Philosophy Everyday

Episódios

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  Philosophy Was Meant to Make You Better | Robin Waterfield 15.09.2026 1h 11min

  Robin Waterfield is a classicist, author, and one of the most prolific translators of ancient Greek philosophy and history into modern English, with more than thirty-five volumes of translations to his name. His work includes Plato’s Republic and Symposium, Herodotus, Marcus Aurelius, Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War, Epictetus, Xenophon, Euripides, and other major Greek and Roman authors. His latest translation is Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, published in 2026, continuing a career focused on making ancient philosophy, Greek history, and classical literature accessible in readable modern English. In this conversation, we discuss Thucydides and the Melian Dialogue, including the famous line “the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must,” and why Robin considers that familiar version misleading. We compare Thucydides and Herodotus, examine how the ancient Greeks understood history, and discuss Aristotle, eudaimonia, happiness, ancient Greek religion, moral philosophy, slavery, Spartan helots, leisure, education, and the origin of the word “school.” We also explore how Plato and Aristotle have been transmitted and translated over more than two thousand years, what modern translators change when working from ancient Greek texts, the surviving fragments of the Presocratics and Democritus, and Robin’s skepticism about how much we can know about the historical Socrates from Plato and Xenophon. The episode also covers Plato’s Academy, Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, Greek manuscripts and papyri, translation theory, Euripides, Aesop, ancient jokes, and the challenges of translating philosophy, history, prose, and poetry into modern English.Robin's website:https://robinwaterfield.com/Instagram and other platforms:⁠https://linktr.ee/philosophy.everyday⁠More from Philosophy Everyday:⁠https://www.thephilosophyeveryday.com/
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  Nothing in This World Is Real | Angie Hobbs on Plato 01.09.2026 1h 27min

  Angie Hobbs is Professor Emerita of the Public Understanding of Philosophy at the University of Sheffield, where she held the world's first chair of that title. She works on ancient Greek philosophy, particularly Plato, and on how it bears on contemporary questions. Alongside her academic work she has taught the Socratic method in schools and to the UK civil service, and appears regularly on radio and television. Her books include Plato and the Hero, and most recently Why Plato Matters Now, which she also narrated for audiobook. She is currently writing a book on heroes and heroism.In this conversation we discuss what Plato was reacting against, from the Sophists to the materialism of Democritus, and why he took Heraclitus and Parmenides seriously but not the atomists. We look at the problem of separating Plato from Socrates in the dialogues, and why Plato wrote in dialogue form and never in his own voice. We turn to the Republic and Thrasymachus's claim that justice is the interest of the stronger, the charge from Popper and Berlin that Plato was a totalitarian, and the fact that the Republic itself would be banned under its own censorship rules. On the Symposium we cover the competing accounts of love, Aristophanes' fable of the divided spheres, Diotima's ladder and the image of the pregnant philosopher, Alcibiades' account of trying to seduce Socrates. We also discuss the theory of forms and how much of Plato's ethics survives without it, his time with the Pythagoreans and what mathematics and musical harmony meant to him, Nietzsche's charge that Plato was a life-denier, what Christianity took from Plato and what it changed, and how much of the Plato we read is the historical one.Angie's book:https://angiehobbs.com/Instagram and other platforms:https://linktr.ee/philosophy.everydayMore from Philosophy Everyday:https://www.thephilosophyeveryday.com/
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  Does God Exist? Wrong Question | Simon Critchley 14.07.2026 1h 19min

  Simon Critchley is a British philosopher, author, and the Hans Jonas Professor of Philosophy at The New School for Social Research in New York. One of the most distinctive voices in contemporary philosophy and continental philosophy, his work spans ethics, political philosophy, psychoanalysis, literature, religion, tragedy, death, football (soccer), and the role of philosophy in everyday life. He has written more than twenty books, including The Book of Dead Philosophers, What We Think About When We Think About Soccer, Tragedy, the Greeks, and Us, Mysticism, and Heidegger Thinking: Being and Time Explained. Critchley is known for making complex philosophical ideas accessible, playful, provocative, and relevant beyond academic philosophy. In this conversation, Simon Critchley explores what mysticism actually means, why modern philosophy has become too serious, and whether mystical experience can exist outside organized religion. We discuss Christian mysticism, incarnation, religious belief, miracles, Martin Luther and the Reformation, Nietzsche’s critique of Christianity, the Übermensch, Kierkegaard, Spinoza’s pantheism, free will, determinism, and why philosophy can offer comfort without providing simple answers. We also examine football (soccer) as a modern religion filled with rituals, gods, collective ecstasy, corruption, tragedy, comedy, suffering, and hope. Finally, we discuss the fear of death, whether philosophy can teach us how to die, technological immortality and the longevity movement, David Hume, professional philosophers, Heidegger’s Being and Time, and why philosophy should remain playful, open, and connected to life.Simon's website:https://simon-critchley.com/Instagram and other platforms:⁠https://linktr.ee/philosophy.everyday⁠More from Philosophy Everyday:⁠https://www.thephilosophyeveryday.com/
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  600 Years Before Descartes: Ibn Sina’s Flying Man | Peter Adamson 22.06.2026 1h 23min

  Peter Adamson is Professor of Philosophy at LMU Munich and the host of the widely respected podcast History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps. He is one of the leading scholars working on the history of philosophy across the Islamic world, late antiquity, medieval philosophy, Greek philosophy, Arabic philosophy, and the broader global history of ideas. In this episode, we discuss Ibn Sina’s Flying Man thought experiment, the mind-body problem, the soul, the self, and whether the mind can exist without the body. We also explore Ibn Sina, also known as Avicenna, Ibn Rushd, also known as Averroes, Al-Ghazali, Aristotle, Plato, falsafa, kalam, Islamic philosophy, philosophy in the Islamic world, Arabic philosophy, the Greek-Arabic translation movement, the Latin translation movement, Maimonides, Al-Kindi, Al-Farabi, Descartes, the Islamic Golden Age, the Abbasid world, Byzantium, Syriac translators, madrasas, commentary traditions, the Mongol invasions, the myth that Al-Ghazali killed philosophy, and why philosophy in the Islamic world was far more original, diverse, and influential than many standard histories suggest.Peter's podcast:https://historyofphilosophy.net/Instagram and other platforms:⁠https://linktr.ee/philosophy.everyday⁠More from Philosophy Everyday:⁠https://www.thephilosophyeveryday.com/
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  Mind May Be Older Than the Brain | Michael Levin on Life and Intelligence 15.06.2026 1h 22min

  Michael Levin is a developmental and synthetic biologist at Tufts University whose work sits at the intersection of biology, bioelectricity, artificial life, regenerative medicine, synthetic biology, computer science, cognitive science, and philosophy of mind. He is known for his research on how cells communicate, make decisions, build bodies, repair tissues, and form collective intelligence through bioelectric signals. His work on Xenobots and Anthrobots has opened new questions about living robots, synthetic life forms, biological machines, morphogenesis, basal cognition, cellular intelligence, regeneration, cancer, aging, and the nature of mind beyond the brain. In this conversation, Michael Levin and I explore whether mind and intelligence are binary or exist on a continuum, why cognition may be much older than brains, and how systems from cells to humans can pursue goals in different ways. We discuss the TAME framework, the spectrum of persuadability, cognitive light cones, bioelectricity, gap junctions, multicellular intelligence, Xenobots, Anthrobots, kinematic self-replication, neural wound healing, emergence, physicalism, mathematics, Platonic space, algorithms, bubble sort, Turing machines, evolution, human creativity, artificial intelligence, regenerative medicine, and the future of biology. This episode is for anyone interested in philosophy, consciousness, mind, intelligence, synthetic biology, developmental biology, AI, complex systems, evolution, and the deeper question of what it means for matter to become alive, intelligent, or aware.Michael's website:https://drmichaellevin.org/Instagram and other platforms:⁠https://linktr.ee/philosophy.everyday⁠More from Philosophy Everyday:⁠https://www.thephilosophyeveryday.com/
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  Your Best Values Are Status Games in Disguise | David Pinsof on Human Nature 19.05.2026 1h 16min

  David Pinsof is an evolutionary psychologist, writer, and co-creator of Cards Against Humanity. He is the author of the substack "Everything Is Bullsh*t", where he examines self-deception, social status, morality, humor, and the hidden motives behind human behavior through the lens of evolutionary psychology. In this conversation, we discuss how self-deception stabilizes status games, why people pretend not to care about status, whether happiness is really the goal of life, why utilitarianism may misunderstand human nature, how charisma works, why deception can sometimes benefit the deceived, what ancient Cynicism reveals about status, and why laughter may have evolved as a way to signal that a social “mix-up” should not be taken seriously.Instagram and other platforms:⁠https://linktr.ee/philosophy.everyday⁠More from Philosophy Everyday:⁠https://www.thephilosophyeveryday.com/
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  Will AI Make You Smarter or Dumber? | William B. Irvine on Thinking in the Age of AI 29.04.2026 1h 27min

  William B. Irvine is an American philosopher and Professor Emeritus at Wright State University, best known for his work on Stoicism and practical philosophy. His books include A Guide to the Good Life, which helped popularize modern Stoicism, and his most recent work, How to Think More and Better: Being Reasonable in an Unreasonable World (2024), where he explores evidence-based reasoning, cognitive biases, and the challenges of thinking clearly in the modern information environment. In this conversation, we discuss why many people choose the “easy way” of thinking by relying on others instead of engaging in effortful reasoning, and how this tendency is amplified by social media and AI. We explore concepts such as evidence-based reasoning, confirmation bias, and the distinction between “feelers” and “thinkers.” The discussion also covers the erosion of trust in evidence in the age of AI-generated content, and how emerging technologies may both improve and distort our ability to think clearly.William's book:https://www.amazon.com/How-Think-More-Better-Unreasonable/dp/0197786847Instagram and other platforms:⁠https://linktr.ee/philosophy.everyday⁠More from Philosophy Everyday:⁠https://www.thephilosophyeveryday.com/
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  Why Happiness Is Not Enough | Rebecca Goldstein on Mattering 10.04.2026 1h 39min

  Rebecca Goldstein is a philosopher/novelist who brings serious philosophical ideas to the world of popular discussion. A trained analytic philosopher, with an interest in philosophers such as Spinoza, Plato, and Aristotle; her writing takes up many of the most ancient of questions about human existence from a contemporary perspective. She recently developed the concept of "the mattering instinct" (which represents the core impulse or drive of humans to believe their lives have importance). Here, we talk about why being happy isn't the most important thing in the world and how people are actually motivated by the desire to be meaningful. Here we also examine how we create our own sense of meaning through what Goldstein refers to as 'mattering projects', why modern life makes creating this kind of meaning difficult and how the loss of traditional forms of meaning (such as religious systems) has moved responsibility for developing a sense of personal meaning to the individual. Along the way we will reference Aristotle's concept of flourishing, Spinoza's view of living with purpose, the distinction between information and knowledge and what does it mean to lead a life worthy of consideration.Rebecca's book:https://www.amazon.com/Mattering-Instinct-Deepest-Longing-Divides/dp/1324096853Instagram and other platforms:⁠https://linktr.ee/philosophy.everyday⁠More from Philosophy Everyday:⁠https://www.thephilosophyeveryday.com/
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  The Big Bang May Not Be the Beginning | Dr. Niayesh Afshordi on Time and Nothingness 02.04.2026 58min

  Dr. Niayesh Afshordi is a theoretical physicist and professor at the University of Waterloo, known for his work on cosmology, quantum gravity, and the fundamental nature of the universe. His research explores some of the deepest questions in physics, including the origin of the Big Bang, the nature of time, and the limits of our current theories. He is also the co-author of The Battle of the Big Bang, where he examines competing models of the early universe and what they reveal about reality. In this episode, we explore whether the Big Bang truly marks the beginning of the universe or simply the point where our current equations break down. We discuss the meaning of singularities, the possibility of something existing before the Big Bang, and whether the universe could emerge from “nothing.” The conversation also dives into quantum mechanics, the challenge of unifying it with gravity, the role of inflationary models, and why time itself may not be fundamental.Niayesh's book:https://www.amazon.com/Battle-Big-Bang-Cosmic-Origins/dp/0226830470Instagram and other platforms:⁠https://linktr.ee/philosophy.everyday⁠More from Philosophy Everyday:⁠https://www.thephilosophyeveryday.com/
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  What Happens When Death Loses Meaning? | Robert P. Harrison on Modern Life & Mortality 26.03.2026 1h 25min

  Robert Pogue Harrison is a Professor of Italian and French Literature at Stanford University and a leading scholar in Philosophy, Literature, Intellectual History. He has written many important books on topics such as Death and Youth, which include: The Dominion of the Dead; Juvenescence. Additionally, he hosts the popular podcast "Entitled Opinions" in which he discusses big picture issues of Human Existence, Culture and Meaning. In this conversation, we examine the reason for the rising discomfort in modern society regarding Death and what that may say about how we perceive meaningfulness. We compare the concepts of Dying vs. Perishing; and examine the concept of a "Secular After Life." We also look at how other cultures in the past developed their social structures based upon common mortality. The conversation also moves into technology, examining whether AI is reshaping our relationship with thinking, memory, and human connection, and what might be lost when thinking is outsourced. Throughout, we return to a central question: what happens to life when death is no longer understood as something that gives it structure and meaning?Robert's podcast:https://entitled-opinions.com/Instagram and other platforms:⁠https://linktr.ee/philosophy.everyday⁠More from Philosophy Everyday:⁠https://www.thephilosophyeveryday.com/
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  Can You Prove God Using Only Reason? (Descartes' Meditations) 18.03.2026 24min

  What do you believe to be true? Are you absolutely certain? Can you really know? Does reason exist for its own sake, or is every thought simply an illusion created by your brain? This week, I look at Descartes' revolutionary experiment of doubting everything - everything about the world, how we sense things, even our own reasoning - and attempting to build knowledge back up again. He bases his conclusions on what he finds: the idea of "perfection" leads him to conclude that there must be a god. Is the argument valid? Where do your thoughts come from? How could you feel so sure about something and yet be entirely wrong? Is it possible to use logic to prove anything at all? And at the heart of these questions is one fundamental question that remains unanswered: Are you a person, or are you just using a body?Instagram and other platforms:⁠https://linktr.ee/philosophy.everyday⁠More from Philosophy Everyday:⁠https://www.thephilosophyeveryday.com/
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  Can AI Cure Conspiracy Theories? Dr. Gordon Pennycook on Pseudo-Profound Bullsh*t 07.03.2026 1h 3min

  I recently talked with Dr. Gordon Pennycook who is a cognitive psychologist and has researched, among other things, why people accept false information, why some statements sound profound but have no real meaning and if using Artificial Intelligence (AI) could help decrease conspiracy thinking. Dr. Pennycook is one of the top researchers studying misinformation, cognitive reflection and what he terms "Pseudo-Profound Bullshit", statements that may seem profound but fall apart when scrutinized. We talked about the psychological mechanisms behind pseudo-profoundness and others related to human reasoning. We also discuss his recent research showing that conversations with large language models can reduce belief in conspiracy theories by presenting clear evidence and counterarguments. Could AI become a tool for improving public reasoning? Or does it introduce new risks for misinformation?This conversation explores how intuition, reflection, and cognitive laziness shape the way we think and what that means in an age of algorithms and AI. If you enjoy the episode, please consider leaving a like, subscribing, and leaving a review on Youtube, Spotify and Apple!Gordon's website:https://www.gordonpennycook.com/Instagram and other platforms:⁠https://linktr.ee/philosophy.everyday⁠More from Philosophy Everyday:⁠https://www.thephilosophyeveryday.com/
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  Pain Is Inevitable. Suffering Is Optional | Steven C. Hayes 24.02.2026 1h 24min

  Steven C. Hayes is a prominent American clinical psychologist and researcher known for his foundational work in behavioral science and psychotherapy with a focus on human language, cognition, and alleviating suffering. He developed Relational Frame Theory (RFT), which explains human higher cognition, and originated Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), an evidence-based psychotherapy. We explore why our evolution as social primates has left us with a mind that we can’t forget. Dr. Hayes explains how to transition from a life of emotional struggle to one of true psychological flexibility. We also explore the relationship of pursuing happiness and how this may ultimately lead to the opposite, the differences between being in pain and suffering, the concept of experiential avoidance, the concept of cognitive attachment, the evolutionary development of language and human cognition, and the science of developing psychological flexibility.Steven's website:https://www.stevenchayes.com/Instagram and other platforms:⁠https://linktr.ee/philosophy.everyday⁠More from Philosophy Everyday:⁠https://www.thephilosophyeveryday.com/
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  Platonic Love Explained (Why Modern Dating Feels So Empty) 10.02.2026 26min

  The idea that love is a feeling rather than an appetite for something may be part of the marketing surrounding Valentine's Day; in other words, love is viewed as satisfaction, completion, or a secure sense of emotions. However, Plato has an entirely different view. In this episode, I take a look at Plato's "Symposium," which is arguably one of the most upsetting, and authentic descriptions of love ever put on paper. It is through Socrates' and Diotima's explanations that Plato describes love as absence, longing, and as a movement toward something we don't yet possess.Instagram and other platforms:⁠https://linktr.ee/philosophy.everyday⁠More from Philosophy Everyday:⁠https://www.thephilosophyeveryday.com/
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  Why We Are Losing Our Minds | John Vervaeke on the Meaning Crisis 05.02.2026 1h 30min

  John Vervaeke is a cognitive scientist and philosopher best known for his work on the modern meaning crisis, wisdom, and the nature of human understanding. He is a professor at the University of Toronto and the creator of Awakening from the Meaning Crisis, a widely influential lecture series exploring why modern life feels increasingly disconnected, fragmented, and nihilistic. In this episode, we explore what happens to love, truth, and meaning in a nihilistic world. We discuss Socrates and Plato on eros and the examined life, the role of love in orienting us toward reality, and why truth cannot be reduced to method or calculation alone. We examine the consequences of modernity, Nietzsche’s warning about nihilism, the loss of wisdom as a way of life, and why rationality without care leads to a crisis of meaning. We also consider whether love is a condition for truth rather than its rival, and how recovering wisdom may be essential for confronting the challenges of modern life.John's lectures:https://lectern.johnvervaeke.com/Instagram and other platforms:⁠https://linktr.ee/philosophy.everyday⁠More from Philosophy Everyday:⁠https://www.thephilosophyeveryday.com/
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  Why Descartes Still Haunts Us | John Cottingham 28.01.2026 1h 4min

  John Cottingham is one of the world’s leading scholars of René Descartes and early modern philosophy. He is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at the University of Reading and the author of several influential books on Descartes, ethics, and philosophy of religion. Cottingham is also widely known for his work on the Cambridge Edition of the Works of Descartes, where he served as editor and translator, helping shape how Descartes is read and understood today. In this episode, we explore Descartes’ philosophy from its foundations to its modern consequences. We discuss the method of radical doubt, the meaning of “I think, therefore I am,” the mind–body problem, and why consciousness still resists purely scientific explanation. We also examine the central role God plays in Descartes’ system, whether reason alone can justify belief, and how these ideas continue to shape debates in philosophy, science, and artificial intelligence today.John's website:https://www.johncottingham.co.uk/Instagram and other platforms:⁠https://linktr.ee/philosophy.everyday⁠More from Philosophy Everyday:⁠https://www.thephilosophyeveryday.com/
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  “I Think, Therefore I Am” What Did Descartes Really Mean? 14.01.2026 29min

  Nothing can be trusted to be real, or at least, that’s the starting point. In this episode, I break down René Descartes’ method of radical doubt by walking through the First and Second Meditations, step by step. What happens if you treat everything that can be doubted as false? That includes; your senses, your body, the external world, and even mathematics. Instagram and other platforms:⁠https://linktr.ee/philosophy.everyday⁠More from Philosophy Everyday:⁠https://www.thephilosophyeveryday.com/
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  We Arrived Late to the Cosmic Party! Avi Loeb on Cosmic Modesty and Our Place in the Universe 02.01.2026 1h 25min

  Dr. Avi Loeb is a prominent theoretical physicist specializing in astrophysics and cosmology. He serves as the Frank B. Baird Jr. Professor of Science at Harvard University, where he previously chaired the Astronomy Department and founded the Black Hole Initiative. He has authored over 800 papers and popular books like Extraterrestrial on potential signs of alien technology. Follow the podcast for more conversations on cosmology, science, and philosophy.Avi Loeb's blog:https://avi-loeb.medium.com/Instagram and other platforms:⁠https://linktr.ee/philosophy.everyday⁠More from Philosophy Everyday:⁠https://www.thephilosophyeveryday.com/
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  Books to Read (Fiction, Philosophy, AI, Consciousness) | Book Review #1 26.12.2025 25min

  As we enter 2026, I wanted to take a step back and reflect on some of the books I read this year, and what they made me rethink about life, meaning, power, consciousness, and society. Check out the chapter names to see books discussed in this video. Let me know in the comments what you’re planning to read in 2026, and whether you have read any of these before.Instagram and other platforms:⁠https://linktr.ee/philosophy.everyday⁠More from Philosophy Everyday:⁠https://www.thephilosophyeveryday.com/
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  Education Was Never About Jobs | Aristotle on Leisure and the Good Life 15.12.2025 26min

  Was education ever meant to make you employable or fix your career? In the final book of Politics, Aristotle argues that this assumption misunderstands education from the beginning. According to Aristotle, education primarily exists for the sake of leisure, here understood as freedom from necessity and the condition for contemplation. This understanding proposes that a life organized entirely around usefulness and efficiency may function, but it cannot flourish. In this episode, I unpack Aristotle’s most demanding claims about education, virtue, habituation, music, physical training, and the role of the city in shaping character. Aristotle draws sharp distinctions between usefulness and nobility, cleverness and virtue, play and leisure, work and the activities that are worth pursuing for their own sake. There might be some FPS drops in the beginning of the video, which gets better later. This was due to unidentified technical issue during the recording. I apologize for this. However, the audio and the pacing is consistent throughout the episode, so it should not diminish the quality of experience.Instagram and other platforms:⁠https://linktr.ee/philosophy.everyday⁠More from Philosophy Everyday:⁠https://www.thephilosophyeveryday.com/