Philosophy For Our Times

Tom Overton is perhaps the worlds eminent researcher of John Berger. Alongside close to a decade of friendship, Overton has worked with Berger's personal archives for 15 years, giving him a unique insight into the mind of one of the 20th Century's most important cultural figures.

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Does the left really need to be more conservative? What is the difference between capital C and lowercase c conservatism? Is the Blue Labour movement the best tool against the MAGA agenda and right wing nationalism?

Maurice Glasman is the founder of the Blue Labour movement, a conservative strand of socialism that champions tradition, community, and civic association. In his view, we’ve come to the end of an era. From Thatcher and Reagan, through Blair and Clinton, we used to live in a period of open borders, globalisation and the rule of capital. Trump and MAGA show that the electorate is fed up with this. But what comes after MAGA? Glasman argues Blue Labour is the politics of the future.

Political theorist, Labour life peer, and a member of the House of Lords, Maurice Glasman founded the Blue Labour movement in 2009. 

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Should we give up seeing evidence as the truth and instead see it as a persuasive argument? Does evidence settle the matter or is a counter-narrative always possible? And if evidence is not the truth, how are we to choose between competing perspectives and models of the world?

We turn to evidence to settle the matter. And we imagine it is evidence that confirms a scientific theory, or the guilt of an accused. But perspective can result in evidence being interpreted radically differently. One person's terrorist is another's freedom fighter. More broadly some argue all so-called 'facts' are context or theory dependent. And if evidence depends on perspective, it is no longer clear what counts as evidence in the first place. Unlike the French legal system, that assumes evidence determines truth, the English system embeds opposing narratives, each employing their own 'evidence' to support a case. The same is true when physicists operate with different models of reality, recognising that alternative frameworks can be used.

Nick Enfield is Professor of Linguistics at the University of Sydney and Director of the Sydney Centre for Language Research. He is the author of Language vs Reality.

Analytic philosopher and author of Knowledge and Its Limits, Timothy Williamson is a Senior Research Fellow at New College, Oxford and former Wykeham Professor of Logic.

Genia Schönbaumsfeld is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Southampton and the author of several books – most recently, Wittgenstein on Religious Belief. In 2023, Genia was awarded a highly prestigious ERC Advanced Grant for her project entitled ‘The Ethics of Doubt – Kierkegaard, Scepticism and Conspiracy Theory’.

Jay Shapiro hosts.

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Are homo sapiens the only organisms capable of creating and experiencing beauty? Can we find beauty in God? Why do we see the hand of an Artist in the Natural, if God does not exist?

Beauty is one of the most fundamental truths of the world. Everyone can understand it, but why? Where does evolution come from and what is its benefit to humanity? Nicholas Humphrey argues that our attraction to the beautiful is primarily a psychological phenomena, that we have used to train ourselves throughout history. His expansion upon Hopkins musing that "all beauty may be called rhyme" illuminates how our minds search for and reward a hunt for similarities, not identical matches, between objects, people, and organisms. If our body needs nutrients, our minds are stimulated by beauty.

Nicholas Humphrey is Emeritus Professor of Psychology at the London School of Economics and a Bye Fellow at Darwin College, Cambridge. As a theoretical psychologist, his research focuses on the evolution of intelligence and consciousness. He is the author of twelve books, including Consciousness Regained (1983), The Inner Eye (1986), A History of the Mind (1992), Soul Searching (1995), The Mind Made Flesh (2002), Soul Dust (2011), and Sentience (2022). His honors include the Martin Luther King Memorial Prize, the Pufendorf Medal, and the 2026 Dennett Prize, awarded by the International Center for Consciousness Studies for significant advances in philosophy of mind, cognitive science, evolutionary biology, or artificial intelligence.

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What does it mean for rationality to be ‘permissive’? Is rationality more limited than we would like to admit? Does the idea that ‘truth is the aim of belief’ still stand?

The concept of irrelevant influences has long been troubling for philosophers, despite the fact that rationality does not require us to renounce any of our beliefs. Miriam Schoenfield argues that permissivism, a framework where more than one rational conclusion can be reached from a given set of evidence, can help us to accept and manage differences in our beliefs, which are often constructs of our past, upbringing and religious motivations.

Miriam Schoenfield is a leading epistemologist, Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Texas at Austin, and award-winning essayist.

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What makes humans different from nature? What do Confucianism and Daoism have to do with physics? Is science too realist?

In part 2 of our interview with Carlo Rovelli, we help unpick the history of the philosophy of science. From uncovering how millennia old Chinese philosophers were debating Enlightenment philosophical principles, to finding whether the self and consciousness are functionally identical, Rovelli's argument finds a home in a single statement: we must rehumanise science.

Theoretical physicist Carlo Rovelli is a pioneer of theories like Loop Quantum Gravity, White Holes, and the relational interpretation of quantum mechanics. His books include Seven Brief Lessons on Physics, which has been translated into 41 languages and sold over a million copies, as well as the bestselling Reality Is Not What It Seems (2015) and White Holes (2023). He was named one of the 100 most influential thinkers in the world by Foreign Policy magazine, and is Emeritus Professor at the Centre de Physique Théorique of Marseille, as well as holding positions at the Santa Fe Institute and the Perimeter Institute.

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Are electrons real? What is the connection between physics and Buddhism? Is now the time to rehumanise science?

Eastern philosophies have been an integral part of scientific thought and the development of multiple fields for millennia. Individuality and innovation have resulted in breakthrough after breakthrough, pushing the boundaries of the known in an ever-advancing march. However, Carlo Rovelli argues that science, especially physics, is leaving its philosophical roots behind, to the detriment of clarity and productive discourse.

Theoretical physicist Carlo Rovelli is a pioneer of theories like Loop Quantum Gravity, White Holes, and the relational interpretation of quantum mechanics. His books include Seven Brief Lessons on Physics, which has been translated into 41 languages and sold over a million copies, as well as the bestselling Reality Is Not What It Seems (2015) and White Holes (2023). He was named one of the 100 most influential thinkers in the world by Foreign Policy magazine, and is Emeritus Professor at the Centre de Physique Théorique of Marseille, as well as holding positions at the Santa Fe Institute and the Perimeter Institute.

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What is managerialism? Why is the meritocracy sliding into technocracy? Does suffering make us seem more pure?

We tend to think that today’s progressive politics advances equality through moral awareness and identity. But Catherine Liu argues that it has been captured by the professional managerial class, which replaces material redistribution with virtue signalling and cultural status. In this interview, Liu examines how universities, identity politics and trauma culture can obscure class struggle and what a renewed working-class politics might look like.

Catherine Liu is an American cultural theorist, critic, and professor of Film and Media Studies at the University of California, Irvine. A sharp public intellectual, Liu is best known for her incisive critiques of elite liberalism, academic hypocrisy, and the commodification of virtue. She brings together Marxist cultural analysis with polemic flair, offering a compelling—and at times confrontational—challenge to the moral self-image of the contemporary professional class.

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Is freedom always an absolute good? For freedom to be beneficial and practical, does it need constraining? Are attacks on freedom really the first step to tyranny?

From freedom from tyranny and poverty to the right to free speech, we assume freedom is always desirable. But critics argue the consequences of freedom are less obviously desirable than we imagine and frequently unknown. Kafka wrote, "It is often better to be in chains than to be free," and Sartre that, "we're condemned to be free" since we are responsible for everything we do. And in wealthier countries where citizens are freer from the hunt for basic necessities like food, water, and housing, studies show depression and anxiety are more prevalent, not less.

Daniel Markovits is Professor of Law at Yale Law School and the Founding Director of the Center for the Study of Private Law. He is the author of the bestselling book The Meritocracy Trap

Elizabeth Anderson is Professor of Public Philosophy, Politics and Economics at the University of Michigan. She specialises in moral, social and political philosophy, as well as feminist theory and the philosophy of economics and the social sciences.

Yaron Brook is an entrepreneur, writer, activist, and political scientist. He is currently chairman of the board of the Ayn Rand Institute and host of the Yaron Brook Show.

Isabel Hilton hosts.

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Who was the first person to be cool? What connects the civil rights movement and Albert Camus' 'The Rebel'? How has the coopting of black terminology impacted American society more broadly?

From James Dean to Kate Moss, we know cool when we see it. But its history goes back to jazz music and the civil rights movement. Academic Joel Dinerstein reveals the forgotten history of this elusive concept. "Entertaining and insightful" - New York Times

Joel Dinerstein is the author of The Origins of Cool in Postwar America (University of Chicago, 2017) and Clark Chair of American Civilisation at Tulane University and writes about race, cool, and popular music. 

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Is it truly the beginning of the end of Western dominance? Where did it all go wrong? And is this more than just an upheaval of the status quo?

For centuries, Western powers dominated the global order and mistook that moment for permanence. Join Former President of the UN Security Council. Kishore Mahbubani, who argues the shift now underway is not upheaval but historical rebalancing. Asian and other non-Western societies are not “rising” but returning to their natural weight in world affairs. The danger lies in Western refusal to accept this reality. The West's clinging to primacy is distorting policy and fueling conflict.

"Arguably Asia's most influential thinker." - Martin Wolf

Kishore Mahbubani is a Singaporean diplomat and scholar. A former President of the UN Security Council, his work examines the geopolitics of Asia's return to the global centre stage.

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Is the populist right opposed to liberalism and the free market? Does this mark a change in what it is to be right-wing, or was it a mistake to see populism as far right in the first place? Or is there an unavoidable conflict on the right between maintaining the status quo and being conservative, and enabling change through the free market?

At the outset of the use of the term, to be on the right was to back the aristocracy, authority and the status quo. In contrast, the liberals, known as Whigs in 18th century Britain, backed change, freedom and the rights of the individual. But in recent decades to be in favour of the free market and against the state itself came to be seen as right-wing. Now there's a further twist. The new populist right, often described as far right by its critics, has become critical of some aspects of the free market. Trump's tariffs are in support of current jobs and against the market. Le Pen is against big corporations. Reform in favour of state ownership of key services.

Sohrab Ahmari is a celebrated journalist and cultural critic and co-founder of Compact magazine and author of Tyranny, Inc.

Gawain Towler is a British political strategist, journalist, and long-standing figure in the Eurosceptic movement. Best known for his work in party communications and media strategy, he currently serves on the governing board of Reform UK.

Rachel Maclean is a former UK minister, Conservative peer, and is Director of Strategy to the Leader of the Opposition.

Mark Littlewood is a libertarian economist and media commentator known for his provocative advocacy on free markets, regulation, and public policy. He’s currently director of the think tank Popular Conservatism.

Hosted by Roger Hearing.

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What do voyeurs want? What can the Greeks teach us about love? Why do we pursue those who we now are going to hurt us?

Despite our longing for lasting connection, love often falters on the rocks of misunderstanding and unmet expectations. Philosopher and founder of The School of Life, Alain de Botton, explores how romantic ideals mislead us and why emotional maturity, not chemistry, holds the key to enduring intimacy. Drawing on philosophy and psychology, he examines how our childhood shapes desire and how love, far from being a mystical or ethereal force, is a demanding skill we must patiently and consciously learn.

"One of our most consistently illuminating writers on contemporary culture." — John Gray

Alain de Botton is the bestselling philosopher redefining how we understand love, work, and meaning in the modern world. He first rose to prominence with Essays in Love, a novel-philosophy hybrid that became an international bestseller. He has since authored several bestselling works that blend literary elegance, psychological insight, and philosophical depth.

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Is the future one where we accept tribalism and conflict as inherent in the human condition, where moral and scientific beliefs based on reason are badges, shaped by class, nation, ethnicity and culture? Or is reason more important than ever, not as a route to truth, but as a means to test the effectiveness and consequences of a given outlook? And can we reclaim reason as a method for resisting the crowd rather than following it?

Reason was supposedly the great liberator – an Enlightenment gift that freed us from blind adherence to tradition and the authority of church and state. But today, many now contend this is a comforting myth. For as Benjamin Franklin put it, reason merely helps us “make a reason for everything one already has a mind to do.” Furthermore, studies confirm people with more developed reasoning skills are more susceptible to groupthink and polarization, not less. For the more rational we are, the better we are at justifying what we already believe – especially when it aligns with our social circle. 

Dan Sperber is a distinguished anthropologist and philosopher who is the author of several critically-acclaimed books, including The Enigma of Reason. 

Steve Fuller is a professor of sociology at the University of Warwick. He is the author of dozens of books, including Post-truth: Knowledge as a Power Game. 

Miriam Schoenfield is a leading epistemologist, Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Texas at Austin, and award-winning essayist. 

Jack Symes is a public philosopher and writer. He is the producer of The Panpsycast Philosophy Podcast and editor of the Bloomsbury series Talking about Philosophy. He is currently Teacher and Researcher at Durham University, UK.

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For most scientists, the mind is little more than a machine. With the rise of AI, some now claim that computers may themselves become conscious. For acclaimed neuroscientist, psychiatrist, and philosopher Iain McGilchrist, this is a profound mistake. The attempt to explain the mind in purely mechanistic terms reflects the flawed assumptions of materialism and reductionism – both symptoms of a civilisation dangerously dominated by left-hemisphere thinking. To understand mind and matter, he argues, we need to restore the right hemisphere to its rightful primacy and move beyond materialism.

Iain McGilchrist is a distinguished British neuroscientist, psychiatrist and philosopher. A former Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford, Iain McGilchrist also worked as a consulting psychiatrist, and is known for his influential work on the relationship between the structure of our brains, human cultures and our understanding of the world.

Oliver Adelson is Philosophy Desk Lead at the Institute of Art and Ideas. He is also Head of Speaker Booking for the IAI's HowTheLightGetsIn Festival.

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Is anxiety something to be embraced, rather than fixed? Why are more and more of us feeling the 'soul's itch'? How we can start living more meaningfully?

Anxiety is often understood as a problem to fix. But Sarah Wilson argues that it can be a vital signal - a "soul's itch" calling us to deeper attunement with our moral purpose. In this talk, Sarah describes how technological acceleration, neoliberal society and disconnection from nature can cause us to miss these signs, and how we can live more defiantly and meaningfully.

Sarah Wilson is multi-New York Times bestselling author, social philosopher and philanthropist. She edited Cosmopolitan Australia at 29 and founded the global I Quit Sugar movement.

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Is beauty a reliable indicator of scientific truth? Or is it merely a distraction?

Some of the best scientists throughout history have equated beauty with truth. But is this a mistake? Join pioneering physicist Lisa Randall to discuss the allure and dangers of equating beautiful advances with scientific achievement. Specifically, the talk will cover the subjective nature of beauty, and instances where beauty succeeded and where it failed, bringing in notions of symmetry and symmetry breaking.

One of the most daring theoretical physicists alive today, Lisa Randall is the Frank B. Baird, Jr. Professor of Science at Harvard University. Randall's books Warped Passages and Knocking on Heaven's Door have both been on the New York Times 100 notable books lists

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Is this the end of liberalism, or just another temporary crisis? If it is the end, what will follow it? And where did it all go wrong?

Since the end of WWII, the Western world has been governed by liberal principles. But as faith in liberalism fades, many are asking: what deeper vision should guide our societies going forward? Join Blue Labour founder Maurice Glasman and author of Tyranny Inc., Sohrab Ahmari, as they diagnose the roots of the current crisis and explore possibilities for what lies beyond the faltering liberal world order. Both Glasman and Ahmari's diverging visions call for ideas and morality to lead politics, not the other way around.  

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What does originality mean in the age of AI? Why should artists resist the temptation to fear AI? What role will human creativity play in the future we're building?

Jaron Lanier, a visionary computer scientist, artist, composer, futurist, and writer, discusses his latest artistic ventures and the importance of originality in art. Lanier shares insights into how technology intersects with creativity, the challenges of maintaining authenticity in a digital age, and the evolving role of the artist in shaping the future. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear from one of the most forward-thinking minds of our time as he reflects on the future of art and innovation.

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What makes you 'you'? If scientists made a digital replica of your mind, would this new 'you' be conscious? And what does this all mean for what it means to exist?

Whole-brain emulation (often called “mind uploading” in science fiction) refers to the possible future ability to scan a human brain in such detail that a digital replica could be created, capable of functioning, and perhaps even experiencing the world, like the original. While we are far away from this now (the current record is a fruit fly) an increasing number of neuroscientists and entrepreneurs are betting that we may be closer than most think. What is happening in the world of computational neuroscience, and will the world be ready for it?

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Is materialism mistaken in its understanding of consciousness? How can dividing experience into the phenomenal and the transcendent provide a new angle from which to view consciousness? Have you ever wondered what philosophical jazz sounds like?

The world's greatest minds have struggled over the question of consciousness for centuries. Idealism, the idea that reality is the product of the mind, was a popular idea in the 19th century. But over the last hundred years, materialism became the dominant metaphysics. With faith in materialism starting to wane, philosopher James Tartaglia breaks down the consciousness misconceptions and discusses why he believes that idealism is making a comeback. 

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Does philosophy still matter in today's world? If so, why are students less and less interested in studying in it?

In a special episode from the IAI archives, Mary Midgley addresses the declining interest in philosophy among young people. Instead of an outdated discipline for old people with too much time on their hands, Midgley argues that philosophy is more important than ever if we wish to understand the world around us, beyond the narrow spheres of the traditional sciences.

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Why has gender identity become such a controversial talking point in modern politics?

Judith Butler, pioneering gender theorist whose changed the way we think about gender and sexuality, explores the topic of their most recent book, Who's Afraid of Gender? (March 2024). Butler offers a compelling and powerful diagnosis of the anxieties and fears that make up today's wars over gender. In this talk, Butler will explore how, despite 'gender' being the most fraught issue of our times, there is still cause for hope. This timely and timeless intervention continues to imagine new possibilities for freedom and solidarity. 

Judith Butler is Distinguished Professor in the Graduate School and formerly the Maxine Elliot Chair in the Department of Comparative Literature and the Program of Critical Theory at the University of California, Berkeley. They are most well-known for their ground-breaking book Gender Trouble (1990) and their theory of performativity.

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Nadine Dijkstra is a Principal Investigator at the Institute of Neurology at UCL. Her research in Imaging Neuroscience explores how the brain generates mental images and differentiates them from actual perception. Utilizing neuroimaging, psychophysics, machine learning, and computational modeling, Dijkstra addresses fundamental questions about the overlap between perception and imagery.

Recently, Dijkstra has been leading the Imagine Reality Lab at UCL's Department of Imaging Neuroscience, focusing on the intersection of imagination and reality. Dijkstra's 2023 paper in Nature Communications showed the brain evaluates images against a 'reality threshold' to distinguish between images and perception. Her work also investigates how changes in these neural processes could impact mental health.

Check out our new series, Ideas for Our Time: https://youtu.be/nYS4FylZJ2Q

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Is the brain actually productive? Or is it instead permissive, simply acting as a filter through which consciousness passes? Can near death experiences help us to get closer to understanding the true nature of the brain?

Neuroscientist and theoretical physicist Àlex Gómez-Marín argues that the brain may not produce consciousness, but instead filter or permit it. Tracing a provocative history from Galileo to modern consciousness science, he argues that scientific progress came by prioritising what can be measured, leaving inner experience behind. Using his own near-death experience and cases like terminal lucidity, he calls for a more open, rigorous “Science 2.0” that takes anomalous experiences seriously.

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Is evolutionary psychology merely a way of excusing outdated behaviours? Is it instead culture which really defines how we behave?

As with the animal kingdom, we see human behaviour as the product of elemental drives to survive and reproduce. Evolutionary psychology has taken this a stage further - seeing violence, social hierarchy, and sexual promiscuity as a product of evolutionary drives. But might this be a misleading and dangerous approach? Murder rates have fallen seventy-fold since the Middle Ages, and across the globe birth rates are a fraction of what they were a hundred years ago. Fathers are actively involved in child care and we've radically changed our outlook on social issues like gender identity - suggesting ideas and culture drive behaviour rather than evolution.

Should we conclude that evolutionary psychology is a blind alley with no predictive power? Are we capable of overcoming behavioural traits and therefore wholly responsible for our actions? Or is evolution an inescapable force and behavioural change a result of altered circumstances while our core nature remains identical?

Critic of evolutionary psychology Subrena E. Smith, philosopher of mind Keith Frankish, and clinical psychologist Simon Baron-Cohen debate the significance of evolutionary psychology. Hosted by Güneş Taylor.

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Does the past even exist anymore?

Quantum mechanics has long unsettled our understanding of matter and measurement. But what if its implications reach further — into history, politics, and the very structure of reality itself? If the present can retroactively reshape the past it emerged from, what does that mean for how we act, how we remember, and how we govern?

These are not merely theoretical puzzles. In a world where liberal democracy appears to be fracturing, where AI and climate change defy traditional political categories, and where new authoritarian currents are emerging from thinkers like Curtis Yarvin in the West and Wang Huning in the East, the question of whether reality offers any coherent ground for political action has never felt more urgent.

Few thinkers are willing to hold all of this together at once — to move from Niels Bohr to Stalinism, from Lacanian psychoanalysis to the collapse of the political centre, without flinching. Slavoj Žižek does precisely that. In his new book Quantum History: A New Materialist Philosophy (Bloomsbury, 2025), Žižek argues that incompleteness is not a failure of knowledge but a feature of existence itself — and that this demands an entirely new way of thinking about history and politics.

Slavoj Žižek is a Hegelian philosopher, Lacanian psychoanalyst, and one of the most provocative intellectuals of our time. Hosted by Omari Edwards.

Read the full transcript of this conversation at IAI News:https://iai.tv/articles/slavoj-zizek-on-quantum-history-and-the-end-of-the-past-auid-3437

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Did analytic philosophy ruin the entire discipline?

For more than a century there has been a divide in Western philosophy between two distinct approaches, often described as analytic and continental philosophy. Analytic philosophy is predominantly based in the English-speaking world taking its name from Bertrand Russell’s philosophy of logical analysis that overthrew the grand Hegelian metaphysics of the 19th century. It did so in favour of a focus on logic and linguistic precision, with the assumption that science would do the serious work of uncovering the nature of reality. Continental philosophy, based primarily in France and Germany, has offered a broad range of outlooks on the nature of the human condition and the world. It has been defined by its critics simply in opposition to analytic philosophy.

Few thinkers have bridged the divide to be taken seriously by both camps. Yet both traditions now have deep challenges. The original focus of analytic philosophy has become increasingly blurred while in France English speaking philosophy is now in vogue.  

What is the future of European thought? Are we seeing the end of the analytic and continental divide? Or is the Enlightenment tradition itself under threat and with it the influence and identity of European philosophy?

Associate Professor of Philosophy at Northeastern University London, Christoph Schuringa is known for his works on German philosophy and is Editor of the Hegel Bulletin. Genia Schönbaumsfeld is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Southampton and the author of several books – most recently, Wittgenstein on Religious Belief. Babette Babich is Professor of Philosophy at Fordham University and the editor of the journal New Nietzsche Studies. Hosted by Danielle Sands.

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Do we need a moral reawakening? Is animal suffering simply a fact of life or can it be avoided? How did the US Navy break whale protection laws? Is there more to animal suffering than just pain?

From the cruelty of the factory meat industry to hunting and habitat destruction, animals are in trouble all over the world. Some deem the treatment of animals in farms the worst crime in history, yet it still takes place all over the world. Join philosopher and renowned ethicist Martha Nussbaum, as she explains how we have gone so wrong and argues for a brand new theory of animal ethics, demonstrating why we need and how to achieve a moral and philosophical reawakening.

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Universities, long celebrated as sanctuaries of free thought and intellectual rigour, have for centuries been regarded as the best way to educate and conduct research. But increasingly, this assumption is being questioned. A recent study found that two-thirds of academics feel their freedom to teach and study is being curtailed. In 2022 alone, over 1,000 instances of content warnings or text removals were documented across UK universities. While some academics now criticise PhD programmes as a way to extract "fees and cheap labour" from students, reports suggest that most academic papers are read by an average of just ten people. More than half of respondents now say that going to university is not worth it. And in the US, graduate student debt averages over $71,000, while similar information is often freely available online.

Should we call time on the age of the university and find new, innovative ways to educate people? Should we leave research and innovation to the business sector and free-market forces? Or are universities still vital to our education and culture and can a radical overhaul restore them to their original purpose?

Yaron Brook is a political scientist, and chairman of the Ayn Rand Institute. He’s a bestselling author and the host of The Yaron Brook Show. Catherine Liu is a Professor of Film and Media Studies at the University of California, Irvine. She’s the author of Virtue Hoarders: The Case against the Professional Managerial Class. Eric Kaufmann is Professor of Politics at the University of Buckingham. He’s the author of Taboo and Whiteshift: Immigration, Populism and the Future of White Majorities. Jay Shapiro hosts.

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What do the Soviet Union and the current British economy have in common? What can studying the philosophy of science reveal about our economic systems? Is the depoliticisation of economics a dangerous pipe dream?

Join political economist Abby Innes as she argues that treating society as a closed system that can be controlled and regulated ignores man's unrelenting capacity for new ideas and technologies. Abby Innes is Associate Professor of Political Economy in the European Institute at the LSE.

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Who are we? Why are we here? Does life have a meaning beyond itself?

Join former Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, and groundbreaking psychiatrist, literary scholar and author of 'The Matter with Things', Iain McGilchrist, to explore the nature of meaning, and why we should move beyond the assumptions of a materialist worldview from radically divergent perspectives. 

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Should everyone be treated equally?

Many see populism with its focus on immigration and nationalism as not only politically dangerous but morally wrong. This reflects the universalist morality of the main Western moral frameworks. But critics argue moral universalism generates a case for favouring strangers over the interests of those close to us and that it is profoundly mistaken. In contrast, Chinese Confucian morality accepts partiality towards our nearest. Recent studies have shown that we do in practice favour those close to us, and moreover that we think we are morally right to do so.

Alain de Botton is the best-selling philosopher and founder of The School of Life, an organisation dedicated to developing emotional intelligence through philosophy, psychotherapy, and culture. Seyla Benhabib is one of the most influential political philosophers of her generation and is the author of At the Margins of the Modern State. Tommy Curry is the Personal Chair of Africana Philosophy and Black Male Studies at the University of Edinburgh, renowned for his critical scholarship on the intersection of race, gender, and power. Alex O'Connor hosts.

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How do we acquire knowledge?

We tend to think that knowledge is produced by experts through established institutions, progressing over time towards a single truth. But Steve Fuller challenges this view, arguing that our contemporary "post-truth" order correctly recognises that the pursuit of knowledge is a socially dependent process, shaped by the communities that produce it.

Steve Fuller is Professor of Sociology at the University of Warwick, and a founding figure in the field of social epistemology. He has authored dozens of books, including "Post-Truth: Knowledge as a Power Game".

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How can taking on the role of someone else help us to understand ourselves? Does the hermit know himself better than the socialite? And where is the line between our true, authentic selves and the multitude of characters we all play each and every day?

Join actress and Creative Director of Shakespeare's Globe, Michelle Terry, as she draws on her experience as a performer to explore how acting can help us to understand the self.

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Alex Gómez-Marín is a controversial figure in contemporary neuroscience, known for challenging the materialist framework that dominates scientific accounts of consciousness. He argues that Near Death Experiences (NDEs) raise profound questions about the nature of reality and the limits of reductionist explanation. In this interview, Gómez-Marín reflects on the scientific evidence we have for NDEs and what they might mean for answering ultimate questions about the purpose of human existence. 

Àlex Gómez-Marín is a Theoretical physicist and neuroscientist, Associate Professor at the Instituto de Neurociencias of Alicante in Spain, and director of the Pari Center in Italy.

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The self and the world

We tend to think of ourselves as observers of the world and experience as something different from the material stuff that makes up reality. Yet at the same time as human beings, we are at once part of the universe and part of that reality. And this profoundly puzzling relationship, that we are both part of something and yet separate from it, has been at the centre of Western thought. Materialists claim there is only physical material. But if so, thought, experience, and consciousness become illusory. Idealists argue there is only consciousness, but then it is reality that becomes an illusion. While dualists hold that both the self and the world exist, but that the connection between the two is mysterious.  

Is the self part of the world or necessarily outside of it? Was Kant right that the distinction between subject and object is necessary for experience to be possible? Or are these deep metaphysical questions beyond us, and our theories and language incapable of uncovering the ultimate state of things?

Slavoj Žižek is one of the most famous philosophers in the world and is the author of more than 50 books, including most recently at the time of the debate Zero Point. Alenka Zupančič is a leading Lacanian philosopher and social theorist. She is a professor at The European Graduate School and at the University of Nova Gorica. Joining from America, Carlo Rovelli is a leading theoretical physicist, the author of several best-selling books, and a founding figure in the field of quantum gravity. His recent book, Reality Is Not What It Seems, has ethical implications for the nature of the self and personal identity. Jack Symes hosts.

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An individual "is responsible for everything he does," claimed Sartre. And from criminal justice to creative expression, free will and responsibility are central to our culture and our personal lives. Yet neuroscientists and materialist thinkers commonly maintain that freedom is an illusion. And it remains unknown how the core principles of freedom and responsibility can be reconciled with this outlook. Many attempts have been made to argue that the two seemingly contradictory frameworks can be made compatible. But critics say these "compatibilist" arguments are unconvincing and are driven merely by the attempt to make scientific materialism acceptable. Furthermore, whilst surveys suggest most materialist philosophers believe we can reconcile the two, the majority of us reject the idea that an action can be both determined and free.

Paul Bloom is a Canadian-American psychologist, bestselling author, and celebrated speaker. He is Professor Emeritus at Yale and a professor at the University of Toronto. Bloom’s work explores human nature, morality, and pleasure.

Joining us from California is Robert Sapolsky. Sapolsky is a distinguished neuroscientist, primatologist, and author, best known for his research on stress and its impact on behaviour and health. He is also a professor at Stanford University.

Lucy Allais is a philosopher at Johns Hopkins University and the University of the Witwatersrand, renowned for her work on Immanuel Kant. Her writing spans ethics, metaphysics, and political philosophy.

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Are we living in the moment? Are we really free? How can we transcend the constant anxieties of our mind?

Throughout history, certain people in the West and the East have claimed that the human mind could reach states of so-called higher consciousness. In the twentieth century, several thinkers like Heidegger and Nietzsche returned to this possibility, trying to find the higher regions of the mind. Join Oxford philosopher Jessica Frazier as she explores tales of higher states of mind, and debates whether these experiences are scientific, spiritual, or pure esoteric imagination.

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The good, the bad, and the transgressive

Is the transgression of norms and rules what brings history forward and allows for creativity and change? OR is the fetishization of transgression an ever-present danger that breaks down all structures of meaning and becomes totalizing in of itself?

The limits and potentials of transgressiveness have been long debated, especially in rule-breaking Modernity. Listen to this lively conversation between three unlikely and profound thinkers - provocative cultural theorist Catherine Liu, former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, and psychoanalyst Josh Cohen - to hear what role transgression should, and should not, play in our societies.

Hosted by philosopher Barry C. Smith

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What is rationality? Why is it or is it not important? And where does perversity fit in?

Join psychologist Paul Bloom in this interview where he discusses his research on these themes and defends his viewpoints.

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Why is the world moving away from liberalism and towards conservatism?

One of Britain’s most provocative thinkers, John Gray is a political philosopher known for dismantling liberalism and exposing the illusions of human progress. Former Professor of European Thought at the London School of Economics, Gray has challenged orthodoxy across the political spectrum with a body of work that ranges from critiques of Enlightenment rationalism to meditations on the limits of secular humanism.

He is the bestselling author of Straw Dogs, The Silence of Animals, and Seven Types of Atheism as well as a frequent contributor to The Guardian, New Statesman, and The Times Literary Supplement. Gray’s sharp insights and contrarian stance continue to shape contemporary debates on ethics, politics, and the future of humanity.

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The future of European thought

What is analytic philosophy and what is continental philosophy? And, perhaps most importantly, does this distinction make any sense?

The division between these two branches has divided Western philosophy for decades now, with the Anglo-Saxon world largely associated with the analytical school, and the European continent with the, well, continental one.

In this panel, our speakers discuss the future of thought for Western philosophy and Europe. Is the division between these schools obsolete? Are they both under threat? What can we expect?

Join our three philosophy professors, Christoph Schuringa, Genia Schönbaumsfeld, and Babette Babich to discuss these themes. Hosted by Danielle Sands.

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Language shapes how we think, remember, and reason. But does it help us to uncover the fundamental nature of reality? Join the author of Language vs. Reality and linguistic anthropologist, Nick Enfield, as he explores why language excels at persuasion but falters at faithfully representing reality. From media spin to courtroom rhetoric, he reveals how words reframe our world, often without us noticing. Drawing on two decades of research, Enfield shows why understanding the limits and power of language is essential in an age of misinformation and cognitive bias.

Nick Enfield is Professor of Linguistics at the University of Sydney and Director of the Sydney Centre for Language Research.

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Philosophers cannot stop talking about consciousness - what are its limits? What is it made of? What does it allow us? This podcast is part of that conversation, but from a more experimental perspective.

Join biologist and researcher Rupert Sheldrake as he discusses consciousness with philosopher Peter Sjöstedt-Hughes from the lens of psychedelics. Once on the fringes of academic and popular interest, psychedelics have recently moved towards the mainstream as their potential in expanding our awareness and connecting us to others is progressively revealed. Both Rupert and Peter have much intimacy with the topic at hand, and creatively draw lessons from it to muse on the inner workings of our mind.

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Why we worship without knowing it

What should be included within the remit of philosophy? Religion? Love? Hair?

Join well-known public speakers and writers Alain de Botton and Alex O'Connor as they talk through what philosophy can offer us, why we should study love, and what the role of religion is in philosophy and in our lives.

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Over the past decades, neuroscience has blossomed, positioning itself as a kind of master discipline over everything else. For who understands the brain surely understands all of human activity and creation? Or not?

Neuroscience's reach has extended past its scientific remit and into the world of philosophy and its major questions. What is a human? What is consciousness? Are we free? And so on. Yet its utility in this field, and in general, is still being fiercely debated, with its proponents and detractors arguing on the one side that it is the key to the universe, and on the other that it is a bunch of garbage.

Join this engaging conversation from 2011 where Iain McGilchrist, famous psychologist and researcher of the brain, the late neuroscientist and neurobiologist Colin Blakemore, and journalist Bryan Appleyard delve into the nitty-gritty of neuroscience and what it has to say on major philosophical questions. Post-realist philosopher Hilary Lawson hosts.

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What is nothing? Can it be defined, either philosophically or scientifically? Or will the exploration of nothing bring, ultimately, to nothing?

The philosophical exploration of nothingness is an ancient one, from the mysterious number zero through theological understandings of the absence of God right to modern physics and ideas of the void.

Join leading theoretical physicists David Deutsch and Lee Smolin, alongside science writer Amanda Gefter, as they discuss the edges of their understanding of nothing, including what something is, what physics tells us, and the extent to which we require esotericism to comprehend it.

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Why are we fascinated by apocalyptic stories?

Join the team at the IAI for a reading of four Halloween-themed articles, written by historian and philosopher Natalie Lawrence, professor of political philosophy Matthew Festenstein, and professor of comparative literature Florian Mussgnug. From the allure of the end times to the symbolic value of monsters, this episode is a spooky journey through all things macabre.

Natalie Lawrence is a researcher in history and the philosophy of science at the University of Cambridge, specialising in the natural histories of exotic monsters. Matthew Festenstein is a professor of political philosophy at the University of York where he is the former director of the Morrell Centre for Toleration and head of the politics department. Florian Mussgnug is professor of comparative literature and Vice Dean International for Arts and Humanities at University College London. 

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Einstein was called “slow” at school, J. K. Rowling collected a dozen rejections, and Walt Disney was once fired for “lacking imagination.” We love stories of perseverance—but what’s the cost of never letting go? In this conversation, psychoanalyst Adam Phillips argues that our obsession with endurance can have hidden, corrosive effects. He invites us to consider giving up not as failure, but as a creative act: a way to revise who we are, resist the tyranny of completion, and make room for lives that fit.

Adam Phillips is a leading British psychoanalyst and acclaimed essayist, celebrated for bringing psychoanalytic ideas into everyday life with clarity and wit. He is the author of more than twenty books, including On Kissing, Tickling, and Being Bored, Darwin’s Worms, Going Sane, On Balance, Attention Seeking, and On Wanting to Change. He has served as a child psychotherapist in the NHS and is the general editor of the new Penguin translations of Sigmund Freud. Health journalist Claudia Canavan hosts.

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Slavoj Žižek is back in a new interview where he takes us through his thoughts on the role of philosophy, the future of sex, his fear and love of AI and, as always, so much more.

Tune in to hear one of contemporary philosophy's most original and darkly comedic minds expose his thoughts on the present and where we are heading - though that is impossible to know.

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What should time mean to us?

Peter Sjöstedt-Hughes is a philosopher of mind who specialises in the thought of Alfred North Whitehead, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Benedict de Spinoza, and in fields pertaining to panpsychism and altered states of mind. In this talk, he combines insights from psychedelic experiences with an intriguing view put forward by Spinoza: that the mind can enter a rare state of eternity, not as a spirit enduring beyond the corpse, but as a mind collapsing into the eternal.

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Hugely influential in the latter decades of the 20th century, postmodernism transformed many academic disciplines and culture at large. Associated with an attack on objective truth and the uniqueness of meaning, it called into question the whole edifice of knowledge which Western culture had previously glorified. But it left many lost, and in the wake of a polarising post-truth world, there is a widespread recognition that we need to move on. Feminist and post-colonial critics though claim there is a danger that instead we risk retreating to the questionable certainties of the past. Alongside defenders of objective truth like Richard Dawkins and Noam Chomsky, figures like Jordan Peterson argue for a return to moral certainties and belief in the existence of God.

Are there viable alternatives to postmodernism that are not simply a return to belief in universal truth? Are metamodernism or model-theoretic realism possible ways forward? Or is the chaos initiated by postmodernism so profound that the only credible approach is to return to the Enlightenment notion that we can arrive at the objective truth?

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As ChatGPT and AI increase their presence in our lives, have we interrogated enough what this means for, and about, our collective psyche?

In one of the most original critiques of ChatGPT, Slovenian Lacanian philosopher Alenka Zupančič interprets large language models as a form of our collective unconscious that has absorbed all our discourse at the expense of the subject, shutting down emancipatory possibilities. She analyses the Right's use of ChatGPT, the evolution of irony, and more.

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The Enlightenment has faced a lot of criticism in recent years - its defenders and detractors often come head to head, scrambling to articulate its ultimate value or lack thereof to contemporary society.

This podcast contributes to this wider debate and question facing all those interested in philosophy and politics: Are Enlightenment ideas salvageable? Or are they too intrinsically tainted with the racism of their times? If so, what do we do next?

Join Birmingham City University Professor Kehinde Andrews in this exclusive interview as he lays out his provocative claims on the limited utility of Enlightenment thought.

What do you think? Do you agree with Kehinde? Who is your philosophical reference? Email us at podcast@iai.tv with your thoughts or questions on the episode!

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We all want to live the good life. But how many of us can claim to be truly content? Join philosopher and evolutionary biologist Massimo Pigliucci as he argues that pleasure, character, and a healthy dose of doubt, form the basis of the good life, and that purpose in life is crucial to realising our potential.

Massimo Pigliucci is a renowned philosopher and professor at the City College of New York. He is the author of several books, including, 'How to be a Stoic' and 'Beyond Stoicism'. A former co-host of the Rationally Speaking Podcast and a self-proclaimed sceptic, Pigliucci is a champion of Enlightenment notions of reason and rationality.

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Truth, delusion and psychedelic reality

Do psychedelics reveal hidden layers of reality, or are we simply tripping?

Psychedelics are back in the cultural zeitgeist, this time as a treatment for mental health issues. However, critics argue that psychedelics only work by replacing mental illness with a distorted view of reality - but, is this an accurate assessment? A study from Imperial College London suggests that after taking psychedelics people get better at future life events. Visual acuity is also known to increase, suggesting people become less delusional, not more, when taking psychedelics. Should we see the psychedelic experience as showing us something true about the nature of reality? Or is it merely a distortion?

James Rucker is a Consultant Psychiatrist and a Senior Clinical Lecturer in mood disorders and psychopharmacology at the Centre for Affective Disorders at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King’s College London.

Julian Baggini is a philosopher, journalist and author of over 20 books about philosophy for the general reader. He is the co-founder and editor of "The Philosophers’ Magazine", and also writes and broadcasts for The Guardian and the BBC.

Eileen is an Ecuadorean-Scottish creative director, artist, and explorer based in London. She is the founder of Tayos, an organisation supporting the protection of endangered habitats in Ecuador as well as exploring their relationship to nature and its role in wellbeing through art, music, and science.

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The unconscious has become a well-known feature of our human lived experience since Freud. We often refer to unwanted impulses, suppressed thoughts, unconscious desires, and the like.

But what IS the unconscious? Is it just an easy excuse for our behaviour? Or is it a necessary piece of what it means to be human?

Join our diverse and rich panel as they discuss, and disagree, over this question: Josh Cohen is a literature professor and psychoanalyst, Barbara Tversky is a professor of psychology, and Edward Harcourt is a philosopher.

What do you think? Can the unconscious explain things? Email us at podcast@iai.tv with your thoughts or questions on the episode!

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Will we ever reach a conclusive, agreed-upon theory of consciousness?

Over the millennia of recorded history, countless stories, theories, and arguments have emerged to explain the origins of consciousness. And yet, here we are in 2025 - post-Plato, post-Descartes, post-scientific revolution - and still we don't understand the phenomenon of conscious, subjective experience. Which begs the question: will we ever truly know what consciousness is, and how it functions?

Robert Lawrence Kuhn is the co-creator, executive producer, writer, and host of 'Closer To Truth', the PBS/public television series on cosmos, life, mind, and meaning that presents leading scientists, philosophers, and creative thinkers discussing the fundamental questions of existence. Join him in conversation with post-realist philosopher Hilary Lawson as they cast their eyes over the hundreds of different theories of consciousness.

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The psychedelic revolution

Will LSD, Psilocybin, MDMA, and Ketamine treatments live up to the hype?

For decades, psychedelics were derided as dangerous recreational drugs; now many claim they have the potential to revolutionise the treatment of mental health. With hundreds of clinical trials now taking place, the psychedelic therapeutic market is predicted to be over ten billion within the decade. It has been widely thought that psychedelics are effective at treating mental health because of the way they change brain chemistry. But studies from King's College London and Johns Hopkins suggest this is an error, arguing that it's the psychedelic experience that aids mental wellbeing, not the physical brain changes.

Should we stop focussing on brain chemistry as the solution to mental health? What is it about psychedelic experience that can aid mental well being and will psychedelics live up to their promise and usher in a mental health renaissance? Or is the hype bubble about to burst and should we look elsewhere for the silver bullet to the mental health crisis of our age?

Matthew Johnson is Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences at Johns Hopkins University. Shayla Love is a freelance reporter and former senior science writer at Vice News, focusing on psychedelics. Kevin Sabet is the founder of Smart Approaches to Marijuana, and he has been described as the "quarterback of the new anti-drug movement".

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Indian philosophy and the search for unity

In our everyday lives we act as though we are all separate individuals, but is this really the case?

Jessica Frazer argues that reality is ultimately unified, and that this shift in perspective can change the way we live our lives. It can help you lose your isolated ego and escape feelings of alienation from nature and the universe. You can start to see that you are living out a strange, larger pattern of mysterious provenance and immense creative power that's generating everything you've ever seen.

Jessica Frazier is a professor of theology and religion at Trinity College, Oxford, as well as a Fellow of the Oxford Centre for Hindu studies. During her academic career, she has explored key philosophical themes across various cultures, ranging from Indian concepts of 'Being' to 20th century phenomenology. In addition, Frazier is the founding editor of the 'Journal of Hindu Studies' and a frequent contributor to BBC radio.

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From philosophy to science, metaphysics to psychology, the idea of 'nothing' is central to the universe, existence and experience as a whole. But the nature of 'nothing' is even more bewildering than we might first imagine. Parmenides argued that non-being is impossible because thinking about nothing is still something. Join philosopher Peter van Inwagen in this talk as he explores the metaphysics of 'nothing'.

Peter van Inwagen is one of the leading figures in contemporary philosophy. Known for his thought-provoking contributions to metaphysics, the philosophy of religion, and the free will debate, van Inwagen has shaped modern discussions around determinism, the problem of evil, and the existence of God. With key works like An Essay on Free Will and Material Beings, his ideas continue to influence both scholars and curious thinkers.

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The question of free will - and whether we have it or not - is age-old across philosophy, religion, and human thought in general. Having free will allows us to have meaning, responsibility, reward and punishment. Yet discoveries in neuroscience have put our ability to choose, outside of a set of neuronal reactions, in question.

Do we have free will? Or is it an illusion? And, also, do we need free will?

Join our panel of neuroscientist Patrick Haggard, Templeton Prize winning physicist George Ellis, and philosopher of mind and action Jennifer Hornsby as they consider where choice begins and chance ends.

But what do you think? Is free will "real"? Email us at podcast@iai.tv with your thoughts or questions on the episode!

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Žižek: "Trump did what The Left couldn't"

As we look around at the state of the modern world, it's very easy to get disheartened - and that's putting it lightly! From pointless wars and endless suffering to the decline of social bonds and trustworthy institutions, there really is a lot to get you down. Fortunately, maverick philosopher Slavoj Žižek is on the case, arguing that all is not lost - though we must act quickly.

Slavoj Žižek is a world-renowned philosopher, cultural critic and public intellectual. Foreign Policy named Žižek a Top 100 Global Thinker "for giving voice to an era of absurdity”. 

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Video games are changing how we think. Many are so realistic that some argue they are becoming reality. In this talk by philosopher James Tartaglia, he uncovers the relationship between games and reality.

James Tartaglia is Professor of Metaphysical Philosophy at Keele University. His latest book is Inner Space Philosophy: Why the Next Stage of Human Development Should Be Philosophical, Explained Radically (Suitable for Wolves).

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How literature helps us to understand morality, totalitarian politics, and the life of Jesus Christ.

Join the team at the IAI for four articles about great, classic literature, covering world-renowned authors such as George Orwell, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Clarice Lispector, to name but a few.

These articles were written by Michael Marder, Emrah Atasoy, John Givens, and Dana Dragunoiu.

Michael Marder is Ikerbasque Research Professor of Philosophy at the University of the Basque Country, Vitoria-Gasteiz. Emrah Atasoy is a professor in the Department of English and Comparative Literary Studies at the University of Warwick. John Givens is a professor of Russian at the University of Rochester and the author of 'The Image of Christ in Russian Literature: Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Bulgakov, Pasternak'. Dana Dragunoiu the author of 'Vladimir Nabokov and the Art of Moral Acts' and 'Simply Nabokov'. 

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In this IAI Studio interview, philosopher and science writer Peter Godfrey-Smith explores the evolution of consciousness and the enduring mystery of the mind–body problem. Drawing on his work with octopuses and other animals, he argues that consciousness emerged gradually through increasingly complex forms of sensory-motor interaction, rather than as a sudden leap. Using cephalopods as a case study, he shows how minds can evolve in radically different ways, suggesting that subjective experience is more widespread,and varied, than we often assume. The conversation touches on ethics, the limits of physicalism, and how studying animal minds can reshape our understanding of our own.

Peter Godfrey-Smith is a philosopher of science and a leading thinker on the evolution of consciousness and animal minds. He is a professor at the University of Sydney and the author of several acclaimed books, including Other Minds: The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness and Metazoa: Animal Life and the Birth of the Mind. His work combines philosophy, biology, and firsthand experience with marine animals to explore how subjective experience arises in the natural world. Through his research and writing, Godfrey-Smith offers a compelling naturalistic account of the mind that bridges science and philosophy.

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Human nature and the possibility of utopia

The idea of utopia - of a perfect society devoid of suffering and inequality - is planted firmly in the human imagination and psyche. From pre-biblical times to Thomas More and communism and beyond, widely disparate groups have attempted to plan or create a utopia.

But is it achievable? And if not, why not?

Join unconventional psychologist Paul Bloom as he makes the case for the impossibility of utopia given certain key features of human nature. We are not meant, he argues, for perfect harmony and equality. Paul Bloom is a researcher of perversion and suffering, so his perspective brings interesting insights on the question.

But what do you think? Can we ever achieve utopia? Email us at podcast@iai.tv with your thoughts or questions on the episode!

For the video mentioned in the talk (Woman throws cat into wheelie bin): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYdUZdan5i8

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Why more is less

We're surrounded by choice - an endless sea of possible paths we might take. However, does the overwhelming range of choices leave us better off or worse? In general, we tend to think that more is better, but Barry Schwartz, author of the ground-breaking book 'The Paradox of Choice', argues that this view is mistaken. More can lead us to be psychologically overloaded, unsatisfied, and tyrannised by the burden of choices that present themselves to us.

Barry is an American psychologist and the Dorwin Cartwright Emeritus Professor of Social Theory and Social Action at Swarthmore College. He is author of several famous books including 'Why We Work' and 'The Paradox of Choice'.

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Our culture prizes logic and rationality, if not above all else, as two of the most fundamental social traits. But are we missing out by overlooking the irrational? Can logic explain everything, or what is it missing? And is it possible to live (and enjoy) a life led by logic?

Logic, in philosophy and beyond, seems to always to be self-evidently right. Join our three eminent panellists as they variously challenge this assumption and expose the holes in logic's seemingly perfect facade. Iain McGilchrist is a philosopher, neuroscientist, and psychiatrist known for his book The Master and His Emissary. Beatrix Campbell is a writer and activist, especially in the field of women's liberation. Simon Blackburn is a philosopher working especially on metaethics and the philosophy of language. Shahidha Bari, a critic and broadcaster, hosts.

Do you agree with the speakers - is irrationality a key element of life? Email us at podcast@iai.tv with your thoughts or questions on the episode!

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We tend to believe consciousness is purely mental. And since Descartes' "I think therefore I am", we've privileged the mind as the centrepiece of thought and consciousness. But such a view is mistaken argues award-winning neuroscientist Antonio Damasio.

Feelings, long dismissed as secondary to thinking, are where consciousness begins, and are deeply rooted in the body and its physical processes. Join Damasio as he presents a new theory of consciousness and undoes the philosophical separation between mind and body posed by Descartes.

Antonio Damasio is an award-winning neuroscientist known for his pioneering work on emotions, intuitions and the biological origins of consciousness.

He is the author of several books including Descartes' Error and The Strange Order of Things. His most recent book Feeling & Knowing: Making Minds Conscious explores the origin and evolution of consciousness.

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What can JD Vance's arguments with Pope Francis teach us about selfishness, altruism, and the morality of the modern world?

Join the team at the IAI for four articles about egoism, self-sacrifice, and everything in between, analysing a range of subjects, including: Friedrich Nietzsche and his rivalry with former maestro Arthur Schopenhauer; the 10 Commandments and their relationship to jealousy; why God might be "stupid, indifferent, and evil"; and of course the aforementioned showdown between JD and the Pope.

These articles were written by Slavoj Žižek, Steven D. Hales, Kristján Kristjánsson, and Guy Elgat.

Slavoj Žižek is a Hegelian philosopher, a Lacanian psychoanalyst, and a Communist. He is the author of 'Christian Atheism: How to Be a Real Materialist'. Steven D. Hales is Professor of Philosophy at Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania, and author of 'The Myth of Luck: Philosophy, Fate and Fortune'. Kristján Kristjánsson is Professor of Character Education and Virtue Ethics at the University of Birmingham. His work spans topics in moral philosophy, moral psychology, and moral education. He is also the editor of the Journal of Moral Education. Guy Elgat is a lecturer at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He is the author of 'Nietzsche's Psychology of Ressentiment' and 'Being Guilty: Freedom, Responsibility, and Conscience in German Philosophy from Kant to Heidegger'.

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The mindful body with Ellen Langer

Can mindfulness be contagious?

Ellen Langer's research certainly seems to suggest that's the case. As Professor of Psychology at Harvard University and the author of 'The Mindful Body', Ellen has racked up decades of experience and numerous awards during her investigations into the impact of mindful living.

In this interview, Ellen discusses the transformative power of mindfulness in our daily lives, exploring how most of us operate mindlessly and therefore miss out on the incredible benefits that mindful practices can bring to our physical and mental health.

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The good, the bad, and the beautiful

What is beauty? Why are we so drawn to it? And should we be - or is it a distraction?

The philosophy of aesthetics and beauty has a long and fascinating history. Over the millennia, while we mostly agree on the essential nature of this ephemeral thing, "beauty", we disagree on the reasons why it is important, on its very definition, and sometimes if we should value it at all. Join our four diverse speakers - Nietzschean philosopher Babette Babich, mathematician Paul Ernest, Professor of English and World Literatures Ankhi Mukherjee, and journalist and best-selling author Sarah Wilson - as they dive into the notion of beauty and, mostly, defend it from their different perspectives.

What do you think - how important is beauty? Email us at podcast@iai.tv with your thoughts or questions on the episode!

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Once values such as justice and equality were agreed upon by all. Now they are identified by some as vehicles to entrench or overturn power. On the left, 'justice' as a means to sustain and impose privilege, 'truth' as an attempt to claim enduring authority. On the right, 'diversity' and 'equality' as means to undermine the status quo in favour of a new elite. The danger is apparent to many. Without agreed values, society is increasingly divided. Debate is limited by tribal associations that make discussion hard if not impossible.  

Do we need to re-engage with those whose values and beliefs we reject, while accepting that our own values are not universal? Should we seek to construct a new enlightenment to provide an agreed basis for progress that could apply to all? Or do we just need to reinforce the liberal democratic values of our past?

Dale Turner, Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science and Centre for Indigenous Studies at the University of Toronto, Janne Teller, critically-acclaimed writer of novels, essays and short stories, and Robin van den Akker, Senior Lecturer in the Philosophy of Culture at Erasmus University College Rotterdam, debate the values that govern our lives, and whether they are universal.

Do you think values are universal? Email us at podcast@iai.tv with your thoughts or questions on the episode!

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The economy is a vital part of the way we understand our lives and our politics more generally. But after years of growth, development, and progress, on the surface everything is rosy. But as Nobel Laureate Angus Deaton argues, behind the big picture many people have been left behind by the modern economy, and this is precisely because of the blindspots of modern economics. Join Deaton as he explores the ways economics needs to take from philosophy. Interviewed by the FT's Gillian Tett.

Sir Angus Deaton is the Senior Scholar and Professor of Economics at the Princeton School of Public Affair and a Nobel prize-winner.

Gillian Tett is an award-winning author, journalist, Provost of King's College Cambridge, and U.S. editor at large at the Financial Times.

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The journey in search of the destination

Does life have a purpose? Is that what gives life meaning? Or is it the journey that matters the most?

Join our four speakers - Nietzschean philosopher Babette Babich, clinical psychologist Frank Tallis, existentialist philosopher Jonathan Webber, and linguist philosopher Sandra Laugier - as they explore the different facets of this question. Setting ourselves goals in life seems both inevitable and necessary for the good life, yet achieving them might render living life meaningless. The balance between having a sense of purpose and experiencing things as they come is a hard one to set.

Do you think life must have a purpose? Email us at podcast@iai.tv with your thoughts or questions on the episode!

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Nietzsche, the birth of tragedy, and the technology trap with Babette Babich

Babette Babich discusses Nietzsche, the importance of tragedy, and the danger of technology interfering with our judgement. Babette Babich is a world renowned Professor of Philosophy at Fordham University in New York. In this in-depth interview, she looks to Nietzsche's Birth of Tragedy to explain our love of suffering and towards the trials and tribulations of living in an age of technology which is smarter than we are.

Babette Babich is a leading philosopher of technology and science. Renowned for her exploration of the philosophy, history, and sociology of science as well as studies of ecology and animal philosophy, Babich is a Professor of Philosophy at Fordham University, New York City.

Her work crosses the analytic-continental divide, drawing heavily on Nietzsche, Heidegger, Adorno, and Illich. She is the director of The Nietzsche Society. Her latest book, Günther Anders’ Philosophy of Technology, explores the philosophy of isolation.

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The essential philosophy of fun

Do we need to have fun or is it an unnecessary excess? Are we living in an age of fun's decline, what with the moralism and strictures of Gen Z, or is there something else going on?

On this panel, our three guests - philosopher James Tartaglia, film-maker Myriam François, and writer Freya India - dive into the idea of fun: its philosophy, from Plato to the modern day; its politics, what with Gen Z being in the spotlight; its economics, how much of it we can afford; and more. If having fun - or avoiding it - is important to you, have a listen for some ideas on where to situate fun in your life and going forward. Or if meaning and purpose are what ultimately matters.

How important is fun? Email us at podcast@iai.tv with your thoughts or questions on the episode!

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There is an old Soviet joke, ‘Capitalism is the exploitation of man by man. Communism is its exact opposite.’ On the surface, neoliberalism, with its emphasis on free markets, competition and privatisation, is as far removed as possible from the Soviet Union. But behind the policies, could they be guided by the same false utopianism? Abby Innes, professor of Political Economy at the LSE, argues that the utopianism that guided the Soviet Union to disaster is eerily similar to the decline of our modern politics, and for Western states to succeed they need to throw off the shackles of utopianism and rediscover the scientific method.

Dr Abby Innes weaves political analysis with the scientific method to expose the ironic similarities between our current politics and the Soviet Union. She is an Associate Professor of Political Economy at the European Institute at the LSE. Her work focuses on party-state development, the transition from the Soviet system in Eastern Europe and the modern neoliberal state.

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Something for nothing

Do rewards and incentives damage our humanity?

In much of our personal and professional lives, we receive rewards for good behaviour and carrying out our responsibilities. But, evidence now suggests there are risks to this approach. Studies show rewards can damage wellbeing, fostering dependence and undermining our own sense of control. And neuroscientists have shown those more prone to seeking reward have a 70% higher risk of addiction, with addictive behaviour now present in almost half of the U.S. population. So, should we move away from rewards-based systems, and instead learn to value doing the right thing simply for the sake of, well, doing the right thing?

Paul Bloom is a Canadian-American psychologist, bestselling author, and celebrated speaker. Bloom has written widely on human nature, and he won the Klaus J. Jacobs Research Prize for his investigations into how children develop a sense of morality.

Dan Ariely is a Professor of Psychology and Behavioural Economics at Duke University and best-selling author. Ariely is a scholar of irrationality and decision-making, explaining how we repeatedly and predictably make the wrong decisions in many aspects of our lives.

Nancy Sherman is a Professor of Philosophy at Georgetown University who has conducted research in general ethics, moral psychology, and the history of philosophy with focus on the Stoic tradition. A New York Times Notable Author and sought-after speaker, her views on military ethics have been influential.  

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The spectre of the Enlightenment

What the Enlightenment a net positive or a net negative? Or is that the wrong question, and should we look at it simply as a historical period?

Join Professor of History Aviva Chomsky as she dissects one of the most important periods in modern history from the lens of a critical historian. The Enlightenment was not just a period that produced thoughts and ideas - it was an excuse and a reordering of world hierarchies.

Do you agree with her conclusions? Email us at podcast@iai.tv with your thoughts or questions on the episode!

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Why Marx was right

Having fallen out of favour around the turn of the century, Marxism is now back in fashion, often playing the role of an alternative to the increasingly right-wing politics of the modern world. Once the guiding ideology of Korean guerillas and Hampstead screenwriters alike, Marxism is back and taking universities and intellectual circles by storm, capturing the minds of students and teachers alike. In a time of Brexit, billionaires, and MAGA, Terry Eagleton defends the Marxist alternative, challenging the standard critiques and explaining why the German philosopher's thoughts remain as relevant as ever.

Terry Eagleton is one of the world’s most influential literary theorists and critics. He is Professor of English Literature at the University of Lancaster, and also the author of more than 40 books, including "Literary Theory: An Introduction" (1983) and "Why Marx Was Right" (2011).

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Lost in stories

Is life a story or a sequence of events?

Our narratives enable us to make sense of the complex, often confusing, world that we live in. And yet there is a risk that rather than helping us to truly understand this world, narratives can hide reality from us, providing delusional states of mind in its place. From witch hunts to cults, from war propaganda to religious honour killings, people are prepared to kill and die for stories they believe in, while others see these narratives as wildly false illusions.

Matthew Beaumont is Professor of English at University College London, UK and the author of several books, including two on the topic of late nineteenth-century utopianism. He has also edited several essay collections and published numerous articles in scholarly journals.

Ruth Padel is a poet, broadcaster, and critic whose engagement with the natural world infuses her volumes of poetry, nature writing, biography, and criticism.

Theodore Dalrymple is the pen-name for Anthony Malcolm Daniels, an English cultural critic, prolific writer, satirist, prison physician, and psychiatrist.

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The dark side of 'mental health' with Susie Orbach

Why are psychotherapy, psychology, psychoanalysis, therapy so popular today? Do these respond to a new need in our society or are they evolutions of age-old human approaches to resolution and knowing oneself?

Join psychotherapist and psychoanalyst (famously Princess Diana's therapist!) Susie Orbach as she delves into her relationship with her profession and why it so necessary for humans to sit, talk, and explore body and mind.

And please email us at podcast@iai.tv with your thoughts or questions on the episode! What do you think about the state of mental health today?

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Peter Singer is one of the world's leading philosophers, renowned for his challenging and often controversial views. From animal ethics to effective altruism, Singer has shaped the philosophical landscape. In this episode we uncover the key events in his life that led to his ideas, and hear him answer his critics and defend the convictions that have made him the force that he is today.

"The Dangerous Philosopher." - The New Yorker

Peter Singer is the most prominent figure in contemporary ethics. He has made groundbreaking contributions to animal welfare, bioethics, effective altruism and practical ethics more broadly.

He is a founder of both Animals Australia and The Life You Can Save, and has been a key figure in the Effective Altruism movement - an initiative that uses evidence and careful analysis to find the very best way for individuals to do good. Singer has received multiple accolades for his work, including a nomination as one of Australia's ten most influential public intellectuals and the $1 million Berggruen Prize in 2021.

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Under capitalism, it can be hard to disentangle an idea of 'value' from that which the market sets as 'valuable' - that is to say, expensive items. Is the price mechanism in any way a useful or accurate way of representing value, or are we unable to measure what we really value through it?

Join our panel of four diverse social scientists to make sense of this question: Abby Innes is Associate Professor of Political Economy at the LSE; Daniel Susskind is a Research Professor in Economics at King's College; Will Hutton is a political economist and journalist; and Richard Kibble is a Partner at Deloitte. The question of whether we should keep or scrap our current economic model obviously enters the picture.

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Is genuine originality a realistic goal for artists?

From fashion to fantasy, entertainment to enterprise, we seek the 'new' as the means to originality, change, and creativity. And for the most part, we imagine the new is always identifiable as a radical break from the past. But the nature of the new is more elusive and unknown than it first appears. Is the new an illusion, and the search for originality a mistake? Should creative endeavour be focussed on other goals, such as the timeless, the provocative, and the beautiful? Or is the new an essential part of life, creativity and action, without which we would have mere passive re-orderings of the known?

Martin Puchner is a literary critic and philosopher. He is the Byron and Anita Wien Chair of Drama and of English and Comparative Literature at Harvard University. Claire Hynes is Associate Professor in Literature & Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia, and an author of fiction and creative non-fiction. Stanley Fish is a literary critic, legal scholar, and public intellectual. Renowned for his role in developing reader-response theory in literary studies, Fish has written on a wide range of topics including the poetry of John Milton, the distinction between free speech and academic freedom, and the doctrine of liberalism.

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We take it for granted that through language and communication we can learn about the experience of others. But it remains unknown whether we can fully know what it is like to be another human being. James Baldwin and Jean-Paul Sartre take radically different approaches. For Sartre, the experience of others is unknown to us. Fundamentally, we are alone with our own subjectivity. While for Baldwin, "to encounter oneself is to encounter the other; and this is love". Summing up his disagreement with Sartre he remarked: "it has always seemed to me that ideas were somewhat more real to him than people.”

Was Baldwin right that to be alive is to be socially connected to others? Or is Sartre's insight that the only thing we can know is our own experience more telling? Should we conclude that we cannot understand the experience of another unless we have had the same experience? Or is language capable of bridging the seemingly impossible gap between us? 

Jonathan Webber is a professor at Cardiff University specializing in moral philosophy and the philosophy of psychology. Marie-Elsa Roche Bragg is an author, teacher, and priest. Her first novel, Towards Mellbreak is about four generations of a quiet hill farming family on the North Western fells of Cumbria. Joanna Kavenna is an award-winning writer. She was born in the UK but as a seasoned traveller, she was led to her first book, The Ice Museum, which details her experience travelling in the remote North. Hosted by presenter, writer and professor of the History and Politics of Modern China at Oxford, Rana Mitter

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What do Friedrich Nietzsche, the Korean War, and Homer's Odyssey have in common?

Join the team at the IAI for four articles about the history and philosophy of geopolitics, ranging from Nietzsche's impact on Russia's imperialist strategies to the importance of Ancient Greek tragedies during the decline of the West. Written by Slavoj Žižek, John Milbank, Stathis Kalyvas, and Andy Owen, these four articles offer a deep and wide-ranging analysis of the philosophies that are shaping the modern world of politics.

Slavoj Žižek is a Hegelian philosopher, a Lacanian psychoanalyst, and a Communist. He is the author of 'Christian Atheism: How to Be a Real Materialist'. John Milbank is a theologian and founder of Radical Orthodoxy. His books include 'The Monstrosity of Christ', co-authored with Slavoj Žižek. Stathis Kalyvas is Gladstone Professor of government and fellow of All Souls College at the University of Oxford. Andy Owen is an author and former intelligence officer in the British Army.

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The philosophy of dehumanisation with David Livingstone Smith

In this exclusive interview, philosopher David Livingstone Smith explores the history, nature, and evolution of dehumanisation. As what is 'acceptable' in society changes, so do the tactics of undercover dehumanisation. How can we identify these, and how might we progress? Smith's solutions vary from holding up the mirror to reveal there are no 'monsters', to his more radical suggestion: getting rid of dehumanisation's prelude, racialisation. Smith presents us with a candid but unique outlook on this topic, touching on everything from deferring to the expert and symbols of hate, to having hope without optimism.

David Livingstone Smith is a philosopher and author, most recently of Making Monsters: The Uncanny Power of Dehumanization. His research interests include self-deception, dehumanization, human nature, ideology, race and moral psychology. His book Less Than Human: Why We Demean, Enslave, and Exterminate Others, won the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award. 

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Consciousness is one of the most fundamental aspects of our existence, but it remains barely understood, even defined. Across the world scholars of many disciplines - philosophy, science, social science, theology - are joined on a quest to understand this phenomenon.

Tune into one of the more original and controversial thinkers at the forefront of consciousness research, Stuart Hameroff, as he presents his ideas. Hameroff is an anaesthesiologist who, alongside Roger Penrose, proposes that the source of consciousness is structural, produced from a certain shape in our brain. He expands on this, and much more (such as evolution), in this talk. Have a listen!

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Metaphysics vs consciousness

Panpsychism has recently become something of a household term in philosophical and scientific conversations alike. Deceivingly simple, it defends the view that consciousness is the primary 'stuff' of reality, and that all things have mind-like qualities.

Join philosopher Philip Goff, one of the world's leading defenders of panpsychism, in this conversation with philosopher Hilary Lawson, a post-realist. Goff is humble in his approach, open to scientific progress and discovery, but also philosophically committed to finding purpose and meaning in the world around him.

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Re-thinking the limits of the mind

Most scientists think that consciousness is created by the brain. After all, most assume consciousness vanishes if the brain is destroyed. But what if this consensus view is radically mistaken? Join distinguished scientist Rupert Sheldrake as he argues that the mind extends beyond the brain and explores the radical implications of this account.

Rupert Sheldrake is a preeminent biologist and author best known for his hypothesis of morphic resonance. His books include Science and Spiritual Practices, Ways to Go Beyond And Why They Work and The Science Delusion. Furthermore, he was ranked in the top 100 thought leaders for 2013 by the Duttweiler Institute, Switzerland's leading think tank, and has been recognised as one of the 'most spiritually influential living people' by Watkins' Mind Body Spirit Magazine.

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The consciousness test

Could an artificial intelligence be capable of genuine conscious experience?

Coming from a range of different scientific and philosophical perspectives, Yoshua Bengio, Sabine Hossenfelder, Nick Lane, and Hilary Lawson dive deep into the question of whether artificial intelligence systems like ChatGPT could one day become self-aware, and whether they have already achieved this state.

Yoshua Bengio is a Turing Award-winning computer scientist. Sabine Hossenfelder is a science YouTuber and theoretical physicist. Nick Lane is an evolutionary biochemist. Hilary Lawson is a post-postmodern philosopher.

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Should we sacrifice the present for a better future?

Join the team at the IAI for three articles about effective altruism, longtermism, and the complex evolution of moral thought. Written by William MacAskill, James W. Lenman, and Ben Chugg, these three articles pick apart the ethical movement started by Peter Singer, analysing its strengths and weaknesses for both individuals and societies.

William MacAskill is a Scottish philosopher and author, best known for writing 2022's "What We Owe the Future." James W. Lenman is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Sheffield, as well as the former president of the British Society for Ethical Theory. Ben Chugg is a BPhD student in the machine learning department at Carnegie Mellon University. He also co-hosts the Increments podcast.

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Why do we love evil?

We may condemn tyrants and abhor serial killers, but we are obsessed with evil and violence. Our news and our entertainment focus on such material. Are we fascinated by evil, violent characters because they make life more exciting? Or because they express our true nature? Should we look to end this morbid obsession, or accept it as a feature of humanity?

Join Terry Eagleton, Susan Neiman, and Stephen de Wijze for a debate about why evil is so seductive to modern society. Terry Eagleton is is a literary theorist, critic, and public intellectual. Susan Neiman is a moral philosopher and cultural commentator. Stephen de Wijze is senior lecturer in political theory at Manchester, whose work concerns the interface between ethical constraints and political action.

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Morality and prejudice

Is there such a thing as morality? And, if so, can we know what it is and act on it? Or is morality rather a shield for the powerful and a defence of their interest? The answer may have life-changing consequences...

Join a heated debate between three philosophers with three different perspectives on the meaning of morality and the role it should play in our lives: Tommy Curry, Chair of Africana philosophy at Edinburgh and a moral sceptic; Michael Huemer, Professor of Philosophy at Boulder and a moral realist; and Melis Erdur, Professor at the Open University of Israel and representing a compromise between realism and scepticism on morality. The debate is inconclusive, but opens important questions on how we should relate to morality and ethics.

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Humans are not morally superior

Is the meat industry a monstrous tyrant?

Join YouTuber Alex O'Connor for a thought-provoking talk on the ethics, or lack thereof, of eating meat. From a horrifying look at the practices of the meat industry to provocative analogies and compelling arguments, Alex doesn't hold back as he holds up a mirror to our modern dietary culture.

Alex O’Connor, also known by his YouTube alias ‘CosmicSkeptic’, is a prolific philosopher, YouTuber, public speaker and animal welfare activist. His YouTube channel has amassed over 1 million subscribers and discusses issues relating to free speech, free will, animal rights and the philosophical arguments against religion.

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