Videos

PHILOSOPHY - The Good Life: Kant [HD]
The Good Life: Kant
Chris Surprenant
September 11, 2015
Chris Surprenant (University of New Orleans) discusses the account of human well-being and the good life presented by Immanuel Kant in the his moral, political, and religious writings. He explains why Kant believes that the highest good for a human being is the conjunction of happiness and complete virtue and how it is possible for an individual to attain these two things at the same time.
PHILOSOPHY - The Good Life: Aristotle [HD]
The Good Life: Aristotle
Chris Surprenant
September 8, 2015
Chris Surprenant (UNO) discusses the account of human well-being and the good life presented by Aristotle in the Nicomachean Ethics and Politics. He explains why Aristotle believes that a human being lives well when he acts rightly and possesses all virtues, both intellectual and those relating to good character.
PHILOSOPHY - The Good Life: Plato [HD]
The Good Life: Plato
Chris Surprenant
September 4, 2015
Chris Surprenant (UNO) discusses the account of human well-being and the good life presented by Socrates in Plato's dialogues. He explains why Socrates closely connects his account of the good life with justice, a concept understood not just as a political arrangement but also as a state of a well-ordered individual's soul.
PHILOSOPHY - Metaphysics: Paradoxes of Perception [HD]
Paradoxes of Perception #1 (Argument from Illusion)
Eugen Fischer
August 28, 2015
In this video, Dr Eugen Fischer (UEA) presents the ‘argument from illusion’. This argument appears to refute our common-sense conception of perception (seeing, hearing, etc.). Together with parallel arguments, it raises the problem of perception that has been a lynch-pin of Western philosophy, since the mid-18th century.
PHILOSOPHY - Political: Race and Racist Institutions [HD]
Race and Racist Institutions
Eduardo Mendieta
August 21, 2015
In this video, Eduardo Mendieta (Penn State University) asks "What are the consequences of race thinking and the institutional and legal forms of segregation if race is not real? Why do we categorize race as a real thing based on visual perception and how is such a category anti-democratic?"
PHILOSOPHY - Epistemology: The Paradox of the Ravens [HD]
The Paradox of the Ravens
Marc Lange
July 24, 2015
In this video, Marc Lange (UNC) introduces the paradox of confirmation, one that arises from instance confirmation, the equivalence condition, and common inference rules of logic.
PHILOSOPHY - Rational Choice Theory: Collective Action Problems [HD]
Collective Action Problems
Jonathan Anomaly
July 17, 2015
In this video, Professor Jonathan Anomaly (Duke and UNC – Chapel Hill) discusses collective action problems, which include any situation in which there is a conflict between individual rationality and social welfare, so that individuals working in isolation produce a worse outcome than they might if they could find a way to coordinate.
PHILOSOPHY - Rational Choice: Tragedy of the Commons [HD]
Tragedy of the Commons
Jonathan Anomaly
July 10, 2015
In this video, Professor Jonathan Anomaly (Duke and UNC – Chapel Hill) discusses commons tragedies, which are defined as a situation in which the benefits of an action are borne by the individual while the costs are shared by all members of a group.
PHILOSOPHY - Political: The Prisoner's Dilemma [HD]
The Prisoner's Dilemma
Geoff Sayre-McCord
July 3, 2015
In this video, Dr. Geoffrey Sayre-McCord (UNC-Chapel Hill) explains the prisoner's dilemma. The prisoner's dilemma is a scenario where all parties making rational choices ensures a less desired result for each than if each actor had chosen individually less-preferred options.
Philosophy (Epistemology) - Rationality [HD]
Rationality
Ram Neta
June 26, 2015
Ram Neta (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill) considers whether we're as rational as we often think we are.
Philosophy (Ethics): The Problem of Moral Luck [HD]
The Problem of Moral Luck
Victor Kumar
June 19, 2015
Victor Kumar (Michigan) introduces the problem of moral luck and surveys potential solutions. We see how the problem arises out of a clash between intuitive reactions to cases and an abstract principle of moral responsibility.
Philosophy (Ethics): Consequentialism [HD]
Consequentialism
Julia Driver
June 12, 2015
In this video, Julia Driver (Washington University in St. Louis) introduces us to the ethical theory of consequentialism.
Philosophy (Psychology): Personal Identity
Personal Identity (The Essential Moral Self)
Nina Strohminger
June 8, 2015
Using the method of experimental philosophy, Nina Strohminger (Yale University) and Shaun Nichols (University of Arizona) compare philosophical and everyday answers to the question "Which aspect of the self is most essential for personal identity?"
Philosophy (Religion): Classical Theism, Part 2
Classical Theism, Part 2
Elmar Kremer
June 3, 2015
In this video, Elmar Kremer (University of Toronto) introduces two theories of the nature of God: classical theism and theistic personalism. In part 2, he considers several arguments for and against classical theism.
Philosophy (Religion): Classical Theism
Classical Theism, Part 1
Elmar Kremer
June 3, 2015
In this video, Elmar Kremer (University of Toronto) introduces two theories of the nature of God: classical theism and theistic personalism. In part 1, he considers the arguments that have been made for each theory.
Critical Thinking: Abductive Arguments
Abductive Arguments
Geoff Pynn
May 8, 2015
In this video, Geoff Pynn (Northern Illinois University) follows up on his introduction to critical thinking by exploring how abductive arguments give us reason to believe their conclusions. Good abductive arguments don't guarantee their conclusions, but give us very good reasons to believe their conclusions. This sort of inference is called "inference to the best explanation."
Critical Thinking: The Monty Hall Problem
The Monty Hall Problem
Bryce Gessell
May 4, 2015
The Monty Hall problem is a strange result arising from a very simple situation. In this video, Bryce Gessell (Duke University) explains why it seems so counterintuitive and why the solution isn't counterintuitive at all.
Deanova Cavendish Pt 2
Cavendish, Part 2
Adela Deanova
May 4, 2015
In the second of two videos, Adela Deanova (Duke) introduces Margaret Cavendish, an early modern English philosopher, and discusses the background to her critique of experimental philosophy. This video is a part of a series of videos coming from Project Vox (Duke), a project recovering the lost voices of women philosophers.

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