philosophy bites

Brian Leiter on Nietzsche Myths

Friedrich Nietzsche is famous for many things, including the idea of  the  Übermensch, The Will to Power and his sceptical beliefs about truth that make him a precursor of much postmodern thinking. But according to Nietzsche expert Brian Leiter (the man behind the Leiter Reports Weblog) close reading of his work tells a different story.

Listen to Brian Leiter on Nietzsche Myths

Brian Leiter's Nietzsche Weblog

Luciano Floridi on the Fourth Revolution

New technology has changed our relationship to one another and to the world, argues Luciano Floridi. This calls for a shake up in philosophy.

Listen to Luciano Floridi on the Fourth Revolution

 

Paul Snowdon on Persons and Animals

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.

Listen to Paul Snowdon on Persons and Animals

Don Cupitt on Non-Realism About God

Don Cupitt, the controversial theologian and philosopher whose BBC television series The Sea of Faith (and accompanying book) spawned a theological movement with the same name, is the interviewee for this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast. He explains his non-realism about God.

Listen to Don Cupitt on Non-Realism About God

Christopher Shields on Personal Identity

Personal identity - the question of what, if anything, makes an individual the same person despite change over time - is an idea that has interested philosophers since antiquity. Christopher Shields discusses this topic in this Philosophy Bites interview.

Listen to Christopher Shields on Personal Identity

Adrian Moore on Kant's Metaphysics

Immanuel Kant's Critique of Pure Reason is a great but difficult work. In this interview for Philosophy Bites A.W. Moore gives an accessible account of the main themes of the book and explains what might have been motivating Kant's approach to metaphysics (no mean feat in under 20 minutes!).

Listen to Adrian Moore on Kant's Metaphysics

Aaron Ridley on Nietzsche on Art and Truth

In this interview Aaron Ridley explores Nietzsche's changing views about the relationship between art and truth including his views about the dionysian and appollonian aspects of existence.

Listen to Aaron Ridley on Nietzsche on Art and Truth

Thomas Pink on Free Will

We often blame people for what they do or fail to do. But that implies that they were free to choose whether or not to act in the way they did. At the same time science seems to reveal prior causes of all our actions. There seems little or no room for free will.  In this episode of Philosophy Bites Thomas Pink, author of Free Will: A Very Short Introduction, discusses the Free Will Problem and outlines his own approach to it.

Listen to Tom Pink on Free Will

A.C. Grayling on Descartes' Cogito

Anthony Grayling, author of a recent biography of René Descartes, explores Descartes' Cogito argument, the pivotal argument of the Meditations, in conversation with Nigel Warburton in this episode of Philosophy Bites.

Listen to A.C. Grayling on Descartes' Cogito Argument

Read Simon Blackburn's review of Grayling's biography of Descartes

Hugh Mellor on Time

Events happen in time. And time is essentially tensed: there is past, present, future. D.H. Mellor,  author of Real Time (and Real Time 2), suggests otherwise. In this podcast for Philosophy Bites he explains why time isn't tensed.

Listen to Hugh Mellor on Time

Free PDF files of two of Hugh Mellor's books are available here: The Matter of Chance and Matters of Metaphysics (a collection of 16 of his papers). Both are also available as books - see below.