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The Philosophers Zone podcast

Program: The Philosopher's Zone

Source:ABC Radio National

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ABC Radio National

Presented by

David Rutledge

The simplest questions often have the most complex answers. The Philosopher's Zone is your guide through the strange thickets of logic, metaphysics and ethics.

Airs Sunday 5:30pm Repeated: Tuesday 1.30 pm and Sunday 5.30am

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Obedience

Is obedience a virtue? History is littered with instances where obedience to bad rulers or unjust laws has resulted in catastrophe. But then it's hard to imagine raising or educating children without obedience being a fundamental requirement.

Published: 19h agoWed 1 May 2024 at 11:00pmwith David Rutledge

A sheet of manuscript paper with music

Duration: 28 minutes 25 seconds

More from The Philosopher's Zone

Style wars pt 2: Scandals and hoaxes

What should we think when an academic Humanities journal unsuspectingly publishes a paper that's been written as a hoax, full of fashionable jargon and deliberately specious arguments? Does this demonstrate that the Humanities set a higher value on…

A trap made from a box propped up by a stick

Duration: 31 minutes 9 seconds

Published: 25 Apr 2024Thu 25 Apr 2024 at 11:00pmwith David Rutledge

Style wars pt 1: Postwar France and a new philosophical mode

In the aftermath of the Second World War, France was in a state of creative ferment that affected politics, culture - and philosophy.

Crumpled yellow paper scrawled with tiny handwriting

Duration: 33 minutes 3 seconds

Published: 18 Apr 2024Thu 18 Apr 2024 at 11:00pmwith David Rutledge

The predicament of existence

Pain is part of life, and none of us can escape it. And yet most of us feel that the deal is worth it, that the pleasure of life outweighs the suffering. Anti-natalist philosophy takes a different view.

Duration: 28 minutes 25 seconds

Published: 10 Apr 2024Wed 10 Apr 2024 at 11:00pmwith David Rutledge

Mary Midgley, public philosophy and plumbing

British thinker Mary Midgley (1919-2018) believed that philosophy should be a public undertaking, concerned with issues that have their genesis out in the world rather than within the academy.

A set of multi-coloured pipes leaking water

Duration: 28 minutes 24 seconds

Published: 4 Apr 2024Thu 4 Apr 2024 at 10:00pmwith David Rutledge

Feature Articles

Forget the scare stories, here's what Satanists believe

Satanism is undergoing an identity crisis, caught between its individualist origins and a more justice-oriented contemporary incarnation. Are Satanists supposed to be radical social Darwinists? Or is there room in the religion for compassion?

Satanists in street wearing black, holding black flag with pentagram.

Published: 7 Nov 2022Mon 7 Nov 2022 at 2:45amby David Rutledge

What's happening in our brains when we meditate? It's not just a question for neuroscience

There's something special happening when we meditate. But how does it actually work? One expert says the key to finding out is bringing together insights from many disciplines — from neuroscience to philosophy and religion.

A large group of Buddhist monks wearing orange robes meditating

Published: 29 Apr 2022Fri 29 Apr 2022 at 4:43amby Barbara Heggen

What we (maybe) get wrong about David Hume

Scottish philosopher David Hume is widely regarded as having been an arch sceptic, and in more recent times he's been denounced as a racist. How does the evidence stack up?

A metal statue of a David Hume holding a book, with cloudy skies and a stone church in the background.

Published: 15 Jun 2021Tue 15 Jun 2021 at 11:59pmby David Rutledge

Why small philosophical sayings never get old

Philosophical wisdom doesn't have to be long-winded. Sometimes, shorter is better. But in age of Twitter and texting, should there be more short-form philosophers among us?

Jan Baptist Weenix portrait of philosopher Rene Descartes, 1647-1649.

Published: 18 Nov 2020Wed 18 Nov 2020 at 12:25amby David Rutledge

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