Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss whether religion can still be seen as a way of interpreting and judging good and evil in modern western civilisation and examines what the discoveries of Darwin and our knowledge of the true physiological nature and history of man has done for us in terms understanding our concepts of good and evil. As we entered the 20th century Nietzsche announced that God is dead. Was his hatred of Christianity a natural consequence of his belief in the unlimited possibility of mankind’s self creation? If we have enough basic self confidence in our own selves, do we need God?Leszek Kolakowski and Galen Strawson map the current terrain of morality as perceived through philosophy, politics and Darwin and Christ.With Leszek Kolakowski, author and Professor of Philosophy, Oxford University; Galen Strawson, author and Fellow and Tutor in Philosophy, Jesus College, Oxford.

Free will? Nah...Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimesDo we have free will? Are we exercising our agency or following our predetermined destiny? How would we structure our society if we believed that individuals are not responsible for their actions? Or maybe we already do?In this interview analytic philosopher Galen Strawson discusses free will, ultimate moral responsibility and the thin veneer of our own rationality. Strawson probes at how the narratives we require in order to have an idea of the 'self' allow us to follow misguided illusions.Galen John Strawson is an acclaimed British analytic philosopher and literary critic who works primarily on philosophy of mind and metaphysics. His work covers free will, panpsychism, the mind-body problem, and the self. He has been a consultant editor at The Times Literary Supplement for many years, and a regular book reviewer for The Observer, The Sunday Times, The Independent, the Financial Times and The Guardian. He is the son of philosopher P. F. Strawson.There are thousands of big ideas to discover at IAI.tv – videos, articles, and courses waiting for you to explore. Find out more: https://iai.tv/podcast-offers?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=shownotes&utm_campaign=Galen-Strawson-interviewSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Is metaphysics back in fashion? Or is philosophy getting increasingly lost?Looking for a link we mentioned? It's here: https://linktr.ee/philosophyforourtimesThe twentieth century began with a revolutionary new approach to philosophy. The great arguments about the nature of reality and human experience were deemed empty and meaningless. A new philosophical broom, in the form of analytic philosophy, claimed to sweep away vacuous grand theories and replace them with hard logic and analysis and a close attention to the meaning of the words. Yet, a hundred years on metaphysics is back. Theories of consciousness and the character of reality are once again the topic of debate.Should we welcome this return to stories about the ultimate character of the world? Or do they risk being empty, conveying little other than the prejudices and desires of their authors? Are grand metaphysical theories about the nature of reality and consciousness vital topics of debate or a set of fairy tales?Legendary Neurophilosophy pioneer Patricia Churchland, Closure theorist Hilary Lawson and analytic philosopher Galen Strawson lock horns over the future of metaphysics.There are thousands of big ideas to discover at IAI.tv – videos, articles, and courses waiting for you to explore. Find out more: https://iai.tv/podcast-offers?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=shownotes&utm_campaign=the-return-of-metaphysicsSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.