All Episodes
Philosophy Talk Starters — 537 episodes
The End of the Starters
Schopenhauer: Living Your Worst Life
Can Money Buy Well-being?
Logic For Everyone
Wise Woman: Anna Julia Cooper
Diogenes and the Honest Life
Civil Disobedience
William James
Why Is the World So Weird?
The Examined Year: 2025
Mind Sharing
Shakespeare's Outsiders
Wise Women: Im Yunjidang
Gilbert Ryle and the Map of the Mind
Can A.I. Help Us Understand Babies?
Wise Women: Margaret Cavendish
Narrative and the Meaning of Life
Impossible Worlds
Wise Women: Mary Astell
In Awe of Wonder
Making and Breaking Habits
Wise Women: Elisabeth of Bohemia
Zhuangzi: Being One With Ten Thousand Things
Robert Musil and Life as Experiment
Wise Women: Hildegard von Bingen
Can Architecture Be Political?
Henri Bergson and the Flow of Time
Are We Living in a Simulation?
Wise Women: Hypatia of Alexandria
The Value of Music
James Baldwin and Social Justice
572: Weird Wants
607: The 2025 Dionysus Awards
Schopenhauer—Living Your Worst Life
571: Making a Better World
613: Private Lives
569: Mexican Philosophy
612: Philippa Foot
567: What Is Gender?
566: Can Art Save Us?
565: True Contradictions
611: Mary Midgley
563: Derek Parfit and Your Future Self
610: Are Rules Meant to Be Broken?
609: Iris Murdoch
487: Changing Minds on Climate Change
562: The Philosophy of Smell
556: In Search of Proust's Philosophy
557: Thinking Like a Conspiracy Theorist
608: Judith Jarvis Thomson
559: Why Trust Science?
607: The 2025 Dionysus Awards
80: W.E.B. DuBois
606: The Philosophical Worlds of Borges
605: Alan Turing and the Limits of Computation
554: Liberty and Justice For Who?
553: Climate Change and Collective Action
555: How to Create Virtuous Leaders?
604: Elizabeth Anscombe
552: Who Owns Culture?
603: The Examined Year—2024
550: What Is Political Inequality?
602: Crisis and Creativity in Mayan Mythology
549: Is Optimism Rational?
601: What's So Special About Humans?
389: Spinoza
600: Emma Goldman
580: American Futures (Ken Taylor Memorial Episode)
599: Simone Weil
417: John Dewey and the Ideal of Democracy
545: What Is Ideology?
598: Anna Julia Cooper
560: Cancel Culture
597: Marx and Morality
596: How To Do Things With Your Mind
591: Summer Reading List 2024
595: Hildegard von Bingen
541: #MeToo: Retribution, Accountability, and Justice
584: The 2024 Dionysus Awards
449: James Baldwin and Social Justice
105: Karl Popper
594: Who Speaks For You?
581: 20th Anniversary Quiz Night
593: Nísia Floresta
592: Daniel Dennett Retrospective
540: Righteous Rage
539: Marcus Aurelius
590: Logic For Everyone
532: Akan Philosophy and Personhood
589: Mary Wollstonecraft
588: Why Is the World So Weird?
544: What Would Kant Do?
587: Shakespeare's Outsiders
538: Could Robots Be Persons?
586: Mind Sharing
585: Margaret Cavendish
536: What Can Virtual Reality (Actually) Do?
535: Should All Ages Be Equal?
583: Im Yunjidang
534: The Social Lives of Robots
195: Lincoln as a Philosopher
582: Can A.I. Help Us Understand Babies?
531: The Mysterious Timelessness of Math
533: Frege and the Language of Reason
337: Simone de Beauvoir
579: Impossible Worlds
525: Nonduality and the Oneness of Being
578: In Awe of Wonder
529: Microaggressions
577: Mary Astell
576: Zhuangzi – Being One with Ten Thousand Things
528: Referring to the World – Ken's Final Work
575: Elisabeth of Bohemia
524: The Lives and Ideas of the Vienna Circle
574: Can Architecture Be Political?
523: Disinformation and the Future of Democracy
520: What Is Masculinity?
573: Are We Living in a Simulation?
453: Adorno and the Culture Industry
568: Summer Reading List 2023
93: Georg Hegel
572: Weird Wants
571: Making a Better World
519: What Has Replaced Freud?
570: Hypatia of Alexandria
514: The Arts For All?
517: Democracy By Numbers
518: The Rhetoric of Big Tech
515: Minds and Matter
513: Are We All to Blame?
213: Søren Kierkegaard
564: The Power of Prediction
511: Why We Hate
512: What's in a Game?
543: Why Poetry Matters
510: Science and Skepticism
561: The 2023 Dionysus Awards
210: The Philosophical Legacy of Darwin
509: Citizenship and Justice
508: The Merits of Meritocracy
507: Can Streets Disciminate?
558: The Examined Year – 2022
211: How Relevant Is Jesus?
551: Effective Altruism
506: The Ethical Jerk
499: (Why) Money Matters
503: Covid Conundrums and Moral Dilemmas
504: Pet Ethics
498: Philosophy and the Superhero
496: Is the Self an Illusion?
378: Heidegger
491: Hobbes and the Ideal Citizen
548: Summer Reading List – Banned Books Edition
495: Death of the Sentence
542: The 2022 Dionysus Awards
505: Walter Benjamin and the Re-Enchanted World
494: Comedy and the Culture Wars
547: The Changing Face of Antisemitism
396: Jean-Paul Sartre
490: Conscious Machiness
546: The Scandalous Truth About Memoir
489: The Allure of Authoritarianism
482: J.S. Mill and the Good Life
492: Sanctuary Cities
488: Explanation at Its Best
485: The Doomsday Doctrine
486: Reading the Troubled Past
484: Is Postmodernism Really to Blame for Post-Truth?
437: Polyamory
477: Hacking the Brain – Beyond the Five Senses
371: The Art of Non-Violence
537: The Examined Year – 2021
481: The Limits of Tolerance
480: What Is Religious Belief?
479: Is Philanthropy Bad for Democracy?
237: The Occult Philosophy
476: Immigration and Multiculturalism
177: Gandhi as a Philosopher
474: What Do We Owe Future Generations?
478: Authority and Resistance
526: (End of) Summer Reading List 2021
530: The Ethics of Awesomeness
473: Envy – Vice or Virtue?
469: The Creative Life
521: The 2021 Dionysus Awards
471: Foreign Aid – or Injury?
527: Your Brain on Literature
470: Foucault and Power
468: Does Reputation Matter?
467: Can Reason Save Us?
465: The Psychology of Cruelty
464: The Athlete as Philosopher
461: Radical Markets - Solutions for a Gilded Age?
522: Montaigne and the Art of the Essay
463: The Ethics of Algorithms
462: Does Science Over-reach?
458: Repugnant Markets – Should Everything Be For Sale?
451: Misogyny and Gender Inequality
459: The Value of Care — Feminism and Ethics
180: John Rawls
280: What Is Love?
455: Trolling, Bullying, and Flame Wars - Humility and Online Discourse
502: Comforting Conversations (Part 2)
501: Comforting Coversations (Part 1)
516: The Examined Year – 2020
457: Faith and Humiity
456: Are We Alone?
454: Monstrous Technologies?
164: Hannah Arendt
452: How to Humbly Disagree
500: Time for Summer Reading
448: Frantz Fanon and the Violence of Colonialism
397: White Privilege and Racial Injustice
354: Machiavelli
278: Poetry as a Way of Knowing
447: Fractured Identities
446: Philosophy of Retirement
444: Can Speech Kill?
497: The 2020 Dionysus Awards
443: Midlife and Meaning
442: Philosophy of Trash
440: The Internet of Things
439: A World Without Work
441: Race Matters
438: Post-Truth Politics
493: Ken Taylor Tribute
436: Could the Laws of Physics Ever Change?
434: Cognitive Bias
435: Driverless Cars at the Moral Crossroads
432: Habermas and Democracy
431: Nonhuman Rights
430: Should Beliefs Aim at Truth?
429: The Limits of Medical Consent
427: The Space-Time Continuum
426: Knowing What We Know (And What We Don't)
425: Queerness
483: Summer Reading (and Misreading)
424: Freedom of Speech on Campus
423: Philosophy Behind Bars
419: The Mystery of the Multiverse
416: Magical Thinking
422: Reparations
421: The Value of a College Education
418: Matter and Energy: The Dark Side
414: This Is Your Brain on Art
413: The Big Bang – Before and After
412: More Than Pun and Games
409: Radical Democracy
411: The Mystery of Music
407: Philosophy of Sleep
406: Altered States
408: The Philanthropy Trap
475: The 2019 Dionysus Awards
410: Identity Politics
405: Affirmative Action – Too Little or Too Much?
404: One Child Too Many
403: Why Is There Something Rather Than Nothing?
472: The Examined Year – 2018
399: The Ancient Cosmos – When the Earth Stood Still
402: Extreme Altruism
400: The Science of Happiness
401: Gun Control
415: Election Special
398: The Ethics of Debt
466: The New Golden Age of Television
391: Your Lying Eyes - Perception, Memory, and justice
460: Summer Reading List 2018
390: Will Innovation Kill Us?
450: The 2018 Dionysus Awards
388: Living On Through Others
386: The Logic of Regret
383: The Ethics of Drone Warfare
380: Neuroscience and Free Will
387: In Praise of Love – Plato's Symposium Meets Bernstein's Serenade
445: The Examined Year - 2017
363: What's Next? Death and the Afterlife
368: Diseases of the Mind - Philosophy of Psychiatry
369: Democracy in Crisis
433: Summer Reading List 2017
356: Racial Profiling and Implicit Bias
353: Babies and the Birth of Morality
428: The Phenomenology of Lived Experience
351: Remixing Reality – Art & Literature for the 21st Century
350: Captivity
420: The Examined Year - 2016
343: The Reality of Time
342: What Is Color?
336: Science and Gender
334: Memory and the Self
329: Dangerous Demographics - The Challenges of an Aging Population
326: An Eye for an Eye - The Morality of Revenge
325: The Limits of Self-Knowledge
320: Life as a Work of Art
323: The Moral Lives of Animals
327: When Is It Wrong to Save a Life? Lessons from the Trolley Problem
321: Memes - Viruses of the Mind?
317: Ancient Wisdom for Modern Times
319: Finding Meaning in a Material World
318: Freedom and Free Enterprise
312: Faith, Reason, and the Art of Living
316: Nations and Borders
395 - Dignity Denied: Life and Death in Prison
394 - The Examined Year: 2015
393: Taoism – Following the Way
392: Self and Self-Presentation
295: The Evolution of Storytelling
294: Forbidden Words
293: Prostitution and the Sex Trade
292: Regulating Bodies
291: Why Be Moral
290: The Nature of Wilderness
289: The Moral Costs of Climate Change
288: Neuroscience and the Law
287: Gut Feelings and the Art of Decision-Making
286: Hypocrisy
285: Identities Lost and Found in a Global Age
284: Corporations and the Future of Democracy
283: What Might Have Been
282: Summer Reading List 2012
281: Freedom, Blame, and Resentment
279: What Are Leaders Made of?
277: Epicurus and the Good Life
276: Pantheism
275: The 2012 Dionysus Awards
274: Black Solidarity
273: The Right to Privacy
272: Is Democracy a Universal Value?
271: The Examined Year - 2011
270: Forgive and Forget
269: The Military – What Is It Good For?
268: Is Nothing Sacred Anymore
267: Miracles
266: Thinking Inside the Box
265: Cooperation and Conflict
264: Morality and the Self
263: Wisdom
262: Latin-American Philosophy
261: Deconstructing the College Admissions Rat Race
260: Time, Space, and Quantum Mechanics
259: The State of Public Philosophy
258: Philosophy and Everyday Life
257: The Psychology of Evil
256: Atheism and the Well-Lived Life
255: Whodunit - The Language of Responsibility
254: Gay Pride & Prejudice
253: Summer Reading List 2011
252: Cities, Gentrification, and Inequality
251: Should Marriage Be Abolished?
250: The Extended Mind
249: What Is an Adult?
248: Is It All Relative?
247: John Locke
246: The 2011 Dionysus Awards
245: Procrastination
244: Derrida and Deconstruction
243: Abortion
242: The Moral Costs of Free Markets
241: Philosophy for Children
240: The Power of Thought
239: Disagreement
238: Reading, Narrative, and the Self
236: Bargaining with the Devil
235: Philosophy and the Alma Mater
234: Meaning and the Revolution
233: Philosophy for the Young – Corrupting or Empowering?
232: Self-Deception
231: Humanism
230: Social Reality
229: Loyalty
228: Democracy and the Press
227: What Are Human Rights?
226: The Corporation as Person
224: Live Highlights
223: Mental Illness and Culture
222: Faces, Feelings, and Lies
221: The Ethics of Torture
220: What Is a Wife?
219: Fear
218: What Is 'Normal'?
216: Mind Reading
215: Philosophy in Fiction
214: Nihilism and Meaning
212: Is It Wrong to Wreck the Earth?
209: From the Minds of Babies
207: Healthcare – Right or Privilege?
206: Schizophrenia and the Mind
205: War, Sacrifice, and the Media
204: What Are Words Worth?
203: Philosophy Talk Highlights
202: The Postmodern Family
201: Pornography
200: Money and Morality
199: The Prison System
198: Social Networking
197: Summer Reading List 2009
196: The Mind and the World
194: Worship
193: Beliefs Gone Wild
192: Desire
191: Too Much Information
190: The Root of All Evil?
189: The Copyright Wars
188: Challenges to Free Will
187: Bi-racial Identities
186: Different Cultures, Different Selves
185: The Movie Show
183: Civil Disobedience
182: Philosophy of History
181: The Idea of the University
179: Bodies For Sale
178: Levels of Reality
176: William James
175: Making Decisions
174: Digital Selves
173: Overcoming the Terror of Death
172: The Morality of Food
171: Utilitarianism
170: Global Justice and Human Rights
169: Dualism
168: Philosophy and Pop Culture
167: Giving and Keeping
166: The Luck of the Draw
165: Altruism
163: The Problem of Evil
162: Summer Reading List 2008
161: Promises
160: Experimental Philosophy
159: Varieties of Love
158: Politics and Cognitive Science
157: Philosophy of Wine
156: Apologizing
155: Science vs. Pseudoscience
154: Infinity
153: Connectionism
152: Paradoxes
151: Saint Augustine
150: Persons, Selves, Souls, and Loops
149: Why Music Matters
147: Personal Identity
146: The Concept of God
145: Political Correctness
144: Islamic Philosophy
143: Immigration and Citizenship
142 Philosophy and Literature
141: Predicting the Future
140: Faith, Reason, and Science
139: Love, Poetry, and Philosophy
138: Math and the Mind
137: The Value of Art
136: Postmodernism
135: Firting With Philosophy
134: Philosophy Through Humor
133: Capital Punishment
131: Summer Reading List 2007
130: Aging and the Well-Lived Life
129: Artificial Intelligence
128: Science, Ethics, and Censorship
127: Autonomy
126: Ethics In Journalism
125: Can Science Explain Consciousness?
124: APhilosophical Shout-Out
123: Skepticism
122: Immortality and the Afterlife
120: Ludwig Wittgenstein
119: The Judiciary in Democracy
118: Mental Imagery
117: If Truth Is So Valuable, Why Is There So Much BS?
116: Legal Ethics
115: We've Been Framed: How Language Shapes Politics
114: The Promise and Perils of the New Genomics
113: Philosophy and Film
112: Philosophy and Neuroscience
111: American Pragmatism
110: What is a Child?
109: Dreaming
108: Separation of Powers
107: Believing in God
106: Language and Thought
104: Jewish Philosophy
103: Philosophy of Music
102: War Crimes
101: Liberty vs. Security
100: 100th Episode
99: Language in Action
98: Athletic Beauty
97: Race, Class, and Inequality
96: The Future of Philosophy
95: Stoicism
94: Leadership
92: The Nature Of Imagination
91: Summer Reading List 2006
90: Justice Across Boundaries
89: What Is Art
88: Philosophy and the Law
87: The Value of Truth
85: Suicide
84: What Are Numbers?
83: Existentialism
82: The Science of Humor
81: Marriage And Monogamy
79: Legislating Values
78: Philosophy of Science
77: Intelligent Design
76: Progress and the Environment
75: The Existence of God
74: Immanuel Kant
73: Freedom of Speech in Times of War
72: Friendship
71: The Language of Fiction
70: George Berkeley
69: The Willing Suspension of Disbelief
68: Reconciliation
67: The Strange World of Quantum Reality
66: Ethics in War
65: The Language of Politics
64: Saints, Heroes, and Well-Lived Lives
63: René Descartes
62: The Indispensable Emotions
61: Moral Dilemmas and Moral Ambiguity
60: Zen Buddhism
59: Global Poverty and International Aid
58: The Ethics of Identity
57: Intergenerational Obligations
56: Evolution of the Human Mind
55: Prostitution
54: Confucius
53: Forgiveness
52: Propaganda
51: Genetic Determinism
50: Schopenhauer
49: Is Free Will An Illusion?
48: Neurocosmetology
47: What Is Beauty?
46: Religion and the Secular State
45: David Hume
44: The Erotic vs The Pornographic
43: Ethics in Sport