Philosophy Bites is a site offering podcasts with top philosophers on bite-sized topics. Philosophers interviewed include Peter Singer, Stephen Law, Simon Blackburn, A.C. Grayling and Alain de Botton. With over forty interviews and counting, it includes interviews on topics ranging from Plato's cave to moral relativism to the subjectivity of wine tasting, and is definitely worth checking out.
Some titles to entice you:
Related to the KI Syllabus
A.C. Grayling on Descartes' Cogito
Brad Hooker on Consequentialism
Barry Stroud on Scepticism
Other Interesting Podcasts
Stephen Law on The Problem of Evil
A. C. Grayling on Atheism
Mary Warnock on Sartre's Existentialism
Alain de Botton on Philosophy Within and Outside the Academy
If you use iTunes, you may also subscribe to Philosophy Bites through iTunes' podcast directory.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Monday, February 18, 2008
Spacing in Spaces
The dust has almost settled (i hope!) on the brouhaha over a certain primary school that set up a halal zone in its school canteen. This certain school also sent a letter to parents stating that children would not be allowed to bring non-halal food onto the premises since the school canteen had been certified halal. On top of that, the school enlisted the help of its security guard and discipline master to check students' lunch boxes to ensure that pupils complied with the ruling.
From the many news reports and comments made with regard to this unfortunate incident, one idea seems to feature quite prominently - the idea of space. As individuals residing in a common space, issues of navigation and of finding our own space are inevitable. How do we as a society and as a community, create spaces where individuals are free to express our own beliefs? How do we as individuals, carve out such spaces for ourselves without impinging on those of others? As much as we are social beings, we are also individuals who desire our individual space; furthermore, our membership to various groups also complicates the spatial dynamics between people and people; and between people and their spaces.
From the many news reports and comments made with regard to this unfortunate incident, one idea seems to feature quite prominently - the idea of space. As individuals residing in a common space, issues of navigation and of finding our own space are inevitable. How do we as a society and as a community, create spaces where individuals are free to express our own beliefs? How do we as individuals, carve out such spaces for ourselves without impinging on those of others? As much as we are social beings, we are also individuals who desire our individual space; furthermore, our membership to various groups also complicates the spatial dynamics between people and people; and between people and their spaces.
Not too long ago, I came across an article on BBC (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/7204635.stm) which highlighted what I thought to be a somewhat similar issue. The article recounted how a digital book, a CD-Rom digital version of the traditional story of the three little pigs, called Three Little Cowboy Builders, was turned down by a government agency's awards panel as the subject matter could offend Muslims and builders. Specifically, the judges warned that "the use of pigs raises cultural issues". This to me, seems to highlight the difficulty of creating a common space where everyone can be truly comfortable. Is this an impossible dream?
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