Forum for Philosophy

Helen Frowe/ Issam Kouraj/ Vernon Rapley/ Eleanor Robson Listen to the podcast here or on YouTube From the recent destruction of Palmyra and the looting of the National Museum of Iraq, cultural artefacts are one of the many casualties of armed conflict. What exactly is cultural property and whose property is it? How should we weigh its value against other […]

Eimear McBride/ Kaye Mitchell Listen to the podcast here or on YouTube Is it possible to express the richness, variety, and depth of our inner experience, our thoughts and feelings? If so, what is the best way to do it? Should we turn to literature or to philosophy? And what can they teach each other about understanding, expressing, and performing […]

Adam Roberts/ Bryan Roberts/ Emily Thomas Listen to the recording here or on YouTube Born of science fiction, thinking about time travel has allowed us to visit possible and lost worlds, and rediscover the past through modern eyes. It also raises big puzzles: If you travelled back in time and killed your grandfather when he was a young man, would […]

Serena Ferente/ Carmen Pavel/ David Runciman Listen to the recording here or on YouTube 6.30-8pm | 29 November 2017 Sheikh Zayed Theatre, LSE The Brexit debate saw a revival in talk of ‘sovereignty’. But what exactly is it, and why is it so highly prized? What are its essential features and what are its limits? In a globalized world, is sovereignty something […]

Nicky Clayton/ Mark Cocker Listen to the recording here or on YouTube 6.30-8pm | 20 November 2017 Wolfson Theatre, LSE Speakers Nicky Clayton, Professor of Comparative Cognition, University of Cambridge Mark Cocker, Author and naturalist Chair Jonathan Birch, Fellow, The Forum; Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method, LSE What is it like to be a bird? What […]

Luke Brunning/ Luna Dolezal/ MM McCabe Listen to the recording here or on YouTube 6.30-8pm | 14 November 2017 Wolfson Theatre, LSE Does anger impede political progress or is it essential for change? Does love make us biased or is it the foundation of ethical thinking? Might shame alter not merely our perception of the world, but the very world […]

Victoria Dutchman-Smith/ Emmy Eklundh/ Matthew Ratcliffe Listen to the recording here or on YouTube At the intersection of the personal and the political, we explore the relationship between mental health and economics, politics, and society at large. Is it even possible to distinguish between mental illness that derives from an individual’s physiology or childhood experience and that which has broader social or political […]

Ahmad Al-Rashid/ Phillip Cole/ Elspeth Guild Listen to the recording here or on YouTube 6.30-8pm | 30 October 2017 Sheikh Zayed Theatre, LSE Some people crossing borders are called refugees while others are not. But who is a refugee? What precisely is the relationship between migration and seeking refuge? Can we justify the distinction between refugees, migrants, and displaced people? Our panel […]

Fay Dowker/ Eleanor Knox / Simon Saunders Listen to the podcast here or on YouTube 6.30 – 8pm | 23 Oct0ber 2017 Wolfson Theatre, LSE Organized in conjunction with the British Society for the Philosophy of Science Is Schrödinger’s cat alive or dead? This thought experiment was devised to illustrate a fundamental puzzle in quantum mechanics. A radical solution is […]

David Berry/ Legacy Russell/ Laurence Scott Listen to the podcast here or on YouTube Watch Legacy’s full presentation here How does our ubiquitous digital culture affect our sense of self? Is the self distorted, or do we now possess an invigorating digital selfdom? Should we revise our philosophical conceptions of the self in the light of social media? Our panel […]