News
News
Immigration and Multiculturalism
15
Mar 2019
Should immigrants assimilate into their new society? Or should society adapt to make room for different cultures? Aren’t there some foreign customs we should never accept? This week, we’re thinking about immigration and multiculturalism. I have to say, I’m a big fan of multiculturalism—that is, of the idea that each culture within a society should maintain its own identity, rather than assimilating to the dominant one. In fact I’m not just a fan but a beneficiary of multiculturalism, having immigrated to the States thirty or so years ago. It’s true that I do a...
Read more#FrancisOnFilm: Portrait of a Lady on Fire
09
Mar 2020
Is it wrong to paint someone’s portrait without their consent? Does doing so invade their privacy, taking intimacy from them? In Portrait of a Lady on Fire, writer-director Céline Sciamma presents this ethical dilemma for a woman portraitist in late eighteenth century Brittany. The portraitist is hired to paint a young woman who has already refused to sit for another and who has not been told the reason for the portraitist’s visit to her family’s home. One goal of the portrait is straightforwardly economic: it is to be taken to a prospective (and supposedly wealthy)...
Food and Philosophy: Live at the Marsh
Philosophy Talk
24
Mar 2010
Satisfy your hunger for food and philosophy on April 25th at the new Marsh Theater location in Berkeley. Join Philosophy Talk for two live recording sessions and a lunch break in between where you can break bread with Philosophy Talk co-hosts John Perry and Ken Taylor.11:00am Show: Democracy and the PressOur founding fathers believed that a free press would serve democracy by promoting unfettered political debate and by exposing the actions of the government to the harsh scrutiny of an informed and engaged populace. In today’s media landscape, however, large...
Read moreAmerican Pragmatism
John Perry
14
Jan 2007
[Tom Burke, a Stanford Ph.D. and author of Dewey's New Logic, is associate professor of philosophy at the University of South Carolina (http://people.cas.sc.edu/burket/). I invited him to guest blog on the topic of pragmatism, which he didn't think we quite did justice to on our program of a few weeks ago. --jp]
What Is Pragmatism?
by Tom Burke
Department of Philosophy
University of South Carolina
Like any philosophical "ism," pragmatism lends itself to easily-refuted straw-man characterizations; and in any case, no doubt, there are inferior (short-sighted,...
The Philosophy of Puns
John Perry
28
Jul 2016
A Philosophy Talk show on puns can’t just consist of making puns, even if they are good ones. We need to show what’s philosophically interesting about them. First a couple of definitions. As a noun, a pun a joke exploiting the different possible meanings of a word or the fact that there are words that sound alike but have different meanings: the pigs were a squeal (if you'll forgive the pun).As a verb, to pun is to make a joke exploiting the different possible meanings of a word: his first puzzle punned on composers, with answers...
Read moreThe Ethics of Drone Warfare
Laura Maguire
09
Sep 2015
In the last six years alone, at least two and a half thousand people have been killed by US drone strikes.[1] That’s nine times more drone attacks under Obama than under his predecessor, George W. Bush. The justification for this increase in attacks is that drones are precise, effective weapons that reduce unintended casualties. Some might find the idea of a killing machine that can be operated from thousands of miles away deeply chilling. But the defenders of drones say that cold and detached is good in war. It means soldiers can be calm and dispassionate, and not act out of fear. They can...
Read moreThe Mystery of Music
Ken Taylor
22
Jul 2016
Our topic this week is the Mystery of Music. Music is an amazing thing. It can move us to its groove and or make us cringe. it can lift us up or bring us down. But exactly how does music work its magic on the mind? What separates good music from bad? And why do different people react so differently to the very same music? Those are just some of the questions we address on this week’s episode. A first thought is that it’s all just a matter of taste and thus totally subjective! You like Beethoven, but his music leaves...
Read moreHas Science Replaced Philosophy?
Laura Maguire
03
Sep 2015
As someone who makes her living as a philosopher, it’s probably already obvious that I don’t think science has (or could) replace philosophy. While both aim at the truth, they clearly have different methods and tackle different problems. Yet the question whether science has replaced philosophy raises a number of interesting issues, so it’s worth giving it some thought. Moreover, in the last few years a number of scientists, like Stephen Hawking, have been very vocal in pronouncing the death of philosophy. They seem to think that science can or will answer all the important questions...
Read moreCulture, Appropriated
16
Sep 2022
This week we’re thinking about cultural appropriation and asking who owns culture—which may be a weird way of thinking about it. It's easy to see how somebody can own the rights to a song they wrote, but how can anyone own a whole culture? Some cases of interaction between cultures do seem pretty fraught, to say the least. Think about the British Museum, which is full of artifacts that the United Kingdom "appropriated" from all around the world. Most of us would agree that it's wrong to take an object that doesn’t belong to you and bring it back to your museum—many would call that, well,...
Read more[AUDIO] What Constitutes Consent?
Spencer Giel
05
May 2017
California law defines sexual consent as "Yes means Yes". In other words, the consent is "affirmative, conscious, and voluntary agreement to engage in sexual activity," that can be revoked at any time. The bill that enacted this change in 2014 was aiming in particular to improve the way that sexual assault and rape cases are handled at Universities. However, does this definition properly capture what constitutes consent? Does Yes really always mean Yes? On this episode of the Philosopher's Zone, Eleanor Gordon-Smith gathers a variety of opinions to determine whether this...
Read moreAre Bosses Like Dictators?
Mohit Mookim
04
Sep 2017
Do bosses operate like mini-monarchs of the workplace? In what ways does your boss (if you have one) have arbitrary, excessive power over your life? Why do we demand democracy in the political sphere, and yet give it up so quickly in the economic? In this rich article on Vox, eminent philosopher Elizabeth Anderson addresses these questions head-on. Perhaps unsurprisingly, she thinks that there's a strong parallel between bosses and dictators. Take a look: https://www.vox.com/the-big-idea/2017/7/17/15973478/bosses-dictators-workplace-rights-free-markets-unions
Read moreThe Puzzle of Possibility
David Livingstone Smith
10
Jan 2018
Happy New Year! Now that we’ve launched into 2018, many of us are wondering what the year ahead has in store. What might happen, to you, your loved ones, the nation or the world as a whole? There seem to be a lot of possibilities, some to be hoped for and others to be feared. Philosophers are as much concerned about the possibilities that lie ahead as anyone else is. But philosophers are also interested in possibilities for a different reason—or rather, in a different way. When we consider possibilities, most of us are curious about what is possible, but a...
Read moreHappy 200th, Karl Marx!
Mohit Mookim
05
May 2018
It's Karl Marx' 200th Birthday! It is hard to deny that Marx left a lasting, far-reaching impact on the course of history. But how exactly can we distill the core insights of Marx's teachings? Are we to emphasize it his concrete philosophical positions or his contributions to political history around the world? This wonderful New York Times tribute to Marx highlights and praises the philosopher's critical posture towards capitalism and oppressive structures. Marx's pragmatic, critical attitude is brought to bear on our instituions regularly in our society. Here's the...
Read moreNeuroscience and the Law
Ken Taylor
04
Sep 2014
This week, our topic is neuroscience and the law. Neuroscience is revolutionizing our understanding of how the brain works. In the process it is challenging ago-old ways of thinking about crime and punishment. Some neuroscientists even say that it’s time to completely rethink our judicial system in light of their discoveries. That’s because our current legal system presupposes a certain picture of how the mind works that many neuroscientist now believe is almost entirely wrong. Common sense counts a person morally responsible for a wrongful action only if the action results from their...
Read moreNihilism and Meaning
John Perry
29
Dec 2011
'Nihilism’ is based on the Latin word for `nothing’: nihil. Nihilism is used for a lot of positions in philosophy… that there is nothing at all; that we know nothing at all; that there are no moral principles at all, and virtually any other position that could be framed with the word `nothing’. But the most common use, and what we'll explore today, is nihilism as the view that nothing we do, nothing we create, nothing we love, has any meaning or value whatsoever. Nihilism not only captures a philosophical point of view, but a certain mood, a certain melancholy: is this...
Read moreThe First Ever Online Philosophy Conference
Philosophy Talk
17
Jan 2006
We would like to take this opportunity to announce the 1st Annual On-line Philosophy Conference (OPC), which is tentatively to begin on Friday, April 7th (2006). The first installment of OPC will be hosted on the newly created On-line Philosophy Conference Blog and will include invited papers by some of today's top junior and senior philosophers, such as Stephen Stich, Jonathan Kvanvig, John Martin Fischer, Alfred Mele, Julia Driver, Terence Horgan, Graham Priest, R.A. Duff, Thomas Hurka, Susanna Siegel, Brian Weatherson, Uriah Kriegel, Manuel Vargas, Kit Wellman, Joshua Gert, Joshua Knobe,...
Read moreThe Examined Year 2016: Triumph and Defeat
Laura Maguire
15
Dec 2016
As we approach the end of 2016, we are gearing up for our annual year in review show, "The Examined Year." In this special show, which broadcasts live from our home station, KALW, we depart from our usual long-form conversation format with a single guest and instead have three different guests on three different segments. The theme we've chosen for our philosophical review of 2016 is "Triumph and Defeat." Politically speaking, it's obvious how that theme applies. The two biggest political upsets of the year that we'll be examining are Brexit and Trump. Joining us for...
Read morePuzzle About Conspiracy Theorists (Part II)
Neil Van Leeuwen
06
Sep 2018
In my last blog, I examined a puzzle about conspiracy theorists. On the one hand, many conspiracy theoretic beliefs, like those of flat earthers, appear irrational. Psychological research, furthermore, shows that conspiracy theorists are typically low in analytic cognitive style, which means (roughly) they’re low in conscious deliberate rational thought. On the other hand, the researcher whose talk I had heard (Jan-Willem van Prooijen) pointed out that many conspiracy theorists do a lot of “thinking” and consider evidence contrary to their views. Accordingly, they adopt auxiliary...
Read moreWhat's In a Picture?
10
Sep 2019
Look around; I’ll bet you can see several pictures from where you sit, or stand, right now. You may see photographs of family, or drawings in advertisements. There are little pictorial icons for apps on your computer desktop and your phone’s home screen. Simplified pictures of pedestrians, cars, trucks, and deer festoon our street signs. Pictures are so ubiquitous that they often fade into the background of our conscious experience. We take them for granted. But there’s a special magic to pictures. When you see one, you don’t only see some colors on a surface, some marks jumbled...
Read moreComments Will be Moderated, beginning immediately.
Philosophy Talk
31
Oct 2010
Like every blog, we wage a constant war against spammers. But spammers always seem to be ahead of the game. They are able to leave hundreds of comments at once, even with the safeguards that Typepad has built into its software. The only sure way to block the spammers is to moderate comments --- something we haven't really wanted to do. But it looks like its time to finally give moderation a try. So starting now, we will moderate comments. That means that if you post a comment, it may take awhile to appear. Indeed, if it's off point, or inane, or otherwise inappropriate, it...
Read moreSeparation of Powers and the Charismatic Presidency
Ken Taylor
16
Aug 2008
I wrote this entry when our Separation of Powers episode originally aired. I'm moving it up to the top since that episode is about to air again. I welcome further discusssion. KT Later this morning, our episode "Power out of Balance? Exploring the Separation of Powers" will air. This epsiode was recorded back in July [of 2006] on Capitol Hill in a tiny little room in the basement of the building. Though the audience was small, they were quite engaged and engaging. We were there at the invitation of Congresswoman Anna Eshoo. We are most grateful to Congresswoman Eshoo for...
Read moreReligion and the Art of Living
John Perry
28
Jan 2016
Religion offers us a comforting and inspiring vision of human existence. In the Abrahamic religions, Judaism, Islam and Christianity, a just but loving and merciful God created the universe. He’s in charge. And he’s got a plan -- not just for the universe as a whole, but for each of us. Seems like it would be nice to wake up in the morning as a part of all that. According to Kierkegaard, rejecting it leads to a pretty dismal existence. He says “if there were no eternal consciousness in man, if at the foundation of all there lay only [nature] a wildly seething power...
Read morePhilosophy Meets Literacy Through Positive Coaching
08
Mar 2015
T. R. Girill
Society for Technical Communication/Lawrence Livermore National Lab.
trgirill@acm.org
Philosophy Meets Literacy Through Positive Coaching
When I show high-school science students (or their teachers) how to
design effective nonfiction ("technical") text, they often end up
with a lesson not just in linguistics but also in philosophy--
about writer responsibility. One way to see this is to tap the
distinction (another philosophical move!) between positive and
negative coaching.
The Coaching Framework
People who coach others to improve their...
#FrancisOnFilm: Judas and the Black Messiah
08
Mar 2021
Judas and the Black Messiah bears its theme in the title: betrayal. The film tells the story of the FBI murder of Black Panther Fred Hampton, aided by the undercover activities of William O’Neal, an informant for the FBI paid with ownership of a gas station. Both Akua Njeri, Fred Hampton’s partner, and Fred Hampton, Jr, his son born just weeks after the murder, consulted on the film. The film premiered at Sundance, where I had the privilege to see it virtually and hear the Q&A. Far more than a gripping biopic or a straightforward indictment of the Chicago police and the FBI...
Quiz Night: The Slides
Devon Strolovitch
25
Jan 2024
Photo: Andrea Barton-Elson
For those of you following along at home, here are the slides from our 20th Anniversary Quiz Night, held November 9, 2023 at KALW's popup event space in downtown in San Francisco.
Round I (not aired)Round IIRound IIIRound IVRound VRound VIRound VIIRound VIII