Philosophy Bites

In this interview of the Philosophy Bites podcast Nigel Warburton interviews David Edmonds about Peter Singer's famous thought experient about what you would do if you saw a child at risk of drowning in a shallow pond, and what the moral implications of that. David has recently published a book about this thought experiment called Death in a Shallow Pond.

What is distinctive about Mexican philosophy? How much is it linked to its geopolitical  context? Carlos Alberto Sanchez, author of Blooming in the Ruins, a book about major themes in 20th century Mexican philosophy discusses this topic in conversation with David Edmonds. This episode was  supported by the Ideas Workshop, part of Open Society Foundations.

Mary Midgley didn't begin publishing until she was 59 years old, but nevertheless made a significant impact and had a distinctive approach. In this episode of Philosophy Bites  Ellie Robson discusses some of her key ideas about our relationship with other animals.

Many people think philosophical discucssion is a luxury in times of conflict, but the Palestinian philosopher Sari Nusseibeh is more optimistic. In this episode of Philosophy Bites, recorded in early 2025, he explains why.

Democracy is about acting as a group, but, surprisingly, Robert Talisse argues that what it needs to function well is a degree of solitude for citizens. In-group and out-group dynamics mean that individuals become vulnerable to being pushed towards more extreme views than they would otherwise hold. There is, Talisse, maintains, a need to balance times of thinking together with times of thinking alone, at a distance from the fray.