Microphilosophy with Julian Baggini

Julian Baggini and guests Peter Adamson and Tom Kasulis explore how the exemplary habits and principles of the best philosophers can help us to think better. Their focus today is on how to use thought experiments and being misled by concepts. They take as their cue Baggini’s new book How to Think Like a Philosopher, in which he offers 12 key principles for a more humane, balanced and rational approach to thinking.

Julian Baggini and guests Patricia Churchland and Owen Flanagan explore how the exemplary habits and principles of the best philosophers can help us to think better. Their focus today is on following the facts, without assuming they speak for themselves. They take as their cue Baggini’s new book How to Think Like a Philosopher, in which he offers 12 key principles for a more humane, balanced and rational approach to thinking.

In this discussion recorded live at St Georges, Bristol, philosopher Julian Baggini and guests Lisa Bortolotti and Rebecca Buxton explore how the exemplary habits and principles of the best philosophers can help us to think better. They took as their cue Baggini’s new book How to Think Like a Philosopher, in which he offers 12 key principles for a more humane, balanced and rational approach to thinking. Event produced by Bristol Ideas.

This edition was dropped the week that the legendary guitarist Wilko Johnson died, aged 75. Back in February 2014 I interviewed Wilko at the Giants of Rock Festival in Minehead. We talked about getting old but continuing to rock, a life-affirming choice Wilko and his mostly middle-aged audience both made with glee. The interview wasn’t recorded for broadcast so its backstage, rough-and-ready aesthetic is by accident not design. But I think the informality of the conversation makes a welcome change and gives a good sense of the man himself.Johnson rose to fame with the band Dr Feelgood in the 1970s. He continued to play with various bands after leaving the Feelgoods in 1977. In January 2013 he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and given less than a year to live. He threw himself into touring and a year later when we spoke he was still going strong. At the Giants of Rock Festival he was playing with his long-term sidekick, bass legend Norman Watt-Roy and drummer Dylan Howe. Listen to this and tell me Wilko’s not a philosopher.

I talked to Will Gregory and Graham Fitkin when they visited St Georges in Bristol in 2018 to perform with Will Gregory’s Moog Ensemble, Will Gregory is best known as half of Goldfrapp and is also a composer and producer. Graham Fitkin a composer, pianist and conductor best known for his minimalist and postminimalist work. Our conversation contains gems for both synth geeks and those like me who don’t know much except what we like. And if you’re thinking what has this got to do with philosophy?, just take a listen and if you’re still asking by the end, I’d suggest your conception of philosophy might be too narrow.

Today’s episode features another Philosophy salon recorded live pre-Covid at St George’s in Bristol. This time, we’re talking about the perhaps unlikely and surprising connections between philosophy and … cycling. I was sceptical too but after talking with activist, writer and self-described “outdoor philosopher” Kate Rawles and writer and musician Jet MacDonald, I was converted, and I hope you will be too.