philosophy bites

Bio-Ethics Bites series launched

A new 10-part podcast series, Bio-Ethics Bites, funded by the Wellcome Institute and made in association with the Oxford University Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics has just launched, made by the Philosophy Bites team Daivd Edmonds and Nigel Warburton. Interviews with Jeff McMahan and Julian Savulescu are already available, with Peter Singer, Nick Bostrom,  Onora O'Neill and others in the pipeline. Episodes will be released monthly.

Find out more about Bio-Ethics Bites

Listen to Jeff McMahan on Moral Status

Listen to Julian Savulescu on Designer Babies

Jeff McMahan on Vegetarianism

Human beings don't need to eat meat. But should we? Jeff McMahan thinks that it is obvious that we shouldn't. In this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast he discusses his views with Nigel Warburton.

Listen to Jeff McMahan on Vegetarianism

Listen to an earlier Philosophy Bites interview with Jeff McMahan on Killing in War

Philosophy Bites is made in association with The Institute of Philosophy

This episode of Philosophy Bites was recorded at the Uehiro Centre.

Jeff McMahan on Killing in War

If someone is shooting at me in a war, surely it is morally acceptable for me to shoot back and kill him or her. Jeff McMahan of Rutgers University, author of  a new book on this topic, challenges the view that such killing is always acceptable.

We are very grateful to the Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict (ELAC) for facilitating this interview.

Listen to Jeff McMahan on Killing in War

Michael Sandel on What Shouldn't Be Sold

Harvard philosopher Michael Sandel discusses the moral limits of markets in this, the 100th episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast. Sandel was the BBC 2009 Reith Lecturer. His four Reith Lectures are now available here.

Listen to Michael Sandel on Philosophy Bites on What Shouldn't Be Sold

You can also listen to Michael Sandel on Enhancement in Sport (a topic that is relevant to the 3rd of his Reith lectures) on an earlier episode of  Ethics Bites which we made for The Open University. Open2.net has a site with some audio and links about the 2009 Reith Lectures here.

Kate Soper on Alternative Hedonism

Kate Soper believes that we need to rethink how we live in the light of impending environmental catastrophe. But the unexpected element in her thought is that alternative ways of living can be more enjoyable than consumerism. This leads to her notion of alternative hedonism.

Listen to Kate Soper on Alternative Hedonism

Chandran Kukathas on Genocide

Genocide is, at first glance, a straightforward term. We think we know what it is and why it is such an evil.  But, as  Chandran Kukathas of the London School of Economics argues in this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast, perhaps the received definition of this term that emerged following the Second World War needs refinement.

Listen to Chandran Kukathas on Genocide

A.C. Grayling on Bombing Civilians in Wartime

A.C. Grayling, author of Among The Dead Cities, explains why he believes that the Allies' deliberate targeting of civilians in Dresden and elsewhere during the Second World War was morally wrong.

Listen to Anthony Grayling on Bombing Civilians in Wartime

Anthony Appiah on Experiments in Ethics

In this interview for Philosophy Bites Anthony Appiah explains how experiments in psychology can be relevant to our ethical reasoning.

Listen to Anthony Appiah on Experiments in Ethics

Listen to Anthony Appiah on Cosmopolitanism (earlier on Philosophy Bites)

John Broome on Weighing Lives

How can human lives be weighed one against each other? Is this even possible? John Broome who has a background in economics as well as in philosophy, discusses how governments should allocate scarce resources or make life and death decisions in this episode of Philosophy Bites.

Listen to John Broome on Weighing Lives

Donna Dickenson on Body Shopping

Who owns your body? This is an important question now that there is a market in body parts. Donna Dickenson, author of Body Shopping, discusses the ethical issues with Nigel Warburton in this episode of Philosophy Bites.

Listen to Donna Dickenson on Body Shopping

Read extracts from reviews of Body Shopping