The Philosopher's Zone is your guide through the strange thickets of logic, metaphysics and ethics.

When you think about the music you like (or don't like), what does it tell you about your taste? Do you think you have good taste? And if you do, why? What is it about music that determines good or bad taste, and is it possible to cultivate the former?

Mary Graham is one of Australia's most distinguished Aboriginal academics and authors. In this conversation, she articulates a political philosophy of relationality, conflict management and much more.

German-American political theorist Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) was someone who thought and wrote about some of the worst atrocities of the 20th century, so it might seem strange to suggest that her conception of politics was primarily aesthetic. But she herself once said that she only wanted to understand the world, not to change it.

Authenticity, vulnerability and empathy are all positive character traits - but is there something in the modern ritual performance of these traits that can actually be detrimental to public life? Are we forsaking reason for the sugar rush of cheap emotion? The tension between what Jane Austen called "sense and sensibility" goes back at least as far as the ancient Greeks, and this week we're exploring the philosophical history of toxic touchy-feeliness.

Mysticism is a phenomenon commonly associated with religion and the kind of experience that bypasses the rational, critical mind - which is probably why modern philosophers have tended to treat it with suspicion. But this week we're asking if contemporary philosophy can learn something from the mystics.

In ethical terms, health care systems are supposed to be "blind" to culture, offering the same level of care and respect to all patients regardless of background. Programs promoting diversity and inclusivity in health care are designed to further this aim - and yet for immigrants and other minorities, the practice can fall far from the ideal.

Sentience is a puzzle - and an increasingly important one. The question of exactly what constitutes sentience, and which organisms possess it, is hotly contested. But with scientific evidence emerging in support of the theory that octopuses, bees and other invertebrates may be sentience candidates, moral questions of how we should treat them become more and more pressing. And then there's AI - could sentient robots be on the horizon?

Nationalism is often associated with rightwing politics and anti-immigration sentiment - but is that a necessary connection? This week we're looking at various forms of nationalism, and asking if there's something about the structure of the nation-state itself that fosters an exclusionary attitude to outsiders.

With the launch this week of a new Centre for the History of Philosophy at Notre Dame University, we're talking about the value of philosophical insights from the past – particularly insights from a time when philosophy and theology were close cousins.