Site • RSS • Apple PodcastsDescription (podcaster-provided):
Philosophy has been studied for thousands of years. It involves the use of reason and argument to search for the truth about reality - about the nature of things, ethics, aesthetics, language, the mind, God and everything else. This series of five introductory lectures, aimed at students new to philosophy, presented by Marianne Talbot, Department for Continuing Education, University of Oxford, will test you on some famous thought experiments and introduce you to some central philosophical issues and to the thoughts of some key philosophers.Themes and summary (AI-generated based on podcaster-provided show and episode descriptions):
➤ Introductory philosophy lectures • logic, symbolic logic, argumentation • metaphysics and epistemology: existence, knowledge • philosophy of mind and language: rationality, consciousness, expression • ethics and political philosophy: living well, justice • history of philosophy overviewThis podcast offers an introductory tour of philosophy through a short sequence of lecture-style sessions aimed at newcomers. Across the episodes, it surveys several core areas of the discipline and emphasizes how philosophers use reasoned argument to investigate fundamental questions about reality, knowledge, and human life.
A recurring focus is the philosophical method: how to analyze claims, construct and assess arguments, and use tools from logic—including symbolic logic—to clarify what follows from what. The podcast also explores central metaphysical and epistemological questions, such as what exists, what kinds of things there are, what their nature might be, and what it means to know something or to justify a belief.
Another theme is the relationship between mind and language. The episodes raise questions about rationality and consciousness and examine how thoughts and experiences can be expressed, communicated, and understood through language. Ethical and political philosophy are also covered, with attention to questions about how one ought to live and what justice requires in social and governmental arrangements.
Alongside these thematic introductions, the podcast situates ideas historically, sketching the development of philosophy from early Greek thinkers to more contemporary approaches, and referencing influential philosophers and well-known thought experiments as a way of testing intuitions and illustrating key problems.
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Philosophy of language and mind 2009-Jan-09 87 minutes |
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Metaphysics and Epistemology 2009-Jan-09 90 minutes |
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Ethics and politics 2009-Jan-09 92 minutes |
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The philosophical method - logic and argument 2009-Jan-09 94 minutes |
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A romp through the history of philosophy from the Pre-Socratics to the present day. 2008-Nov-13 92 minutes |