Philosophy Talk Starters

More at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/anna-julia-cooper. Born into slavery in the nineteenth century, Anna Julia Cooper received a classical education, attended the Sorbonne, and became the fourth African American in history to be awarded a PhD. Her first book, A Voice from the South, offered one of the first articulations of how Black women are impacted by race, gender, and socioeconomic class. She believed that uplifting Black women through higher education would improve life for all Black people. Josh and Ray explore her life and thought with Kathryn Sophia Belle, author of "Beauvoir and Belle: A Black Feminist Critique of The Second Sex." Part of our Wise Women series, generously supported by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

More at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/cancel-culture. Revoking support or a platform from someone who is perceived to have behaved badly has recently been dubbed “cancel culture.” Many complain that this pervasive practice promotes mob mentality and stifles free speech. But is "cancel culture" a real phenomenon, or has it become an overused and meaningless concept? Is publicly censuring others for something they've done or said itself a form of free speech? And is there a moral difference between “canceling” public figures and “canceling” ordinary folks who get caught on tape behaving badly? Josh and Ray give a platform to Adrian Daub from Stanford University, author of "Cancel Culture Transfer."

More at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/marx-and-morality. Karl Marx famously attempted to explain our social, political, and economic systems in terms of class conflict. While he never explicitly states that capitalism is unjust, some scholars suggest that there is an implicit moral critique of it in his work. So, does Marx reject capitalism for its moral failures, or is his opposition to it purely socioeconomic? Can we get an account of gender and racial justice from Marx? And did he try, and perhaps fail, to abandon philosophy entirely? Josh and Ray share the means of production with Vanessa Wills from George Washington University, author of "Marx’s Ethical Vision."

More at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/how-do-things-your-mind. We all engage in mental actions of various kinds, whether it’s planning the coming week, trying to remember the lyrics of a song, or imagining what we’d look like with a different haircut. These thought processes have significance for us and help us direct our other actions. But are we really in control of trains of thoughts or do they just pop into consciousness? Does it make sense to criticize others for what goes on inside their heads? And is there anything we can do to improve the quality of our thinking? Josh and guest-host Blakey Vermeule do things with the mind of their Stanford colleague Antonia Peacocke, author of "Mental Means" (forthcoming).

More at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/summer-reading-list-2024. Looking for some deep dives into pop culture this summer? Josh and Ray talk to Sandra Laugier from the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, author of "TV-Philosophy in Action: The Ethics and Politics of TV Series," and Nathaniel Goldberg from Washington & Lee University, co-author of "Revising Reality: How Sequels, Remakes, Retcons, and Rejects Explain the World." And they get recommendations for philosophical science fiction from Sara Uckelman of Durham University, philosopher of language by day and writer of speculative fiction by night.

More at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/hildegard-of-bingen. Hildegard von Bingen was a 12th century mystic, polymath, and composer whose work spanned visionary theology, philosophy, cosmology, medicine, botany, and music. Her extraordinary intellectual accomplishments belie her humble claim to be “just a woman”. Was her humility justified in the face of the divine, internalizing misogynistic stereotypes, or a strategic decision to get her voice heard? What can mystical experience teach us about the world? And how can we understand ourselves in relation to the divine? Josh and Ray explore her life and thought with Jennifer Bain from Dalhousie University, editor of "The Cambridge Companion to Hildegard of Bingen."

More at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/metoo-retribution-accountability-and-justice. The #MeToo movement exposed how pervasive sexual harassment and abuse are, and how rare it is for perpetrators to be held accountable. Although some recent high profile cases have resulted in convictions, more often punishment is meted out by public shaming. So why is it so difficult to hold sexual abusers legally responsible for their actions? Is social retribution a way to achieve some form of justice in lieu of criminal proceedings? And how do we move forward to find love and acceptance when there are still such great asymmetries of power? Josh and Ray tackle the issues with Janine Benedet from the UBC School of Law.

More at https://www.philosophytalk.org/shows/2024-dionysus-awards. What movies of the past year challenged your assumptions and made you think about things in new ways? Josh and guest co-host Jeremy Sabol present our annual Dionysus Awards for the most thought-provoking movies of 2023, including: • Best Film about Social Justice that Wonders What Makes a Good Film about Social Justice • Most Disturbing Exploration of a Female Criminal Who Thinks She May Be Innocent • Most Moving Film (or TV show!) about Difficult Choices

More at www.philosophytalk.org/shows/james-baldwin. Sometimes, we struggle to tell the truth -- especially when it's the truth about ourselves. Why did James Baldwin, a prominent Civil Rights-era intellectual and novelist, believe that telling the truth about ourselves is not only difficult but can also be dangerous? How can truth deeply unsettle our assumptions about ourselves and our relations to others? And why did Baldwin think that this abstract concept of truth could play a concrete role in social justice? The Philosophers seek their own truth with Christopher Freeburg from the University of Illinois, author of "Black Aesthetics and the Interior Life."

More at http://philosophytalk.org/shows/karl-popper. Karl Popper is a landmark figure in the philosophy of science. His notion of "falsifiability" endures to this day and even appears in arguments about creation versus evolution. But what does it mean for a theory to be falsifiable? And where does the idea stand in contemporary philosophy of science? John and Ken test a few ideas on Popper and falsifiability with Denis Phillips from Stanford University.