The Greats et al.

podcasts

feb 18

Talk/Podcast vibes

This is an edited version of Edward Said's last lecture before his untimely death, given in 2003. It is utterly, utterly brilliant! His eloquence and linguistic precision leaves me awestruck. However busy your schedule, please do take the time to listen.

Edward Said - Lecture UC Berkeley

More at www.philosophytalk.org/shows/elisabeth-bohemia.

Princess Elisabeth of Bohemia (1618–1680) is best known for her correspondence with René Descartes. In her letters, she articulated a devastating critique of his dualist theory of mind, in particular on the impossibility of mind-body interaction. So what was Elisabeth's own position on the nature of mind? What can we ascertain about her moral and political concerns based on her various correspondences? And how are her ideas still relevant to current debates in philosophy? Josh and Ray explore Elisabeth's life and thought with Lisa Shapiro from McGill University, editor of "The Routledge Handbook of Women and Early Modern European Philosophy."

Elisabeth of Bohemia

More at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/zhuangzi.

Zhuangzi, the 4th-century-BCE Chinese philosopher, was arguably the most important figure in Taoism. He believed that a person’s ideal relationship to the world was to "be one with a thousand things." So how is someone supposed to achieve this ideal? What is at the core of Zhuangzi's conception of the good life? And how could contemporary western readers benefit from his way of thinking? Josh and Ray welcome back Paul Kjellberg from Whittier College, editor of "Essays on Skepticism, Relativism, and Ethics in The Zhuangzi."

Zhuangzi: Being One with Ten Thousand Things

More at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/mary-astell.

Mary Astell (1666–1731) was an English philosopher and writer who advocated for equal rights for women. While she described marriage as a type of “slavery,” she was also a staunch conservative who claimed that women who did marry should accept subordination to their husbands. So what was Astell's vision for the education of women? How did she reconcile her seemingly conflicting views on marriage? And why did philosopher John Locke criticize her views on natural law? Josh and Ray explore her life and thought with Allauren Forbes from McMaster University, author of the Oxford Bibliography on Mary Astell.

Part of the "Wise Women" series, supported by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Mary Astell

More at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/im-yunjidang.

18th-century Korean philosopher Im Yunjidang was the first Confucian to argue for women’s equality in matters of morality and to claim that women, just like men, can be sages. She also argued that it isn't just what you do that matters morally—it's also how you decide. So what does it mean to be a sage and how does someone become one? How did Im Yunjidang use traditional Confucian texts to argue for women's spiritual equality? And what did she think was important when it comes to making difficult moral choices? Josh and Ray explore her life and thought with Hwa Yeong Wang from Duke Kunshan University, editor of "Korean Women Philosophers and the Ideal of a Female Sage: The Essential of Writings of Im Yungjidang and Gang Jeongildang."

Im Yunjidang

More at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/margaret-cavendish.

Margaret Cavendish was a writer of poetry, philosophy, polemics, histories, plays, and utopian fiction. She employed many different genres as a way to overcome access barriers for women and build an audience for her subversive philosophical ideas. So, what was so radical about Cavendish's views? Why did she think all matter, even rocks, was at least partially rational? And how did she anticipate the term "epistemic injustice" 400 years before it was coined? Josh and Ray explore the life and thought of Margaret Cavendish with Karen Detlefsen from the University of Pennsylvania, co-editor of "The Routledge Handbook of Women and Early Modern European Philosophy."

Margaret Cavendish

Speaker(s): Raja Shehadeh | Raja Shehadeh in conversation with Professor Craig Calhoun will discuss his new book, Language of War, Language of Peace: Palestine, Israel and the search for justice, which explores the politics of language and the language of politics in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, reflecting on how the walls that they create - legal and cultural - confine today's Palestinians just like the physical borders, checkpoints and the so-called 'Separation Barrier'. He will also discuss the changes that took place in the landscape of Palestine and the effect of land on the Palestinian identity as well as the difference in the legal narratives of the Israelis and Palestinians and the consequences this has had on the course of negotiations in Oslo and after. Raja Shehadeh is a Palestinian lawyer and writer who lives in Ramallah, the West Bank. He is a founder of the human rights organization Al-Haq and an affiliate of the International Commission of Jurists. His acclaimed books include Strangers in the House, A Rift in Time, Occupation Diaries and Palestinian Walks, winner of the 2008 Orwell Prize. Craig Calhoun (@craigjcalhoun) is the Director of LSE. This event forms part of the LSE Space for Thought Literary Festival 2015, taking place from Monday 23 - Saturday 28 February 2015, with the theme 'Foundations'.

Literary Festival 2015: Language, Landscape and Identity in Palestine [Audio]

Antonio Gramsci - Quaderni del carcere / The Prison Notebooks: "The starting-point of critical elaboration is the consciousness of what one really is, and is 'knowing thyself' as a product of the historical process to date which has deposited in you an infinity of traces, without leaving an inventory."
"L’inizio dell’elaborazione critica è la coscienza di quello che è realmente, cioè un 'conosci te stesso' come prodotto del processo storico finora svoltosi che ha lasciato in te stesso un’infinità di tracce accolte senza beneficio d’inventario."

Edward Said On Gramsci - Infinity Of Traces Without An Inventory

Speaker: Charles Anderson, Georgetown University
Chair:  John Chalcraft, LSE

Charles Anderson discusses his paper, which is part of a broader argument for a history from below of Arab society under the Palestine Mandate.  By reexamining the political economy of the countryside under the first 18 years of British rule and the responses of peasants and ex-peasants to the escalating pressures they faced, it contends that greater attention to the history of the rural majority has much to teach us.

In tandem, it advances an analysis of the Mandatory regime as a liberal despotism, the policies of which consolidated the emergence of a “landless class” that ultimately rose against it during the multifaceted rebellion known as the Great Revolt (1936-39). Recorded on 20 May 2014.

This seminar forms part of the 'Social Movements and Popular Mobilisation in the MENA Research Theme'.

Will the Real Palestinian Peasantry Please Sit Down? A New History of British Rule in Palestine

Speaker: Tom Woerner-Powell, University of Manchester
Chair: Jonathan Hill, King's College London

From his struggle against French colonialism in North Africa to his stand against religious sectarianism in Syria, the actions of Abd al-Qadir al-Jaza'iri have been an inspiration to many. The symbolic father of modern Algeria has frequently been presented as both an exemplary Muslim and a bridge between East and West. In this talk, Tom Woerner-Powell launches his book ‘Another Road to Damascus: an integrative approach to Abd al-Qadir al-Jaza’iri', in which he questions prevailing depictions of the historical figure in scholarly literature and beyond, and discusses his continued salience as a symbolic mediator between the supposedly conflicting zones of ‘Islam and Europe’, ‘East and West’. Recorded on 6 December 2017.

Bombs, Bridges, and Biography: Lessons for the Present from the Father of Algeria?

How did Latin splinter into the Romance languages? In this episode, we explore how Latin transformed from a single, widely dispersed language into a series - French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Romanian, and so on - of related but no longer mutually intelligible tongues.Thank you to our sponsors:Hello Fresh - Take $30 off your first week of meals when enter code TIDES30 at:www.hellofresh.comSquarespace - Get a free trial and save 10% when you launch your domain here:www.squarespace.com/tidesZip Recruiter - Learn how to hire smarter and get a free trial when you visit them here:www.ziprecruiter.com/tides

Tides of History: How Latin Became the Romance Languages

More at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/frantz-fanon.

Frantz Fanon is a thinker who has inspired radical liberation movements in places ranging from Palestine to South Africa to the United States. Most famous for his work The Wretched of the Earth, Fanon is often understood as a proponent of revolutionary violence. But is this a fair characterization of Fanon, or is it an oversimplification of a deeper and richer body of work? What exactly is Fanon’s philosophy of violence, and how does it relate to his philosophy and psychology of the colonial subject? How has Fanon shaped how we think of identity politics? The Philosophers welcome Nigel Gibson from Emerson College, author of "Fanon: The Postcolonial Imagination."

Frantz Fanon and the Violence of Colonialism

The fossil remains of a titanosaur found in Egypt provides clues to the evolution of dinosaurs in Africa.

Unearthing The Last Days of Dinosaurs In Africa

These rodents not only live for thirty years or more, but age could be meaningless to them.

The Naked Mole Rat Defies The Laws Of Aging

"The program that questions everything -- except your intelligence."

Philosophy on the radio? You've got to be kidding? Well, sometimes we do (kid, that is). Mostly we look at today's important ideas with an eye to thinking them through.

Philosophy Talk is a weekly, one-hour radio series. The hosts' down-to-earth and no-nonsense approach brings the richness of philosophic thought to everyday subjects. Topics are lofty (Truth, Beauty, Justice), arresting (Terrorism, Intelligent Design, Suicide), and engaging (Baseball, Love, Happiness).

This is not a lecture or a college course; it's philosophy in action!

Philosophy Talk is a fun opportunity to explore issues of importance to your audience in a thoughtful, friendly fashion, where thinking is encouraged.