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The new philosophy podcast! Philosopher Rebecca Lowe talks with philosophical guests about philosophical concepts, with the aim of providing rigorous yet accessible rough working definitions.Themes and summary (AI-generated based on podcaster-provided show and episode descriptions):
➤ Accessible philosophical “working definitions” • political philosophy: democracy, liberalism, politics, freedom, equality, rights • ethics: forgiveness, moral status • mind and AI: consciousness • applied issues: privacy, transparency, institutions and lawThis podcast is a philosophy interview series focused on developing clear, usable “working definitions” of major concepts that recur in moral, political, and social thought. Host Rebecca Lowe speaks with philosophers and related expert guests to clarify what different concepts mean, how they are used in everyday and scholarly contexts, and why disputes about them arise.
Across conversations, the show concentrates on contested ideas central to public life and ethics—such as freedom, democracy, liberalism, politics, rights, equality, privacy, and transparency—alongside more personal or psychological notions like happiness, forgiveness, and consciousness. Discussions commonly examine competing interpretations of a term, the relationships between nearby concepts, and the practical and institutional implications of defining something one way rather than another. The episodes often connect abstract analysis to real-world concerns, including law and legal protection, democratic institutions, political action and responsibility, and the moral stakes of concepts like rights, equality, and consciousness.
Several recurring threads include how to distinguish different types within a concept (for example, different forms of equality), how concepts ground obligations and permissions, when values come into conflict, and how historical influences shape modern usage. The podcast also addresses contemporary questions, such as what people mean by artificial intelligence “consciousness” and how consciousness might relate to moral status. Overall, listeners can expect rigorous but accessible conceptual analysis aimed at mapping the boundaries, functions, and consequences of the philosophical vocabulary that structures social and ethical debate.
| Episodes: |
Working Definition episode 11: Consciousness, with Tim Crane2026-May-31 58 minutes |
Working Definition episode 10: Equality, with Teresa Bejan2026-Apr-23 57 minutes |
Working Definition episode 9: Forgiveness, with Ben Brophy2026-Mar-28 61 minutes |
Working Definition episode 8: Rights, with John Tasioulas2026-Feb-18 65 minutes |
Working Definition episode 7: Happiness, with Henry Oliver2025-Dec-26 47 minutes |
Working Definition episode 6: Liberalism, with Michael Ignatieff2025-Dec-12 54 minutes |
Working Definition episode 5: Politics, with Oliver Traldi2025-Nov-12 59 minutes |
Working Definition episode 4: Privacy, with Ignacio Cofone2025-Sep-29 48 minutes |
Working Definition episode 3: Freedom, with Tyler Cowen2025-Aug-29 60 minutes |
Working Definition episode 2: Democracy, with Josiah Ober2025-Aug-03 61 minutes |
Working Definition episode 1: Transparency, with Tom Hoenig2025-Jul-20 39 minutes |