Philosophy of mind
The mysterious relationship between the mind and the body is avidly being researched by today's cognitive scientists. This program seeks to understand the mind/matter dichotomy through the eyes of some of history's keenest philosophers, including De...
Philosophy of science
Does science explain the world, or does it simply describe it? Can science ever be truly objective? What is the boundary between science and non-science? Does nature have laws? This program seeks to answer questions such as these through the insight...
Philosophy of religion
This program explores three major areas of philosophical inquiry into religion: religious epistemology, or the exploration of the rational grounds for religious beliefs and, in particular, the existence of God; the metaphysics of religion, which inq...
Classical Greek philosophy
What is "the good," and why is it that one can never step into the same river twice? This program featuring Princeton University's Alexander Nehamas and Richard Sorabji, honorary fellow at Wolfson College, the University of Oxford, addresses core to...
Political philosophy
Who should lead the world's only superpower? When is it acceptable to topple another country's leader? Are personal freedom and national security mutually incompatible? The answers to urgent political questions such as these are informed by 23 centu...
Analytic Philosophy
A century after its inception, analytic philosophy continues to clarify issues through argumentation, analysis, and logical rigor - and to parse out the phenomenon of language. This program scrutinizes the founding of analytic philosophy, the rise o...
Modern philosophy
During the 16th century, a new breed of thinker arose, equal parts philosopher and scientist, that threw off the received wisdom of the past and started afresh. In this program, Paul Guyer, of the University of Pennsylvania; Rutgers University's Col...
Epistemology: what we can know
This program travels from Plato’s cave to Gettier’s papier-mache barns while addressing, along the way, questions such as: What does it mean to really know something? How can one know that one knows it? And is seeing the same thing as believing?...
Aesthetics: philosophy of the arts
What do modern art, a symphony, and a documentary film have in common? They all require aesthetic considerations. This program presents the ideas of key figures in the shaping and understanding of aesthetics--from Plato, Francis Hutcheson, and Kant ...
Continental philosophy
The impact of continental philosophy has been tremendous, infusing the humanities with a strange brew made up of energy and insight combined with absurdity and meaninglessness. This program delves deeply into concepts and thought processes that fuel...