and may be self-fulfilling to some degree. Yet they look like simple factual claims about what is likely to happen. We need to be far more aware of the role of prediction in our everyday lives, according to Véliz.

Frederick Douglass and W.E.B Du Bois were two prominent African-Americans who made a significant impact on the civil rights movement in the US. Douglass is particularly associated with the 19th Century abolitionism, and Du Bois with 20th C. pan-Africanism. In this interview Chike Jeffers puts them in their context and introduces some of their key ideas. This episode was supported by the Ideas Workshop, part of the Open Society Foundations.  

Democracy isn't working so well, so why not use a lottery system to choose representatives instead? Alexander Guerrero discusses his version of this old idea in this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast.

Narendra Modi has spoken of "decolonising" India including its post-colonial constitution Are philosophical criticisms of this constitution well-founded? Tarun Khaitan of the London School of Economics discusses. This episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast was supported by the Ideas Workshop, part of the Open Society Foundations.

Philosophers argue endlessly about what philosophy is. Janet Radcliffe Richards suggests that a simple way to approach this question is to examine what we think about inconsistencies.  She uses an example from medical ethics, the question of whether selling of organs should be permitted, to make her point.  

David Edmonds talks to Chike Jeffers of Dalhousie University about Africana Philosophy. This episode was supported by the Ideas Workshop, part of the Open Society Foundations.

Grief is affected by the passage of time in a way that some attitudes and emotions aren't. Samuel Scheffler explores why this might be so in this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast.