When we think of the capacities that distinguish humans from other species, we generally turn to intelligence and its byproducts, including our technological prowess. But our intelligence is highly connected to our ability to use language, which is in turn closely related to our capacities as social creatures. Philosopher Philip Pettit would encourage us to think of those social capacities, as enabled by language, as the primary locus of what makes humans different, as discussed in his new book When Minds Converse: A Social Genealogy of the Human Soul. And that linguistic aptitude helps us understand the nature of agency, responsibility, and freedom.

Blog post with transcript: https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2025/07/21/322-philip-pettit-on-language-agency-politics-and-freedom/

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Philip Pettit received his Ph.D. in philosophy from University College Belfast. He is currently Laurance S. Rockefeller University Professor of Human Values at Princeton University and Distinguished University Professor of Philosophy at Australian National University. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia, the Australian Academy of the Humanities, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Guggenheim Foundation, among other honors.

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When Minds Converse, a Social Genealogy of the Human Soul

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