Philosophy Bites

Transcribed - Published: 13 June 2025

Does Socrates still have something to teach us? Agnes Callard thinks he has. Here she discusses the great Athenian and his continuing relevance with David Edmonds. 

Transcribed - Published: 15 April 2025

Henri Bergson was once one of the most living famous philosophers. Now he is less well known. Emily Herring, his biographer, discusses this and some of his key ideas in this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast. Nigel Warburton is the interviewer.

Transcribed - Published: 12 March 2025

For this episode in the Bio Bites strand of the Philosphy Bites podcast Nigel Warburton interviews Lyndsey Stonebridge, author of a recent book about Hannah Arendt, We Are Free To Change the World, about how her thought was affected by her circumstances as an emigré fleeing Nazism. 

Transcribed - Published: 29 January 2025

​Sometimes, there is vagueness about whether it is morally permissible (or even in some situations required) to perform a certain act—moral vagueness. What is the source of moral vagueness? Ofra Magidor discusses this topic with Nigel Warburton. This episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast has been made in association with Vagueness & Ethics, a research project funded by the European Commission (grant agreement number 101028625 — H2020-MSCA-IF-2020) and led by Miguel Dos Santos at Uppsala University.

Transcribed - Published: 9 January 2025

How can we make decisions under conditions of indeterminacy? Robert Williams discusses this challenging issue with Nigel Warburton.  This episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast has been made in association with Vagueness & Ethics, a research project funded by the European Commission (grant agreement number 101028625 — H2020-MSCA-IF-2020) and led by Miguel Dos Santos at Uppsala University.

Transcribed - Published: 9 January 2025

Peter Godfrey Smith is famous for his work on understanding the minds of other animals, particularly octopuses. In this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast he discusses animal minds with Nigel Warburton.

Transcribed - Published: 1 January 2025

Hegel is a notoriously difficult philosopher to understand. Here Richard Bourke gives a clear route through his key ideas about history and how it unfolds in conversation with Nigel Warburton.

Transcribed - Published: 2 December 2024

Recent zoological research has shown us that a wide range of animals are likely to have sentience. We don't know for sure. There is sufficient evidence to think that it is likely that, for example, lobsters can feel pain. What should we do in the light of this? Jonathan Birch of the LSE,  author of The Edge of Sentience, discusses this important question with Nigel Warburton. 

Transcribed - Published: 21 October 2024

The Cambridge philosopher Frank Ramsey died aged 26, but in a short brilliant life he made significant contributions to philosphy and economics. Here in the Bio Bites strand of Philosophy Bites David Edmonds discusses Ramsey's life and thought with his biographer Cheryl Misak.

Transcribed - Published: 24 September 2024

Moral heroes are usually thought of as people who go beyond what is obligatory. Elizabeth Harman discusses whether sometimes we ought to act as moral heroes. She is in conversation with David Edmonds for this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast.

Transcribed - Published: 4 August 2024

Can AI help us make difficult moral decisions? Walter Sinnott Armstrong explores this idea in conversation with David Edmonds in this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast.

Transcribed - Published: 14 June 2024

David Edmonds discusses the life and work of Derek Parfit who died in 2017 in this episode of the Bio Bites strand of Philosophy. David is the author of a recent biography of Parfit.

Transcribed - Published: 10 April 2024

Privileging one identity over others can be counterproductive for individuals and for society according to Yascha Mounk. He thinks there is an 'identity trap'. He discusses his ideas with Nigel Warburton in this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast.

Transcribed - Published: 14 March 2024

J.L.Austin was the best known exponent of what came to be known as Ordinary Language Philosophy. He was also a war hero. In this episode of the Bio Bites strand of the Philosophy Bites podcast David Edmonds discusses Austin's life and work with his biographer Mark Rowe.

Transcribed - Published: 14 March 2024

In this episode James Klagge discusses the life and times of Ludwig Wittgenstein with David Edmonds. This is part of our mini series on the biographies of philosophers, Bio Bites.

Transcribed - Published: 19 February 2024

Transcribed - Published: 22 January 2024

What happens when people have sexual desires for one another? Agnes Callard from the University of Chicago discusses sex, eroticism, and much more in conversation with Nigel Warburton. Not surprisingly, this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast involves mention of sex.

Transcribed - Published: 27 November 2023

Augustine is usually described as a pessimist with a bleak view of human evil and corruption. Michael Lamb thinks that is a simplistic reading. Augustine has interesting things to say about hope as a virtue.

Transcribed - Published: 16 October 2023

AI has changed our lives already and looks set to have a huge impact. How should we adapt our thinking about political philosophy in the light of this? The philosopher Seth Lazar explores this question in conversation with Nigel Warburton in this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast.

Transcribed - Published: 27 September 2023

In this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast Nigel Warburton interviews Hannah Dawson (editor of The Penguin Book of Feminist Writing) on Mary Wollstonecraft and her book A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792).

Transcribed - Published: 27 September 2023

What is the relationship between law and morality? How do they differ? Scott Hershovitz discusses these questions with Nigel Warburton in this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast.

Transcribed - Published: 16 August 2023

Digital ethics is a new field. But what is it, what is its scope? In this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast Carissa Véliz, author of Privacy is Power and editor of The Oxford Handbook of Digital Ethics, discusses these topics with Nigel Warburton. Philosophy Bites is brought to you by the team of David Edmonds and Nigel Warburton. We've been running since 2007.

Transcribed - Published: 20 June 2023

You might not have an obligation to risk your life saving other people, but if you do, you should go for saving the greatest number. That's more or less what Theon Pummer believes. Listen to him discussing the morality of rescue with David Edmonds in this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast

Transcribed - Published: 8 May 2023

In this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast David Edmonds interviews Will MacAskill on the controversial idea that we ought to give the interests of future people substantial weight when deciding what we ought to do now.

Transcribed - Published: 9 March 2023

What is loneliness and why is it harmful? How does it differ from just being on your own? In the latest episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast, Kieran Setiya discusses this important topic with Nigel Warburton.

Transcribed - Published: 9 March 2023

How should we live? This is the basic question for all of us. In this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast Edith Hall, author of the book Aristotle's Way, gives a sympathetic answer to Aristotle's take on this question.

Transcribed - Published: 27 November 2022

We have all had transformative experiences. But do they have philosophical relevance? Laurie Paul believes they do. In this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast she discusses this fascinating topic with Nigel Warburton.

Transcribed - Published: 8 October 2022

How do you solve the question of collective self-government by citizens? Josiah Ober discusses a fundamental problem of democratic societies: how we come to agree on courses of action when we commit to living within a democracy. His argument is that we need to become civic friends, a concept he explains in the conversation.

Transcribed - Published: 8 September 2022

Skye Cleary approaches questions of human authenticity throught he lens of French Existentialism, and particularly through Simone de Beauvoir's thought. She is in conversation with Nigel Warburton.

Transcribed - Published: 1 August 2022

Developments in AI are coming very quickly. But it's not easy to work out how to deal with the ethical questions that AI generates. Peter Railton discusses AI and Ethics with Nigel Warburton for this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast

Transcribed - Published: 1 July 2022

We all make some modifications to our bodies. But often this is in response to social pressures. So is there something to say for the largely unmodified body? Clare Chambers thinks so. In this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast she spells out why. The interviewer is David Edmonds.

Transcribed - Published: 20 June 2022

Peter Singer is probably the most famous living philosopher. He recently won the million-dollar Berggruen Prize and promptly gave all that money to charity. His positions on this, on animals, poverty, altruism, and much else besides are underpinned by his consequentialism. Here, in conversation with Nigel Warburton he explains his consequentialism and its implications.

Transcribed - Published: 19 May 2022

Spying raises many ethical issues, but these are rarely discussed - at least by philosophers. Cécile Fabre, author of a recent book on the topic, Spying Through a Glass Darkly, discusses some of these issues with Nigel Warburton in this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast. This episode is sponsored by The New European newspaper.

Transcribed - Published: 20 April 2022

In this digital age, how can we organise society and the public sphere in ways that will preserve the sense of individual dignity? Ro Khanna, Congressman for Silicon Valley, and author of Dignity in a Digital Age, discusses this important topic with Nigel Warburton.

Transcribed - Published: 18 March 2022

In Oxford during the Second World War four women philosophers came to prominence. Elizabeth Anscombe, Philippa Foot, Iris Murdoch, and Mary Midgley were friends and met to discuss their ideas, particulary about ethics. Benjamin Lipscomb, author of a recent book about them, The Women Are Up To Something, speaks to David Edmonds in this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast.

Transcribed - Published: 22 January 2022

Do we seek pleasure and avoid pain? The moral psychologist Paul Bloom believes psychological hedonism gives an inaccurate picture of what motivates us. In this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast he discusses pain and pleasure with Nigel Warburton.

Transcribed - Published: 19 December 2021

Stoic philosophers described anger as a temporary madness and argued that we should eliminate it wherever possible. More recently Martha Nussbaum has argued for keeping anger out of political debates. In this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast, in contrast, Myisha Cherry makes the case for rage in some specific circumstances. She discusses rage with Nigel Warburton.

Transcribed - Published: 3 November 2021

We all do it. But is there anything philosophically interesting about complaining? Agnes Callard thinks there is. In this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast she discusses complaint with Nigel Warburton.

Transcribed - Published: 9 October 2021

Thomas Hobbes is best known as author of Leviathan which is usually read today for its theory of political authority. Here Arash Abizadeh discusses Hobbes' ethics, the theory of what we are and what are obligations are to each.

Transcribed - Published: 23 August 2021

Spinoza was famously heretical in his views. No surprise then that he defended free expression. Here Steven Nadler discusses Spinoza's views on this topic with Nigel Warburton.

Transcribed - Published: 18 May 2021

What is the status of something that is an absence, like a hole? Suki Finn explores the metaphysics of nothing in this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast. Suki is also the editor of a new book based on Philosophy Bites interviews with women philosophers selected from our archive Women of Ideas, to be published by Oxford University Press in April.

Transcribed - Published: 8 March 2021

Jacques Derrida was a controversial philosopher whose writing could be fiendishly difficult to read. Nevertheless he had many followers. Here Pete Salmon, author of a recent biography of Derrida, manages to give a clear account of what Derrida meant by deconstruction. This episode was sponsored by St John's College. For more information about the college go to www.sjc.edu/podcast

Transcribed - Published: 18 February 2021

Arthur Schopenhauer is best known for the deep pessimism of his book The World as Will and Representation. Here we focus on a slightly less pessimistic aspect of his philosophy: his views on compassion. Very unusually for an early nineteenth century thinker, he was influenced here by his reading of Indian philosophy. David Bather Woods is the interviewee. We are very grateful for sponsorship for this episode from St John's College.

Transcribed - Published: 10 January 2021

Hannah Arendt's experience of the Eichmann trial in 1961 led her to reflect on the nature of politics, truth, and plurality. Samantha Rose Hill, author of a biography of Arendt, discusses the context for this, and the key features of Arendt's views. We are grateful for support for this episode from St John's College - for more information about the college, including online options, go to sjc.edu/podcast

Transcribed - Published: 6 December 2020

David Edmonds has co-authored a children's book, Undercover Robot. Here in this bonus episode (originally released on the Thinking Books podcast) he discusses it with Nigel Warburton.

Transcribed - Published: 28 November 2020

Baruch Spinoza was perhaps most famous for his equation of God with Nature - a view that his contemporaries, probably correctly, took to be atheist. But what did he think about death? Steven Nadler, author of A Book Forged in Hell and Think Least of Death, discusses this aspect of his thought with Nigel Warburton.

Transcribed - Published: 12 November 2020

In this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast Cornell philosopher Kate Manne discusses the notions of misogyny, male entitlement, and the term that she coined 'himpathy' with Nigel Warburton.

Transcribed - Published: 4 October 2020

Verificationists believe that every meaningful statement is either true by definition or else empirically verifiable (or falsifiable). Anything which fails to pass this two-pronged test for meaningfulness is neither true nor false, but literally meaningless. Liam Bright discusses Verificationism and its links with the Vienna Circle with David Edmonds in this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast.

Transcribed - Published: 16 September 2020

For this special episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast (produced under lockdown) Nigel Warburton interviews David Edmonds about his bestselling book, written with David Edinow, Wittgenstein's Poker. It focuses on a heated argument between the two great Viennese philosophers Karl Popper and Ludwig Wittgenstein, and the differing accounts that were give of it by those who were there.

Transcribed - Published: 7 July 2020