Cosmopolitanism, the philosophy which foregrounds common humanity while recognizing difference, seems to be the philosophical underpinning of President Obama's approach to international relations. Carlin Romano's fascinating article 'Obama, Philosopher in Chief' (c/o the brilliant Arts and Letters Daily) analyses his speeches linking them to Kwame Anthony Appiah's thinking on the topic (you can listen to Appiah on Cosmopolitanism on the Philosophy Bites podcast) - though Romano economically describes Appiah as 'Ghanian-American' (more on Appiah's genealogy here).
Romano claims that Obama is 'countering' Machiavelli with his advocacy of a consensual politics over coercion, and recognition of rights over party politics. Cynics might note that the expression of such views is completely consistent with Machiavelli's approach (since Machiavelli is all for appearing to take the moral high ground). But surely, as Romano points out, we have entered a new age when an American President sounds like an existentialist:
"Our history has always been the sum total of the choices made and the actions taken by each individual man and woman."
Can we now hope that the US people will be encouraged to apply reason to the area of religion too? While some way ahead of the UK in politics, the US seems to be lagging behind in metaphysics.
If you want to hear my contribution to a debate about agnosticism and why it is often a cop out on the Richard Bacon show on Radio 5 Live this week, then go here, click on 'Tuesday' scroll to about 2hrs 13 into the show and you should be able to listen to it for the next three days.
Download Janet Radcliffe Richards on experimental philosophy 'Thought Experiments',an episode of the BBC Radio 4 series Analysis. This programme was produced by David Edmonds, my co-podcaster on Philosophy Bites (who is also co-author of an article on X-Phi for Prospect Magazine 'Philosophy's Great Experiment').
Philosophy by Bicycle, an unusual one-day event in East and South East London c/o The School of Life on Saturday 25th July 2009. I'll be leading philosophical discussion and Jack Thurston of The Bike Show will be sorting out the route (and possibly mending punctures). Strictly by pre-booked place only (they went really quickly last time, so don't delay if you think you are interested).
My Prospect Magazine column this month is about philosophy, racism and the BNP: 'Philosophy's Hidden Shame'.
The Open University has just released a free podcast of the audio interviews that accompany the political philosophy course AA311 Reading Political Philosophy on iTunesU (the freely available university section of iTunes). This includes long interviews with Quentin Skinner on Machiavelli, Jeremy Waldron on Locke and Alan Ryan and Janet Radcliffe Richard on Mill. Transcripts can also be downloaded from iTunesU. You can also buy the book the course is based on: Reading Political Philosophy: Machiavelli to Mill
Reading Political Philosophy - the podcast (requires that you have iTunes software downloaded). This podcast and transcripts are free.
Agnostics claim to be using their reasoning powers judiciously and end up sitting on the fence...Is agnosticism a cop out, or is it evidence of a balanced reaction to the human predicament? I'll be discussing this with Mark Vernon (an agnostic, I think) - and with anyone else who phones in - on the Richard Bacon show on BBC Radio 5 Live on Tuesday 30th June from midnight for about 45 minutes.
Read an interview about writing Free Speech: A Very Short Introduction
More information about this book and free speech in general at www.vsi-free-speech.com
Isaiah Berlin can be heard here talking about Moses Hess, Turgenev, Herzen and Rousseau in some interesting archival recordings, together with very recent recollections - not all adulatory - from Alan Ryan, who also does some impersonations, in a centenary lecture in which he argues that Berlin didn't give up philosophy, only the narrow version of the subject that was practised in Oxford in the 1930s. A very clear and insightful introduction to the man and to his approach to the thinkers he wrote and spoke about. (Aren't podcasts wonderful! I wanted to go to this lecture, but couldn't get there - now I can listen to it anyway.)
You can also listen to Henry Hardy on Berlin on Pluralism on Philosophy Bites.
Henry Hardy has edited a new book, The Book of Isaiah, which brings together many different people's recollections of Berlin. For more information about Isaiah Berlin check out the Isaiah Berlin Virtual Library.
A new philosophy magazine, The Point, has just been launched in Chicago. The Point aims to explore issues of contemporary relevance. Check it out. It looks promising. Read more about The Point.
Michael Sandel's 2009 Reith Lectures 'A New Citizenship' will be broadcast and podcsat from 9 a.m. tomorrow on BBC Radio 4. Open2.net has some background material and links for those seeking a deeper understanding of Sandels' philosophical stance.
There are also nine Michael Sandel videos of varying lengths available free online here.
Listen out for my question from the audience at the second Reith lecture (though it may have been edited out as the total session was considerably longer than the 45 minutes that will be broadcast).
2009 Reith Lecturer Michael Sandel profiled by Jonathan Derbyshire in The New Statesman. This article gives an excellent introduction to Sandel's philosophical background and how it informs his lecture series on 'A New Citizenship'. Sandel, in his role as a public philosopher advocates clarity and a desire to stimulate public debate. Derbyshire is sympathetic to Sandel's view that we have sacrificed too much of the public good on the altar of economics.
If you want to find out more about Sandel's ideas, the best place to start (at least until his book Justice is published) is Public Philosophy: Essays on Morality in Politics
Or, of course, to listen to the two interviews with him on Philosophy Bites. Also there are very useful links about this year's Reith Lecturescoming through on Twitter on Reith2009.
Photograph shows Michael Sandel interviewed for the Philosophy Bites podcast shortly before he gave his first 2009 Reith Lecture. David Edmonds, the other half of Philosophy Bites, (also co-author with John Eidnow of Wittgenstein's Poker, Rousseau's Dog, and Bobby Fisher Goes to War) is holding the microphone, and I'm on the right looking a bit stiff.
I will be speaking on the topic of whether religion is a force for good or evil on 18th June in London at an event organised by Dialogue with Islam. Tickets will be limited. Advance booking recommended. Further details here:
Download Flyer18June
If you don't fancy listening to me, Zizek is debating religion on the same evening in London at the ICA.
Michael Sandel interviewed by Andrew Marr on BBC Radio 4's Start the Week. Listen again here. Sandel is the first one on the programme to be interviewed. He discusses his ideas about a New Citizenship, the idea that we need to re-invigorate public moral debate. A key area for him is the way in which many activities have been made into commercial transactions (e.g. carbon trading, buying and selling blood, wombs for hire, etc.) and the morally corrupting impact of this.
Find out more about how the BBC is using multiplatforms to connect with the audience for the 2009 Reith lectures here (where there is also a nice plug for Philosophy Bites).
This podcast interview with Michael Sandel on the topic 'What Shouldn't Be Sold' is now available on Philosophy Bites .
Homunculus (aka science writer Philip Ball) has a very interesting article about science and religion on his weblog for 16th May (with links). It includes a brief discussion of The Reason Project, a secular organisation with an impressive advisory board that includes Aayan Hirsi Ali, Richard Dawkins, D.C. Dennett, Stephen Pinker and Christopher Hitchens.
Bertrand Russell was the first ever Reith Lecturer. You can listen to the 1948 first Reith lecture on the individual and social cohesion. 61 years later, similar themes are likely to emerge in Michael Sandel's 2009 Reith lectures. Lecturing style has come on a lot in the interim.
Bertrand Russell also features as the hero in a graphic novel Logicomix
Michael Sandel is giving the 2009 Reith Lectures on 'A New Citizenship'. These will be broadcast on BBC radio from 2nd June. More details available via the Reith2009 Twitter
If you are unfamiliar with Sandel's work, I'd strongly recommend dipping in to his collection of short pieces Public Philosophy
Sandel's critique of liberalism, his main contribution to academic political philosophy, is a central theme: he wants politics to have a vision of the good, not just protect rights to freedoms. But along the way there are interesting thoughts on many aspects of civic life. His brief polemic against what he calls the 'civic corruption' of state lotteries, for instance, (they bombard the most vulnerable citizens 'with a message at odds with the ethic of work, sacrifice and moral responsibility that sustains democratic life'), and the false hope that they bring, shows his unwavering commitment to the values that he believes should be at the heart of politics.
I wrote a short summary of his book on the ethics of biological enhancement, The Case Against Perfection: Ethics in the Age of Genetic Engineering
There are a number of free videos of Sandel in action available online here. An outstanding public speaker and lecturer, his lectures on Justice at Harvard are attended by over a thousand students each session.
And, amazing, but true, he was the model for Mr Burns in The Simpsons!