Thoughts: Philosophy Untangled

Hamish Stewart and Alexandros Constantinou talk to Bjoern Freter, an independent Scholar from Knoxville Tennessee to understand how superiorism underpins our modern world.

To find out more about Bjoern's work, visit: https://bjornfreter.academia.edu/

What really is ‘Nature’? Why should we care about preserving it? Jonah Woodward and Alexandros Constaninou are joined by Martin Bunzl, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at Rutgers University and author of the new book ‘Thinking While Walking: Reflections on the Pacific Crest Trail’. They discuss how the human conception of the natural world has changed over time, the difficulties we face in attempting to tackle climate change and environmental destruction, as well as possible solutions to these problems.

Can Philosophy help you become a better person? Yes! But, also, no...In this episode our hosts, Arianna Clark and Jonah Woodward talk to Francis Brewer about his path to Veganism, the power and limitations of philosophy, aliens, robots, the neural networks of plants, and how he used to think his mum was crazy.

Has Philosophy ever actually helped anyone? Yes, yes it has. This week our hosts, Arianna Clark and Alex Constantinou, talk to philosopher, novelist and therapist Dr Luis de Miranda - where he explains just how philosophy can help us, and how it helped him.

From dissecting reality to RuPaul’s Drag Race, we just about scratch the surface of the theoretical underpinnings of Luis’ work – and, like us, we are sure you’ll want to find out more.

So, if you want to find out more about Luis:

https://philosophicalparlour.com/

https://luisdemiranda.com/

https://twitter.com/luis_de_miranda?lang=en

If you’ve ever wondered what people actually do with philosophy, this is the episode for you. From miserable existentialism to ethics in the office - this week our host, Arianna Clark, talks to the resourceful writer and philosopher and communications expert, Ben Van Loon, about his life in Chicago and how he’s navigated it, using his philosophical training to carve a space in the world for him.

You can see Ben’s writing at

https://benvanloon.com/

And more at:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/benvanloon.jpg/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benvl/

Music by Doo Dah Music, courtesy of Shutterstock

Thoughts is excited to present Escaping the Ivory Tower, a brand new series in which our co-host Arianna Clark speaks to guests from all over the world about the impact that philosophy has made on their lives.

In this episode, Katie and Ross chat to Dr. Ian Kidd about Misanthropy – the view that it is appropriate to morally condemn humanity.

What are the abilities of self-regulation and self-control over our mental lives? What does it mean to say that we are at one with ourselves? Dr. Dorothea Debus, Professor of Theoretical Philosophy at the University of Konstanz joins Alexandros Constantinou and Keir Aitken to discuss these questions and many more in this episode of Thoughts.

How do you choose a dissertation topic? What are some common dissertation mishaps? In this episode, co-hosts Alex and Jasmine talk to Dr Emma Gordon, a research fellow in applied ethics and epistemology at the University of Glasgow who was voted Best Dissertation Supervisor at the University of Glasgow in 2020. They explore questions surrounding philosophy dissertations and discuss how to get around common hurdles that students face writing their dissertations. 

If you found this episode useful, look out for our YouTube series coming soon where we speak to Philosophy students about their dissertation experiences. Follow us on social media to stay up to date with all of our new episodes!

What’s so good about democracy? Is it really better than the alternatives? In this episode, co-hosts Katie and Keir talk to Dr Lewis Ross, a fellow in Philosophy and Public Policy at the London School of Economics. They explore the limits of democracy and some alternatives that have been proposed: Lottocracy, Epistocracy and Lewis’ favoured approach, Plato’s philosopher kings.