philosophy

#826 Eric Funkhouser: The Signaling Functions of Beliefs, and Self-Deception

Aug 25, 2023

Dr. Eric Funkhouser is Professor and Departmental Chair of Philosophy at the University of Arkansas. His main areas of research are in the philosophy of psychology/mind and metaphysics. He is currently working on a series of papers concerning how social forces shape the functions of belief and other mental states. This work should culminate in a book, The Signaling Mind: Belief as Social Manipulation. In this manuscript, he argues that many beliefs serve a signaling function—much like animal signals used to manipulate other animals—that explains various irrational and dangerous beliefs, cognitive biases, as well as pro-social beliefs. More»
#825 Mark Coeckelbergh - Self-Improvement, Technology, and Altruism

Aug 24, 2023

Dr. Mark Coeckelbergh is Professor of Philosophy of Media and Technology at the Department of Philosophy at the University of Vienna. He is former President of the Society for Philosophy and Technology (SPT) and a member of the steering committee of ETHICOMP. Dr. Coeckelbergh is member of the High Level Expert Group on Artificial Intelligence for the European Commission, the Rat für Robotik, as well as member of the Technical Expert Committee (TEC) for the Foundation for Responsible Robotics. His work is focused on the area of philosophy of technology. He is the author of several books, including his most recent one, Self-Improvement: Technologies of the Soul in the Age of Artificial Intelligence. More»
#823 Owen Flanagan: Against Happiness

Aug 18, 2023

Dr. Owen Flanagan is James B. Duke Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at Duke University. His work is in philosophy of mind and psychiatry, ethics, moral psychology, and cross-cultural philosophy. He is co-author of Against Happiness. More»
#822 Christian Miller: The Virtues of Generosity and Patience

Aug 17, 2023

Dr. Christian B. Miller is the A. C. Reid Professor of Philosophy at Wake Forest University. His research is primarily in contemporary ethics and philosophy of religion. He has written for the Wall Street Journal, Dallas Morning News, Slate, Prospect Magazine, Relevant Magazine, Michael Hyatt Magazine, The Conversation, Newsweek, Aeon, Greater Good Magazine, Nautilus Magazine, Fathom Magazine, Institute of Art and Ideas, and Christianity Today. He’s the author of several books, the most recent one being Honesty: The Philosophy and Psychology of a Neglected Virtue. More»
#811 Elijah Millgram: Practical Reasoning and Ethics

Jul 21, 2023

Dr. Elijah Millgram is a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Utah. His research focuses on rationality, theoretical reasoning, and practical reasoning. He is the author of six books, including Practical Induction, Varieties of Practical Reasoning, Ethics Done Right: Practical Reasoning as a Foundation for Moral Theory, and John Stuart Mill and the Meaning of Life. More»
#810 Jeff McMahan: Threats to Academic Freedom, and the Journal of Controversial Ideas

Jul 20, 2023

Dr. Jeff McMahan is Sekyra and White’s Professor of Moral Philosophy at the University of Oxford. He specializes in Practical Ethics, Political Philosophy, and Ethics. He is editor of the Journal of Controversial Ideas. He’s the author of books like The Morality of Nationalism, The Ethics of Killing: Problems at the Margins of Life, and Killing in War. More»
#809 Luciano Floridi: The Ethics of Artificial Intelligence for the Sustainable Development Goals

Jul 17, 2023

Dr. Luciano Floridi is the Founding Director of the Digital Ethics Center and Professor of Cognitive Science at Yale University. His research concerns primarily Digital Ethics, the Philosophy of Information, and the Philosophy of Technology. He is editor of The Ethics of Artificial Intelligence for the Sustainable Development Goals, and author of the forthcoming The Ethics of Artificial Intelligence: Principles, Challenges, and Opportunities (OUP), and The Green and the Blue: Naïve Ideas to Improve Politics in the Digital Age (Wiley). More»
#800 Daisy Dixon: Art as Speech, Artistic Hate Speech, and Immoral Artists

Jun 26, 2023

Dr. Daisy Dixon is a philosopher of art and an artist, and a Lecturer in Philosophy at Cardiff University. Her research falls at the intersection of philosophy of art, philosophy of language, and political philosophy. She explores how visual art behaves like speech, and how curators and interpreters can affect what an artwork communicates to its audience. Her current project concerns unjust aesthetics and aesthetic injustice, focusing on artistic hate speech, aesthetic ‘counterspeech’, and deceptive art. Her teaching interests span aesthetics, philosophy of language, ethics, and feminist philosophy. She is also a practicing artist in paint and sound. More»
#795 Owen Flanagan - The Geography of Morals: Varieties of Moral Possibility

Jun 15, 2023

Dr. Owen Flanagan is James B. Duke Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at Duke University. His work is in philosophy of mind and psychiatry, ethics, moral psychology, and cross-cultural philosophy. He is the author of The Geography of Morals: Varieties of Moral Possibility. More»
#790 Conor Cunningham: Theology, Nihilism, and Evolutionary Theory

Jun 2, 2023

Dr. Conor Cunningham is Associate Professor in Theology and Philosophy at the Faculty of Arts at the University of Nottingham. He is interested in Metaphysics, Epistemology, Science, and Religion. He is the author of books like Genealogy of Nihilism: Philosophies of Nothing and The Difference of Theology. More»