Curated Video
Conceptual Rigor
Political scientist Mark Bevir (UC Berkeley) describes how too many people associate rigor primarily with methodology rather than basic thinking.
Curated Video
Against Libertarianism
Intellectual historian Quentin Skinner (QMUL), demonstrates how the classical libertarian argument against the state impinging on our personal freedom is incorrect.
Curated Video
A Supreme Example
Tufts University philosopher Brian Epstein describes how many people’s perspectives on the social world are prejudiced by a hidden assumption that he takes issue with, and uses the example of The Supreme Court to illustrate his point.
Curated Video
Willful Ignorance
Author and independent scholar Pankaj Mishra describes how many Eastern ideas and perspectives have been routinely ignored by the West.
Curated Video
Punishment
Duke University legal scholar Nita Farahany describes the varying and evolving societal rationales for punishment in our legal systems.
Curated Video
Keeping an Open Mind
Intellectual historian Quentin Skinner (QMUL), describes how he is unconvinced by the still-lingering Early Modern motivation to tie knowledge to certainty.
Curated Video
Necessarily Nebulous
Historian Martin Jay (UC Berkeley) outlines his convictions that there is no single normative notion of politics.
Curated Video
Making Better Decisions
Political scientist Josiah Ober describes how we might concretely improve our ability to make political decisions within a democratic framework, highlighting so-called deliberative and epistemic approaches to decision-making.
Curated Video
Building Better Models
Philosopher Brian Epstein (Tufts University) describes how we can use philosophical understanding to help build better, more rigorous models in social science.
Curated Video
Aristotelian Capacities and Flourishing
Classicist and political theorist Josiah Ober (Stanford) describes the standard Aristotelian argument of capacities and flourishing.
Curated Video
A Sense of the Numinous
Rabbi Emeritus David J. Goldberg relates the irrational side of the human condition, how he has more in common with moderates of other religions than he does with extremists of his own, and the constant tensions between particularism and...
Curated Video
Begging the Question
Political scientist Mark Bevir (UC Berkeley) describes how, in politics, the explanation of a crisis often points to a solution.
Curated Video
A Sense of Crisis
Award-winning author Pankaj Mishra describes how his outlook to life has been irrevocably affected by a deep sense of crisis that is common to many people who grow up in Asia.
Curated Video
Grounding and Anchoring
Philosopher Brian Epstein (Tufts University) explains how his grounding and anchoring model of social ontology works.
Curated Video
Fostering Social Change
University of Michigan business professor Andrew Hoffman relates how, in order to promote societal awareness of climate change, we need social entrepreneurs to consistently make public links to related events to disrupt people’s common...
Curated Video
Digging Deeper
Historian Nile Green, UCLA, describes why the notion of a “Clash of Civilizations” between the West and the Islamic world is inappropriate, while describing how the model of “religious economy” can help us improve both understanding and...
Curated Video
In the Shadow of The West
Award-winning author Pankaj Mishra describes his personal experiences of growing up in Asia while being disproportionately affected by Western cultural, philosophical and economic considerations.
Curated Video
Constructing Knowledge
UC Berkeley historian and Byzantine specialist Maria Mavroudi describes how the standard view of the Middle Ages science fails to take into account the creative process of systematizing and building upon prior views.
Professor Dave Explains
Hellenistic and Roman Philosophy
Having made our way through Classical Greece, it's time to enter the subsequent Hellenistic and Roman periods. These were dominated by schools of thought that were influenced by the great classical thinkers, though they took their...
Tom Nicholas
Phenomenology - WTF? Phenomenology, Time and Nolan's Dunkirk Timeline | Phenomenology explained!
In this latest episode of What the Theory? I take a look at phenomenology, time and dasein (Heidegger's concept of consciousness) through the example of Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk, the narrative of which is incredibly playful with how...
Curated Video
Always Musical
Pschychologist Diana Deutsch (UC San Diego) describes how she eventually managed to combine her love of music with cutting-edge psychological research.
Curated Video
Social Psychology, Eventually
Social psychologist Roy Baumeister (Queensland) describes his somewhat circuitous career path.
Curated Video
Sandra Day O’Connor: “Don’t Take the Bait”
The first female justice in the U.S. Supreme Court’s 191-year history, Sandra Day O’Connor succeeded in a man’s world by never letting sexism stand in her way.
Curated Video
Mary McLeod Bethune: Fighting for Equality in the Classroom and Beyond
Mary McLeod Bethune, an influential educator activist, recognized that going to school could be a form of activism. Her groundbreaking work helped change America for the better.