philosophy bites

Melissa Lane on Plato and Sustainability

What can the ancients teach us about sustainability? According to Melissa Lane of Princeton University, author of Eco-Republic, quite a lot. She discusses the relevance of Plato to modern environmental problems in this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast.

Listen to Melissa Lane on Plato and Sustainability

Listen to an earlier Philosophy Bites interview with Melissa Lane on Rousseau and Modern Society

Listen to an earlier Philosophy Bites interview with Melissa Lane on Plato and Totalitarianism

Philosophy Bites is made in association with the Institute of Philosophy.

Michael Sandel on Justice

Harvard philosopher Michael Sandel in conversation with Nigel Warburton outlines 3 answers to the question 'What is Justice?', Jeremy Bentham's, Immanuel Kant's, and Aristotle's.

Listen to Michael Sandel on Justice

Philosophy Bites is made in association with the Institute of Philosophy.

Previous interviews with Michael Sandel:

Michael Sandel on Genetic Enhancement in Sport (part of the Open University Ethics Bites series)

Michael Sandel on What Shouldn't Be Sold

In the UK BBC4 will be showing a number of programmes featuring Michael Sandel from the end of January 2011 onwards as part of their Justice season. These include the documentary, co-funded by the Open University and the BBC, A Citizen's Guide to the 21st Century.

You can also still listen to Michael Sandel's 2009 Reith lectures 'A New Citizenship' and watch his Justice lectures on YouTube:

 

 

Hillel Steiner on Exploitation

What is exploitation? Are some activities essentially exploitative? Hillel Steiner addresses these questions in this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast. 

Listen to Hillel Steiner on Exploitation

Philosophy Bites is made in association with the Institute of Philosophy

Thomas Pogge on Global Justice and Health

Thomas Pogge of Yale University discusses how richer countries can provide pharmaceutical products to poorer ones at reasonable prices and why they should do this as a matter of justice.

Listen to Thomas Pogge on Global Justice and Health

View a related video of Thomas Pogge speaking about Global Justice

Philosophy Bites is made in association with the Institute of Philosophy

G.A. Cohen (1941 - 2009)

G.A. Cohen, the political philosopher, died early this morning of a suspected stroke. Read more about this on Normblog.

Listen to a Philosophy Bites interview G.A. Cohen on Inequality, Dec. 2007

Kate Soper on Alternative Hedonism

Kate Soper believes that we need to rethink how we live in the light of impending environmental catastrophe. But the unexpected element in her thought is that alternative ways of living can be more enjoyable than consumerism. This leads to her notion of alternative hedonism.

Listen to Kate Soper on Alternative Hedonism

Chandran Kukathas on Genocide

Genocide is, at first glance, a straightforward term. We think we know what it is and why it is such an evil.  But, as  Chandran Kukathas of the London School of Economics argues in this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast, perhaps the received definition of this term that emerged following the Second World War needs refinement.

Listen to Chandran Kukathas on Genocide

Anne Phillips on Political Representation

Participatory democracy is impractical, so most democracies are representative democracies. But should the representatives reflect the variety of those they represent? In particular, should there be roughly half women in a representative democracy? Anne Phillips of the LSE believes that there should be far more women acting as political representatives than there are at present. In this interview for Philosophy Bites she explains why.

Listen to Anne Phillips on Political Representation

Listen to Anne Phillips on Multiculturalism (an earlier Philosophy Bites interview)

Raymond Geuss on Real Politics

Raymond Geuss wants political philosophers to focus on real politics. In this interview  for Philosophy Bites  he explains why he believes philosophers such as Robert Nozick and John Rawls were fundamentally misguided in the way they approached political philosophy. Geuss is in conversation with Nigel Warburton. The introduction is by David Edmonds.

Listen to Raymond Geuss on Real Politics

L

Quentin Skinner on Machiavelli's The Prince

In this episode of the podcast Philosophy Bites Quentin Skinner discusses Niccolò Machiavelli's The Prince, one of the most notorious works of political philosophy. Skinner sets the book in its historical context and explains its key themes.

Listen to Quentin Skinner on Machiavelli's The Prince