Forum for Philosophy

The Philosophers’ Book Club is joined by Hannah Altorf, Lucy Bolton, and Mara-Daria Cojocaru to discuss Iris Murdoch’s Under the Net.

Will a future COVID vaccine be undermined by anti-vaxxers? Why does medical scepticism persist, and how might it be tackled? Rohin Francis, Katherine Furman, and Heidi Larson discuss the causes of and cures for distrust in medical expertise.

Ian Cross, Diana Omigie, and Barry Smith explore the phenomenon and evolution of music. How deep does music go in human history? What role does music play in the evolution of the mind? And is the ability to hear music uniquely human?

What role does empathy play in our social, moral, and political life? What are its limits? Can we be ethical without it? Nadine El-Enany, David Harradine, and Danielle Sands discuss.

When presented with two equally good theories, scientists prefer the more beautiful. Artist Adrian Holme and philosopher Milena Ivanova discuss the nature of beauty and the relationship between art and science.

Gregory McElwain, Ellie Robson, and Panayiota Vassilopoulou celebrate the thought of Mary Midgley, whose writing ranges across animal ethics, religion, and science, connecting philosophical thought to lived experience.

Zombies, time travel, brain transplants: science fiction and philosophy have lots in common. We explore this shared history, James Burton, Lewis Powell, and Lisa Walters put the ‘phi’ back into ‘sci-fi’.

Mehreen Chida-Razvi, Ben Quash, and Lieke Wijnia discuss how traditions of religious art differ and what role art plays in religion today. Might art enable interfaith dialogue?

From COVID-19 to QAnon, misinformation is more ubiquitous and dangerous than ever. Quassim Cassam, Lisa Bortolotti, and Cailin O’Connor discuss why misinformation so attractive to so many, and what can be done about it.

What’s the value of travel? Why is it politicized? Colin Clark, Nick Hayes and Emily Thomas on the future of travel in the twenty-first century

COVID-19 transformed the landscape, with an exodus from cities and our ever presence at home. Katie Beswick, Julia King, and Antoine Picon explore how to plan for future public and private spaces.

The Philosophers’ Book Club is joined by Thomas Karshan and Olga Sobolev to discuss Tolstoy's The Death of Ivan Ilyich.

David Bather Woods, Serene Khader, Mark Neocleous and David Westley trace the philosophical traditions of resilience and explore critical perspectives on its modern forms.

Odul Bozkurt, Brian O'Connor, and Judy Wajcman discuss whether work is making us bad citizens and unhappy humans

Julia Ng, Jonathan Rée and Justin E H Smith interrogate familiar narratives of philosophical history and explore more diverse accounts of philosophical thought.

Sara Uckelman, Justin Vlasits, and Audrey Yap discuss logic and its history, from Aristotle, through medieval thought, and right up to its role in the so-called culture wars.

Is a general theory uniting the sciences possible? Can science be reduced to physics alone? Philip Ball, Vanessa Seifert, and Jessica Wilson discuss reduction, emergence, and the unity of the sciences.

For Alan Montefiore, philosophy is a lived practice that entails ‘getting one’s feet wet’. Fiona Hughes and Adrian Moore celebrate Montefiore’s latest book, Philosophy and the Human Paradox.