Site • RSS • Apple PodcastsDescription (podcaster-provided):
In this series of podcasts Marianne Talbot uses some famous arguments in the history of philosophy to examine philosophy as a discipline. By harnessing participants’ intuitions on both sides of the various arguments she encourages her audience actually to do philosophy. In listening to these podcasts you can yourself learn how to do philosophy, not by listening to someone else do it, but by starting to do it for yourself.Themes and summary (AI-generated based on podcaster-provided show and episode descriptions):
➤ philosophical method: logic and argument evaluation • Descartes’ cogito • moral and political philosophy: freedom vs equality, deontology vs utilitarianism • epistemology: Gettier problems, knowledge • metaphysics: possible worlds, unactualised possibles • philosophy of science: objective facts and theory-buildingThis podcast introduces complete beginners to philosophy by treating it as an active practice rather than a body of information to memorize. Across the series, listeners are guided through well-known arguments and thought experiments from the history of philosophy, with an emphasis on learning how philosophers reason: identifying premises and conclusions, testing whether an argument is valid or persuasive, and noticing where intuitions pull in different directions. The approach invites the audience to take sides, examine what motivates each position, and refine their own views in response to objections and counterexamples.
A central thread is methodology—how philosophical inquiry works—using classic examples to show how arguments are constructed and assessed. From there, the content broadens into several core areas of the discipline. It explores ethical and political questions by examining tensions between values such as freedom and equality, and by comparing major moral frameworks, including deontological approaches and utilitarian approaches, with attention to arguments for and against each.
The podcast also addresses foundational questions about knowledge and reality. It discusses challenges to traditional definitions of knowledge through Gettier-style problems, and turns to metaphysical issues involving modality and possible worlds, including debates about whether merely possible (but unactualized) entities should be considered real in any sense.
Another theme is the philosophy of science, especially what it means for science to be built on “objective facts.” The discussion probes what counts as a fact suitable for grounding scientific theories and what assumptions may be involved in treating scientific claims as objective.
The series concludes by responding to audience questions, clarifying and extending themes raised throughout the lectures.
| Episodes: |
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Questions and Answers Session 2014-Nov-11 82 minutes |
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The Philosophy of Science 2014-Nov-11 75 minutes |
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Epistemology and Metaphysics 2014-Nov-11 77 minutes |
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Moral and Political Philosophy 2014-Nov-11 90 minutes |
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Logic and Argument: the Methodology of Philosophy 2014-Nov-11 83 minutes |