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Philosophy for our times: cutting edge debates and talks from the world's leading thinkers

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moral animals
Moral Animals and Our Place in the Universe
moral animals
Categories: Life & The Living
Speakers: Oliver Scott Curry, Tom Sorell, Colin Tudge
Are good and evil unique to humans?

We think of morality as being uniquely human. Yet some evolutionary biologists claim that animals exhibit moral behaviour. Is morality an evolved behaviour and not especially human after all? If so, is good and bad the outcome of evolution, or is morality written into the universe from the outset?
Event: HowTheLightGetsIn 2015
entering the unknown2
Entering the Unknown
entering the unknown2
Categories: Knowledge, Science & Method
Speakers: Robert Rowland-Smith
Is there an unknown world beyond us? Is the self unknowledgable? Philosopher Robert Rowland Smith examines the limits of knowledge.
Event: HowTheLightGetsIn 2015
love incorporated
Love Incorporated
Can we measure our emotions?
love incorporated
Categories: Culture & Sexuality
Speakers: Richard Coles, Catherine Hakim, Mark Salter
Can we measure our emotions?

As Romeo and Juliet showed, love is a wild and unpredictable force even when faced with reason and control. But we join online dating sites to increase our probability of finding it. Are emotions and intimacy rational choices that can be measured and explained, or is this the sort of reductionist thinking that love seeks to escape?
Event: HowTheLightGetsIn 2015
March of the machines
March of the Machines
Is AI a threat to mankind?
March of the machines
Categories: Technology & Environment
Speakers: Warren Ellis, Roger Penrose, Nigel Shadbolt
Is AI a threat to mankind?

Evil artificial intelligences are luckily confined to fiction. Yet leading scientists claim that intelligent machines are 'the most serious threat facing mankind'. Are they right or could a mind free from human prejudices create a better world? Or is all talk of artificial intelligence a deluded fantasy?
Event: HowTheLightGetsIn 2015
time space and being
Time, Space and Being
time space and being
Categories: The Universe & Reality
Speakers: Julian Barbour, Michela Massimi, Huw Price
Are space and time just a human fantasy?

We think space and time are the structure of the universe. Yet Einstein argued 'space and time are modes by which we think and not conditions in which we live'. And philosophers, Kant and Heidegger, saw space and time as the framework of thought not the world. Are space and time just a human fantasy?
Event: HowTheLightGetsIn 2015
myself and others 7
Myself and Others
myself and others 7
Categories: Life & The Living
Speakers: Simon Glendinning, Ed Stafford, Kate Williams
Are we more alive when we are alone?

We often think being alone is something to fear. Yet it has been an integral component in the lives of many of our greatest thinkers. Are we more real when we are alone and perhaps also more alive?  Or was Heidegger right in seeing Being with Others as an essential element of being human?
Event: HowTheLightGetsIn 2015
end of the west
The End of the West
end of the west
Categories: The World & The Future
Speakers: Stephen King, Will Kymlicka, Clare Short
Is Europe failing?

For 300 years European culture has dominated the world stage. But In 2014 China became the world's largest economy. India is hot on its heels. Their cultural and political influence will follow. Can we find a way to stay at the leading edge of global culture? Or is the brief European age coming to a close?
Event: HowTheLightGetsIn 2015
fantasy of money
The Fantasy of Money
fantasy of money
Categories: Technology & Environment
Speakers: Sarah Bird, Nigel Dodd, Izabella Kaminska
Are there alternatives to currency?

When backed by gold, money had a real value. Yet now it floats free, a fantasy made real by our belief. Are there alternative fantasies that we could create to generate different and perhaps better realities? Or is there something special about the fantasy of money that makes it irreplaceable?
Event: HowTheLightGetsIn 2015
search of the self
In Search of the Self
search of the self
Categories: Mind & Reason
Speakers: Simon Blackburn, Colin Blakemore, Mary Midgley
Who are we?

There is no self, no 'I', only a flickering illusion. So claim many neuroscientists and philosophers. Yet for the rest of us, the denial of the self feels like a bitter pill to swallow. Is the self a fantasy? Or is it essential to our being and consciousness?
Event: HowTheLightGetsIn 2015
gandhi vs guevera
Gandhi vs Guevara
gandhi vs guevera
Categories: Ideas & Ideology
Speakers: Finn Mackay, Neel Mukherjee, John Sauven
Does pacifism or passion change the world?

Gandhi's principle of non-violence made him the father of a nation. But it is Che Guevara whose face has come to represent liberty, justice, and revolution. Whose fantasies play the bigger part in shaping our reality? Does the pacifism of Gandhi or the passion of Che have the greatest power to change the world?
Event: HowTheLightGetsIn 2015
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