Site • RSS • Apple PodcastsDescription (podcaster-provided):
This is a podcast, directed at the philosophically curious, students, as well as fellow academics, in which I, Florian Steinberger, a philosopher at Birkbeck College, University of London, have informal philosophical discussions with experts in a range of different topics. Among them are the philosophy of fiction, the status of moral intuitions, as well as questions surrounding reference in the philosophy of language and whether many of us are too incompetent to deserve a right to vote, and much more. Future episodes will also take a philosophical angle on topics ranging from the sciences and the arts to dog training and martial arts.Themes and summary (AI-generated based on podcaster-provided show and episode descriptions):
➤ Informal expert discussions in analytic philosophy • Philosophy of language and mind: reference, belief ascriptions • Political philosophy: voter competence, suffrage • Ethics: trolley problems, moral intuitions • Aesthetics/metaphysics: philosophy of fiction, imaginative resistanceThis podcast features informal, academically oriented conversations hosted by Florian Steinberger, a philosopher at Birkbeck College, University of London, with guests who are specialists in different areas of philosophy. Across the episodes, the discussions focus on how philosophers analyze puzzles that arise in everyday thought, language, and social life, often using well-known papers as shared points of reference.
A recurring theme is the relationship between language, mind, and meaning—especially how names and descriptions pick out things in the world, and how we should interpret reports of what people believe, want, or think. The podcast also spends time on ethical methodology, using classic thought experiments to examine what moral intuitions are, what (if anything) they reveal, and how they might function as evidence in moral reasoning. Another strand connects philosophy to political questions, considering whether democratic participation should depend on citizens meeting certain standards of competence and what might justify limits on suffrage.
The show also engages with aesthetics and the philosophy of fiction, exploring how imagination works in response to stories, including cases where readers resist imagining certain morally deviant scenarios. Overall, the content is anchored in contemporary analytic philosophy and is structured around close, explanatory discussion of influential arguments and conceptual distinctions, with an eye toward both students and philosophically curious listeners.
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Episode 004 - Alex Grzankowski on Reference and Attitude Ascriptions 2021-Jan-03 87 minutes |
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Episode 003 - Kristoffer Ahlstrom-Vij On Who Should Get to Vote 2020-Nov-02 86 minutes |
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Episode 002 - Hallvard Lillehammer on Trolley Problems and the Nature of Ethical Intuitions 2020-Sep-25 77 minutes |
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Episode 001 - Stacie Friend on the Philosophy of Fiction 2020-Sep-03 74 minutes |