Thoughts: Philosophy Untangled

How does one go about living a good life? In this episode Calum and Alex talk to Dr Margaret Hampson who is a lecturer in Ancient Philosophy at the University of St Andrews. They explore how Aristotle thinks about virtue in the Nichomachean Ethics, including what it consists of and how it links to the idea of living a good, flourishing life. The conversation then goes into more depth about the processes that Aristotle outlines for becoming a more virtuous person and Margaret’s interpretation of these processes, with a focus on the ideas of imitation and habituation. 

https://twitter.com/standrewsphil

Calum and Neil get the opportunity to talk to Peter Krykant, who is a political activist and Project Lead with the harm reduction charity Cranstoun, and Dr Saket Priyadarshi, who is an Associate Medical Director with Greater Glasgow and Clyde Alcohol and Drug Services. This episode discusses the distinctions between different forms of drugs, the issues surrounding drug use within society, the causes of these issues and what some possible solutions might be. It also includes a host discussion at the end where Calum, Neil and Jonah tie some of the topics covered with related philosophical concepts that a Philosophy student might encounter as part of their degree.

https://twitter.com/PeteKrykant_OPC

https://twitter.com/saket_sanju

Links:

David Nutt Drug Ranking: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11660210

Rat Park: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rat_Park

Liberty and Utilitarianism: https://www.jstor.org/stable/24354944?seq=1

Pragmatism in Ethics: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/pragmatism/#Ethi

Addiction and Responsibility: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3505095?refreqid=excelsior%3A03356468b91f598e6d3516b86857426a&seq=1    

Wellbeing: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/well-being/

Aristotle's Ethics: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-ethics/

How do we understand ethics in a secular world? In this episode, Isabel and Jonah talk to Geoffrey Moore, about his new book: ‘The Infinite Staircase’. We attempt to weave a thread from metaphysics to consciousness, and culture, right through to ethics. We explore how each of these ‘stairs’ is dependent upon the one that precedes it, how reliable the concepts of good and bad are and how they can be grounded in a secular worldview. 

This is an excerpt from our physicalism episode with Donnchadh O’Conaill, a researcher at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland.

This week Keir and Jasmine take a dive into physicalism with Donnchadh O’Conaill, a researcher at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland. We explore the issues that zombies (bodies with no brains) and ghosts (brains with no bodies) pose for physicalism. We find out if physicalists should be checking under their beds at night or walking confidently into the dark...

For more information and links to relevant papers, please visit the Thoughts website: https://www.thoughtsuofg.com/episodes/episode-34-physicalism-and-the-spooky-side-of-metaphysics/ 

In the episode, Keir and Jasmine have and in-depth discussion with Dario Mortini, a fourth year PhD student and lecturer at the University of Glasgow about legal epistemology, the nature of the law and real-life legal cases. We discuss fairness and luck, testimony and evidence, and how the law and epistemology influence one another. 

In this episode, Isabel and Jasmine talk to Dr Pettigrove about his own experience grappling with the ethics of lying and the effects it might have had on his children. We discuss what Kant would say and whether this is a plausible account for honesty or a 'grinch' perspective. 

Trigger Warning: mentions of child abuse 

Do we have duties towards Children? If so, what are they? Who should be doing something about them? How should we be doing something about them? All these questions and more in today's episode of Thoughts, where Jonah and Alexandros delve into the philosophy of the duties that we have towards Children with Areti Theofilopoulou, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Hong Kong.

During his lifetime, Ludwig Wittgenstein published only one book-length work of philosophy. Yet it remains one of the most influential philosophical works of the past 200 years. Jonah Woodward and Alexandros Constantinou sit down with PhD student Nick Purches-Knabb, to discuss the changing interpretations of Wittgenstein’s work and how it completely undermines our understanding of language, ethics, and philosophy.

Did you ask yourself any of these questions while listening?

Who is Frege? - https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/frege/

Who is Russell? - https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/russell/

Who is Flew? - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antony_Flew

What are Truth Tables? - https://sites.millersville.edu/bikenaga/math-proof/truth-tables/truth-tables.html

What does “acting in bad faith” mean? - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bad_faith_(existentialism)

What is Cultural Relativism? - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_relativism / https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/moral-relativism/

The definition of art has been the subject of longstanding debate in aesthetics. In this episode, Katie and Hamish meet Jerrold Levinson, a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Maryland. They explore the different definitions on the market, and Levinson offers his own intentional-historical definition - that art is “something that has been intended by someone for regard or treatment in some overall way that some earlier or pre-existing artwork or artworks are or were correctly treated”.

Levinson, Jerrold (1979). Defining art historically. _British Journal of Aesthetics_ 19 (3):21-33.