philosophy bites

Thomas Hurka on Pleasure

Pleasure is something we all seek. But should we? Is it the most important thing in life? Are all pleasures of equal value? Thomas Hurka investigates the concept of pleasure in this episode of Philosophy Bites.

Listen to Thomas Hurka on Pleasure

Amazon and Indirect Censorship

If it is true that Amazon is removing books that they deem to have sexual content from their rankings, then I'm afraid we will shortly be removing all Amazon links from this site, as we strongly disapprove of this act of indirect censorship. Books removed from the rankings allegedly include Alan Hollinghurst's The Line of Beauty, Jeanette Winterson's Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, E.M.Forster's Maurice, and some serious works of psychology.

For more on this issue, read the piece on The Guardian's website here.

UPDATE: Amazon claim it was a 'glitch' and are re-ranking everything, see here.

Terence Irwin on Aristotle's Ethics

Aristotle's Ethics, although only known as a series of lecture notes, has had an immense influence on philosophy. In this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast, Terence Irwin outlines the key features of this work.

Listen to Terence Irwin on Aristotle's Ethics