Today's episode of the egg timer takes a look at Thomas Malthus's ideas about population and the significant influence that they had on 19th century thought.If you have comments, questions, or ideas for future episodes send them over to: eggti

146: Hardin on The Tragedy of The Commons

Nov 9th, 2023 11m 47s

in 1968 Garrett Hardin published 'The Tragedy of the Commons' and since that time his ideas have proved highly influential to a wide range of thinkers including philosophers, political scientists, economists, ecologists, and biologists. Tune to

145: The Commons

Oct 19th, 2023 13m 25s

This episode of the egg timer takes a critical look at what the commons are and why they matter to the history of ideas.Send you comments, questions, and ideas for future episodes to [email protected] Attribution: By Lennart S

144: Confirmation Bias

Sep 29th, 2023 11m 13s

Tune into today's episode to learn more about confirmation bias. What is it? Why do we have it? What can be done about it?Send you comments, questions, and ideas for future episodes to: [email protected]

143: Bioethics and Organ Donation

Sep 4th, 2023 12m 14s

Tune in for a discussion of ethical issues related with organ donation and specifically what a system of organ donation ought to be like.Send your questions, comments, and ideas for future episodes to: [email protected] Image Attri

142: Philosophy and 1984: Part 4

Aug 12th, 2023 17m 38s

This fourth and final installment of the Summer Series takes a look at the philosophical themes from the last quarter of 1984. Winston is being interrogated by O'Brien and what ensues in their encounter is a vivid description of totalitarianism

141: Philosophy and 1984: Part 3

Jul 28th, 2023 12m 4s

This third installment of the Summer Series returns to 1984 where Winston and Julia are becoming increasingly entangled in a dangerous conspiracy against The Party.A free copy of 1984 can be found here: http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks01/0100021

140: Philosophy and 1984: Part 2

Jul 12th, 2023 18m 25s

This installment of the Summer Series takes a look at some of the more important philosophical and social themes from the second quarter of 1984. Winston visits the proles section of the city and beings a secret and rebellious romantic relation

139: Philosophy and 1984: Part 1

Jun 29th, 2023 22m 10s

This first installment of the Summer Series takes a look at philosophical themes from the first quarter of Orwell's classic, 1984. Tune in to hear ideas about totalitarian dystopia, power and control, and doublethink.A free copy of 1984 can b

138: Philosophy and 1984 Summer Series Announcement

Jun 13th, 2023 2m 58s

The 2023 Summer series will highlight themes from George Orwell's classic dystopian creation, 1984. The initial episode covering the first quarter of the book will be released June 28th, the second episode on July 12th, the third on July 26th,

137: Leibniz on Monads

May 17th, 2023 13m 49s

What is the fundamental element of reality? In 1714 Leibniz published the Monadology and gave a very interesting answer to this question. There he argued that a non-physical part less basic substance called a Monad was indeed the fundamental el

136: Duties Owed to Future Generations?

Apr 26th, 2023 10m 30s

Can we owe duties to people who do not yet exist? Tune in as this vexing philosophical and ethical question gets scrambled up.

135: Ethics And The Law

Apr 11th, 2023 12m 1s

This episode of the egg timer offers some introductory questions and themes about the relationship between ethics and the law.Send you questions, comments, and ideas for future episodes to: [email protected] Attribution: By Th

134: Camus's 'The Stranger': Part 2

Mar 29th, 2023 15m 39s

This episode of the egg timer scrambles up existential themes from the second half of Albert Camus's 'The Stranger'.You can find the full text of 'The Stranger' here: https://archive.org/stream/CamusAlbertTheStranger/CamusAlbert-TheStranger_d

133: Camus's 'The Stranger': Part 1

Mar 21st, 2023 11m 7s

This episode of the egg timer scrambles up existential themes from the first half of Albert Camus's 'The Stranger'. You can find the full text of 'The Stranger' here: https://archive.org/stream/CamusAlbertTheStranger/CamusAlbert-TheStranger_d

132: Camus's 'The Stranger' Preview

Mar 14th, 2023 2m 56s

This episode of the egg timer previews Albert Camus's 20th century classic novel 'The Stranger'. The next two episodes of the podcast will be devoted to taking a look at the major philosophical themes within that work.You can find the full te

131: Hannah Arendt on the Banality of Evil

Mar 3rd, 2023 7m

This episode of the egg timer takes a look at Hannah Arendt's thoughts about the banality of evil. Arendt's treatment of evil was one of the most important and controversial ideas within 20th century political philosophy. Send your thoughts,

130: Isaiah Berlin's 'Two Concepts of Liberty'

Feb 21st, 2023 11m 42s

This episode of the egg timer takes a look at Isaiah Berlin's 20th century political philosophy classic, 'Two Concepts of Liberty'. Tune in to learn more about the distinction Berlin makes between positive and negative liberty and why he rejec

129: Two Utilitarian Thought Experiments

Feb 10th, 2023 9m 47s

For today's episode a couple of thought experiments meant to provoke some critical thought surrounding utilitarian ethics.Send your comments, questions, and ideas for future episodes to: [email protected]

128: Price Gouging and Scarcity

Jan 31st, 2023 14m 52s

For most people price gouging is a very cut and dry ethical issue. Tune in to find out how considerations of scarcity make the issue more complex than it first appears to be.Send your thoughts, questions, and ideas for future episodes to: egg

127: Herbert Spencer's Evolutionary Individualism

Jan 20th, 2023 18m 38s

Herbert Spencer was an extremely influential 19th century thinker but his ideas exist in relative obscurity today. He coined the phrase 'survival of the fittest' and wrote extensively on a variety of topics within evolutionary theory, politica

126: Darwin on Natural Selection

Jan 10th, 2023 16m 4s

Tune in to learn more about Charles Darwin's idea of Natural Selection and how that idea was impactful well beyond the biological sciences. Send over your questions, thoughts, and ideas for future episodes to [email protected]

125: Princess Elisabeth's Objection to Descartes's Dualism

Dec 30th, 2022 16m 8s

In 1643 Elisabeth, Princess of Bohemia, wrote a series of letters to Descartes which posed a strong objection to his dualism. Tune in to learn more about that objection and how Descartes responded in a lively correspondence with the Princess.

124: The Gettier Problem and Knowledge

Dec 20th, 2022 13m 24s

In 1963 Edmund Gettier's short paper offering counterexamples to the idea that knowledge amounts to justified true belief sent shock waves around the philosophical world. Tune in to learn more about Gettier's influential ideas that still garne

123: Knowledge as Justified True Belief

Dec 9th, 2022 12m 19s

Knowledge is often defined today as justified true belief. This episode is devoted to taking a look at each part of this influential approach to understanding what knowledge amounts to.Send your comments, questions, and ideas for future episo