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Philosopher's Zone podcast

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Philosopher's Zone

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The simplest questions often have the most complex answers. The Philosopher's Zone is your guide through the strange thickets of logic, metaphysics and ethics.

The simplest questions often have the most complex answers. The Philosopher's Zone is your guide through the strange thickets of logic, metaphysics and ethics.

 

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#241

Summer season: How philosophy fell in love with language

Around the beginning of the 20th century, philosophy began to take what's come to be known as "the linguistic turn". All major philosophical questions, it was argued, were really questions about language, and this conviction would dominate philosophical discourse for the next century. But are philosophers now starting to turn away from the linguistic turn? And what might be coming next? ... Read more

25 Dec 2024

28 MINS

28:25

25 Dec 2024

#240

Summer season: Music, taste and AI

When you think about the music you like (or don't like), what does it tell you about your taste? Do you think you have good taste? And if you do, why? What is it about music that determines good or bad taste, and is it possible to cultivate the former? ... Read more

18 Dec 2024

42 MINS

42:35

18 Dec 2024

#239

Stability, security and survival: a conversation with Mary Graham

Mary Graham is one of Australia's most distinguished Aboriginal academics and authors. In this conversation, she articulates a political philosophy of relationality, conflict management and much more. ... Read more

11 Dec 2024

27 MINS

27:59

11 Dec 2024

#238

Hannah Arendt and the aesthetic

German-American political theorist Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) was someone who thought and wrote about some of the worst atrocities of the 20th century, so it might seem strange to suggest that her conception of politics was primarily aesthetic. But she herself once said that she only wanted to understand the world, not to change it. ... Read more

04 Dec 2024

36 MINS

36:24

04 Dec 2024

#237

Sense, sensibility and the authentic self

Authenticity, vulnerability and empathy are all positive character traits - but is there something in the modern ritual performance of these traits that can actually be detrimental to public life? Are we forsaking reason for the sugar rush of cheap emotion? The tension between what Jane Austen called "sense and sensibility" goes back at least as far as the ancient Greeks, and this week we're exploring the philosophical history of toxic touchy-feeliness. ... Read more

27 Nov 2024

34 MINS

34:59

27 Nov 2024

#236

Philosophy and mysticism

Mysticism is a phenomenon commonly associated with religion and the kind of experience that bypasses the rational, critical mind - which is probably why modern philosophers have tended to treat it with suspicion. But this week we're asking if contemporary philosophy can learn something from the mystics. ... Read more

21 Nov 2024

38 MINS

38:08

21 Nov 2024

#235

Health care ethics: otherness and belonging

In ethical terms, health care systems are supposed to be "blind" to culture, offering the same level of care and respect to all patients regardless of background. Programs promoting diversity and inclusivity in health care are designed to further this aim - and yet for immigrants and other minorities, the practice can fall far from the ideal. ... Read more

13 Nov 2024

28 MINS

28:06

13 Nov 2024

#234

Sentience

Sentience is a puzzle - and an increasingly important one. The question of exactly what constitutes sentience, and which organisms possess it, is hotly contested. But with scientific evidence emerging in support of the theory that octopuses, bees and other invertebrates may be sentience candidates, moral questions of how we should treat them become more and more pressing. And then there's AI - could sentient robots be on the horizon? ... Read more

07 Nov 2024

30 MINS

30:40

07 Nov 2024

#233

Nationalism and immigration

Nationalism is often associated with rightwing politics and anti-immigration sentiment - but is that a necessary connection? This week we're looking at various forms of nationalism, and asking if there's something about the structure of the nation-state itself that fosters an exclusionary attitude to outsiders. ... Read more

30 Oct 2024

33 MINS

33:13

30 Oct 2024

#232

Philosophy, history and religion

With the launch this week of a new Centre for the History of Philosophy at Notre Dame University, we're talking about the value of philosophical insights from the past – particularly insights from a time when philosophy and theology were close cousins. ... Read more

24 Oct 2024

40 MINS

40:44

24 Oct 2024

#231

The 2024 Alan Saunders Lecture: Krushil Watene

Maori philosopher Krushil Watene is an outstanding scholar and part of a global leadership network working toward a sustainable future and a healthier planet. This week, delivering the 2024 Alan Saunders Lecture, she presents "Indigenous Philosophy and Intergenerational Justice". ... Read more

17 Oct 2024

42 MINS

42:21

17 Oct 2024

#230

Is there purpose in the cosmos?

To many people, the notion that the universe has consciousness and purpose belongs back in the pre-scientific era. This week we're exploring the possibility that cosmic purpose is defensible not only philosophically, but also scientifically. ... Read more

10 Oct 2024

36 MINS

36:54

10 Oct 2024

#229

Feminism and freedom

Is freedom the primary goal of feminism? It's popular these days to define feminism as something that frees women - from traditional gender roles, from social expectations and other restrictions. But the question remains as to whether or not "freedom feminism" is up to the task of helping - or even noticing - the most vulnerable and oppressed. ... Read more

03 Oct 2024

40 MINS

40:20

03 Oct 2024

#228

Indigenous literature in Australia

As an academic discipline, Australian literature has been a largely white affair, with the canon of "great Australian authors" dominated by Anglo-European men. Indigenous writers are working to change this, and Australian indigenous literature is flourishing. But how comfortably does it sit within the traditional university structure? ... Read more

25 Sep 2024

28 MINS

28:25

25 Sep 2024

#227

Deep ecology

With the climate heating up and our planetary support systems breaking down, how does an eco-philosopher manage to stay cheerful? This week's guest has been living and breathing these issues for many decades, which you'd think might make it difficult for him to get out of bed in the morning. But get out of bed he did, for a surprisingly upbeat conversation about optimism, pessimism and ecological identity. ... Read more

18 Sep 2024

28 MINS

28:24

18 Sep 2024

#226

AI and reading

AI is like all new technology, insofar as many people are afraid of it. When it comes to AI and education, scare stories abound of students using ChatGPT to write their essays, and a possible future where teachers are replaced by bots. But according to this week's guest, there's much to be excited about. ... Read more

11 Sep 2024

28 MINS

28:25

11 Sep 2024

#225

The philosophy of history in China

Ancient China seems like a place and a time far removed from our own - but when we look at how ancient and medieval Chinese scholars thought about the role and practice of history, we find some striking modern parallels. ... Read more

04 Sep 2024

34 MINS

34:21

04 Sep 2024

#224

Extremism, gender and science

Extremists used to be easy to spot: they were seen as irrational, unstable and... well, extreme. But in recent years, we've seen extremists on the political right laying claim to traditional Enlightenment values - reason, free speech, autonomy, human rights - that were traditionally used as bulwarks against extremism. ... Read more

28 Aug 2024

28 MINS

28:25

28 Aug 2024

#223

Orwellian equality: What can this philosophical outsider teach us about how to live

Few English language writers enjoy the position of authority, even reverence, that the journalist, essayist, novelist George Orwell does. While Orwell is best known for his novel “Nineteen Eighty-Four”, he can also be read as developing a provocative moral sensibility — perhaps even an ethical system — in dialogue with the exigencies of war that framed his life, as well as the philosophical traditions that were “in the air” in English culture in the first half of the twentieth century. ... Read more

23 Aug 2024

28 MINS

28:36

23 Aug 2024

#222

Can philosophy save us from the tyranny of toxic positivity?

Ever since Plato’s cave, the darkness has been considered something to be left behind. This is the founding myth of philosophy, the beginning of the Western philosophical tradition. But how might philosophy be different if it had, from the beginning, learned to see in the dark? If it had embraced, rather than sought to tame, the emotions that sometimes overwhelm us when we experience the too-muchness of life? ... Read more

16 Aug 2024

28 MINS

28:37

16 Aug 2024

#221

Why liberalism needs fewer defenders, and more devotees

Over the last decade, liberalism has found itself on the ropes. Even many liberals seem to regard it as too soft a political disposition for hard times. This has led some of its most passionate advocates to make the case for its importance with a degree of desperation commensurate with their sense of the existential threat it faces from resurgent forms of authoritarianism, intolerance, populism and political violence. But there is another way of making the case for liberalism — and that is to point to its benevolent effects all around us, the extent to which its influence is written all over those social practices and dispositions we hold dear. In other words, maybe liberalism doesn’t have to be defended at all, but simply acknowledged, and lived-into, as a way of life that both reflects and sustains our hard-won commitment to fairness, decency and equality. ... Read more

09 Aug 2024

28 MINS

28:36

09 Aug 2024