Philosophy Overdose

Nietzsche on the Value of Truth - Ken Gemes

Sun, 09 Aug 2026 23:30:00 -0000

Audio recording of the second lecture by Ken Gemes on Nietzsche. Nietzsche claims that with the rejection of religious underpinning of the value of truth (e.g. truth as God’s word and as something absolute), we can now raise the question of why and to what extent we should value truth. He argues that our need for meaning conflicts with our will to truth because such a will tends to destroy all mythologies including the mythology of value – our will to truth reveals that values are not objectively 'out there' in the world, but are merely our own projections onto the world. This knowledge eviscerates the world of meaning. This does not mean that Nietzsche rejects the value of truth. He instead rejects the notion, inherited from the Judeo-Christian worldview, that truth is an unconditional value. Such a notion of truth, destructive of all myth and meaning, is unliveable. The very claim that the truth is valuable, even if not unconditionally valuable, is itself one of those myths that help give life meaning.

You can find the previous talk here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHShypzrqGw

Note, this is a re-upload.

00:00 Talk
46:53 Q&A

#nietzsche #philosophy #ethics #historyofphilosophy

Free Will Pessimism

Sun, 09 Aug 2026 22:30:00 -0000

A short clip of Galen Strawson discussing his master argument against the very possibility of free will and moral responsibility; one which applies whether or not determinism is true. This comes from an episode of the In Our Time podcast a few years back on the topic of free will. For more information and full episodes, go to: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qykl

"The _causa sui_ is the best self-contradiction that has been conceived so far; it is a sort of rape and perversion of logic. But the extravagant pride of man has managed to entangle itself profoundly and frightfully with just this nonsense. The desire for 'freedom of the will' in the superlative metaphysical sense, which still holds sway, unfortunately, in the minds of the half-educated; the desire to bear the entire and ultimate responsibility for one’s actions oneself, and to absolve God, the world, ancestors, chance, and society involves nothing less than to be precisely this _causa sui_ and, with more than Baron Munchhausen’s audacity, to pull oneself up into existence by the hair, out of the swamps of nothingness." -Nietzsche

#philosophy #freewill #determinism #causality #causation #metaphysics

The Legacy of John Rawls

Sun, 09 Aug 2026 21:30:00 -0000

The legacy of the political philosopher John Rawls is discussed by Michael Sandel (Harvard University), Steve Macedo (Princeton University), and Anthony Laden (the University of Illinois Chicago) with host Gretchen Helfrich in an episode of Odyssey from Chicago Public Radio back in 2002.

#philosophy #politicalphilosophy #politicaltheory #rawls #johnrawls #ethics

Karl Popper on Observation and Induction (1989)

Sun, 09 Aug 2026 21:06:00 -0000

A reupload of audio recording of Karl Popper discussing his views on observation and induction, specifically how knowledge and science do not start from observation, but that all observation itself is theory-laden. Indeed, as he explains, the view that all knowledge and science rests on observation leads to induction, which Popper famously rejected due to the so-called problem of induction, first formulated by David Hume. As such, Popper didn't think that induction played any justificatory role in science at all, which is precisely why he ended up with his famous falsificationist view that theories and hypotheses can only be refuted or falsified (i.e. via deduction), but they can never be proven true or positively supported with observational evidence (i.e. via induction). These clips all come from a 1989 interview on falsificationism and some of the main criticisms. It is a re-upload of something that I put together a while ago. More details will be added later.

#philosophy #karlpopper #epistemology #science #philosophyofscience

The Experience Machine

Sun, 09 Aug 2026 20:30:00 -0000

A clip of professor Shelly Kagan discussing the famous thought experiment of the experience machine which comes from Robert Nozick and which serves as an argument against hedonism about well-being. This comes from a lecture on death given at the Southern Methodist University back in 2013.

More on the nature of well-being: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/well-being/

#philosophy #hedonism #ethics #nozick #moralphilosophy

Hannah Arendt on Modernity (1964)

Sun, 09 Aug 2026 18:30:00 -0000

A clip of Hannah Arendt from her 1964 interview with Günter Gaus. Among other things, she discusses the dethroning of the community spirit by the modern age and with it the prime importance of the political and the shrinkage of the public realm, which is associated with the uprooting of the masses and the resulting isolation and atomism in the modern world (something which, by the way, she thought made possible totalitarianism in the 20th century, both from the right and the left). She also touches on the labor-consumption process, the public sphere, and the increasing inability to act publicly in the modern world.

Full Interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVSRJC4KAiE

#philosophy #hannaharendt #politicaltheory #politicalphilosophy

Foundations of Liberal Equality 1 - Ronald Dworkin (1988)

Sun, 09 Aug 2026 17:52:30 -0000

Audio recording of a lecture by Ronald M. Dworkin as part of his 1988 Tanner lectures on human values at Stanford University on the foundations of liberalism. This was the first of his Tanner lectures. Note, this is a re-upload.

00:00 Lecture
1:04:07 Q&A

#philosophy #politicalphilosophy #ethics #politicaltheory #liberalism #moralphilosophy

1 Romanticism - In Search of a Definition (Isaiah Berlin 1965)

Sun, 09 Aug 2026 17:30:00 -0000

Isaiah Berlin gives the 1st lecture in a series of 6 on Romanticism and its roots.

All 6 lectures: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhP9EhPApKE_9uxkmfSIt2JJK6oKbXmd-

For Berlin, the Romantics set in motion a vast, unparalleled revolution in humanity’s view of itself. They destroyed the traditional notions of objective truth and validity in ethics with incalculable, all-pervasive results. As he said of the Romantics elsewhere: “The world has never been the same since, and our politics and morals have been deeply transformed by them. Certainly this has been the most radical, and indeed dramatic, not to say terrifying, change in men’s outlook in modern times.”

In these brilliant lectures Berlin surveys the myriad attempts to define Romanticism, distills its essence, traces its developments from its first stirrings to its apotheosis, and shows how its lasting legacy permeates our own outlook. Combining the freshness and immediacy of the spoken word with Berlin’s inimitable eloquence and wit, the lectures range over a cast of the greatest thinkers and artists of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, including Kant, Rousseau, Diderot, Schiller, Schlegel, Novalis, Goethe, Blake, Byron, and Beethoven. Berlin argues that the ideas and attitudes held by these and other figures helped to shape twentieth-century nationalism, existentialism, democracy, totalitarianism, and our ideas about heroic individuals, individual self-fulfillment, and the exalted place of art. This is the record of an intellectual bravura performance–of one of the century’s most influential philosophers dissecting and assessing a movement that changed the course of history. These Mellon lectures were delivered in Washington in 1965.

#philosophy #romanticcism #isaiahberlin

1 Just What is Kant's "Project"? - Kant's Critique of Pure Reason (Dan Robinson)

Sun, 09 Aug 2026 17:15:00 -0000

Dan Robinson gives the 1st lecture in a series of 8 on Immanuel Kant's Critique of Pure Reason. Both sense and reason are limited. Kant must identify the proper mission and domain of each, as well as the manner in which their separate functions come to be integrated in what is finally the inter-subjectively settled knowledge of science.

This series looks at German Philosopher Immanuel Kant's seminal philosophical work 'The Critique of Pure Reason'. The lectures aim to outline and discuss some of the key philosophical issues raised in the book and to offer students and individuals thought provoking Kantian ideas surrounding metaphysics. Each lecture looks at particular questions raised in the work such as how do we know what we know and how do we find out about the world, dissects these questions with reference to Kant's work and discusses the broader philosophical implications. Anyone with an interest in Kant and philosophy will find these lectures thought provoking but accessible.

This is series of lectures was given in 2011 at Oxford. Note, audio has been improved.

All 8 lectures: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhP9EhPApKE_OdgqNgL0AJX9-gwr4tmLw

#philosophy #kant #epistemology #metaphysics #empiricism #hume #skepticism #historyofphilosophy

4 The Restrained Romantics - Kant, Schiller and Fichte (Isaiah Berlin 1965)

Sun, 09 Aug 2026 16:37:30 -0000

Isaiah Berlin gives the 4th lecture in a series of 6 on Romanticism and its roots.

All 6 lectures: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhP9EhPApKE_9uxkmfSIt2JJK6oKbXmd-

For Berlin, the Romantics set in motion a vast, unparalleled revolution in humanity’s view of itself. They destroyed the traditional notions of objective truth and validity in ethics with incalculable, all-pervasive results. As he said of the Romantics elsewhere: “The world has never been the same since, and our politics and morals have been deeply transformed by them. Certainly this has been the most radical, and indeed dramatic, not to say terrifying, change in men’s outlook in modern times.”

In these brilliant lectures Berlin surveys the myriad attempts to define Romanticism, distills its essence, traces its developments from its first stirrings to its apotheosis, and shows how its lasting legacy permeates our own outlook. Combining the freshness and immediacy of the spoken word with Berlin’s inimitable eloquence and wit, the lectures range over a cast of the greatest thinkers and artists of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, including Kant, Rousseau, Diderot, Schiller, Schlegel, Novalis, Goethe, Blake, Byron, and Beethoven. Berlin argues that the ideas and attitudes held by these and other figures helped to shape twentieth-century nationalism, existentialism, democracy, totalitarianism, and our ideas about heroic individuals, individual self-fulfillment, and the exalted place of art. This is the record of an intellectual bravura performance–of one of the century’s most influential philosophers dissecting and assessing a movement that changed the course of history. These Mellon lectures were delivered in Washington in 1965.

00:00 Intro
00:53 Kant
25:42 Schiller
47:34 Fichte

#philosophy #romanticism #kant #isaiahberlin

3 The True Fathers of Romanticism (Isaiah Berlin 1965)

Sun, 09 Aug 2026 16:30:00 -0000

Isaiah Berlin gives the 3rd lecture in a series of 6 on Romanticism and its roots.

All 6 lectures: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhP9EhPApKE_9uxkmfSIt2JJK6oKbXmd-

For Berlin, the Romantics set in motion a vast, unparalleled revolution in humanity’s view of itself. They destroyed the traditional notions of objective truth and validity in ethics with incalculable, all-pervasive results. As he said of the Romantics elsewhere: “The world has never been the same since, and our politics and morals have been deeply transformed by them. Certainly this has been the most radical, and indeed dramatic, not to say terrifying, change in men’s outlook in modern times.”

In these brilliant lectures Berlin surveys the myriad attempts to define Romanticism, distills its essence, traces its developments from its first stirrings to its apotheosis, and shows how its lasting legacy permeates our own outlook. Combining the freshness and immediacy of the spoken word with Berlin’s inimitable eloquence and wit, the lectures range over a cast of the greatest thinkers and artists of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, including Kant, Rousseau, Diderot, Schiller, Schlegel, Novalis, Goethe, Blake, Byron, and Beethoven. Berlin argues that the ideas and attitudes held by these and other figures helped to shape twentieth-century nationalism, existentialism, democracy, totalitarianism, and our ideas about heroic individuals, individual self-fulfillment, and the exalted place of art. This is the record of an intellectual bravura performance–of one of the century’s most influential philosophers dissecting and assessing a movement that changed the course of history. These Mellon lectures were delivered in Washington in 1965.

00:00 Hamann & Others
29:10 Herder

#Philosophy #Romanticism #IsaiahBerlin

Levinas on the Face

Sun, 09 Aug 2026 16:00:00 -0000

This short clip comes from the beginning of a 2014 documentary on Emmanuel Levinas by Yoram Ron called "Le Dieu absent - Emmanuel Lévinas et l'humanisme de l'autre" ("Absent God - Emmanuel Levinas and the Humanism of the Other"). I thought it was interesting, so I translated it into English and added subtitles. The full documentary (with English subtitles) can be found on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbGaXEqxSvU

#philosophy #levinas #phenomenology

The Problem of Free Will

Sun, 09 Aug 2026 15:30:00 -0000

A talk given by professor Pamela Hieronymi on the problem of free will and moral responsibility a few years back at the University of Alabama.

"Among the grandest of philosophical puzzles is a riddle about moral responsibility. Almost all of us believe that each one of us is, has been, or will be responsible for at least some of our behavior. But how can this be so if determinism is true and all our thoughts, decisions, choices, and actions are simply droplets in a river of deterministic events that began its flow long, long before we were ever born? The specter of determinism, as it were, devours agents, for if determinism is true, then arguably we never initiate or control our actions; there is no driver in the driver's seat; we are simply one transitional link in an extended deterministic chain originating long before our time. The puzzle is tantalizingly gripping and ever so perplexing — because even if determinism is false, responsibility seems impossible: how can we be morally accountable for behavior that issues from an 'actional pathway' in which there is an indeterministic break? Such a break might free us from domination or regulation by the past, but how can it possibly help to ensure that the reins of control are now in our hands?" Ishtiyaque Haji

#philosophy #freewill #determinism #materialism #metaphysics #causality #philosophyofmind #causation #psychology #mind

5 Idealisms and their Refutations - Kant's Critique of Pure Reason (Dan Robinson)

Sun, 09 Aug 2026 15:22:30 -0000

Dan Robinson gives the 5th lecture in a series of 8 on Immanuel Kant's Critique of Pure Reason. The very possibility of self-awareness (an "inner sense" with content) requires an awareness of an external world by way of "outer sense". Only through awareness of stable elements in the external world is self-consciousness possible.

This series looks at German Philosopher Immanuel Kant's seminal philosophical work 'The Critique of Pure Reason'. The lectures aim to outline and discuss some of the key philosophical issues raised in the book and to offer students and individuals thought provoking Kantian ideas surrounding metaphysics. Each lecture looks at particular questions raised in the work such as how do we know what we know and how do we find out about the world, dissects these questions with reference to Kant's work and discusses the broader philosophical implications. Anyone with an interest in Kant and philosophy will find these lectures thought provoking but accessible.

This is series of lectures was given in 2011 at Oxford. Note, the audio has been improved.

All 8 lectures: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhP9EhPApKE_OdgqNgL0AJX9-gwr4tmLw

#philosophy #kant #epistemology #metaphysics #empiricism #skepticism #historyofphilosophy

Wittgenstein on the Mind - Norman Malcolm (1968)

Sun, 09 Aug 2026 14:45:00 -0000

Rare audio recording of a 1968 lecture by Norman Malcolm on Ludwig Wittgenstein's views about the nature of the mind. He explains why Wittgenstein rejected the notion of the mind as some mysterious inner thing which is private and hidden from view, and which somehow serves as the cause of outward behavior. On the other hand, he also explains why it cannot be identified with mere external behavior either. He goes on to discuss Wittgenstein’s view that there can be no explanation for why people go on in the same way and apply words in similar ways to new cases. For there can be no image, rule, or essence in the head which would be able to play that role and do the kind of work that one would need it to do.

#philosophy #wittgenstein #philosophyofmind #language #philosophyoflanguage #historyofphilosophy

Philosophy of Mathematics and Frege - Michael Dummett (1994)

Sun, 09 Aug 2026 14:30:00 -0000

Audio recording of a 1994 lecture by Michael Dummett on Frege and the philosophy of mathematics at the LSE on the occasion of his Lakatos Award for an outstanding contribution to the philosophy of science.

For a good intro to the philosophy of mathematics, check out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhX1ouUjDHE and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyXWnGFKTkg

#philosophy #epistemology #mathematics #frege #kant #historyofphilosophy

The Virtual and The Real (David Chalmers)

Sun, 09 Aug 2026 14:07:30 -0000

Distinguished philosopher Dr. David Chalmers discusses some of the philosophical issues that arise regarding virtual reality technology in a lecture back in 2017 at the Community Library in Idaho.

#philosophy #epistemology #davidchalmers #metaphysics #virtualreality

Resurrection of the Body? Physicalism and the Possibility of Life After Death

Sun, 09 Aug 2026 13:30:00 -0000

Can a Christian be a physicalist? And is there a coherent story to tell about how a physical entity can survive bodily death? In this talk, Rebekah Rice evaluates proposals by Christian philosophers who have answered "yes" to both questions and have gone on to propose theories about the possibility of resurrection given physicalism. Rebekah Rice, Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Seattle Pacific University, gave this lecture back in 2012.

00:00 Lecture
49:45 Q&A

#philosophy #metaphysics #philosophyofmind #philosophyofreligion #personalidentity #materialism

The Supremacy of Method - Ernest Nagel (1973)

Sun, 09 Aug 2026 13:30:00 -0000

Audio recording of a 1973 lecture by Ernest Nagel on the supremacy of method at Columbia University.

#philosophy #science #epistemology #philosophyofscience #skepticism #relativism #historyofphilosophy

The Afterlife: How People Who Don’t Yet Exist Matter More to Us than People Who Do

Sun, 09 Aug 2026 12:52:30 -0000

Samuel Scheffler (University Professor of Philosophy and Law at New York University) delivers the first of his 2012 Tanner lectures at Berkeley with commentary from Susan R. Wolf (Edna J. Koury Professor of Philosophy at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill). Note, the introduction has been edited out.

00:00 Lecture
59:50 Susan Wolf
1:15:53 Response

#philosophy #ethics #moralphilosophy

Political Philosophy and John Rawls

Sun, 09 Aug 2026 12:30:00 -0000

Audio recording of a lecture by Jonathan Wolff on John Rawls' political philosophy. After discussing the detrimental influence of logical positivism on ethical and political discourse, Jonathan Wolff goes on to explain John Rawls' famous contractarian conception of justice. Rawls' argument takes the form of a thought experiment involving a hypothetical contract in which people are made ignorant about certain facts about themselves which could bias them in their own favor (e.g. their race, gender, class, age, talents, etc.). In this way, ignorance is used as a way to guarantee impartiality in deciding how societies should be set up. After all, one cannot rig things up to benefit oneself if one doesn't know what one's interests are or what one's position in society will be. Rawls argued that people behind this so-called "veil of ignorance" would agree to two principles of justice: the liberty principle and the difference principle. Jonathan Wolf explains these principles and the main arguments for and against them. (My Summary)

Note, this is re-upload. More details about this talk will be added at a later date.

More Political Philosophy: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhP9EhPApKE_O1dkCOqsUke_0QUkX80A-

#philosophy #politicalphilosophy #rawls #johnrawls #politicaltheory #historyofphilosophy

8 The Paralogisms and Antinomies of Pure Reason - Kant's Critique of Pure Reason (Dan Robinson)

Sun, 09 Aug 2026 12:15:00 -0000

Dan Robinson gives the final lecture in a series of 8 on Immanuel Kant's Critique of Pure Reason. Reason, properly disciplined, draws permissible inferences from the resulting concepts of the understanding. The outcome is knowledge. When rightly employed, the perceptual and cognitive powers match up the right way with the real world and ground the knowledge-claims of the developed sciences. However, there is a strong tendency to stretch these processes beyond the permissible boundaries and seek what Kant refers to as "transcendental ideas" that go beyond the realm of actual or possible experience.

This series looks at German Philosopher Immanuel Kant's seminal philosophical work 'The Critique of Pure Reason'. The lectures aim to outline and discuss some of the key philosophical issues raised in the book and to offer students and individuals thought provoking Kantian ideas surrounding metaphysics. Each lecture looks at particular questions raised in the work such as how do we know what we know and how do we find out about the world, dissects these questions with reference to Kant's work and discusses the broader philosophical implications. Anyone with an interest in Kant and philosophy will find these lectures thought provoking but accessible.

This is series of lectures was given in 2011 at Oxford. Note, the audio has improved.

All 8 lectures: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhP9EhPApKE_OdgqNgL0AJX9-gwr4tmLw

#philosophy #kant #epistemology #metaphysics #skepticism #historyofphilosophy

Wittgenstein vs Socrates on Definitions and Explanations (James Klagge)

Sun, 09 Aug 2026 11:37:30 -0000

Wittgenstein described some of his views as being the opposite of Socrates'. Socrates famously sought essential definitions for concepts such as Truth, Justice, Knowledge, Goodness, Beauty, etc. This search for the definition or essential nature of things (i.e. the necessary and sufficient conditions for a given concept) is the very paradigm of philosophical or conceptual analysis. But according to Wittgenstein, such abstract terms do not have or do not need to have an underlying essence which all the particular instances have in common. We understand the meaning of such terms enough to be able to use them, even if we cannot spell out their precise conditions. Indeed, things of the same kind need not share any underlying universal or common nature, but only a variety of overlapping similarities, which Wittgenstein famously called "family resemblances". In this way, Wittgenstein was something of a nominalist, rejecting essentialism. So too, while Socrates was always looking for deeper explanations, Wittgenstein was quite skeptical of this sort of intellectualism. For although the unexamined life is not worth living, the endlessly examined life is something that isn't even livable.

This talk was given by James Klagge at the Wittgenstein Archive at Bergen, University of Bergen, Norway, March 6, 2012. It is a re-upload.

#philosophy #wittgenstein #socrates #plato #historyofphilosophy #epistemology

Free Will - General Philosophy (Peter Millican)

Sun, 09 Aug 2026 11:30:00 -0000

In this lecture on General Philosophy, Professor Peter Millican discusses free will and the problem of moral responsibility. This comes from a 2010 series on General Philosophy. The slides have been added.

This series of lectures was delivered by Peter Millican to first-year philosophy students at the University of Oxford. The lectures comprise of the 8-week General Philosophy course, delivered to first year undergraduates. These lectures aim to provide a thorough introduction to many philosophical topics and to get students and others interested in thinking about key areas of philosophy. Taking a chronological view of the history of philosophy, each lecture is split into 3 or 4 sections which outline a particular philosophical problem and how different philosophers have attempted to resolve the issue. Individuals interested in the 'big' questions about life such as how we perceive the world, who we are in the world and whether we are free to act will find this series informative, comprehensive and accessible.

More lectures on General Philosophy: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhP9EhPApKE_xo2wvkm6qPZrUlAiRNHXb

Source: https://podcasts.ox.ac.uk/series/general-philosophy

#philosophy #freewill #determinism #causality #causation #mind #metaphysics #psychology

John Locke - Antony Flew (1977)

Sun, 09 Aug 2026 11:00:00 -0000

Audio recording of a short program in which Antony Flew discusses the life and thought of the great 17th-century British empiricist philosopher, John Locke. This comes from a 1977 series of programs on western philosophy.

#philosophy #epistemology #locke #historyofphilosophy

Robert Nozick on Karl Popper's Anti-Inductivism (2001)

Sun, 09 Aug 2026 10:30:00 -0000

Audio recording of Robert Nozick presenting an argument against Karl Popper's anti-inductivist view of scientific knowledge in a clip from a 2001 interview by Juliαn Sαnchez on Nozick's most recent book "Invariances: The Structure of the Objective World".

#philosophy #karlpopper #epistemology #science #nozick

Wittgenstein's Contribution to Philosophy

Sun, 09 Aug 2026 10:22:30 -0000

Wittgenstein scholar Peter Hacker discusses the life and philosophical thought of Ludwig Wittgenstein in a lecture from a few years back at the Chαbad Society at the University of Oxford.

#philosophy #wittgenstein #language #philosophyofmind #philosophyoflanguage #historyofphilosophy

Hume on the Argument from Design

Sun, 09 Aug 2026 09:45:00 -0000

Michael Levine discusses David Hume on the teleological argument or the argument from design with Alan Saunders in this clip from an episode of the Philosopher's Zone from back in 2011. Michael Levine was Professor of Philosophy at the University of Western Australia.

This clip comes from an episode of the Philosopher's Zone, an ABC Radio National program, from back in 2011.

The Philosopher's Zone: https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/philosopherszone

#philosophy #davidhume #philosophyofreligion #theism #atheism #agnosticism #historyofphilosophy

6 Concepts, Judgment and Deduction of the Categories - Kant's Critique of Pure Reason (Dan Robinson)

Sun, 09 Aug 2026 09:30:00 -0000

Dan Robinson gives the 6th lecture in a series of 8 on Immanuel Kant's Critique of Pure Reason. Empiricists have no explanation for how we move from "mere forms of thought" to objective concepts. The conditions necessary for the knowledge of an object require a priori categories as the enabling conditions of all human understanding.

This series looks at German Philosopher Immanuel Kant's seminal philosophical work 'The Critique of Pure Reason'. The lectures aim to outline and discuss some of the key philosophical issues raised in the book and to offer students and individuals thought provoking Kantian ideas surrounding metaphysics. Each lecture looks at particular questions raised in the work such as how do we know what we know and how do we find out about the world, dissects these questions with reference to Kant's work and discusses the broader philosophical implications. Anyone with an interest in Kant and philosophy will find these lectures thought provoking but accessible.

This is series of lectures was given in 2011 at Oxford. Note, the audio has been improved.

All 8 lectures: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhP9EhPApKE_OdgqNgL0AJX9-gwr4tmLw

#philosophy #kant #epistemology #metaphysics #empiricism #skepticism #historyofphilosophy

Hannah Arendt on Power and Violence (1968)

Sun, 09 Aug 2026 09:07:30 -0000

Audio recording of part of 1968 lecture by Hannah Arendt at Bard College on power and violence. Note, the beginning of the lecture is missing.

00:00 Talk
18:46 Q&A

You can find more Arendt here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhP9EhPApKE-07vAVTFEuiDvqli1y8f0U

#philosophy #hannaharendt #politicaltheory #politicalphilosophy

Simone de Beauvoir on Existentialism and God (1959)

Sun, 09 Aug 2026 09:06:00 -0000

A version of a video from the old channel. This comes from a 1959 interview with Wilfrid Lemoyne from Radio-Canada. The translation is my mine. More Short Clips: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhP9EhPApKE8v8UVlc7JuuNHwvhkaOvzc

Existentialists take human existence and the human condition to be a fundamental issue. They tend to be radical individualists who privilege our lived experience and choice. They focus on themes such as: freedom, authenticity, the individual, meaning, anxiety, alienation, death, dread, the absurd, contingency, and nihilism. They often are also suspicious of any fixed, pre-determined human nature, objective/universal values, and abstract philosophical systems. Some of the most important existentialist thinkers (or at least thinkers associated with existentialism) include Jean-Paul Sartre, Martin Heidegger, Søren Kierkegaard, Simone de Beauvoir, Friedrich Nietzsche, Dostoyevsky, Albert Camus, and Karl Jaspers. (My Description)

#philosophy #existentialism #sartre

Debate of the Century: What it Means to be Human (2002)

Sun, 09 Aug 2026 08:30:00 -0000

Dr. Peter Singer and Dr. Nigel M. de S. Cameron discuss what it means to be human in a 2002 debate moderated by Michael krasny and hosted by the Center for Bioethics and Culture. They consider various ethical issues surrounding life and death, including that of euthanasia, among various other things.

00:00 Introduction
07:20 Cameron's Opening
17:06 Singer's Opening
28:18 Back-and-Forth
1:01:57 Audience Questions
1:26:04 Singer's Closing
1:32:40 Cameron's Closing

#philosophy #ethics #petersinger #medicalethics #bioethics #moralphilosophy #debate

4 Synthetic A Priori Judgments - Kant's Critique of Pure Reason (Dan Robinson)

Sun, 09 Aug 2026 08:30:00 -0000

Dan Robinson gives the 4th lecture in a series of 8 on Immanuel Kant's Critique of Pure Reason. Kant claims that, "our sense representation is not a representation of things in themselves, but of the way in which they appear to us. Hence it follows that the propositions of geometry... cannot be referred with the assurance to actual objects; but rather that they are necessarily valid of space... [and] space is nothing else than the form of all external appearances". [Prolegomena 286-287]

This series looks at German Philosopher Immanuel Kant's seminal philosophical work 'The Critique of Pure Reason'. The lectures aim to outline and discuss some of the key philosophical issues raised in the book and to offer students and individuals thought provoking Kantian ideas surrounding metaphysics. Each lecture looks at particular questions raised in the work such as how do we know what we know and how do we find out about the world, dissects these questions with reference to Kant's work and discusses the broader philosophical implications. Anyone with an interest in Kant and philosophy will find these lectures thought provoking but accessible.

This is series of lectures was given in 2011 at Oxford. Note, the audio has been improved.

All 8 lectures: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhP9EhPApKE_OdgqNgL0AJX9-gwr4tmLw

#philosophy #kant #epistemology #metaphysics #empiricism #skepticism #historyofphilosophy

Aristotle's Ethics - Happiness, Pleasure, and Friendship (History of Philosophy)

Sun, 09 Aug 2026 07:52:30 -0000

Peter Adamson discusses Aristotle's ethics, focusing on the Nicomachean Ethics. Among other things, he discusses Aristotle's ideas about happiness, virtue, the function argument, weakness of will, as well as the role of pleasure and friendship in the good life.

This is from two episodes of Peter Adamson's podcast, the History of Philosophy without any Gaps, back in 2011. I thought it provided a good introduction to Aristotle's ethics. The podcast can be found here: https://historyofphilosophy.net

00:00 Aristotle's Ethics
20:13 Pleasure & Friendship

#philosophy #aristotle #ethics #moralphilosophy #historyofphilosophy #metaphysics #philosopher

The Hallmark of a Philosophical Question (Isaiah Berlin and Bryan Magee)

Sun, 09 Aug 2026 07:30:00 -0000

A very short clip of Isaiah Berlin in conversation with Bryan Magee. This is from a 1977 program on philosophy. The full interview can be found here: https://youtu.be/RDgw6ydB6lU

#philosophy #isaiahberlin #bryanmagee #historyofphilosophy

3 Space, Time and the "Analogies of Experiences" - Kant's Critique of Pure Reason (Dan Robinson)

Sun, 09 Aug 2026 07:15:00 -0000

Dan Robinson gives the 3rd lecture in a series of 8 on Immanuel Kant's Critique of Pure Reason. Kant's so-called "Copernican" revolution in metaphysics begins with the recognition of the observer's contribution to the observation. Thus, to the extent that Hume's empiricism restricts knowledge to experience, empiricism succeeds only by accepting the a priori grounding of experience itself.

This series looks at German Philosopher Immanuel Kant's seminal philosophical work 'The Critique of Pure Reason'. The lectures aim to outline and discuss some of the key philosophical issues raised in the book and to offer students and individuals thought provoking Kantian ideas surrounding metaphysics. Each lecture looks at particular questions raised in the work such as how do we know what we know and how do we find out about the world, dissects these questions with reference to Kant's work and discusses the broader philosophical implications. Anyone with an interest in Kant and philosophy will find these lectures thought provoking but accessible.

This is series of lectures was given in 2011 at Oxford. Note, the audio has been improved.

All 8 lectures: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhP9EhPApKE_OdgqNgL0AJX9-gwr4tmLw

#philosophy #kant #epistemology #metaphysics #empiricism #skepticism #historyofphilosophy

David Papineau on Consciousness

Sun, 09 Aug 2026 06:37:30 -0000

David Papineau discusses consciousness from a materialist perspective and why dualist intuitions won't go away in an interview with Joe Gelonesi in an episode of the Philosopher's Zone, an ABC Radio National program from 2015.

For more information and additional episodes of the Philosopher's Zone, go to: https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/philosopherszone

#philosophy #philosophyofmind #consciousness #metaphysics #materialism

Ernest Nagel on the Philosophy of Science (1954)

Sun, 09 Aug 2026 06:30:00 -0000

Audio recording of a 1954 lecture given by Professor Ernest Nagel on the philosophy of science at the Cooper Union Forum.

#philosophy #philosophyofscience #epistemology #science

Divine Command Theory and the Euthyphro Objection

Sun, 09 Aug 2026 06:00:00 -0000

Russ Shafer-Landau explains the Euthyphro Dilemma and why it presents a serious problem to Divine Command Theory. This comes from a talk on objective morality without God: https://youtu.be/50CQwa15R7A

#philosophy #ethics #metaethics #moralphilosophy #historyofphilosophy

The Hiddenness of God (Peter van Inwagen)

Sun, 09 Aug 2026 05:30:00 -0000

Audio recording of a lecture by Peter van Inwagen on the problem of divine hiddenness at Calvin College back in 2004. This was the second of his Jellema lectures. His first lecture can be found here: https://youtu.be/nNEweeN32QI

#philosophy #philosophyofreligion #agnosticism #atheism #theism #epistemology

Creativity in Science - Ernest Nagel (1968)

Sun, 09 Aug 2026 05:22:30 -0000

Audio recording of a public lecture by professor Ernest Nagel on the nature of creativity, particularly in connection with science. This talk was given at the Cooper Union Forum in 1968.

#philosophy #science #philosophyofscience #historyofscience #psychology

Perception, Abstraction and Idealism - General Philosophy (Peter Millican)

Sun, 09 Aug 2026 04:45:00 -0000

In this lecture on General Philosophy, Professor Peter Millican discusses the problem of perception, the distinction between primary and secondary qualities, resemblance, abstraction, and idealism. This comes from a 2010 series on General Philosophy. The slides have been added.

This series of lectures was delivered by Peter Millican to first-year philosophy students at the University of Oxford. The lectures comprise of the 8-week General Philosophy course, delivered to first year undergraduates. These lectures aim to provide a thorough introduction to many philosophical topics and to get students and others interested in thinking about key areas of philosophy. Taking a chronological view of the history of philosophy, each lecture is split into 3 or 4 sections which outline a particular philosophical problem and how different philosophers have attempted to resolve the issue. Individuals interested in the 'big' questions about life such as how we perceive the world, who we are in the world and whether we are free to act will find this series informative, comprehensive and accessible.

More lectures on General Philosophy: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhP9EhPApKE_xo2wvkm6qPZrUlAiRNHXb

Source: https://podcasts.ox.ac.uk/series/general-philosophy

00:00 Intro to Primary & Secondary Qualities
01:04 The Mechanisms of Perception
02:41 What are Objects Like?
04:20 Locke & Corpuscularianism
07:47 Pains, Colours, & Shapes
09:24 A Problematic Text
11:03 In Objects, or Just In the Mind?
14:29 Why Resemblance?
16:01 Can an Idea Resemble an Object?
18:41 Structural Resemblance?
21:44 Solidity
23:42 Hume’s Criticism
25:11 Empiricism & Understanding
26:23 The Attack on Abstraction
29:25 The Case for Idealism
30:26 “Something I Know Not What”
35:16 Locke’s Indirect Realism
36:13 An Unacceptable Interpretation
38:30 Sense Data
39:08 How To Prove the Causal Link?
40:50 Phenomenalism
43:20 Direct Realism
45:59 Is a Lockean View Defensible?
48:29 Explanatory Realism

#philosophy #epistemology #perception #skepticism #philosophyofmind #historyofphilosophy

2 Romanticism - First Attack on Enlightenment (Isaiah Berlin 1965)

Sun, 09 Aug 2026 04:30:00 -0000

Isaiah Berlin gives the 2nd lecture in a series of 6 on Romanticism and its roots.

All 6 lectures: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhP9EhPApKE_9uxkmfSIt2JJK6oKbXmd-

For Berlin, the Romantics set in motion a vast, unparalleled revolution in humanity’s view of itself. They destroyed the traditional notions of objective truth and validity in ethics with incalculable, all-pervasive results. As he said of the Romantics elsewhere: “The world has never been the same since, and our politics and morals have been deeply transformed by them. Certainly this has been the most radical, and indeed dramatic, not to say terrifying, change in men’s outlook in modern times.”

In these brilliant lectures Berlin surveys the myriad attempts to define Romanticism, distills its essence, traces its developments from its first stirrings to its apotheosis, and shows how its lasting legacy permeates our own outlook. Combining the freshness and immediacy of the spoken word with Berlin’s inimitable eloquence and wit, the lectures range over a cast of the greatest thinkers and artists of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, including Kant, Rousseau, Diderot, Schiller, Schlegel, Novalis, Goethe, Blake, Byron, and Beethoven. Berlin argues that the ideas and attitudes held by these and other figures helped to shape twentieth-century nationalism, existentialism, democracy, totalitarianism, and our ideas about heroic individuals, individual self-fulfillment, and the exalted place of art. This is the record of an intellectual bravura performance–of one of the century’s most influential philosophers dissecting and assessing a movement that changed the course of history. These Mellon lectures were delivered in Washington in 1965.

00:00 Program for the Lectures
01:07 Enlightenment Tradition
22:44 Montesquieu & Relativism
26:42 David Hume & Skepticism
32:07 Germans & Sour Grapes
44:32 Hamann & Counter-Enlightenment

#Philosophy #Romanticism #IsaiahBerlin

Honderich vs Penrose on Consciousness (1999)

Sun, 09 Aug 2026 04:07:30 -0000

Ted Honderich pushes Sir Roger Penrose about his view about consciousness and whether it involves a relation of identity, presenting something of a dilemma in the process. These clips come from a 1999 exchange on consciousness in an episode of the In Our Time podcast with Melvyn Brαgg. For more information and full episodes of In Our Time, go to: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qykl

#philosophy #philosophyofmind #consciousness #metaphysics #materialism

The Making of a Philosopher - What is Meant by 'Can't'? (Isaiah Berlin)

Sun, 09 Aug 2026 03:30:00 -0000

A very short clip of Isaiah Berlin in conversation with Bryan Magee from a 1977 program on philosophy which can be found here: https://youtu.be/RDgw6ydB6lU

#philosophy #isaiahberlin #bryanmagee #historyofphilosophy

Theories of Welfare - Ethics and Society Course

Sun, 09 Aug 2026 03:30:00 -0000

The nature of well-being is discussed in this introductory lecture from a 2023 course on Ethics and Society by Professor Samuel Zincke Elgin at UCSD, the University of California (UC San Diego).

#philosophy #ethics #moralphilosophy #utilitarianism #hedonism

Western Culture - Kwame Anthony Appiah (2016)

Sun, 09 Aug 2026 02:30:00 -0000

Audio recording of a 2016 lecture by the philosopher and cultural theorist Kwame Anthony Appiah on culture as part of his Reith Lectures on Mistaken Identities. He says the idea of "Western civilization" or "Western culture" is a mistaken one and that we should abandon it. He uncovers the history of the idea from its roots at the time of the Crusades to its modern incarnation in the second half of the 20th century. However, we have very little culturally in common with our forebears in say the England of Chaucer's time. And indeed, much of the knowledge supposedly at the heart of Western civilisation was actually transmitted via Islamic scholarship. No one, he argues, can claim exclusive ownership of culture.

This lecture was given by Kwame Anthony Appiah at New York University in 2016 as part of his Reith Lectures on Mistaken Identities.

00:00 Talk
29:45 Q&A

#philosophy #politicaltheory #socialphilosophy #culturalcritique

Aldous Huxley on the Ultimate Revolution (1962)

Sun, 09 Aug 2026 01:30:00 -0000

Audio recording of a 1962 lecture by Aldous Huxley at UC Berkeley. He discusses some of the themes of his famous work Brave New World regarding authoritarian state control and the various methods of psychological manipulation.

#philosophy #aldoushuxley #bravenewworld #authoritarianism #totalitarianism #socialtheory #psychology

2 The Broader Philosophical Context - Kant's Critique of Pure Reason (Dan Robinson)

Sun, 09 Aug 2026 00:30:00 -0000

Dan Robinson gives the 2nd lecture in a series of 8 on Immanuel Kant's Critique of Pure Reason. The significant advances in physics in the 17th century stood in vivid contrast to the stagnation of traditional metaphysics, but why should metaphysics be conceived as a "science" in the first place?

This series looks at German Philosopher Immanuel Kant's seminal philosophical work 'The Critique of Pure Reason'. The lectures aim to outline and discuss some of the key philosophical issues raised in the book and to offer students and individuals thought provoking Kantian ideas surrounding metaphysics. Each lecture looks at particular questions raised in the work such as how do we know what we know and how do we find out about the world, dissects these questions with reference to Kant's work and discusses the broader philosophical implications. Anyone with an interest in Kant and philosophy will find these lectures thought provoking but accessible.

This is series of lectures was given in 2011 at Oxford. Note, the audio has been improved.

All 8 lectures: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhP9EhPApKE_OdgqNgL0AJX9-gwr4tmLw

#philosophy #kant #epistemology #metaphysics #skepticism #empiricism #historyofphilosophy

Examining the Ethics of the Unthinkable: The Holocaust and Bioethics - Arthur Caplan (1989)

Sat, 08 Aug 2026 23:30:00 -0000

Audio recording of a keynote speech by Professor Arthur L. Caplan at a 1989 conference on the meaning of the Holocaust for bioethics at the University of Minnesota.

00:00 Lecture
52:17 Q&A

#philosophy #ethics #bioethics #history #moralphilosophy #utilitarianism #medicalethics #totalitarianism #authoritarianism

The Guts of the Frankfurt School: Reexamining Marx and the Marriage with Freud (Marcuse and Bryan Magee)

Sat, 08 Aug 2026 22:30:00 -0000

The full interview can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U23Ho0m_Sv0

#philosophy #bryanmagee #marx #freud #politicaltheory #politicalphilosophy #marxism #historyofphilosophy

Gadamer on Augustine on Time (1987)

Sat, 08 Aug 2026 21:30:00 -0000

A short clip of Hans-Georg Gadamer discussing Augustine on time. This is re-upload. The translation is mine.

More Gadamer: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhP9EhPApKE_MbPzGOh27qfdqiCaf7Uot

#philosophy #gadamer #time

Fallibilism's Payoff - Catherine Elgin

Sat, 08 Aug 2026 21:06:00 -0000

Catherine Elgin discusses fallibilism in a 2016 lecture at the University of Edinburgh. Elgin's talk "True Enough": https://youtu.be/P5pKJGXuCNE

#philosophy #epistemology #skepticism #science

Intro to the Philosophy of Mathematics (Ray Monk)

Sat, 08 Aug 2026 20:30:00 -0000

A good introduction to the philosophy of mathematics by Ray Monk. He considers the issue of the nature of mathematical truth - what mathematics is actually about - and discusses the views of Plato, Aristotle, Kant, Frege and Russell. What is mathematics about? Is mathematics something discovered or is it something invented or constructed by us? If numbers and mathematical objects are mere mental constructs, something invented by us, then why does mathematics work so well and seem to describe the world? On the other hand, if mathematical entities are "out there" in some sense waiting to be discovered, then what is their status and how do we get knowledge of them? After all, you can't see or touch numbers and other mathematical objects. And unlike ordinary empirical truths, mathematical truths seem to have a quite different and special status: they are a priori, necessary, eternal, universal, and absolutely certain. And this is why from the time of Plato onward, people have regarded mathematical truths as an ideal. In this talk, some of the ways in which philosophers have tried to account for the special nature of mathematical truth. (My Summary)

Another good introduction to the philosophy of mathematics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyXWnGFKTkg

More advanced talk on philosophy of mathematics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucPhfzCvKnE

#philosophy #epistemology #mathematics #kant #historyofphilosophy #metaphysics #philosopher #wittgenstein

Pragmatism and Truth - Rorty, Putnam, and Conant (2002)

Sat, 08 Aug 2026 19:30:00 -0000

Audio recording of a discussion between Richard Rorty, Hilary Putnam, and James Conant on pragmatism and truth. This comes from an episode of Odyssey on WBEZ Chicago from back in 2002 with host Gretchen Helfrich. Note, this is a reupload.

#philosophy #epistemology #rorty #pragmatism #historyofphilosophy #debate

Gadamer on Education and Tradition (1979)

Sat, 08 Aug 2026 18:30:00 -0000

Audio recording of a 1979 lecture by Hans-Georg Gadamer on tradition and education that was delivered in English at the University of Dallas.

#philosophy #gadamer #historyofphilosophy

7 The "Self" and Synthetic Unity of Apperception - Kant's Critique of Pure Reason (Dan Robinson)

Sat, 08 Aug 2026 17:30:00 -0000

Dan Robinson gives the 7th lecture in a series of 8 on Immanuel Kant's Critique of Pure Reason. Kant argues that: "The synthetic unity of consciousness is... an objective condition of all knowledge. It is not merely a condition that I myself require in knowing an object, but is a condition under which every intuition must stand in order to become an object for me".

This series looks at German Philosopher Immanuel Kant's seminal philosophical work 'The Critique of Pure Reason'. The lectures aim to outline and discuss some of the key philosophical issues raised in the book and to offer students and individuals thought provoking Kantian ideas surrounding metaphysics. Each lecture looks at particular questions raised in the work such as how do we know what we know and how do we find out about the world, dissects these questions with reference to Kant's work and discusses the broader philosophical implications. Anyone with an interest in Kant and philosophy will find these lectures thought provoking but accessible.

This is series of lectures was given in 2011 at Oxford. Note, the audio has been improved.

All 8 lectures: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhP9EhPApKE_OdgqNgL0AJX9-gwr4tmLw

#philosophy #kant #epistemology #metaphysics #personalidentity #empiricism #skepticism #historyofphilosophy

Walter Kaufmann on Oedipus and the Death of Tragedy (1974)

Sat, 08 Aug 2026 16:30:00 -0000

Audio recording of professor Walter Kaufmann discussing Sophocles' Oedipus Rex and some of its philosophical aspects, as well as the death of tragedy, in a lecture given at Concordia University in 1974.

You may also be interested in the following: https://youtu.be/IAsIccIBWJM

00:00 Lecture
59:10 Q&A

#philosophy #aesthetics #literature #tragedy #greektragedy

Foundations of Liberal Equality 2 - Ronald Dworkin (1988)

Sat, 08 Aug 2026 15:30:00 -0000

Audio recording of a lecture by Ronald M. Dworkin as part of his 1988 Tanner lectures on human values at Stanford University on the foundations of liberalism. This was the second of his Tanner lectures. Note, this is a re-upload.

00:00 Lecture
1:07:14 Q&A

#philosophy #ethics #politicalphilosophy #moralphilosophy #politicaltheory #liberalism

Nietzsche on Nihilism and the Death of God - Ken Gemes

Sat, 08 Aug 2026 14:30:00 -0000

Audio recording of the first of two lectures by Ken Gemes on Nietzsche. In this first talk, Ken Gemes introduces Nietzsche as the philosopher of the death of God. Nietzsche claims that we have not yet fully understood the ramifications of the modern rejection of belief in God. Giving up the belief in God undermines all our values, though many cling to those values in the absence of God or of any other justificatory basis for those values. When we truly appreciate the meaning of the death of God, we will, says Nietzsche, lapse into nihilism; the inability to find any foundation for values and meaning in the world. This Nietzsche presciently predicts as the future of Europe for the next two hundred years. Nietzsche does not endorse nihilism but seeks to move beyond it to a new affirmation of this world, the one and only world. But what does Nietzsche mean exactly by nihilism? This is discussed in the talk.

The next lecture by Ken Gemes on Nietzsche: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ejV1cHZL58

Note, this is a re-upload.

00:00 Talk
31:42 Q&A

#philosophy #nietzsche #nihilism #atheism #historyofphilosophy

What is Distinctive of Human Thought?

Sat, 08 Aug 2026 13:30:00 -0000

Descartes famously argued that animals were mere machines, without thought or consciousness. Few would now share this view. But if other animals have conscious lives, what are they like, how do they differ from ours, and how would we ever know anything about them? In this lecture, Tim Crane addresses this question by looking at the kinds of thoughts we might share with animals, and looking at philosophical and empirical arguments for how our thoughts might differ from theirs.

This talk was given by professor Tim Crane as part of his inaugural lecture as Knightbridge Professor of Philosophy at the University of Cambridge back in 2010.

#philosophy #philosophyofmind #epistemology #psychology #intentionality #mind #language

The Absurdity of Moral Relativism and Subjectivism - A Polemic

Sat, 08 Aug 2026 12:30:00 -0000

Skeletons will dance, positions will be refuted. This is a re-upload from the previous channel. It was made in 2016. You may also like the following: https://youtu.be/DFHPH3m-KR8

#philosophy #relativism #ethics #postmodernism #historyofphilosophy