Colin McGinn, educated at Oxford University, is the author of sixteen

previous books, including The Making of a Philosopher. He has written

for the London Review of Books, The New Republic, the New York Times Book Review,

and other publications. He has taught philosophy at University College

of London, Oxford, and Rutgers University, and is a distinguished

professor of philosophy at the University of Miami. He is best known

for his work in the philosophy of mind, but has published across the

subjects of modern philosophy. He was featured in Bill Moyers' series Faith and Reason on PBS and also Jonathan Miller's Atheism Tapes, a BBC documentary series.

In this discussion with D.J. Grothe, Colin McGinn explores various

kinds of skepticism, giving his concerns about radical fallibilism and

certain post-modern critiques of knowledge. He explains how he is

certain that ghosts and Gods don't exist. He details how atheistic the

profession of philosophy is, and how the tolerance shown while

philosophers criticize each other serves as a model for good

citizenship. He tells the reasons that led to his religious skepticism

and atheism. He examines William Shakespeare as a philosopher, the

problem of evil in Shakespeare's plays, and other philosophical

subjects found in Shakespeare such as epistemology, ethics, life after

death, happiness and the meaning of life. He also explains how getting

into Shakespeare as a professional philosopher impacted his philosophy.