Philosopher's Zone
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| Last updated Fri, 14 Nov 2008 14:00
The Philosopher's Zone with Alan Saunders looks at the world of philosophy and at the world through philosophy. The program addresses the big philosophical questions and arguments. It also explores what philosophical analysis can contribute to our understanding of some of the fundamental and perplexing issues that face the world today. The Philosopher's Zone is published every Saturday.
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2008-11-15 - Scapegoats and sacrifices - Rene Girard
Download Now · | Fri, 14 Nov 2008 14:00
Have you ever found that you didn't want something until you noticed that somebody else wanted it? Were you picked on at school, or were you one of the pickers on? Welcome to the world of the French thinker Rene Girard, who claims that desire needs to be learned and that, once learned, it leads to the finding of scapegoats. And what do we do with scapegoats? We sacrifice them.
2008-11-08 - The philosophy of cold hard cash
Download Now · | Fri, 07 Nov 2008 14:00
There's not much money in philosophy, but then there's not much philosophy in money, either. In classical times and the Middle Ages, philosophers were often interested in money (in thinking about it, that is) but since then they've tended to ignore the subject. This week, we meet an Australian philosopher who has turned his attention to the neglected subject of cash and its role in our practical and moral lives.
2008-11-01 - The John Anderson lectures
Download Now · | Fri, 31 Oct 2008 14:00
John Anderson, the famous and inflential professor of philosophy at the University of Sydney from 1927 to 1958, taught on a wide range of topics, from the ancients to the moderns. This week, we find out what he had to say about the Greeks and about political philosophy.
2008-10-25 - Karl Popper and the logic of the market
Download Now · | Fri, 24 Oct 2008 14:00
Karl Popper was one of the greatest philosophers of the twentieth century and a great advocate of scientific rationality, but what happened when he turned his attention to the more disorderly world of politics and economics? This week, we look at Popper and the free market.
2008-10-25 - Karl Popper and the logic of the market
Download Now · | Fri, 24 Oct 2008 14:00
Karl Popper was one of the greatest philosophers of the twentieth century and a great advocate of scientific rationality, but what happened when he turned his attention to the more disorderly world of politics and economics? This week, we look at Popper and the free market.
2008-10-18 - Why Asian philosophy?
Download Now · | Fri, 17 Oct 2008 14:00
For a long while, Western philosophy has had little to do with the philosophical traditions of India and China. A common view amongst Western philosophers was that all thought in the Asian traditions was not philosophy, but religion or mysticism. But now, slowly, Western philosophers are starting to engage with Asian thought. This week, Graham Priest, Professor of Philosophy at Melbourne University, talks about what these philosophers are finding there, and why it´s often challenging for someone who knows only Western philosophy.
2008-10-18 - Why Asian philosophy? - UPDATED
Download Now · | Fri, 17 Oct 2008 14:00
For a long while, Western philosophy has had little to do with the philosophical traditions of India and China. A common view amongst Western philosophers was that all thought in the Asian traditions was not philosophy, but religion or mysticism. But now, slowly, Western philosophers are starting to engage with Asian thought. This week, Graham Priest, Professor of Philosophy at Melbourne University, talks about what these philosophers are finding there, and why it´s often challenging for someone who knows only Western philosophy.
2008-10-18 - Why Asian philosophy? - UPDATED
Download Now · | Fri, 17 Oct 2008 14:00
For a long while, Western philosophy has had little to do with the philosophical traditions of India and China. A common view amongst Western philosophers was that all thought in the Asian traditions was not philosophy, but religion or mysticism. But now, slowly, Western philosophers are starting to engage with Asian thought. This week, Graham Priest, Professor of Philosophy at Melbourne University, talks about what these philosophers are finding there, and why it´s often challenging for someone who knows only Western philosophy.
2008-10-11 - Bailouts, capitalism and the financial markets
Download Now · | Fri, 10 Oct 2008 14:00
We are now faced with the seemingly incongruous situation of having an industry that sings the praises of capitalism, and the free markets wanting the state to come in and help prevent its own losses. We´ll also find out about the division between moralists and technicians, and why the artist Damien Hirst might even be partly to blame for letting things get this bad.
2008-10-11 - Bailouts, capitalism and the financial markets
Download Now · | Fri, 10 Oct 2008 14:00
We are now faced with the seemingly incongruous situation of having an industry that sings the praises of capitalism, and the free markets wanting the state to come in and help prevent its own losses. We´ll also find out about the division between moralists and technicians, and why the artist Damien Hirst might even be partly to blame for letting things get this bad.
2008-10-04 - Music and the Enlightenment
Download Now · | Fri, 03 Oct 2008 14:00
The age of a great movement of ideas, the Enlightenment, was also a great age of music: Bach and Handel, Mozart and Haydn. But how did Enlightenment thinkers reflect on music and how does their belief in progress relate to our views of art today?
2008-10-04 - Music and the Enlightenment
Download Now · | Fri, 03 Oct 2008 14:00
The age of a great movement of ideas, the Enlightenment, was also a great age of music: Bach and Handel, Mozart and Haydn. But how did Enlightenment thinkers reflect on music and how does their belief in progress relate to our views of art today?
2008-09-27 - 'It's alive!' Frankenstein, science and philosophy in the Romantic period
Download Now · | Fri, 26 Sep 2008 14:00
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is more than just the story of a man bolting together his own creature from bits of pre-loved human beings; it's a serious examination of the science and philosophy of its day. This week, we look at the ideas behind the book and how a new enthusiasm for electricity and the spirit world animated the young author's work.
2008-09-20 - The ethics of keeping your mouth shut - the case of the buried bodies
Download Now · | Fri, 19 Sep 2008 14:00
This week The Philosopher´s Zone looks at what happens when lawyers know more than they are able to tell. What should you do when ethical duty collides with personal morality? We´ll take an infamous American murder trial from the 1970s as our case study
2008-09-20 - The ethics of keeping your mouth shut - the case of the buried bodies
Download Now · | Fri, 19 Sep 2008 14:00
This week The Philosopher´s Zone looks at what happens when lawyers know more than they are able to tell. What should you do when ethical duty collides with personal morality? We´ll take an infamous American murder trial from the 1970s as our case study
Download Now · | Fri, 12 Sep 2008 14:00
The finely tuned minds of philosophers become curiously blunt and obtuse when the turn their attention to love. Can we talk philosophically of love? Do we love people for their qualities? If so, why we go on loving them when those qualities change? This week, a philosopher looks at one of the most mysterious forces in life.
Download Now · | Fri, 12 Sep 2008 14:00
The finely tuned minds of philosophers become curiously blunt and obtuse when the turn their attention to love. Can we talk philosophically of love? Do we love people for their qualities? If so, why we go on loving them when those qualities change? This week, a philosopher looks at one of the most mysterious forces in life.
2008-09-06 - Sayyid Qutb and Islamist ideology
Download Now · | Fri, 05 Sep 2008 14:00
This year marks the 25th birthday of Al Qaeda and its particular brand of Islamist ideology and philosophy. So this week The Philosopher´s Zone explores the life and times of a man who greatly influenced al Qaeda and the modern Islamist movement: the Egyptian thinker Sayyid Qutb.
2008-09-06 - Sayyid Qutb and Islamist ideology
Download Now · | Fri, 05 Sep 2008 14:00
This year marks the 25th birthday of Al Qaeda and its particular brand of Islamist ideology and philosophy. So this week The Philosopher´s Zone explores the life and times of a man who greatly influenced al Qaeda and the modern Islamist movement: the Egyptian thinker Sayyid Qutb.
2008-08-30 - Light from the North - The Scottish Enlightenment
Download Now · | Fri, 29 Aug 2008 14:00
Much of the modern world was created in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen. The Scottish Enlightenment was more than just the Scottish branch of that great eighteenth-century European movement of ideas known as the Enlightenment: it was essentially Scottish and wholly important. This week, we explore some tartan ideas with Arthur Herman, author of Scottish Enlightenment: The Scots' Invention of the Modern World.
2008-08-23 - Worrying about China
Download Now · | Fri, 22 Aug 2008 14:00
To the outside world, China might look a self-confident, if pushy, country. But how confident are Chinese intellectuals after a century of tumultuous history? This week, we examine the state of critical inquiry in China, what Chinese intellectuals do with Western philosophy and the rediscovery of the Confucian heritage.
Philosopher's Zone: 2008-08-16 - Uprootedness and national conflicts
Download Now · | Sat, 16 Aug 2008 13:52
The French philosopher and social activist Simone Weil identified the basic human need for roots as crucial. Uprootedness and disapora in the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians have shaped the narratives about the past and the future on both sides. Jonathan Glover, a Professor of Philosophy at King's College London has been in Australia to deliver the annual Simone Weil lecture on human value and joins us.
Download Now · | Sat, 09 Aug 2008 21:20
For a long time now, it has been fashionable to say that what science offers is not a true mirror of nature but a distorting mirror, reflecting our presuppositions, prejudices and politics. But can we take the criticisms on board while still maintaining a belief in objective truth? We meet a philosopher who says we can. Also, objectivity and the arts: can artistic judgments ever be objective or is it all down to just knowing what you like?
Download Now · | Sun, 03 Aug 2008 04:53
Recent philosophical debate on war has focused on the idea that you don´t just have to fight by the rules; you also have to be fighting in a just cause. But does this ignore much of the moral context of a soldier´s life. What binds comrades in arms together? What about stress and what about grief, and what does the ancient Roman philosophy of Stoicism have to tell us about it?
Download Now · | Mon, 28 Jul 2008 20:30
A visiting legal ethicist talks to us about why a novella by Herman Melville, involving mutiny and an execution at sea, has become required reading for those interested in the intersection of literature, law and ethics.
