Philosophy For Our Times

Is our obsession with enhancing ourselves leading to the end of humankind? Luke Robert Mason explains.

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The transhumanist dream, the merging of humans with machines, may soon be a reality. Elon Musk's NeuraLink is developing quickly, and before long, with the rise of more forms of human biotechnology, we may find that more and more of us are becoming half-human, half-machine.

Futures theorist Luke Robert Mason is a researcher, filmmaker and digital media artist. He has been a frequent contributor to BBC Click Radio, The Guardian, Discovery Channel, VICE Motherboard, Wired Magazine and Futurism.com.

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Has contemporary culture abandoned the quest for the sublime? Our experts try to find out.

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From Rembrandt to Rothko, Mozart to Wagner, art and music have the capacity to give us a feeling of the sublime and transcendent wonder. Yet in contemporary culture the sublime is rare and for the most part not even desired. Few would claim that watching the WAP video or Takashi Murakami's art are gateways to the sublime.

What really is the sublime and where can we find it in the 21st century?

Thought-provoking author Olivia Fane, journalist and social critic Minna Salami, radical biologist Rupert Sheldrake and award-winning novelist Joanna Kavenna interrogate our awe at what lies beyond, and how it does - and doesn't - manifest today. Mark Salter hosts.

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Is metaphysics back in fashion? Or is philosophy getting increasingly lost?

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The twentieth century began with a revolutionary new approach to philosophy. The great arguments about the nature of reality and human experience were deemed empty and meaningless. A new philosophical broom, in the form of analytic philosophy, claimed to sweep away vacuous grand theories and replace them with hard logic and analysis and a close attention to the meaning of the words. Yet, a hundred years on metaphysics is back. Theories of consciousness and the character of reality are once again the topic of debate.

Should we welcome this return to stories about the ultimate character of the world? Or do they risk being empty, conveying little other than the prejudices and desires of their authors? Are grand metaphysical theories about the nature of reality and consciousness vital topics of debate or a set of fairy tales?

Legendary Neurophilosophy pioneer Patricia Churchland, Closure theorist Hilary Lawson and analytic philosopher Galen Strawson lock horns over the future of metaphysics.

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How does panpsychism clash with fundamental physics? Does it? Can we find a theory that supports science AND philosophy to finally explain consciousness?

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In this episode Philip Goff responds to recent critiques of panpsychism by theoretical physicists Sean Carroll and Sabine Hossenfelder, and then explores some implications for the science of consciousness.

Philip Goff is a philosopher of consciousness at Durham University. His research focuses on integrating consciousness into our scientific worldview. His 2019 book Galileo's Error sets out his defence of panpsychism rooted in an analysis of the work of Arthur Eddington and Bertrand Russell.

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How do we make decisions regarding our children in an impossibly complicated digital world?

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Technology is changing parenthood. From children raised by smartphones, to making choices about gene-editing and enhancement, Melanie Challenger asks what it means to be a parent in a technological age.

Melanie Challenger is a researcher on the history of humanity and the natural world, and on environmental philosophy. Her latest book, How to Be Animal: A New History of What It Means to Be Human was published by Canongate in 2021.

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Is the abandonment of ritual a contemporary mistake? Listen to what our experts have to say.

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From greetings and introductions, to love and relationships, church services and dances, formality and ritual were once a central part of our lives. But form and ritual have been in retreat for more than a century. Many now see formality as outdated, an unnecessary sign of deference, and welcome a less constrained, more open culture.

Historian of ideas Hannah Dawson pulls no punches debating philosopher of religion Linda Woodhead and distinguished art critic Noel Carroll on the place of formality and ritual in the modern world. Writer and broadcaster Myriam Francois hosts.

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How wrong was Descartes exactly? Listen to find out!

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Professor of Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience Anil Seth explores the ultimate mystery of our consciousness experience. In this interview, Seth discusses the misconceptions surrounding the difference between consciousness and intelligence, the link between consciousness and self-consciousness and why consciousness can be seen as similar to a controlled hallucination. Seth also considers whether or not he thinks science will ultimately dissolve the sense of mystery surrounding what consciousness really is.

Anil Seth is a Professor of Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience at the University of Sussex and author of Being You: A New Science of Consciousness. He is also Co-Director of the Sackler Centre for Consciousness Science and Editor-in-Chief of Neuroscience of Consciousness. He is also a regular contributor to the New Scientist, The Guardian, and BBC, and writes the blog NeuroBanter.

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Can morality lead society down dangerous roads? Listen to how our speakers deconstruct our idea of right and wrong.

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Many would argue that for at least a century we have been moving away from the moral certainties of traditional Christianity. Yet, a new form of moral certainty is now reappearing, with much of our culture seemingly gripped by a focus on virtue and a tightly policed sense of right and wrong.

Should we welcome this return to virtue and embrace a moralism that will purge society of its newly found sins? Or are these certainties a new prejudice and the intolerant assertion of tribal attachments? Is our culture morally bankrupt in need of greater virtue, or could we be in the early stages of a Salem witch trial?

Chief Executive of The RSA and former head of the No. 10 Policy Unit Matthew Taylor, ethicist Rebecca Roache and philosopher and Closure theorist Hilary Lawson ask whether it's time to move beyond our fixation on morality is misguided. Author Danielle Sands hosts.

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Free will? Nah...

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Do we have free will? Are we exercising our agency or following our predetermined destiny? How would we structure our society if we believed that individuals are not responsible for their actions? Or maybe we already do?

In this interview analytic philosopher Galen Strawson discusses free will, ultimate moral responsibility and the thin veneer of our own rationality. Strawson probes at how the narratives we require in order to have an idea of the 'self' allow us to follow misguided illusions.

Galen John Strawson is an acclaimed British analytic philosopher and literary critic who works primarily on philosophy of mind and metaphysics. His work covers free will, panpsychism, the mind-body problem, and the self. He has been a consultant editor at The Times Literary Supplement for many years, and a regular book reviewer for The Observer, The Sunday Times, The Independent, the Financial Times and The Guardian. He is the son of philosopher P. F. Strawson.

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Does life have meaning or is it time to embrace nihilism? Listen to find out!

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Humans have always sought meaning beyond themselves in stories about the gods and the “beyond”. Yet today contemporary culture and thought has left many alone with only human, and contradictory, perspectives on the universe. In the absence of something beyond ourselves some would argue we have also lost meaning and purpose.

Do we need the transcendental to give our lives meaning? Can we conjure a 21st century form of the transcendental in the philosophical mysteries of life and the universe? Or should we ring out a Nietzschean cheer at the death of god and focus our attention on creating our own, human meanings that have lasting value and importance?

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