A generation raised on Foucault and Derrida has learned to distrust claims to objective truth. Yet the mantra that 'there is no truth' is a paradox. Do we need a new conception of fantasy and reality to free us from the tyranny of truthmakers and the paradoxes of postmodernists alike?

The Panel
American philosopher John Searle, post-postmodernist Hilary Lawson and Historian of Ideas at KCL Hannah Dawson untangle the truth.

Video of the debate: https://iai.tv/video/after-the-end-of-truth

After the End of Truth | John Searle, Hilary Lawson, Hannah Dawson

There is no self, no 'I', only a flickering illusion. So claim many neuroscientists and philosophers. Yet for the rest of us, the denial of the self feels like a bitter pill to swallow. Is the self a fantasy? Or is it essential to our being and consciousness?

The Panel
Cambridge and NCH philosopher Simon Blackburn, neuroscientist Colin Blakemore, philosopher and author of Are You an Illusion? Mary Midgley seek out the all seeing I. 

In association with New College Humanities.

Watch the debate here: https://iai.tv/video/in-search-of-the-self

In Search Of The Self | Simon Blackburn, Mary Midgley, Colin Blakemore

At a time of uncertainty and doubt, we often suppose that science alone can uncover the truth. Yet a recent paper found that 90% of scientific studies are not reproducible. Should we see science as a flawed method and look elsewhere for our truths, or is it the only direct line to reality we’ve got?

The Panel
Outspoken philosopher of science Steve Fuller,  Economist Data Editor Kenneth Cukier and bestselling theoretical physicist and cosmologist Lawrence Krauss tell Gabrielle Walker why so much of what we think we know is wrong.

Everything We Know Is Wrong | Lawrence Krauss, Kenneth Cukier, Steve Fuller

While the world turns we think ideas, right or wrong, are eternal. Yet meaning changes over time and context. Should we conclude that, like the material world, ideas are transient and knowledge and morality passing stories? Or is the eternal in our grasp after all?

The Panel
New York Times columnist and author of 'The Trouble with Principle' Stanley Fish, philosopher of language Barry C. Smith and award-winning novelist Joanna Kavenna seek out the eternal.

Eternal Tales | Stanley Fish, Joanna Kavenna, Barry Smith

We all want to do the right thing. But from suicide bombers to Catholic priests, we have never been able to agree on what the right thing is. Should we give up on morality and see it as a fiction designed to justify beliefs? Or, despite our disagreements, is it still the most important tool we have to measure human behaviour?

The Panel
Spiked Online Editor Brendan O'Neill joins NCH philosopher Naomi Goulder, journalist Sameer Rahim, and Coco de Mer founder Sam Roddick to seek answers.

In association with Prospect.

The Good, Bad, & Controversial | Naomi Goulder, Brendan O'Neill, Sameer Rahim, Sam Roddick

If we have rights and ownership of anything it is surely of our own body. Yet we cannot dispose of it as we please, intoxicants are outlawed, and selling our body for sexual pleasure or organ donation is restricted. Is our body strangely not our own after all?  Should we insist on our rights and freedom or do we need to be protected from ourselves?

The Panel 
Belle de Jour blogger Brooke Magnanti, bioethicist John Harris, and author of Our Bodies, Whose Property? Anne Phillips interrogate ownership.

Owning our Bodies | Anne Phillips, John Harris, Brooke Magnanti

Philosophy as therapy is an ancient idea. Endorsed by Wittgenstein and popularized by self-help books. But isn't philosophy about understanding even if the insights are uncomfortable? Can philosophy be a dynamic force changing how we think and what we can do? Or does it serve only as a guide to everyday life?

Oxford philosopher Adrian Moore, former priest and author of Wellbeing Mark Vernon and Plato Scholar Angie Hobbs consider the purpose of philosophy.

Thinking Dangerously, Living Differently | Angie Hobbs, Adrian Moore, Mark Vernon

Madness is understood as the opposite of reason. Yet as Van Gogh and Nietzsche attest, madness can also be an inexplicable source of insight. Might madness be a strange form of wisdom rather than its diseased opposite? Or is this to make light of a condition that requires treatment?

Author of Madness Explained Richard Bentall, psychiatrist Patricia Casey and philosopher and author of Death Drive Robert-Rowland Smith dispute meaning and madness.

Madness and Wisdom | Richard Bentall, Patricia Casey, Robert-Rowland Smith

We see community and society as good. Yet communities are also fortresses of privilege and conformity, as migrants know only too well. Is the tribe, from the football team to the nation, to be feared and contained? Or is finding our place in a larger group the core of what it is to be human? 

Author of Exotic England Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, editor of Spiked Brendan O'Neill, journalist Julie Bindel and director of the Forum for European Philosophy Simon Glendinning seek the truth about the tribe.

A Tribal World | Julie Bindel, Brendan O'Neill, Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, Simon Glendinning

From bats to beetles, animals sense the world differently in order to survive. Yet we think seeing and feeling tell us how things really are. Might our senses be radically limited? Are science and logic routes to escape our sensory limitations, or is feeling the rain on our skin the closest we get to truth?

Cognitive neuroscientist Ophelia Deroy, philosopher and author of Philosophy for Life Rupert Read, and closure theorist Hilary Lawson confront the limits of perception.

The Illusion of Sense | Hilary Lawson, Rupert Read, Ophelia Deroy

Freedom is a goal we all endorse. Yes as neuroscience shows and history suggests, we are less content when we have more choice. Is too much freedom paradoxically debilitating? Do we need constraints to thrive, and might our chains be key to our freedom? Or is this a dangerous conceit of the privileged and free?

Psychiatrist Theodore Dalrymple,  Blair's former Senior Policy Advisor Julian Le Grand and author of I find that offensive Claire Fox interrogate choice.

The Limits of Freedom | Claire Fox, Julian Le Grand, Theodore Dalrymple

The $3bn Human Genome project to uncover the genetic cause of disease was billed as ground breaking. Despite frequent positive newspaper headlines, critics argue we have uncovered almost nothing about disease. Will it eventually prove useful or are genes not the blueprint for life we had imagined?

Author of The Science Delusion, Rupert Sheldrake, Imperial College geneticist Anne Bowcock, and author of The Music Of Life, Denis Noble, look beyond the genome.

The Emperor's New Genes | Dennis Noble, Anne Bowcock, Rupert Sheldrake

We all think we know what gravity is. But where gravity comes from stumped Newton, and 300 years later we are no closer to an explanation. We don't even have a mathematical account of gravity that applies in all situations. Why is a force so central to the universe so elusive in its character?

Theoretical physicist Laura Mersini Houghton, Nobel Prize-winner Frank Wilczek and string theorist Eric Verlinde examine the enigma of gravity.

Gravity | Laura Mersini-Houghton, Erik Verlinde, Frank Wilczek

In 2013 we found the Higgs boson. Then, in early 2016, we found Gravitational Waves. 

Eminent CERN physicist John Ellis asks: what's next for 21st-century physics?

After the Higgs Boson | John Ellis

Terror attacks on satellites would cause mass destruction within moments. Why are we ignoring the risks? Space security expert and Chatham House Research Director Patricia Lewis reveals the silent dangers in space.

Space Hacks | Patricia Lewis

Mathematics is rarely seen as a romantic discipline. But 30% of couples now meet using online algorithms. Could big data be the key to making love last? And if so what makes for the perfect match? 

eHarmony's Chief Scientist Steve Carter unveils new research into the science of love and compatibility.

(Supported by eHarmony)

Blind Data | Steve Carter

At 10 billion matches, Tinder has made more connections than there are people. But neuroscience reveals that too much choice can increase expectations and reduce desire. Is choice actually a bad thing? Have dating apps democratised intimacy, or are they warping our relationships beyond repair?

KCL philosopher Christopher Hamilton, eHarmony’s Chief Scientist Steve Carter, and Oxford neuroscientist Anders Sandberg tackle technology’s impact on our relationships.

Love Me Tinder| Christopher Hamilton, Steve Carter, Anders Sandberg

Copernicus and Darwin taught us to be skeptical of feeling we were special. Yet from the size of the electron to the cosmological constant our universe is strangely fine-tuned for life.  Is this a spectacularly fortuitous accident?  Has the universe been tailored for us or do the theories just make it look that way?

New York philosopher Massimo Pigliucci, M-Theorist and author of Universe or Multiverse? Bernard Carr, and Oxford constructor theorist Chiara Marletto wonder why we are here.

Music: Apache Force by Little Glass Men available under an Attribution Creative Commons License

A Goldilock's World | Chiara Marletto, Bernard Carr, Massimo Pigliucci

China may be on the way to replacing the US as the world's dominant economic power, but with Russia also growing its reach, could the future be more dangerous still? Do we face an uncontainable multipolar world with many nations vying for power? Or should we applaud a break from US global dominance and look forward to a more equal future? Mary Ann Sieghart asks Oxford historian Rana Mitter, HSBC chief economist Stephen King and politician George Galloway to envisage the world's future.

Russia, China and the New World Order | Rana Mitter, Stephen King, George Galloway

Ten years ago, the US elected its first black president. Yet race-related hate crime has increased 216% in the last year. Are we wrong to suppose that racial prejudice will be overcome by equal opportunity? Should we dream of a world where race is not a basis for social identity? Or are social groupings inevitable and equality the only possible solution?

Who We Are | Diane Abbott, Kimberlé Crenshaw, Kemi Badenoch, Richard Reeves

Besides being illegal, LSD has not had good press, associated with bad trips and psychological breakdown. But with a new craze for microdosing acid amongst Silicon Valley whizz kids and management gurus, and respected scientists claiming antidepressant benefits, might we have been too quick to ban psychedelics? In this episode of Philosophy for our Times, Pharmacologist and former Home Office drugs advisor David Nutt, drugs reformer and director of the Beckley Foundation Amanda Feilding and founder of the Psychedelic Society Stephen Reid explore the promise of psychedelics.

In association with the New College of the Humanities: bit.ly/2FdPgLD

The Promise of Psychedelics | David Nutt, Amanda Feilding, Stephen Reid

The big bang theory won out over the Steady State alternative 50 years ago because we discovered the universe was expanding. But now we know that the universe is in fact accelerating away from us. Might the whole big bang theory be mistaken? In this episode of Philosophy for our Times, eminent mathematician Roger Penrose, CalTech physicist and author of From Eternity to Here Sean Carroll and multiverse cosmologist Laura Mersini-Houghton look at the story of creation once again.

In association with the New College of the Humanities: bit.ly/2FdPgLD

Big Bang Creation Myths | Sean Carroll, Roger Penrose, Laura Mersini-Houghton

From medieval legends to Hollywood endings to the horoscope, we are led to believe that lifelong love means happiness. But a recent survey of 814 separate studies showed single people to be happier, more fulfilled and less stressed. Is it time to stop seeing romantic love as all-important? In this episode of Philosophy for our Times, psychologist and author of Singled Out Bella DePaulo, Oxford transhumanist Anders Sandberg and romance author Heidi Rice challenge our ideas about the narratives of love.

In association with the New College of the Humanities. bit.ly/2FdPgLD

Do we Need Romance to be Happy? | Bella DePaulo, Anders Sandberg, Heidi Rice

Rupert Sheldrake is a renowned author and biologist, known for his research into parapsychology. In this exclusive interview, Rupert shares with us the secrets of consciousness, putting forward a panpsychist view of what it is to be conscious and debunking why materialism has failed.

In association with the New College of the Humanities. bit.ly/2FdPgLD

The Secrets of Consciousness | Interview with Rupert Sheldrake

The fundamental problem of philosophy, argued Heidegger, is 'why is there something rather than nothing?' Now, some scientists claim nothing doesn't exist and that even deepest space is full of virtual particles. Have we misunderstood the very idea of nothing? In this episode of Philosophy for our Times, Templeton prize winning cosmologist George Ellis, metaphysician Amie Thomasson and author of The Science Delusion Rupert Sheldrake unlock the mystery.

In association with the New College of the Humanities. bit.ly/2FdPgLD

Why is There Something Rather than Nothing? | Amie Thomasson, George Ellis, Rupert Sheldrake

'Dare to know' was the radical rallying cry of the Enlightenment. But since then, philosophers from Nietzsche to Derrida have argued there are limits to knowledge so profound that truth is an impossible goal. Is the enlightenment dream over? In this episode of Philosophy for our Times, A Short History of Truth author, Julian Baggini, post-realist philosopher Hilary Lawson and metaphysician Amie Thomasson go in search of a new enlightenment. 

In association with the New College of the Humanities. bit.ly/2FdPgLD

The New Enlightenment | Julian Baggini, Amie Thomasson, Hilary Lawson

We think that lightning strikes, and waves crash, even if there is no one to see them. Yet according to quantum physics, the observer is critical to reality. Theoretical physicist Werner Heisenberg even argued that, in contemporary physics 'objective reality has evaporated'. Is a world independent of the observer an illusion? In this episode of Philosophy for our Times, Nobel prize winning Gerard t'Hooft, constructor theorist Chiara Marletto and Oxford quantum philosopher Christopher Timpson debate the mysteries of reality.

In association with the New College of the Humanities. bit.ly/2FdPgLD

Is Reality Necessary? | Chiara Marletto, Gerard t'Hooft, Christopher Timpson

The left has traditionally seen itself as progressive, with history and morality on its side. But is history on anyone's side? And as for morality, don't all politicians think they're in the right? Should the left then give up its claim to the moral high ground and argue for policies on pragmatic grounds alone? In this episode of Philosophy for our Times, Peter Hitchens, Sophie Walker and Chris Bryant debate the morality of the left and right.

In association with the New College of the Humanities. bit.ly/2FdPgLD

The Morality of the Left and Right | Peter Hitchens, Sophie Walker, Chris Bryant

Language is widely seen as the critical tool which has set our species apart. We assume that it is successful because our words are able to describe reality. Yet from Wittgenstein to Derrida, no satisfactory theory has been able to support this intuition. Might the problem be not with our theory of language, but with the very idea of reality? In this episode of Philosophy for our Times, Saul Kripke, Paul Boghossian and Silvia Jonas get lost in language.

Lost in Language | Saul Kripke, Hilary Lawson, Paul Boghossian, Silvia Jonas

In this episode of Philosophy for our Times, Saul Kripke and Timothy Williamson discuss why language has come to dominate their field, why logic matters, and what the future for the Anglo-American tradition looks like.

Bonus Episode: In Conversation with Saul Kripke and Timothy Williamson

Listen to the full episode:

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5H2jJ0XNOIPMbKRlUDJhnc
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/problem-paradoxes-slavoj-%C5%BEi%C5%BEek-sophie-allen-hilary/id1151965239?i=1000460622399
Overcast: https://overcast.fm/+ZseP8zsv0
Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-institute-of-art-and-ideas/philosophy-for-our-times/e/66184581

Once we assumed that reason and rationality would gradually uncover the truth.  But from quantum mechanics to set theory, paradox it seems is found at the heart of our most revered theories and at the cornerstones of our thought. Are these paradoxes evidence that our theories are wrong and is it essential that they are overcome? In this episode of Philosophy for Our Times, Slavoj Žižek, Sophie Allen, and Hilary Lawson debate whether paradox is an unavoidable consequence of human thought.

The Problem with Paradoxes | Slavoj Žižek, Sophie Allen, Hilary Lawson

Listen to the full episode:

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3Ynqi0PmqhlaaTqNdnNoXx
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-to-do-philosophy-and-why-timothy-williamson/id1151965239?i=1000465268210
Overcast: https://overcast.fm/+ZseOQ_U9c
Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-institute-of-art-and-ideas/philosophy-for-our-times/e/67262673

For millenia, humans have looked to philosophy to help them understand the world, but why is it then that so many people find philosophy confusing? Is the confusion perhaps part of the solution?

Philosopher of logic Timothy Williamson outlines how philosophy can help us think more clearly, such as Alan Turing's use of logic to invent the computer, how the principles of logic can be understood as the laws of reality, and the importance of debate in making philosophy more inclusive.

How To Do Philosophy and Why | Timothy Williamson

Listen to the full episode:

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1YPkgBtiGwhXkxSaCUWntS
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/is-morality-rooted-in-culture-joel-robbins/id1151965239?i=1000465934722
Overcast: https://overcast.fm/+ZseNVGsMg
Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-institute-of-art-and-ideas/philosophy-for-our-times/e/67423334

From remote groups in Papua New Guinea to Pentecostal Christians, what can values and desires around the world tell us about the nature of morality? Cambridge anthropologist Joel Robbins tours the globe in search of the good. 

Joel Robbins is the Sigrid Rausing Professor of Social Anthropology at Cambridge University and author of Becoming Sinners. He specialises in the anthropology of religion and anthropological theory.

Is Morality Rooted In Culture? | Joel Robbins

Listen to the full episode:

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4X63uxQe1QGXo3U4Rdtpmd
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/philosophy-vs-quantum-theory-tim-maudlin/id1151965239?i=1000466618376
Overcast: https://overcast.fm/+ZseN-9M-c
Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-institute-of-art-and-ideas/philosophy-for-our-times/e/67586326

Philosopher of science Tim Maudlin discusses interpretations of quantum mechanics, explaining the pilot wave theory and objective collapse theory, and considers what we stand to learn from quantum theory about the nature of our universe.

Tim Maudlin, author of Philosophy of Physics, is an American philosopher of science responsible for influential works on metaphysical foundations of physics and logic.

Philosophy Vs Quantum Theory | Tim Maudlin

Listen to the full episode:

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/7HP240FDhgRcT44nrSBuIm
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/why-philosophy-wont-go-away-rebecca-goldstein/id1151965239?i=1000467319311
Overcast: https://overcast.fm/+ZseNfM0Pk
Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-institute-of-art-and-ideas/philosophy-for-our-times/e/67750584

Has science killed philosophy as Hawking famously claimed? What would Plato make of the debates between psychoanalysts and tiger mums, atheists and the religious, or search engines like Google?  In this episode of Philosophy for Our Times, philosopher Rebecca Goldstein returns to philosophy's roots and makes her case for why humanity can't thrive without it.

Why Philosophy Won't Go Away | Rebecca Goldstein

Listen to the full episode:

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5wPUUhyvFh5nIF0hc1X1CB
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-myth-of-the-self-julian-baggini-angie-hobbs-john-milbank/id1151965239?i=1000467980217
Overcast: https://overcast.fm/+ZsePeZnAU
Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-institute-of-art-and-ideas/philosophy-for-our-times/e/67750584

It is said that Mother Theresa allowed many to die unnecessarily and glorified suffering. While Stalin was a loving son to his parents, and Hitler - a vegetarian who adored his dog.  Are we wrong to assume that there is a single self behind our actions? Are people not good or bad but only individual actions?  Should we accept that we are inconsistent and unpredictable?  Or is consistency and integrity the cornerstone of what it is to be human?

Professor of religion, politics and ethics John Millbank, co-founder of The Philosophers' Magazine Julian Baggini and Professor of the Public Understanding of Philosophy Angie Hobbs explore our multiple selves.

The Myth of the Self | Julian Baggini, Angie Hobbs, John Milbank

Listen to the full episode:

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6kXbhMX9xc0Z7fKtU08z7V
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-mind-and-the-world-raymond-tallis/id1151965239?i=1000468668121
Overcast: https://overcast.fm/+ZseP5VLFc
Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-institute-of-art-and-ideas/philosophy-for-our-times/e/68091658

Is the mind just a part of the world? Or is the world all in the mind? Neither, argues physician, philosopher and poet Raymond Tallis as he puts forward his take on how we make sense of experience.

The Mind and the World | Raymond Tallis

Listen to the full episode:

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1KB04DxM0LXu51bGsEX45r
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/world-that-disappeared-peter-atkins-james-ladyman-joanna/id1151965239?i=1000469350267
Overcast: https://overcast.fm/+ZseOJdAL0
Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-institute-of-art-and-ideas/philosophy-for-our-times/e/68259355

No-one who has ever stepped on a Lego brick could doubt the reality of physical objects. Yet from Heraclitus to George Berkeley, many philosophers claimed to have disproven the existence of things. Could the world truly be made up of fields and processes, rather than physical stuff? Are the everyday objects that surround us an illusion?

To help us discuss the existence of things we are joined by three leading thinkers: chemist Peter Atkins, philosopher of science, James Ladyman and novelist Joanna Kavenna.

The World That Disappeared | Peter Atkins, James Ladyman, Joanna Kavenna

Listen to the full episode:

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6YexgchConp2DiOK5eDYb7
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/new-gods-myriam-fran%C3%A7ois-peter-atkins-hilary-lawson/id1151965239?i=1000470072304
Overcast: https://overcast.fm/+ZseNXmnYY
Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-institute-of-art-and-ideas/philosophy-for-our-times/e/68458733

As our churches have emptied our belief in progress, science and reason has also begun to falter, and we find ourselves in a new space in which all beliefs are challenged, and perspectives jostle in a relative world. Might religion, in the form of shared rituals and values, once again have a role to play?

To discuss the role of religion we are joined by three leading thinkers: acclaimed chemist Peter Atkins, writer and broadcaster Myriam Francois and philosopher Hilary Lawson.

New Gods | Myriam François, Peter Atkins, Hilary Lawson

Listen to the full episode:

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0yVxJ6gjf3KERx5h7c1mh3
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/can-we-distinguish-truth-from-lies-sacha-golob-steve/id1151965239?i=1000470885345
Overcast: https://overcast.fm/+ZseMGPUJM
Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-institute-of-art-and-ideas/philosophy-for-our-times/e/68672458

It seemed that we had all got used to the idea that rather than a single definitive truth there are a multiplicity of competing and alternative perspectives. Now with the rise of 'fake news' and the publicising of blatant lies, we want to reassert the importance of accuracy and truth.

Author of Post Truth Steve Fuller, theoretical philosopher Åsa Wikforss, continental philosopher Sacha Golob, and former Moscow journalist and author of This is Not Propaganda Peter Pomerantsev ask whether anybody has a monopoly on truth.

Can we distinguish truth from lies? | Sacha Golob, Steve Fuller, Åsa Wikforss, Peter Pomerantsev

Listen to the full episode:

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2276dkKd4l8SnPOfCFMwlW
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-value-of-ethics-bart-streumer/id1151965239?i=1000471455973
Overcast: https://overcast.fm/+ZseM9axsY
Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-institute-of-art-and-ideas/philosophy-for-our-times/e/68814249

Can an action that is 'right' become 'wrong' without any other change taking place in the world? And do we need to apply ethics to real-world issues to feel that these theories matter? Bart Streumer unpacks these questions and more in this in-depth interview, before making the case that we should understand philosophy as a cooperative enterprise, in which debate, learning what others have to say, and changing your own mind, is crucial.

The Value of Ethics | Bart Streumer

Philosophy for our Times is a free philosophy podcast bringing you the latest talks and debates from the world’s leading thinkers. We host weekly episodes on today’s biggest ideas in news, society, culture, politics, science and arts. Subscribe today to never miss an episode.

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