Curated Video
Camus and Suicide
Poet and independent scholar Jennifer Michael Hecht gives background to her book, Stay: A History of Suicide and the Philosophies Against It, while invoking some of Camus’ ideas on suicide.
Curated Video
Different Domains
UC Berkeley historian Martin Jay contrasts the political domain with the scientific one, explaining that it’s important to recognize that the two are distinct, believing it would be a very bad idea to try to recreate politics in the...
Curated Video
The Role of Philosophy
Philosopher Scott Soames (USC) passionately speaks of the importance of philosophical thinking.
Curated Video
The Origins of Analytic Philosophy
Philosopher Scott Soames (USC) gives us a brief introduction to Gottlob Frege and the origins of analytic philosophy.
Curated Video
Squandering Big Data?
Tufts University philosopher Brian Epstein relates how, by making false assumptions about the nature of the social world, most social scientists are running a serious risk of squandering the impressive model-building possibilities that...
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Proof by Picture
Philosopher of science James Robert Brown, University of Toronto, demonstrates a compelling “picture proof” of a basic result of number theory that appears to give us equal certainty to the standard mathematical proof by induction.
Curated Video
Philosophical Thinking
UC Berkeley political theorist Mark Bevir relates his belief in the importance of thinking philosophically in order to make vital progress in the social sciences.
Curated Video
Mysterious Mountain Man
Author and independent scholar Matthew Stewart recounts his puzzlement when first confronted with Ethan Allen’s 477-page philosophical tract.
Curated Video
Metaphysics Today
Philosopher Scott Soames (USC), gives a brief description of contemporary attitudes towards metaphysics.
Curated Video
Mathematical Naturalism
Philosopher of science James Robert Brown, University of Toronto, describes how the philosophical view of “naturalism” - that only the natural sciences can provide knowledge about the world - raises difficulty when addressing the...
Curated Video
Frege and Functions
Philosopher Scott Soames (USC) traces the origins of our modern computer age to Gottlob Frege’s application of functions to logic.
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Drifting Towards Metaphysics
Philosopher Brian Epstein (Tufts University) describes the tensions between the field of philosophy of language and metaphysics.
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Appeals to Authority
Philosopher of science and unapologetic mathematical Platonist James Robert Brown, University of Toronto, highlights an impressive array of brilliant mathematical minds who also strongly believed that mathematical truths are “out there”,...
Curated Video
All in the Same Boat
James Robert Brown, University of Toronto, describes how, despite our impressive knowledge about the biomechanics of our brains and sense, how we produce our corresponding belief about the natural world is just as mysterious as how a...
Curated Video
The Merits of Philosophy
Political scientist Mark Bevir (UC Berkeley) makes a plea for the reintroduction of philosophical thinking across a wide range of other disciplines.
Curated Video
The Merits of Dissent
Stanford University classicist and political scientist Josiah Ober describes the vital role public dissent plays in a democracy, forcing us to continually reassess how well we are promoting our values, or even if those values are the...
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The Deist Revolutionary Payoff
Author and independent scholar Matthew Stewart describes how rationalist notions from Epicurus down through Spinoza and Locke strongly influenced the American Revolution.
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Pursuing Happiness
Author and independent scholar Matthew Stewart gives his perspective of what Thomas Jefferson really meant by the “Pursuit of Happiness.”
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Modelling Politics
Tufts University philosopher Brian Epstein describes how key aspects of his philosophical views of the social world can be directly applied to politics, explaining that to understand politics, it is vital to consider what led people to...
Curated Video
Investigating Corruption
Tufts University philosopher Brian Epstein describes how carefully developing a model of bureaucratic corruption can lead to identifying key factors that traditional social science models will necessarily overlook.
Curated Video
Descriptions vs. Explanations
UC Berkeley political scientist Mark Bevir describes how it is important for both political theorists and policymakers to recognize the difference between a description and an explanation.
Curated Video
Democratic Challenges
Classicist and political theorist Josiah Ober (Stanford) argues that the success of classical Athenian democracy was consistently challenged by aristocratic elites such as Plato or Aristotle.
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An Epistemic Democrat
Classicist and political theorist Josiah Ober (Stanford) looks back to Aristotle's view of human flourishing to appreciate the benefits of democracy.
Curated Video
Against Reification
Political scientist Mark Bevir (UC Berkeley) argues that we need to move beyond reification of abstract concepts and recognize intentionality.