Democracy is about acting as a group, but, surprisingly, Robert Talisse argues that what it needs to function well is a degree of solitude for citizens. In-group and out-group dynamics mean that individuals become vulnerable to being pushed towards more extreme views than they would otherwise hold. There is, Talisse, maintains, a need to balance times of thinking together with times of thinking alone, at a distance from the fray.

How did morality evolve? Why do different cultures have such a similar set of moral norms and values? Hanno Sauer gives an evolutionary story that explains the genealogy of morality through human co-operation. 

Most Western philosophers are deeply ignorant of Japanese philosophy. Takeshi Morisato who was brought up in Japan, and who has studied both continental and analytic Western traditions provides and introduction to some of the key strands in Japanese philosophy. 

Melissa Lane, a classics scholar as well as a philosopher, discusses some key features of Plato's political philosophy and shows its continuing relevance.

Does Socrates still have something to teach us? Agnes Callard thinks he has. Here she discusses the great Athenian and his continuing relevance with David Edmonds. 

Henri Bergson was once one of the most living famous philosophers. Now he is less well known. Emily Herring, his biographer, discusses this and some of his key ideas in this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast. Nigel Warburton is the interviewer.

For this episode in the Bio Bites strand of the Philosphy Bites podcast Nigel Warburton interviews Lyndsey Stonebridge, author of a recent book about Hannah Arendt, We Are Free To Change the World, about how her thought was affected by her circumstances as an emigré fleeing Nazism. 

​Sometimes, there is vagueness about whether it is morally permissible (or even in some situations required) to perform a certain act—moral vagueness. What is the source of moral vagueness? Ofra Magidor discusses this topic with Nigel Warburton.

This episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast has been made in association with Vagueness & Ethics, a research project funded by the European Commission (grant agreement number 101028625 — H2020-MSCA-IF-2020) and led by Miguel Dos Santos at Uppsala University.

How can we make decisions under conditions of indeterminacy? Robert Williams discusses this challenging issue with Nigel Warburton. 

This episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast has been made in association with Vagueness & Ethics, a research project funded by the European Commission (grant agreement number 101028625 — H2020-MSCA-IF-2020) and led by Miguel Dos Santos at Uppsala University.

Peter Godfrey Smith is famous for his work on understanding the minds of other animals, particularly octopuses. In this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast he discusses animal minds with Nigel Warburton.