Philosophy Talk Starters

More at www.philosophytalk.org/shows/genetic-determinism.

Are there genes for practically everything? For being gay? For being mean? For being a philosopher? Does modern science show that we are largely the product of our genes --- or not? Join Ken and John and famed philosopher of biology John Dupré to see how trapped you are by your genes.

Are there genes for practically everything? For being gay? For being mean? For being a philosopher? Does modern science show that we are largely the product of our genes --- or not? Join Ken and John and famed philosopher of biology John Dupré to see how trapped you are by your genes.

http://philosophytalk.org/shows/genetic-determinism

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/schopenhauer.

Arthur Schopenhauer, the great Nineteenth Century philosopher, had a pessimistic vision of the world as "will and idea.” Our will to survive serves no high purpose; the world is at best a shared illusion. Schopenhauer influenced Nietzsche and Wittgenstein and inspired our guest, prominent psychiatrist Irv Yalom, to write the novel "The Schopenhauer Cure." What truths, metaphysical or psychological, can we wrest from Schopenhauer's gloomy vision?

Arthur Schopenhauer, the great Nineteenth Century philosopher, had a pessimistic vision of the world as "will and idea.” Our will to survive serves no high purpose; the world is at best a shared illusion. Schopenhauer influenced Nietzsche and Wittgenstein and inspired our guest, prominent psychiatrist Irv Yalom, to write the novel "The Schopenhauer Cure." What truths, metaphysical or psychological, can we wrest from Schopenhauer's gloomy vision?

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/schopenhauer

More at www.philosophytalk.org/shows/free-will-illusion

We like to think of ourselves as enjoying unrestricted freedom of the will. But modern science increasingly teaches us that our choices are causally determined by some combination of our genes, our upbringing, and our present circumstances. Can the idea of freedom of the will be reconciled with the scientific outlook or is free will an illusion? If we give up on the idea that we have freedom, what follows for our practice of holding people morally responsible for their actions and choices? John and Ken talk freely with John Fischer from UC Riverside, co-author of "Four Views on Free Will."

We like to think of ourselves as enjoying unrestricted freedom of the will. But modern science increasingly teaches us that our choices are causally determined by some combination of our genes, our upbringing, and our present circumstances. Can the idea of freedom of the will be reconciled with the scientific outlook or is free will an illusion? If we give up on the idea that we have freedom, what follows for our practice of holding people morally responsible for their actions and choices? John and Ken talk freely with John Fischer from UC Riverside, co-author of "Four Views on Free Will."

More at: http://philosophytalk.org/shows/free-will-illusion

More at www.philosophytalk.org/shows/neurocosmetology

Progress in neuroscience may soon make possible an age of neurocosmetology: the use of drugs to let people affect the way their brains work, so as to make them more effective, more attractive, and more like their "cognitive ideal." A world where all the women are beautiful and all the men handsome might be bearable if boring. But would a society full of type-A's work at all? Can it be rational to choose to change in ways that may change who you are? Should there be moral or legal prohibitions against healthy people messing with their own brain chemistry? John and Ken put on their best face with Sam Barondes from UCSF, author of "Better than Prozac: Creating the Next Generation of Psychiatric Drugs."

Progress in neuroscience may soon make possible an age of neurocosmetology: the use of drugs to let people affect the way their brains work, so as to make them more effective, more attractive, and more like their "cognitive ideal." A world where all the women are beautiful and all the men handsome might be bearable if boring. But would a society full of type-A's work at all? Can it be rational to choose to change in ways that may change who you are? Should there be moral or legal prohibitions against healthy people messing with their own brain chemistry? John and Ken put on their best face with Sam Barondes from UCSF, author of "Better than Prozac: Creating the Next Generation of Psychiatric Drugs."

More at: http://philosophytalk.org/shows/neurocosmetology

More at www.philosophytalk.org/shows/what-beauty.

Are there objective standards of beauty? Or is beauty in the eye of the beholder? Must art be beautiful to be great art? What is the role of the experience of beauty in a good life? John and Ken take in the beauty with Alexander Nehamas from Princeton University, author of "Only a Promise of Happiness: The Place of Beauty in a World of Art."

Are there objective standards of beauty? Or is beauty in the eye of the beholder? Must art be beautiful to be great art? What is the role of the experience of beauty in a good life? John and Ken take in the beauty with Alexander Nehamas from Princeton University, author of "Only a Promise of Happiness: The Place of Beauty in a World of Art."

More at: http://philosophytalk.org/shows/what-beauty