Philosophy Bites

Peter Singer on Ending Innocent Lives

The utilitarian philosopher Peter Singer has controversial views about when it is acceptable to end a human life. In conversation with David Edmonds he explains his approach, using examples from a range of areas, including infanticide. Some listeners may find some aspects of this discussion disturbing.

Jing Hu on Songzi on Insults and Shame

The Chinese philosopher Songzi (382 BCE – 305 BCE) maintained that the appropriate response to insults was indifference, not aggression. Jing Hu, a philosopher at Concordia University, Montreal puts his thinking about insults and about the related concept of shame in context, and explains his ideas about the ethics of interpersonal relations. This episode was supported by the Ideas Workshop, part of the Open Society Foundations

Rebecca Newberger Goldstein on Mattering

We are the kind of creature that cares whether or not we matter and how. What follows from this? Rebecca Newberger Goldstein, author of Mattering, discuses this with David Edmonds.

Monima Chadha on Responsibility Without Selves

Buddhist philosophy rejects the idea of the self. How then can there be any moral responsibility? Monima Chadha, Professor of Indian Philosophy at Oxford University, explains. This episode was supported by the Ideas Workshop, part of the Open Society Foundations

Carissa Veliz on Prophecy

Predictions aren't quite what they seem to be, according to Carissa Véliz, author of the book Prophecy. They often are intended to persuade you of the inevitability of a certain outcome, and may be self-fulfilling to some degree. Yet they look like simple factual claims about what is likely to happen. We need to be far more aware of the role of prediction in our everyday lives, according to Véliz.