The Chris Voss Show

The Chris Voss Show Podcast – A Terribly Serious Adventure: Philosophy and War at Oxford, 1900-1960 by Nikhil Krishnan

Jul 22, 2023

Nikhil Krishnan, author of 'A Terribly Serious Adventure: Philosophy and War at Oxford, 1900-1960,' discusses the golden age of philosophy at Oxford, the influence of war and fascism, the philosophy of language, the emergence of logical positivism, and the importance of questioning established systems and joining conversations for responsible communication.

01:00:32

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Nikhil Krishnan

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Quick takeaways

Ordinary language philosophers at Oxford in the mid-twentieth century believed that by examining how words are actually used in everyday life, many philosophical problems would vanish.

JL Austin and other critics resisted the notion that a significant portion of language is nonsensical, emphasizing that words have a function and understanding their usage can lead to a deeper understanding of human life and concepts.

In the era of social media and information overload, maintaining self-awareness, engaging in meaningful conversations, and promoting critical thinking are crucial to combat echo chambers and polarization.

Deep dives

The importance of ordinary language philosophy

Ordinary language philosophers at Oxford in the 1950s emphasized the significance of using language in everyday contexts and sought to challenge the idea that philosophical problems require creating new complex languages. They argued that our ordinary language, which has evolved over centuries, holds deep meaning and can help us unravel philosophical questions. By examining how words are actually used in everyday life, they believed that many philosophical problems would vanish.

Introduction

3min

A Terribly Serious Adventure: Philosophy and War at Oxford, 1900-1960

13min

Simplifying Complexity and the Story of Gilbert Ryle

4min

The Golden Age of Thinking: Philosophy and Debates from 1900-1960

4min

Revisiting Systems, Ordinary Language Philosophy, and Responsibility

4min

Objective Truth and Group Think in Universities

20min

From Arguments to Conversations

13min

A Terribly Serious Adventure: Philosophy and War at Oxford, 1900-1960 by Nikhil Krishnan https://amzn.to/44VNCpK “Lively storytelling . . . an attempt to recast the history of philosophy at Oxford in the mid-twentieth century by conveying not only what made it influential in its time but also what might make it vital in ours.”—The New York Times Book Review What are the limits of language? How can philosophy be brought closer to everyday life? What is a good human being? These were among the questions that philosophers wrestled with in mid-twentieth-century Britain, a period shadowed by war and the rise of fascism. In response to these events, thinkers such as Philippa Foot (originator of the famous trolley problem), Isaiah Berlin, Iris Murdoch, Elizabeth Anscombe, Gilbert Ryle, and J. L. Austin aspired to a new level of watchfulness and self-awareness about language as a way of keeping philosophy true to everyday experience. A Terribly Serious Adventure traces the friendships and the rivalries, the shared preoccupations and the passionate disagreements of some of Oxford’s most innovative thinkers. Far from being stuck in their ivory towers, the Oxford philosophers lived. They were codebreakers, diplomats, and soldiers in both World Wars, and they often drew on their real-world experience in creating their greatest works, masterpieces of British modernism original in both thought and style. Steeped in the dramatic history of the twentieth century, A Terribly Serious Adventure is an eye-opening look inside the rooms that changed how we think about our world. Shedding light on the lives and intellectual achievements of a large and spirited cast of characters, Cambridge academic Nikhil Krishnan shows us how much we can still learn from the Oxford philosophers. In our fractious, post-truth world, their acute sense of responsibility for their words, their passionate desire to get the little things right, stands as an inspiring example.

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