Philosophy Overdose

What is causation? In this first lecture in this series on the nature of causation, Marianne Talbot discusses Hume's famous account of causation, which is a version of the so-called regularity theory.

Uploaded 22-08-21

We have causal theories of reference, perception, knowledge, content and numerous other things. If it were to turn out that causation doesn’t exist, we would be in serious trouble! Causation is so important in fact that it has been said that: “With regard to our total conceptual apparatus, causation is the centre of the centre”, and it has been called ‘the cement of the universe’. In these lectures you will be introduced to the most influential theories of causation, the motivations for them and arguments behind them, and the problems they face.

This is from a six-part lecture series on the nature of causation given at Oxford in 2016.

#philosophy #davidhume #causation #epistemology #causality #metaphysics #empiricism #historyofphilosophy



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Audio recording of a lecture by Jonathan Wolff on John Rawls' political philosophy. After discussing the detrimental influence of logical positivism on ethical and political discourse, Jonathan Wolff goes on to explain John Rawls' famous contractarian conception of justice. Rawls' argument takes the form of a thought experiment involving a hypothetical contract in which people are made ignorant about certain facts about themselves which could bias them in their own favor (e.g. their race, gender, class, age, talents, etc.). In this way, ignorance is used as a way to guarantee impartiality in deciding how societies should be set up. After all, one cannot rig things up to benefit oneself if one doesn't know what one's interests are or what one's position in society will be. Rawls argued that people behind this so-called "veil of ignorance" would agree to two principles of justice: the liberty principle and the difference principle. Jonathan Wolf explains these principles and the main arguments for and against them. (My Summary)

Uploaded 06-06-21

Note, this is re-upload. More details about this talk will be added at a later date.

More Political Philosophy: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhP9EhPApKE_O1dkCOqsUke_0QUkX80A-

#philosophy #politicalphilosophy #rawls #johnrawls #politicaltheory #historyofphilosophy



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Audio recording of Robert Nozick presenting an argument against Karl Popper's anti-inductivist view of scientific knowledge in a clip from a 2001 interview by Juliαn Sαnchez on Nozick's most recent book "Invariances: The Structure of the Objective World".

Uploaded 21-12-25

#philosophy #karlpopper #epistemology #science #nozick



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An interesting discussion from an episode of Odyssey on WBEZ Chicago from back in 2002 with host Gretchen Helfrich. The participates were professor Stanley Fish and professor Joshua Cohen. You may also be interested in the following discussion about truth: https://youtu.be/MxL0fQcrjzQ

Uploaded 18-09-21

#Philosophy #Postmodernism #Relativism



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Hannah Arendt believed that the will of the totalitarian ruler occupied the place left vacant by the absolute authority over the world attributed to God during the Middle Ages. With the collapse of the divinely ordained Kingships and the authority exercised by the Catholic church in the name of God, what would replace the authority of God in the world? How would such authority be constituted, who would act in its name, and what rules would it follow? Arendt believed that these questions missed the point. She welcomed the disappearance of absolute authority from the world in the name of the plurality of citizens whose power could now come forward. Only the power created by the collective decisions of citizens coming together to act on matters of public interest could establish a valid and just authority. Of course, this meant that there could be no return to the stability of the past. But it also meant that, as citizens, we assume responsibility ourselves for what happens in the world.

Uploaded 29-04-25

These clips come from a 1972 conference on Arendt's work at York University.

#philosophy #hannaharendt #politicaltheory #totalitarianism #authority



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Professor Dan Robinson gives the seventh in a series of 8 lectures on Thomas Reid's critique of David Hume at Oxford in 2014. In his Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals [1751], Hume states: “The final sentence, it is probable, which pronounces characters and actions amiable or odious, praise-worthy or blameable; that which stamps on them the mark of honour or infamy, approbation or censure; that which renders morality an active principle and constitutes virtue our happiness, and vice our misery; it is probable, I say, that this final sentence depends on some internal sense or feeling, which nature has made universal in the whole species”. The ruling motives are shaped by considerations of utility. “The rage and violence of public war; what is it but a suspension of justice among the warring parties, who perceive, that this virtue is now no longer of any USE or advantage to them? The laws of war, which then succeed to those of equity and justice, are rules calculated for the ADVANTAGE and UTILITY…”

Uploaded 20-06-21

Under “David Hume”, the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy begins with, “The most important philosopher ever to write in English”. His most formidable contemporary critic was the fellow Scot, Thomas Reid, the major architect of so-called Scottish Common Sense Philosophy. The most significant features of Hume’s work, as understood by Reid, are the representive theory of perception, the nature of causation and causal concepts, the nature of personal identity and the foundations of morality. Each of these topics is presented in a pair of lectures, the first summarizing Hume’s position and the second Reid’s critique of that position.

All Lectures: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhP9EhPApKE9nki7CXFPi7PMOi5W2g2-q

#philosophy #davidhume #ethics #moralphilosophy #historyofphilosophy



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Gadamer discusses Hegel's account of self-consciousness. Among other things, he touches on Hegel's master-slave dialectic. The translation is my own.

Uploaded 18-07-21

More Gadamer: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhP9EhPApKE_MbPzGOh27qfdqiCaf7Uot
More Short Clips: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhP9EhPApKE8v8UVlc7JuuNHwvhkaOvzc

#philosophy #gadamer #hegel



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Audio recording of a short program in which Antony Flew discusses the life and thought of the great 17th-century British empiricist philosopher, John Locke. This comes from a 1977 series of programs on western philosophy.

Uploaded 12-10-25

#philosophy #epistemology #locke #historyofphilosophy



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A short clip of Isaiah Berlin discussing freedom, touching on his famous distinction between negative and positive freedom.

Uploaded 10-07-21

Isaiah Berlin interview on freedom: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSBf5LJ0hnc
Isaiah Berlin interview on liberalism and pluralism: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxn55CXTgKo

#philosophy #isaiahberlin #politicalphilosophy #freedom



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Audio recording of a 1963 lecture by Alan Donagan on G. E. Moore's ethical non-naturalism and the reaction against it. This was his second talk in a series on contemporary ethics given at DePauw University.

Uploaded 25-04-24

#philosophy #ethics #metaethics #moralphilosophy #historyofphilosophy



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