philosophy bites

Michael Otsuka on Double Effect on Ethics Bites

You can now listen to our interview with Michael Ostsuka on Trolleyology as part of the Open University podcast Ethics Bites.

Listen to Michael Otsuka on Trolleyology (a transcript is also available).

There is also a short item on this interview on the Open2.net blog

A.C. Grayling on Descartes' Cogito

Anthony Grayling, author of a recent biography of René Descartes, explores Descartes' Cogito argument, the pivotal argument of the Meditations, in conversation with Nigel Warburton in this episode of Philosophy Bites.

Listen to A.C. Grayling on Descartes' Cogito Argument

Read Simon Blackburn's review of Grayling's biography of Descartes

Mary Warnock on the Right to Have Babies on Ethics Bites

Does anyone have a right to have a baby? What are acceptable criteria for determining who should have access to in vitro fertilization? Mary Warnock, a philosopher and member of the House of Lords, discusses these topics in the second episode of Ethics Bites. Ethics Bites is sponsored by the Open University and available from www.open2.net. It is now also available from the 'Philosophy' section of  iTunes which is a subsection of 'Society and Culture' in 'Podcasts'.

Listen to Mary Warnock on The Right to Have Babies

Listen to Mary Warnock on Philosophy and Public Life (a previous episode of Philosophy Bites)

Ethics Bites has launched with an interview with Peter Singer

Our new weekly 14-part series Ethics Bites commissioned by the Open University has just launched with an interview with Peter Singer. Other interviewees include Roger Scruton, Mary Warnock, Michael Sandel, Thomas Scanlon, and Janet Radcliffe Richards.

David Edmonds introduces the episodes and Nigel Warburton is the interviewer.

Ethics Bites is available on www.open2.net and will shortly also be available on iTunes.

Listen to Peter Singer on Human Uses of Animals

Read Nigel's comments on the Open2.net blog

Hugh Mellor on Time

Events happen in time. And time is essentially tensed: there is past, present, future. D.H. Mellor,  author of Real Time (and Real Time 2), suggests otherwise. In this podcast for Philosophy Bites he explains why time isn't tensed.

Listen to Hugh Mellor on Time

Free PDF files of two of Hugh Mellor's books are available here: The Matter of Chance and Matters of Metaphysics (a collection of 16 of his papers). Both are also available as books - see below.

Richard Tuck on Free Riding

Why should anyone contribute to a joint enterprise if their contribution is tiny and they can just as easily 'free ride' (i.e. get the benefit without making the sacrifice)? This is known as the 'Free Rider Problem'. Richard Tuck, Professor of Government at Harvard, has a distinctive take on this problem.

Listen to Richard Tuck on Free Riding

Stephen Mulhall on Film as Philosophy

Can film be philosophy? Stephen Mulhall believes it can. Most philosophers who consider film focus on essential qualities of the cinematic medium, its reliance on photographic representation and montage, and so on. Mulhall has a very different approach. In this episode of Philosophy Bites he explains how the movie Bladerunner addresses philosophical themes.

Listen to Stephen Mulhall on Film as Philosophy