What is happiness, and why are we incapable of getting a fix on it? Is the happiness industry really in the business of making us unhappy? And can philosophy help?

The Philosopher's Zone - Program podcast

Happy?

As a young girl, Aileen Moreton-Robinson learned to track in the bush, and this was the beginning of her philosophical education, as she learned how all things are connected. Today she sees Western thought as disconnected, disjointed, and badly in need of a relational approach that might get us talking properly about race and power.

Philosophy in the wake of Empire part 5: Tracks of thought

Africa has a history of rich and ancient philosophical traditions. Those traditions were rendered invisible by European colonisers, who sought to overlay Africa's past with the values of the Enlightenment. Today, African philosophy is being uncovered and introduced to the West - but is the West listening?

Philosophy in the wake of Empire part 4: Africa

Feminist arguments in the West have been used to advance imperialist projects that inflict suffering on women in Iraq and Afghanistan. And the Western feminist focus on individual rights can be disastrous when played out in non-Western contexts. Is it time to rethink “missionary feminism”?

Philosophy in the wake of Empire pt. 3: Missionary feminism

As refugees from the former colonies make their way to Europe, notions of “European life” and “European values” are facing unprecedented challenges. As postcolonial subjects, how should these migrants be received and understood?

Philosophy in the wake of Empire pt. 2: Migrants and other Others

The West has a history of colonisation and empire-building. How has this shaped the discipline of philosophy? This week – first in a five-part series – we look at racism and the unfortunate legacy of Immanuel Kant, who believed the non-white races were incapable of philosophical reflection.

Philosophy in the wake of Empire pt. 1: The white way to think

When individuals and communities today still suffer the consequences of past wrongs — slavery, dispossession, invasion, the theft of land and resources — what exactly is owed to them, and who should pay?

Reparation

How well does humanism's account of itself hold up in philosophical terms?

The problem with humanism

The climate debate isn't just about science; it's also about gender and power. Ecofeminism takes this seriously - but does it also perpetuate negative stereotypes about women's supposedly \"natural\" connection to the earth and to nurturing?

Feminism, ecology, motherhood

The prospect of human genetic enhancement raises moral concerns. Will a genetically enhanced human in 2060 will be rendered “obsolete” by technological advances that come along in 2070? What happens when we blur the distinction between person and product?

Genetically obsolete

A professional academic philosopher, the American neo-pragmatist Richard Rorty was also a provocative critic of his own discipline. He had little time for what he saw as the pretensions of analytic philosophers and their ambitions to transcendence. But his work is tangled up in its own ambitions and fascinating contradictions.

Richard Rorty and transcendence

Plato and Aristotle were acute observers and analysts of the world around them, but they never had to deal with climate change. Trust, virtue and reason seem to be in short supply today. Can the ancients show us how to recover these essential aspects of social harmony?

Classical ethics, modern problem

Sigmund Freud had mixed feelings about philosophy – he thought that philosophers and people experiencing psychosis had a lot in common. So how has contemporary philosophy come to owe such a huge debt to the father of psychoanalysis?

Philosophy on the couch

Our reactions to suicide often depend on the era in which it takes place: when practised by ancient philosophers, it has a noble lustre. When practised by modern celebrities, it’s an emblem of the emptiness of fame and fortune. And now, the advent of voluntary euthanasia is changing our perceptions once again.

Gloomy Sunday

Politics has never been a gentle pursuit - but these days the gloves are well and truly off. How did we get here? What are the implications for political philosophy, and for politics in general? As for where we might be headed, there are fascinating – if rather terrifying – clues in the work of French thinker René Girard.

Politics at the extremes

The Philosopher's Zone looks at the world of philosophy and at the world through philosophy. The program addresses the big philosophical questions and arguments. It also explores what philosophical analysis can contribute to our understanding of some of the fundamental and perplexing issues that face the world today.

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The Philosopher's Zone - Program podcast

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