Philosophy Overdose

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

Tue, 01 Sep 2026 10:00:00 -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

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

Tue, 01 Sep 2026 09:52:30 -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

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Gadamer on Schopenhauer (1991)

Tue, 01 Sep 2026 09:06:00 -0000

A very short clip of Gadamer discussing Schopenhauer. More details will be added at a later date. More Short Clips: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhP9EhPApKE8v8UVlc7JuuNHwvhkaOvzc

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

#Philosophy #Gadamer #Schopenhauer

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What is Distinctive of Human Thought?

Tue, 01 Sep 2026 09:00:00 -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

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The Hiddenness of God (Peter van Inwagen)

Tue, 01 Sep 2026 08:55:00 -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

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Hannah Arendt on Ideology (1968)

Tue, 01 Sep 2026 08:00:00 -0000

A short clip of Hannah Arendt discussing ideology and the role it played in the totalitarian regimes of the 20th century. This comes from the Q&A section of a lecture on power and violence given at Bard College in 1968.

#philosophy #hannaharendt #politicalphilosophy #totalitarianism #politicaltheory #ideology

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

Tue, 01 Sep 2026 07:57:30 -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

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5 Unbridled Romanticism - Fichte, Schelling, and Symbols (Isaiah Berlin 1965)

Tue, 01 Sep 2026 07:00:00 -0000

Isaiah Berlin gives the 5th 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 Three Great Trends
00:50 Fichte
09:58 Schelling
16:02 Symbolism
21:44 Depth
26:33 Nostalgia
31:07 Paranoia
37:13 French Revolution

#Romanticism #IsaiahBerlin #Fichte

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Cavell and Skepticism - Hilary Putnam (2005)

Tue, 01 Sep 2026 07:00:00 -0000

A clip of Hilary Putnam discussing philosophical skepticism and the work of Stanley Cavell which comes from a 2005 conference celebrating the work of Hilary Putnam at the ENS (École Normale Supérieure) in Paris.

#philosophy #epistemology #skepticism #historyofphilosophy

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

Tue, 01 Sep 2026 06:02:30 -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

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Words and Philosophy - Hugh Mellor (1978)

Tue, 01 Sep 2026 06:00:00 -0000

Audio recording of a series of six short ratio talks by Hugh Mellor back in 1978 on the use of words in philosophy. Among other things, he dispells the myth that important issues can be settled merely by definitions. He goes on to consider the abuse of words, as well as logical argument, jargon, and the liar paradox.

These talks were given by D. H. Mellor (David Hugh Mellor) and originally broadcast on BBC Radio 3 in 1978.

00:00 It All Depends What You Mean
05:15 Define Your Terms
10:18 Fictional Documentaries
15:19 What's Wrong With Jargon
20:08 On Being Illogical
25:07 The Liar Paradox

#philosophy #language #epistemology #philosophyoflanguage #rationality

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Sidgwick's Ethics - Peter Singer (2017)

Tue, 01 Sep 2026 05:05:00 -0000

In this talk, Peter Singer discusses and defends Henry Sidgwick's consequentialist ethics. This was the Routledge lecture in philosophy given at the University of Cambridge in 2017 under the title 'The Point of View of the Universe: Defending Sidgwick's Ethics'. Professor Singer discusses various forms of utilitarianism, some of the main arguments against each, as well as some of the responses. Read more about utilitarianism and consequentialism: https://iep.utm.edu/consequentialism-utilitarianism/

Sidgwick's Methods of Ethics: http://www.laits.utexas.edu/poltheory/sidgwick/me/index.html

#philosophy #ethics #utilitarianism #moralphilosophy #metaethics #petersinger

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Justice for Hedgehogs - Ronald Dworkin (2011)

Tue, 01 Sep 2026 05:00:00 -0000

Audio recording of a lecture by Ronald M. Dworkin on his book "Justice for Hedgehogs" at the Carnegie Council in 2011. The title is a reference to the Ancient Greek poet Archilochus who wrote that "the fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing." Ronald Dworkin argues for one big thing: the unity of value.

#philosophy #politicalphilosophy #ethics #moralphilosophy #jurisprudence

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What Justifies the State?

Tue, 01 Sep 2026 04:07:30 -0000

An episode from the 1998 Εxαmined Life series.

#philosophy #politicalphilosophy #politicaltheory #historyofphilosophy

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Political Equality

Tue, 01 Sep 2026 04:00:00 -0000

A clip of Ronald Dworkin discussing the notion of political equality which comes from a longer talk on the paradoxes of equality at Queen's University as part of the 1982 Chancellor Dunning Trust Lecture series. Read more on this topic: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/equality/

#philosophy #politicalphilosophy #politicaltheory #ethics

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

Tue, 01 Sep 2026 03:10:00 -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

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

Tue, 01 Sep 2026 03:00:00 -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

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John Locke - Antony Flew (1977)

Tue, 01 Sep 2026 02:12:30 -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

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Rawls vs Nozick (Ronald Dworkin)

Tue, 01 Sep 2026 02:00:00 -0000

Ronald Dworkin gives a very brief, introductory overview of John Rawls' "A Theory of Justice" and Robert Nozick's "Anarchy, State, and Utopia" in an interview with Bryan Magee from 1977. Although both wrote very influential works of political philosophy, they came to quite different conclusions. Rawls famously put forward a novel argument for his position which made use of a thought experiment involving a hypothetical contract. Unlike other social contract theories though, Rawls added the further twist that the bargainers must be 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 device to guarantee impartiality in deciding how societies should be structured. After all, one cannot rig things to benefit oneself at the expense of others if one doesn't know what one's personal interests are or what one's position in society will be. Rawls argued that behind this so-called "veil of ignorance" people would agree to two principles, the most interesting being the difference principle, which states that economic inequalities can only be justified if they are to the benefit of the worst off in society. However, such a view was rejected by Nozick, who argued from a starting point of absolute rights of property which cannot be violated without one's consent. Despite such a strong principle, Nozick argued that there can still be a kind of minimal state, what he called a "night-watchman state", which protects property and person. One way to think of the difference in views between Rawls and Nozick (albeit this may be overly simplistic and even misleading in certain respects) is that while Nozick privileges liberty and rights over equality and fairness, Rawls instead privileges that of equality and fairness. (My Summary)

This clip is of Ronald Dworkin discussing the political thought of John Rawls and Robert Nozick in a 1977 interview with Bryan Magee. It is an upload from the previous channel.

The full interview can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gySLm3Z1OvA

00:00 John Rawls
12:13 Robert Nozick

#philosophy #politicalphilosophy #politicaltheory #rawls #bryanmagee #historyofphilosophy

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The Problem of Free Will

Tue, 01 Sep 2026 01:15:00 -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

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Nationhood - Kwame Anthony Appiah (2016)

Tue, 01 Sep 2026 01:00:00 -0000

Audio recording of a 2016 lecture by the philosopher and cultural theorist Kwame Anthony Appiah as part of his Reith Lectures on Mistaken Identities. He argues against a mythical, romantic view of nationhood, saying instead it should rest on a commitment to shared values. He explores the history of the idea, born in the 19th century, that there are peoples who are bound together by an ancient common spirit and that each of these nations is entitled to its own state. He says this idea is a mistaken one, illustrating his argument through the life story of the writer who took the pen name Italo Svevo - meaning literally Italian Swabian. He was born a citizen of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and became a citizen of the new republic of Italy, all without leaving his home city of Trieste. Appiah argues that states exist as a set of shared beliefs rather than membership of some sort of mythical and ancient group.

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

00:00 Talk
31:19 Q&A

#philosophy #politicalphilosophy #politicaltheory #nationalism

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

Tue, 01 Sep 2026 00:17:30 -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

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8 Reid on the Principle of Morals - Reid's Critique of Hume (Dan Robinson)

Tue, 01 Sep 2026 00:00:00 -0000

Professor Dan Robinson gives the final lecture in a series of 8 lectures on Thomas Reid's critique of David Hume at Oxford in 2014. “Like all other sciences, morals must have first principles, and all moral reasoning is based on them... In all rational belief, the thing believed is either a first principle or something inferred by valid reasoning from first principles”. As for utility, “Suppose that mice rescue the distressed person by chewing through the cords that bound him. Is there moral goodness in this act of the mice?” Beyond the armchair and other precincts of untrammeled speculation, one finds that, there is little purchase on a morality of pleasure and utility. Indded, “If what we call ‘moral judgment’ isn’t really a judgment but merely a feeling, it follows that the moral principles that we have been taught to consider as an immutable law to all intelligent beings have no basis except an arbitrary structure and fabric in the constitution of the human mind…Thus, by a change in our structure immoral things could become moral…There are beings who can’t perceive mathematical truths; but no defect, no error of understanding, can make what is true to be false”.

Under “David Hume”, the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy begins with, “The most important philosopher ever to write in English”. His most formidable contemporary critic was the fellow Scot, Thomas Reid, the major architect of so-called Scottish Common Sense Philosophy. The most significant features of Hume’s work, as understood by Reid, are the representive theory of perception, the nature of causation and causal concepts, the nature of personal identity and the foundations of morality. Each of these topics is presented in a pair of lectures, the first summarizing Hume’s position and the second Reid’s critique of that position.

All Lectures: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhP9EhPApKE9nki7CXFPi7PMOi5W2g2-q

#philosophy #davidhume #ethics #moralphilosophy #historyofphilosophy

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5 David Hume on Personal Identity - Reid's Critique of Hume (Dan Robinson)

Mon, 31 Aug 2026 23:20:00 -0000

Professor Dan Robinson gives the fifth in a series of 8 lectures on Thomas Reid's critique of David Hume at Oxford in 2014. “There are some philosophers who imagine we are every moment intimately conscious of what we call our self; that we feel its existence and its continuance in existence; and are certain, beyond the evidence of a demonstration, both of its perfect identity and simplicity…For my part, when I enter most intimately into what I call myself, I always stumble on some particular perception or other, of heat or cold, light or shade, love or hatred, pain or pleasure. I never can catch myself at any time without a perception, and never can observe any thing but the perception. When my perceptions are removed for any time, as by sound sleep, so long am I insensible of myself, and may truly be said not to exist. And were all my perceptions removed by death, and could I neither think, nor feel, nor see, nor love, nor hate, after the dissolution of my body, I should be entirely annihilated...”

Under “David Hume”, the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy begins with, “The most important philosopher ever to write in English”. His most formidable contemporary critic was the fellow Scot, Thomas Reid, the major architect of so-called Scottish Common Sense Philosophy. The most significant features of Hume’s work, as understood by Reid, are the representive theory of perception, the nature of causation and causal concepts, the nature of personal identity and the foundations of morality. Each of these topics is presented in a pair of lectures, the first summarizing Hume’s position and the second Reid’s critique of that position.

All Lectures: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhP9EhPApKE9nki7CXFPi7PMOi5W2g2-q

#philosophy #davidhume #epistemology #personalidentity #empiricism #skepticism #historyofphilosophy

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Sidney Morgenbesser on Naturalism (1966)

Mon, 31 Aug 2026 23:00:00 -0000

Audio recording of a 1966 lecture given by Sidney Morgenbesser on philosophical naturalism at the Cooper Union Forum as part of a series on Philosophy for Modern Man.

#philosophy #determinism #atheism #freewill #causality #epistemology #science

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Two Kinds of Freedom: Negative vs Positive

Mon, 31 Aug 2026 22:22:30 -0000

Another re-upload of something that I put together awhile ago about Isaiah Berlin's famous distinction between the notion of positive versus negative liberty, and the related liberal conception of freedom.

#philosophy #isaiahberlin #politicaltheory #politicalphilosophy #historyofphilosophy

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Metaphilosophy and Russell vs Wittgenstein on Judgment

Mon, 31 Aug 2026 22:00:00 -0000

After a brief discussion of the nature of philosophy and the origins of analytic philosophy, Fraser MacBride discusses Bertrand Russell and Ludwig Wittgenstein on the nature of relations and the structure of judgment or belief, how our thought relates to external objects in the world. Among the topics discussed include metaphilosophy and the history of analytic philosophy, F. H. Bradley's infamous regress argument against the reality of relations, Russell's correspondence theory of truth and various accounts of judgment, including his famous multiple relation theory.

"The question of relations is one of the most important that arise in philosophy, as most other issues turn on it: monism and pluralism; the question of whether anything is wholly true except the whole of truth, or wholly real except the whole of reality; idealism and realism, in some of their forms; perhaps the very existence of philosophy as a subject distinct from science and possessing a method of its own.” Bertrand Russell

#Philosophy #Wittgenstein #BertrandRussell

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Creativity in Science - Ernest Nagel (1968)

Mon, 31 Aug 2026 21:25:00 -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

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Can Machines Become Conscious? (2025)

Mon, 31 Aug 2026 21:06:00 -0000

David Chalmers and Michael Graziano discuss consciousness and AI with moderator Anil Ananthaswamy at Princeton University in 2025 as part of the Large AI Model Lecture Series.

00:00 Introduction
08:31 Discussion

#philosophy #artificialintelligence #consciousness #psychology #davidchalmers #philosophyofmind #debate

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1 The "Representational" Theory of Knowledge - Reid's Critique of Hume (Dan Robinson)

Mon, 31 Aug 2026 21:00:00 -0000

Professor Dan Robinson gives the first in a series of 8 lectures on Thomas Reid's critique of David Hume at Oxford in 2014. Hume defends the thesis according to which “ALL THE PERCEPTIONS OF THE HUMAN MIND RESOLVE THEMSELVES INTO…IMPRESSIONS AND IDEAS”. Accordingly, “We may prosecute this enquiry to what length we please; where we shall always find, that every idea which we examine is copied from a similar impression”.

Under “David Hume”, the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy begins with, “The most important philosopher ever to write in English”. His most formidable contemporary critic was the fellow Scot, Thomas Reid, the major architect of so-called Scottish Common Sense Philosophy. The most significant features of Hume’s work, as understood by Reid, are the representive theory of perception, the nature of causation and causal concepts, the nature of personal identity and the foundations of morality. Each of these topics is presented in a pair of lectures, the first summarizing Hume’s position and the second Reid’s critique of that position.

All Lectures: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhP9EhPApKE9nki7CXFPi7PMOi5W2g2-q

#philosophy #davidhume #epistemology #perception #empiricism #skepticism #philosophyofmind #historyofphilosophy

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

Mon, 31 Aug 2026 20:27:30 -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

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Same-Sex Marriage Arguments

Mon, 31 Aug 2026 20:00:00 -0000

Professor Martha Nussbaum discusses the main arguments against same-sex marriage in a clip which comes from a 2010 lecture at the Harvard Book Store on her book, From Disgust to Humanity: Sexual Orientation and Constitutional Law. Although this topic would've seemed out of date a decade ago, it seems increasingly less so in the current socio-political climate.

#philosophy #ethics #socialissues #law #debate

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Isaiah Berlin Interview on Freedom (1974)

Mon, 31 Aug 2026 19:30:00 -0000

This is from an episode of the podcast Philosopher's Zone from a few years back. For more about the Philosopher's Zone: https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/philosopherszone/

#philosophy #isaiahberlin #freedom #kant #determinism #causality #freewill #historyofphilosophy

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Is God an Unnecessary Hypothesis?

Mon, 31 Aug 2026 19:00:00 -0000

Audio recording of a lecture by Peter van Inwagen on whether God is an unnecessary hypothesis at Calvin College back in 2004. This was the first of his Jellema lectures. His second lecture can be found here: https://youtu.be/izD-w3CCN98

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

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Wittgenstein - The Unsayable and Limits of Thought

Mon, 31 Aug 2026 18:00:00 -0000

In this clip, Ray Monk, Barry Smith, and Marie McGinn discuss the early Wittgenstein's thought in regards to the famous last proposition of the Tractatus: "Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent." This clip comes from an episode of the podcast In Our Time a few years back. For more information and the full episode, go to: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0054945

More Short Clips: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhP9EhPApKE8v8UVlc7JuuNHwvhkaOvzc

#philosophy #wittgenstein #epistemology

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

Mon, 31 Aug 2026 17:32:30 -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

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The Problem of Self-Knowledge

Mon, 31 Aug 2026 17:00:00 -0000

A talk given by Barry Smith a few years back on the nature of self-knowledge (i.e. knowledge of one's own inner states of mind) and some of the philosophical problems that arise. He discusses some of the main metaphysical and epistemological issues, especially in relation to knowledge of other minds and other kinds of knowledge. Among other things, he touches on the symmetries vs asymmetries, the Cartesian versus behaviorist conception, and issues of authority, objectivity, and skepticism, including Davidsonian interpretation, and even a bit on Wittgenstein's famous private language argument. This talk was given at the École Normale Supérieure (ENS) in Paris back in 2005.

More on self-knowledge: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/self-knowledge/

00:00 Start of Talk
06:18 Asymmetries
12:10 Authority
16:29 Symmetries
19:15 The Central Problem
23:22 Cartesianism vs Behaviorism
33:45 Inner Perceptual Model
35:55 Transparency
40:21 Consciousness
45:57 Publicity & Objectivity
50:53 Knowing Others: Davidson
57:24 Objectivity vs Authority
1:00:55 Insufficient Answers to Problem

#philosophy #epistemology #philosophyofmind #metaphysics #skepticism #mind

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

Mon, 31 Aug 2026 16:35:00 -0000

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

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

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

Mon, 31 Aug 2026 16:00:00 -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

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The Eclipse of Reason - Sidney Morgenbesser (1967)

Mon, 31 Aug 2026 15:37:30 -0000

Audio recording of a 1967 lecture given by Sidney Morgenbesser on reason and its eclipse at the Cooper Union Forum in New York. Sidney Morgenbesser was a professor of philosophy at Columbia University.

#philosophy #epistemology #science

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On Anger

Mon, 31 Aug 2026 15:00:00 -0000

A clip of Martha Nussbaum discussing the nature of anger and her radical view that anger is always normatively flawed. This comes from a lecture Martha Nussbaum gave on anger back in 2013 at the University of Chicago.

#philosophy #anger #psychology #emotions #ethics

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The Experience Machine

Mon, 31 Aug 2026 14:40:00 -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

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Philosophy and Our Mental Life - Hilary Putnam (1973)

Mon, 31 Aug 2026 14:00:00 -0000

Audio recording of a 1973 lecture by Hilary Putnam as part of a symposium on "Computers and the Mind" at the University of California (Berkeley).

The question which troubles laymen, and which has long troubled philosophers, even if it is somewhat disguised by today's analytic style of writing philosophy, is this: Are we made of matter or soul-stuff? To put it as bluntly as possible, are we just material beings, or are we "something more"? In this talk, Hilary Putnam argues that this whole question rests on false assumptions. His purpose is not to dismiss the question, however, so much as to speak to the real concern which is behind the question. The real concern is, he thinks, with the autonomy of our mental life. People are worried that we may be debunked, that our behavior may be exposed as really explained by something mechanical. In this talk, part of what Hilary Putnam wants to do is to argue that this can't happen. Mentality is a real and autonomous feature of our world. But even more important is the fact that this whole question has nothing to do with our substance. Strange as it may seem to common sense and to sophisticated intuition alike, the question of the autonomy of our mental life does not hinge on and has nothing to do with that all too popular, all too old question about matter or soul-stuff. We could be made of Swiss cheese and it wouldn't matter.

00:00 Searle Intro
01:47 Lecture

#philosophy #philosophyofmind #consciousness #philosophyofscience #mind

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Wittgenstein on Rules and Private Language

Mon, 31 Aug 2026 13:42:30 -0000

A reupload of something that I put together awhile back. The audio is from: https://youtu.be/v_hQpvQYhOI

Some relevant quotes:

"But how can a rule show me what I have to do at this point? Whatever I do is, on some interpretation, in accord with the rule...Any interpretation still hangs in the air along with what it interprets, and cannot give it any support. Interpretations by themselves do not determine meaning." Wittgenstein

"This was our paradox: no course of action could be determined by a rule, because any course of action can be made out to accord with the rule." Wittgenstein

"To think one is obeying a rule is not to obey a rule. Hence it is not possible to obey a rule 'privately': otherwise thinking one was obeying a rule would be the same thing as obeying it." Wittgenstein

#philosophy #wittgenstein #bryanmagee #language #searle

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Frank Jackson on the Knowledge Argument

Mon, 31 Aug 2026 13:00:00 -0000

A clip of Frank Jackson discussing his famous knowledge argument involving Mary and why he ended up changing his mind about it. This clip comes from an interview with Alan Saunders back in 2012.

#philosophy #philosophyofmind #consciousness #metaphysics #materialism

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Karl Popper on the Open Society (1974)

Mon, 31 Aug 2026 12:45:00 -0000

A short of clip of Karl Popper discussing the Open Society from a 1974 interview. The translation is mine. For more Popper: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhP9EhPApKE_VarWCx1d_Uogn_GxsVf-o

#philosophy #karlpopper #politicaltheory #politicalphilosophy #opensociety

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3 David Hume on Causation - Reid's Critique of Hume (Dan Robinson)

Mon, 31 Aug 2026 12:00:00 -0000

Professor Dan Robinson gives the third in a series of 8 lectures on Thomas Reid's critique of David Hume at Oxford in 2014. Causality arises from a habit of the mind formed by repeated experiences. “There is nothing in any objects to persuade us, that they are either always remote or always contiguous; and when from experience and observation we discover, that their relation in this particular is invariable, we, always conclude there is some secret cause, which separates or unites them…”

Under “David Hume”, the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy begins with, “The most important philosopher ever to write in English”. His most formidable contemporary critic was the fellow Scot, Thomas Reid, the major architect of so-called Scottish Common Sense Philosophy. The most significant features of Hume’s work, as understood by Reid, are the representive theory of perception, the nature of causation and causal concepts, the nature of personal identity and the foundations of morality. Each of these topics is presented in a pair of lectures, the first summarizing Hume’s position and the second Reid’s critique of that position.

All Lectures: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhP9EhPApKE9nki7CXFPi7PMOi5W2g2-q

#philosophy #davidhume #causation #skepticism #causality #historyofphilosophy

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

Mon, 31 Aug 2026 11:47:30 -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

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

Mon, 31 Aug 2026 11:00:00 -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

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

Mon, 31 Aug 2026 10:50:00 -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

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Philosophy of Mathematics and Frege - Michael Dummett (1994)

Mon, 31 Aug 2026 10:00:00 -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

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

Mon, 31 Aug 2026 09:52:30 -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

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Concepts vs Percepts (Ray Monk)

Mon, 31 Aug 2026 09:06:00 -0000

A short, somewhat random clip of Ray Monk discussing the distinction between concepts and percepts (or "intuitions" in the Kantian jargon), as well as some of the possible implications for modern science and beyond. More Short Clips: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhP9EhPApKE8v8UVlc7JuuNHwvhkaOvzc

This is from a talk given by Ray Monk a few years back on the philosophical landscape of 1905, which can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yfwFoVlcMk

#philosophy #epistemology #kant #historyofphilosophy

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The Virtual and The Real (David Chalmers)

Mon, 31 Aug 2026 09:00:00 -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

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What Is Probability? Difficulties Understanding Probability

Mon, 31 Aug 2026 08:55:00 -0000

Professor David Wallace discusses the nature of probability and some of the philosophical puzzles that arise regarding how to understand and make sense of probability. He begins by distinguishing between subjective probabilities (which are about our beliefs) and objective probabilities (which are about the world itself). He then goes on to discuss various interpretations of probability and some of the difficulties that arise for each. This comes from a talk given in a series on the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics back in 2015 at Oxford.

00:00 Concepts of Probability
01:04 Subjective Probability
02:14 More-Objective Probabilities
03:49 Very Objective Probabilities
05:52 Two Questions about Objective Probability
08:40 Frequentism
13:52 Probability from Symmetry
16:59 Probability as Primitive
18:10 The "Why" Question
20:10 The Principal Principle
24:43 A Dearth of Solutions to the Why Question

#philosophy #probability #epistemology #philosophyofscience #historyofphilosophy

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A Reasonable Structure for Animal Rights - Christine Korsgaard

Mon, 31 Aug 2026 08:00:00 -0000

In this talk, Professor Christine Korsgaard discusses the nature of rights, especially from a Kantian perspective and within the context of non-human animals. This was the Guelph Lecture in Philosophy given by Professor Christine M. Korsgaard at the University of Guelph back in 2014.

00:00 Talk
59:37 Q&A

#philosophy #ethics #moralphilosophy #animalethics #kant #animalrights

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Free Will Pessimism

Mon, 31 Aug 2026 07:57:30 -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

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Ernest Nagel on the Philosophy of Science (1954)

Mon, 31 Aug 2026 07:00:00 -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

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Foundations of Liberal Equality 2 - Ronald Dworkin (1988)

Mon, 31 Aug 2026 07:00:00 -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

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Animal Selves and the Good - Christine Korsgaard (2016)

Mon, 31 Aug 2026 06:02:30 -0000

A common defense of the various and sometimes cruel ways in which human beings use the other animals is that human beings are just more important than the other animals are: what happens to human beings matters more. In this lecture, Christine Korsgaard begins by arguing that the trouble with this claim is not so much that it is false, as that it makes almost no sense at all. The difficulty rests in the fact that everything that is important must be important to someone. A defense of this claim requires nothing less than a theory of why there is such a thing as “the good” at all. She will sketch such a theory and then raise some objections to it, which will take us into an examination of the relation between having a self and having a good. Although it is not true that some creatures are “more important” than others, it is true that the fact that some creatures have less of a self means that things may be, in a general way, less important to them.

This talk was given by Christine M. Korsgaard (Arthur Kingsley Porter Professor of Philosophy at Harvard) at the University of Berkeley as part of the 2016 Howison Lectures in Philosophy.

00:00 Talk
56:02 Q&A

#philosophy #ethics #moralphilosophy #animalethics

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Revising Logic - Graham Priest

Mon, 31 Aug 2026 06:00:00 -0000

A re-upload of a talk which was given by Graham Priest on revising logic at a conference on paradox and logical revision at the University of Munich back in 2012.

#philosophy #rationality #epistemology

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2 Reid and Common Sense Realism - Reid's Critique of Hume (Dan Robinson)

Mon, 31 Aug 2026 05:05:00 -0000

Professor Dan Robinson gives the second in a series of 8 lectures on Thomas Reid's critique of David Hume at Oxford in 2014. Is it the case that every simple idea is a “copy” of a simple impression? Hume is but the latest to deny that we have direct access to the external world. The “ideal” theory, relegating ideas to a mental realm whose occupants are but “copies” of some indefinite thing, is the sure path to skepticism and is at variance with the proper methods of science.

Under “David Hume”, the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy begins with, “The most important philosopher ever to write in English”. His most formidable contemporary critic was the fellow Scot, Thomas Reid, the major architect of so-called Scottish Common Sense Philosophy. The most significant features of Hume’s work, as understood by Reid, are the representive theory of perception, the nature of causation and causal concepts, the nature of personal identity and the foundations of morality. Each of these topics is presented in a pair of lectures, the first summarizing Hume’s position and the second Reid’s critique of that position.

All Lectures: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhP9EhPApKE9nki7CXFPi7PMOi5W2g2-q

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

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Gadamer on Education and Tradition (1979)

Mon, 31 Aug 2026 05:00:00 -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

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Language, Thought, and Politics

Mon, 31 Aug 2026 04:07:30 -0000

John Searle (the University of California, Berkeley) and Michael Silverstein (the University of Chicago) discuss George Orwell on the relation between language, thought, and politics with host Gretchen Helfrich in an episode of Odyssey from Chicago Public Radio back in 2003.

#philosophy #orwell #language #politics

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Reason, Tone and Judgment - Raimond Gaita (2013)

Mon, 31 Aug 2026 04:00:00 -0000

Professor Raimond Gaita gives the first talk in a series on 'Prejudice, Reason and Understanding' at the Australian National University as part of the Freilich Foundation's Eminent Lecturer Series back in 2013.

Some years ago, Mirko Bagaric, then Professor and Dean of Law at Deakin University in Melbourne, published in the Age an opinion piece in which he argued that we should torture people in certain circumstances if doing so would save many lives. His article provoked incredulity amongst some people: what had seemed to them to be undiscussable and which they believed had partly defined their political culture just because it was undiscussable, was again “on the agenda”. Bagaric was in his turn incredulous that people could be so lacking in respect for rational discussion as to believe that some matters were undiscussable or unthinkable, and that they could be so morally and politically irresponsible as to deem undiscussable something that could potentially save thousands of lives. In the first two lectures, Raimond Gaita tries to bring out what he takes to be most serious in the incredulity voiced by Bagaric and his critics in order to explore what it shows about political discourse that aspires to be a conversation of citizens. He will explore why the ideal that even in ethics and politics, reliable and sound cognitive achievements is best achieved in a tone-free zone, is widespread amongst philosophers, at least in the analytical tradition. He will suggest that attractive as it may be as an elaboration of how best to rise to the claims of reason, it erodes the kind of judgment and sobriety necessary to critical thought about ethics and politics and thereby impoverishes our understanding of what the distinction between legitimate illegitimate persuasion comes to in those realms. It erodes entirely, he will argue, the conditions necessary for the conversation of citizens.

In these lectures, Raimond Gaita explores an ideal of a democratic politics as ‘a conversation of citizens’. Reflection germane to the topic goes back at least to the time of Socrates. In Plato’s Gorgias, whose bitter political tone has often been noted, Socrates says to an aspiring young orator that he is good at oratory but bad a conversation. He meant, in part, that oratory betrays a trust intrinsic to real 'conversation’ that one’s partner in conversation will respect ones need to be legitimately persuaded to a belief – that she will not exploit her skills and one’s vulnerability to them, for example. For that reason, Socrates did not look upon oratory as a morally neutral skill that could serve good or bad ends. He regarded it, as many now regard spin, as rotten through and through. More often than not, belief requires trust and so an inquiry into persuasion which honors that trust, will be in part an inquiry into how to discipline trust so that it becomes the expression of good judgment rather than gullibility, for example. Reason, its limits, judgment, trust, sobriety, and realism as these show themselves in ethics and politics is the topic.

00:00 Talk
40:04 Q&A

#philosophy #ethics #moralphilosophy

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Wittgenstein's Notion of Family Resemblance

Mon, 31 Aug 2026 03:10:00 -0000

Audio from: https://youtu.be/v_hQpvQYhOI

More Short Clips: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhP9EhPApKE8v8UVlc7JuuNHwvhkaOvzc

You may also want to check out the following on Wittgenstein vs Socrates: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lp8KXhYlhsg

#philosophy #wittgenstein #bryanmagee #historyofphilosophy

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Divine Command Theory and the Euthyphro Objection

Mon, 31 Aug 2026 03:00:00 -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

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Gadamer on Augustine on Time (1987)

Mon, 31 Aug 2026 02:12:30 -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

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Theories of Welfare - Ethics and Society Course

Mon, 31 Aug 2026 02:00:00 -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

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Free Will - General Philosophy (Peter Millican)

Mon, 31 Aug 2026 01:15:00 -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

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Nietzsche on the Value of Truth - Ken Gemes

Mon, 31 Aug 2026 01:00:00 -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

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Aldous Huxley on the Ultimate Revolution (1962)

Mon, 31 Aug 2026 00:17:30 -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

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

Mon, 31 Aug 2026 00:00:00 -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

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Knowledge and Scepticism - General Philosophy (Peter Millican)

Mon, 31 Aug 2026 00:00:00 -0000

In this lecture on General Philosophy, Professor Peter Millican discusses the traditional analysis of knowledge, Gettier cases, externalism, scepticism, and the ethics of belief. 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. Source: https://podcasts.ox.ac.uk/series/general-philosophy

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

#philosophy #epistemology #skepticism #historyofphilosophy

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

Sun, 30 Aug 2026 23:20:00 -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

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4 Reid on Causation and Active Powers - Reid's Critique of Hume (Dan Robinson)

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

Professor Dan Robinson gives the fourth in a series of 8 lectures on Thomas Reid's critique of David Hume at Oxford in 2014. “It is evident that a power is a quality, and therefore can’t exist without a subject to which it belongs…This (Humean) suggestion— There exists some power that cannot be attributed to any thing, any subject, which has the power —is an absurdity…No principle seems to have been more universally acknowledged by mankind ever since the first dawn of reason than that every change we observe in nature must have a cause…Another argument to show that all men have a notion or idea of active power is that there are many mental operations—performed by everyone who has a mind, and necessary in the ordinary conduct of life—which presuppose that we have active power”.

Under “David Hume”, the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy begins with, “The most important philosopher ever to write in English”. His most formidable contemporary critic was the fellow Scot, Thomas Reid, the major architect of so-called Scottish Common Sense Philosophy. The most significant features of Hume’s work, as understood by Reid, are the representive theory of perception, the nature of causation and causal concepts, the nature of personal identity and the foundations of morality. Each of these topics is presented in a pair of lectures, the first summarizing Hume’s position and the second Reid’s critique of that position.

All Lectures: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhP9EhPApKE9nki7CXFPi7PMOi5W2g2-q

#philosophy #davidhume #causation #causality #historyofphilosophy

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Reasons for Action: Introducing Common-Sense Psychology - Emma Borg (2024)

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

Professor Emma Borg gives the first lecture in a series on "Reasons for Action" as part of the 2024 Frege Lectures in theoretical philosophy at the University of Tartu.

Do people generally do what they do on the basis of the reasons they have for acting? The standard philosophical answer - common-sense psychology or folk psychology - says yes. But recently the idea that humans are generally rational, reasons-responsive beings has come under considerable pressure, as a number of empirical findings (often in the fields of social, comparative, and developmental psychology) seem to suggest that, on the contrary, people are often blind to reasons, acting on gut feelings and intuitions, and are subject to various biases and other errors of reasoning. Although these empirical findings are now well-known (reaching beyond the ivory tower into the public consciousness), Emma Borg suggests that the precise problem for common-sense psychology remains unclear. There are (at least) three different arguments that could be made based on the empirical data. In her lectures, Emma Borg explains these three arguments and argues that the proponent of the common-sense view has responses to each of them. She concludes that the case against common-sense psychology can be rejected, and that we should hold on to the notion that action (of a typical adult) involves acting based on reasons.

Emma Borg is Professor of Philosophy at the Institute of Philosophy, University of London. Her main research interests are the philosophy of language, philosophy of mind, and business ethics. Borg is the author of Minimal Semantics (2004) and Pursuing Meaning (2012), as well as two forthcoming books: A Very Short Introduction to Meaning and Acting for Reasons: In Defence of Common-Sense Psychology (all published by Oxford University Press). The latter book is also the basis for her Frege Lectures.

00:00 Intro
03:18 Talk
1:05:13 Q&A

#philosophy #epistemology #psychology #rationality

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Fallibilism's Payoff - Catherine Elgin

Sun, 30 Aug 2026 22:22:30 -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

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The Truth is Terrible - Nietzsche's Idea of an Aesthetic Justification for Existence

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

Brian Leiter discusses the thought of Nietzsche at Davidson College a few years back. The truth is terrible, Nietzsche tells us. There is no God, the universe lacks any ultimate meaning or purpose, and is filled with gratuitous pointless suffering. Our only relief comes with nonexistence upon death. Even the existence of the self, free will, objective value, and absolute truth and knowledge are wholly illusory. All forms & qualities are but mere human conventions, subjective expressions of our competing drives. The unquenchable desire for objectivity is the drive to transcend our finite bodily existence and grab hold of something universal, absolute, unchanging, and God-like. But there simply is none. So it is all too easy to become disillusioned and fall into an abyss of anguish and despair, turning away from existence and the drives, as suggested by the pessimistic philosophy of Schopenhauer. But Nietzsche urges against this turning away from life. For Nietzsche, existence is justified, but only as an aesthetic phenomenon. But what does this mean exactly? Brian Leiter explains. (My Summary)

More Nietzsche: https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhP9EhPApKE_ySvPE8kzFUkA5aO_cdKmb

#philosophy #nietzsche #ethics #historyofphilosophy

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7 Hume’s “Sentimentalist” Theory of Morals - Reid's Critique of Hume (Dan Robinson)

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

Professor Dan Robinson gives the seventh in a series of 8 lectures on Thomas Reid's critique of David Hume at Oxford in 2014. In his Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals [1751], Hume states: “The final sentence, it is probable, which pronounces characters and actions amiable or odious, praise-worthy or blameable; that which stamps on them the mark of honour or infamy, approbation or censure; that which renders morality an active principle and constitutes virtue our happiness, and vice our misery; it is probable, I say, that this final sentence depends on some internal sense or feeling, which nature has made universal in the whole species”. The ruling motives are shaped by considerations of utility. “The rage and violence of public war; what is it but a suspension of justice among the warring parties, who perceive, that this virtue is now no longer of any USE or advantage to them? The laws of war, which then succeed to those of equity and justice, are rules calculated for the ADVANTAGE and UTILITY…”

Under “David Hume”, the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy begins with, “The most important philosopher ever to write in English”. His most formidable contemporary critic was the fellow Scot, Thomas Reid, the major architect of so-called Scottish Common Sense Philosophy. The most significant features of Hume’s work, as understood by Reid, are the representive theory of perception, the nature of causation and causal concepts, the nature of personal identity and the foundations of morality. Each of these topics is presented in a pair of lectures, the first summarizing Hume’s position and the second Reid’s critique of that position.

All Lectures: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhP9EhPApKE9nki7CXFPi7PMOi5W2g2-q

#philosophy #davidhume #ethics #moralphilosophy #historyofphilosophy

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Nietzsche on Nihilism and the Death of God - Ken Gemes

Sun, 30 Aug 2026 21:25:00 -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

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The Right to Death - Antony Flew (1980)

Sun, 30 Aug 2026 21:06:00 -0000

Audio recording of a lecture given by the English philosopher Antony Flew on voluntary euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide at the Australian National University back in 1980.

#philosophy #ethics #medicalethics #moralphilosophy #bioethics

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Karl Popper on Observation and Induction (1989)

Sun, 30 Aug 2026 21:00:00 -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

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

Sun, 30 Aug 2026 21:00:00 -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

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The Supremacy of Method - Ernest Nagel (1973)

Sun, 30 Aug 2026 20:27:30 -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

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

Sun, 30 Aug 2026 20:00:00 -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

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Wittgenstein on the Mind - Norman Malcolm (1968)

Sun, 30 Aug 2026 20:00:00 -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

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Russell-Copleston Debate on God's Existence (1948)

Sun, 30 Aug 2026 19:30:00 -0000

Bertrand Russell and Frederick Copleston debate the existence of God in this famous radio debate from 1948. Copleston here presents the argument from contingency, which is a kind of cosmological argument for God's existence. It is now in the public domain. Note, the audio has been improved.

Frederick Copleston on Schopenhauer: https://youtu.be/6x8ydL5Jp70
Peter Millican on God & Morality: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOTvCtv9ht8
Simone de Beauvoir on God & Existentialism: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJnWHVwvYSQ

#philosophy #bertrandrussell #theism #atheism #god #philosophyofreligion #historyofphilosophy #debate

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Reason and Feeling in Ethics - Brand Blanshard (1966)

Sun, 30 Aug 2026 19:00:00 -0000

Audio recording of a 1966 lecture by Brand Blanshard on reason and ethics given at Wheaton College (Massachusetts).

#philosophy #ethics #moralphilosophy #utilitarianism #historyofphilosophy

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Political Philosophy and John Rawls

Sun, 30 Aug 2026 19:00:00 -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

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The Legacy of John Rawls

Sun, 30 Aug 2026 18:00:00 -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

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The Absurdity of Moral Relativism and Subjectivism - A Polemic

Sun, 30 Aug 2026 18:00:00 -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

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Honderich vs Penrose on Consciousness (1999)

Sun, 30 Aug 2026 17:00:00 -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

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Western Culture - Kwame Anthony Appiah (2016)

Sun, 30 Aug 2026 17:00:00 -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

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The Romantic Revolution in Politics and Morals - Isaiah Berlin (1969)

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

Audio recording of a 1969 lecture by Isaiah Berlin on the romantic revolution in politics and morals at Washington University in St Louis as part of the Assembly lecture series.

#philosophy #romanticism #isaiahberlin #intellectualhistory #history

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Real Direct Realism

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

Galen Strawson delivers a lecture on the philosophy of perception at the Marc Sanders Foundation back in 2014.

More on these philosophical issues regarding the nature of perception: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/perception-problem/ and https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/perception-episprob/

00:00 Lecture
52:11 Discussion

#philosophy #epistemology #perception #skepticism #philosophyofmind

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John Locke's Political Philosophy

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

After briefly discussing Thomas Hobbes, Professor Charles Anderson discusses the thought of John Locke. This comes from a course on Political, Economic, & Social Thought given at the University of Wisconsin many years ago.

00:00 Thomas Hobbes
21:50 John Locke

#philosophy #locke #politicalphilosophy #politicaltheory #historyofphilosophy #hobbes #philosopher

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

Sun, 30 Aug 2026 15:00:00 -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

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Hannah Arendt on Modernity (1964)

Sun, 30 Aug 2026 14:00:00 -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

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Wittgenstein vs Socrates on Definitions and Explanations (James Klagge)

Sun, 30 Aug 2026 14:00:00 -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

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Hume on the Argument from Design

Sun, 30 Aug 2026 13:00:00 -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

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What Distinguishes a Person from a Word? The Thought of C. S. Peirce

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

A lecture given on the thought of Charles Sanders Peirce by Grant Franks in 2017 at St. John's College.

#philosophy #epistemology #philosophyofmind #kant #historyofphilosophy #mind

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Hannah Arendt on Power and Violence (1968)

Sun, 30 Aug 2026 12:00:00 -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

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Intro to the Philosophy of Mathematics (Ray Monk)

Sun, 30 Aug 2026 12:00:00 -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

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