Idle Talk

We are getting there slowly but surely

radio@rhodders.com (Idle Talk) — Mon, 30 Dec 2013 12:35:27 +0000

This morning I woke up to a nice email. An Idle Talk episode on Audioboo has been listened to over 1000 times. Hear the episode here- https://audioboo.fm/boos/1502575-idle-talk-14-07-13-email-and-the-alienation-of-the-worker 1000 people cant be wrong!

Idle Talk 11 08 13 Do we have free will?

radio@rhodders.com (Idle Talk) — Mon, 12 Aug 2013 22:39:35 +0000

This week we try and tackle the somewhat scary question of whether or not we have free will. If you subscribe to the idea of cause and effect then everything happens as a result of a prior cause. This must apply to us so are we truly in control of our actions? We also explore the effect of recent advances in neuroscience on free will. Neuroscientists have claimed that they are able to predict actions before we become aware of them.Even if actions and outcomes in the world can be predicted that this necessarily we don’t have free will?

The reading

Philosophy Bites podcast: Adina Roskines on neuroscience and free will-http://philosophybites.com/2012/05/adina-roskies-on-neuroscience-and-free-will.html

Stanford Encyclopaedia of philosophy: Determinism http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/determinism-causal/

Stanford Encyclopaedia of philosophy: compatibilism http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/compatibilism/

Article Explaining the Idle Talk radio show

radio@rhodders.com (Idle Talk) — Mon, 12 Aug 2013 14:27:03 +0000

People often ask me why I started presenting Idle Talk, my philosophy radio show. Previously I had mostly presented comedy/entertainment breakfast show style programs. Admittedly it does seem a bit weird to go from a show called “Thank God it’s Friday” filled with prank calls and all sorts of strange features to be talking about the concept of beauty and the meaning of life! However, I promice you it sort of makes sense! I have wirten an artcle expaling it in this mouth’s 1Radio.org news letter. Should you care to read it, click HERE.

Rhodders

Idle Talk 14 07 13 Email and the alienation of the worker

radio@rhodders.com (Idle Talk) — Mon, 15 Jul 2013 13:36:01 +0000

Nicola @nicola_patten joins @rhodders for another week of philosophical talk and odd silly side track

This week we talked about Carl Marx’ idea of alienation. Defined in the simple terms as a feeling of being our of sorts with ones self and the world. Carl Marx wrote that under a capitalist economic system society divides itself into two classes: the property owners and the property-less workers. In this arrangement, the workers not only suffer impoverishment but also experience an estrangement or alienation from the world. Fast forward a few years and the world of work has become even stranger. It is quite normal now to send an e-mail to somebody you are sitting opposite instead of talking to them face-to-face. We asked is there any truth in Marx’ theory of alienation and if so has technology and the way work now made the problem worse?

The Reading

Wolff, Jonathan, “Karl Marx”, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2011 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.) http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/marx/#2.2

KARL MARX- Spark Noates –http://www.sparknotes.com/philosophy/marx/section1.rhtml

Brave new work: Making the 9-5 somewhere you want to be By Fiona Graham BBC new website- http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-23260286

Idle Talk 07 07 13 Can Films be Philosophical?

radio@rhodders.com (Idle Talk) — Tue, 09 Jul 2013 23:34:37 +0000

Catch the show live by following @rhodders on twitter or Facebook- http://facebook.com/thisisrhodders

This week the topic is can films be philosophical? We argue over how suitable the medium of film is in articulating philosophical questions and ideas when compared to books. Are films better than books or they simply suited to different purposes? Should films be kept for the primary reason that of entertainment? Please write in/calling with films you think are in some way philosophical. We also took calls and messages from listeners about what films they considered to be philosophical.

Rhodders’ guest co-host is philosophy graduate and soon-to-be student of the Met film school Siobhán O’Reilly. Long-time listeners may remember as producer Siobhán 2.0 from Rhodders’ Junction11 breakfast show! Follow her antics on twitter @SiobhanScarr.

References

Can film be a philosophical by David Davis -Mcgill University

Idle Talk listed in “whats Hot” on iTunes

radio@rhodders.com (Idle Talk) — Mon, 08 Jul 2013 16:10:39 +0000

It came as a pleasant surprise to find that the iTunes podcast store has a philosophy section. It was an event nicer surprise to find my Idle Talk podcast is listed under “whats hot”. So its not just the weather. Thanks for all your downloads and 5 star reviews, its really making a difference. If you are yet to subscribe and write a review CLICK HERE. Lets get those downloads though the roof (of Plato’s Cave).

Rhodders

Idle Talk 30 06 13 What is beauty?

radio@rhodders.com (Idle Talk) — Mon, 01 Jul 2013 09:29:42 +0000

This week’s topic is What is beauty? Everybody thinks they have an idea of beauty, they can point out a beautiful person, a beautiful painting etc but where do we get this conception of beauty from? why is it we can call a landscape and a person beautiful despite the obvious differences? (Perhaps One Direction can help!) To give an arty perspective freelance illustrator Nicola Patten was co host. We received lots of great calls and messages this week.We examined two ideas concerning our conception of beauty. Denis Dutton’s Darwinian theory claims that our ideas concerning what we find beautiful are hardwired into our brain by Revolution area adaption. Bourdieu’s explanation concerns a sociological account which argues that our concept of beauty is determined by our upbringing and education.If you have any comments please add to the debate by commenting or e-mailing- radio AT rhodders.com.

References

TED Talks. Denis Dutton: A Darwinian theory of beauty.

http://www.ted.com/talks/denis_dutton_a_darwinian_theory_of_beauty.html

Pierre Bourdieu- A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste

Idle Talk 23 06 13 Charity and effective altruism

radio@rhodders.com (Idle Talk) — Tue, 25 Jun 2013 16:50:32 +0000

This week’s topic is charity and effective altruism. In an age where many charities are run in the same way as commercial businesses we question whether it is even possible to give to charity effectively. We explore a possible solution to this problem, the idea of “effective altruism”. This is where you give what you can to charity but try to ensure that you only give to the most effective of charities. A proponent of effective altruism is Toby Ord, an Oxford University researcher. Toby made the news recently when he pledged to give away over £1 million to charity over his lifetime to charity. In the past year given more than a third of his earnings, £10,000, to charities working in the poorest countries. He has also has given way to a vast proportion of his savings. if you have any comments please add to the debate by commenting or e-mailing- radio AT rhodders.com.

References

TED Talk Peter Singer: The why and how of effective altruism- http://www.ted.com/talks/peter_singer_the_why_and_how_of_effective_altruism.html

BBC News article on Toby Ord- http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-11950843

Idle Talk 19 05 13 Is free riding wrong?

radio@rhodders.com (Idle Talk) — Mon, 20 May 2013 18:48:27 +0000

This week’s topic is the free rider problem. “A free rider, in economics, refers to someone who benefits from resources, goods, or services without paying for the cost of the benefit”.

We try and workout if someone who avoids paying tax, yet still takes advantage of benefits such as the NHS, is doing something wrong. They could be accused of taking advantage of other people’s contribution to society. However one person’s contribution in tax is negligible and therefore this free rider is not having a detrimental effect on the health service. We then examine the issue in the context of trying to prevent climate change and global warming. The listeners as usual give us some interesting opinions!

We then try and tackle this problem by treating it as a problem stemmingfrom the vagueness of human language. To help us define the paradox which could be at the heart of the free rider problem we hear from Josh Matthews at the University of Reading who we spoke to about vagueness during The Idle Talk show of 14th March 2013.

References

Philosophy Bites podcast interview with Richard Tuck- http://philosophybites.com/2008/02/richard-tuck-on.html

Idle Talk 05 05 13 What is the best form of Government?

radio@rhodders.com (Idle Talk) — Tue, 07 May 2013 16:17:58 +0000

What is the best form of government? Should it be any dictatorship, democracy or something else? One way of answering this question is to examine our human nature, find out what we’re really like and find a type of government that suits our inclinations and characteristics. We discuss Thomas Hobbes’ Leviathan which argues that due to Humanity’s selfish and brutish nature the only form of government should be it an absolute /undemocratic government. We contrast these ideas with John Stuart Mill’s pro-democratic writings. This episode also contains an interesting sidetrack about how many engineers just don’t understand philosophical thought experiments!