Thank you
What am I? This is the fundamental question that Paul Snowdon addresses in this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast. John Locke thought that continuity of memory was the basic criterion for determining whether or not we are dealing with the same person over time. Paul Snowdon, in contrast, argues that we should see ourselves as primarily human animals.
Harvard philosopher Michael Sandel discusses the moral limits of markets in this, the 100th episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast. Sandel is the BBC 2009 Reith Lecturer. His four Reith Lectures will be broadcast on Radio 4 and the BBC World Service in June. You can follow Philosophy Bites interviewer Nigel Warburton on Twitter commenting on Sandel's first lecture as it is broadcast on BBC Radio 4 from 10.15 p.m. UK time on 13th June on www.twitter.com/philosophybites. Add #goodradio or #Reith2009 to any comments you make on Twitter. For more information about the 2009 Reith Lectures follow www.twitter.com/Reith2009.
Listen to Michael Sandel on What Shouldn't Be Sold
You can also listen to Michael Sandel on Enhancement in Sport (a topic that is relevant to the 3rd of his Reith lectures) on an earlier episode of Ethics Bites which we made for The Open University. Open2.net has a site with some audio and links about the 2009 Reith Lectures here.
Pleasure is something we all seek. But should we? Is it the most important thing in life? Are all pleasures of equal value? Thomas Hurka investigates the concept of pleasure in this episode of Philosophy Bites.
Kate Soper believes that we need to rethink how we live in the light of impending environmental catastrophe. But the unexpected element in her thought is that alternative ways of living can be more enjoyable than consumerism. This leads to her notion of alternative hedonism.
Genocide is, at first glance, a straightforward term. We think we know what it is and why it is such an evil. But, as Chandran Kukathas of the London School of Economics argues in this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast, perhaps the received definition of this term that emerged following the Second World War needs refinement.
Alexander Nehamas discusses the nature and value of friendship in this Philosophy Bites interview with Nigel Warburton. Nehamas maintains that understanding a friend can be like understanding a work of art.
What is a virtue? Is ethics a matter of cultivating appropriate virtues, patterns of behaviour prized by particular people at a particular time? Roger Crisp discusses the nature of virtue in this interview with Nigel Warburton for the Philosophy Bites podcast.
In this interview for Philosophy Bites Anthony Appiah explains how experiments in psychology can be relevant to our ethical reasoning.
Listen to Anthony Appiah on Experiments in Ethics
Listen to Anthony Appiah on Cosmopolitanism (earlier on Philosophy Bites)
Friedrich Nietzsche's The Genealogy of Morality presents a highly original account of the sources of our values. Christopher Janaway, author of Beyond Selflessness: Reading Nietzsche's Genealogy, discusses Nietzsche's influential book in this episode of Philosophy Bites.
In this episode of the podcast Philosophy Bites Quentin Skinner discusses Niccolò Machiavelli's The Prince, one of the most notorious works of political philosophy. Skinner sets the book in its historical context and explains its key themes.
