How do we acquire knowledge?

We tend to think that knowledge is produced by experts through established institutions, progressing over time towards a single truth. But Steve Fuller challenges this view, arguing that our contemporary "post-truth" order correctly recognises that the pursuit of knowledge is a socially dependent process, shaped by the communities that produce it.

Steve Fuller is Professor of Sociology at the University of Warwick, and a founding figure in the field of social epistemology. He has authored dozens of books, including "Post-Truth: Knowledge as a Power Game".

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How can taking on the role of someone else help us to understand ourselves? Does the hermit know himself better than the socialite? And where is the line between our true, authentic selves and the multitude of characters we all play each and every day?

Join actress and Creative Director of Shakespeare's Globe, Michelle Terry, as she draws on her experience as a performer to explore how acting can help us to understand the self.

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Alex Gómez-Marín is a controversial figure in contemporary neuroscience, known for challenging the materialist framework that dominates scientific accounts of consciousness. He argues that Near Death Experiences (NDEs) raise profound questions about the nature of reality and the limits of reductionist explanation. In this interview, Gómez-Marín reflects on the scientific evidence we have for NDEs and what they might mean for answering ultimate questions about the purpose of human existence. 

Àlex Gómez-Marín is a Theoretical physicist and neuroscientist, Associate Professor at the Instituto de Neurociencias of Alicante in Spain, and director of the Pari Center in Italy.

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The self and the world

We tend to think of ourselves as observers of the world and experience as something different from the material stuff that makes up reality. Yet at the same time as human beings, we are at once part of the universe and part of that reality. And this profoundly puzzling relationship, that we are both part of something and yet separate from it, has been at the centre of Western thought. Materialists claim there is only physical material. But if so, thought, experience, and consciousness become illusory. Idealists argue there is only consciousness, but then it is reality that becomes an illusion. While dualists hold that both the self and the world exist, but that the connection between the two is mysterious.  

Is the self part of the world or necessarily outside of it? Was Kant right that the distinction between subject and object is necessary for experience to be possible? Or are these deep metaphysical questions beyond us, and our theories and language incapable of uncovering the ultimate state of things?

Slavoj Žižek is one of the most famous philosophers in the world and is the author of more than 50 books, including most recently at the time of the debate Zero Point. Alenka Zupančič is a leading Lacanian philosopher and social theorist. She is a professor at The European Graduate School and at the University of Nova Gorica. Joining from America, Carlo Rovelli is a leading theoretical physicist, the author of several best-selling books, and a founding figure in the field of quantum gravity. His recent book, Reality Is Not What It Seems, has ethical implications for the nature of the self and personal identity. Jack Symes hosts.

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An individual "is responsible for everything he does," claimed Sartre. And from criminal justice to creative expression, free will and responsibility are central to our culture and our personal lives. Yet neuroscientists and materialist thinkers commonly maintain that freedom is an illusion. And it remains unknown how the core principles of freedom and responsibility can be reconciled with this outlook. Many attempts have been made to argue that the two seemingly contradictory frameworks can be made compatible. But critics say these "compatibilist" arguments are unconvincing and are driven merely by the attempt to make scientific materialism acceptable. Furthermore, whilst surveys suggest most materialist philosophers believe we can reconcile the two, the majority of us reject the idea that an action can be both determined and free.

Paul Bloom is a Canadian-American psychologist, bestselling author, and celebrated speaker. He is Professor Emeritus at Yale and a professor at the University of Toronto. Bloom’s work explores human nature, morality, and pleasure.

Joining us from California is Robert Sapolsky. Sapolsky is a distinguished neuroscientist, primatologist, and author, best known for his research on stress and its impact on behaviour and health. He is also a professor at Stanford University.

Lucy Allais is a philosopher at Johns Hopkins University and the University of the Witwatersrand, renowned for her work on Immanuel Kant. Her writing spans ethics, metaphysics, and political philosophy.

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Are we living in the moment? Are we really free? How can we transcend the constant anxieties of our mind?

Throughout history, certain people in the West and the East have claimed that the human mind could reach states of so-called higher consciousness. In the twentieth century, several thinkers like Heidegger and Nietzsche returned to this possibility, trying to find the higher regions of the mind. Join Oxford philosopher Jessica Frazier as she explores tales of higher states of mind, and debates whether these experiences are scientific, spiritual, or pure esoteric imagination.

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The good, the bad, and the transgressive

Is the transgression of norms and rules what brings history forward and allows for creativity and change? OR is the fetishization of transgression an ever-present danger that breaks down all structures of meaning and becomes totalizing in of itself?

The limits and potentials of transgressiveness have been long debated, especially in rule-breaking Modernity. Listen to this lively conversation between three unlikely and profound thinkers - provocative cultural theorist Catherine Liu, former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, and psychoanalyst Josh Cohen - to hear what role transgression should, and should not, play in our societies.

Hosted by philosopher Barry C. Smith

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What is rationality? Why is it or is it not important? And where does perversity fit in?

Join psychologist Paul Bloom in this interview where he discusses his research on these themes and defends his viewpoints.

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Why is the world moving away from liberalism and towards conservatism?

One of Britain’s most provocative thinkers, John Gray is a political philosopher known for dismantling liberalism and exposing the illusions of human progress. Former Professor of European Thought at the London School of Economics, Gray has challenged orthodoxy across the political spectrum with a body of work that ranges from critiques of Enlightenment rationalism to meditations on the limits of secular humanism.

He is the bestselling author of Straw Dogs, The Silence of Animals, and Seven Types of Atheism as well as a frequent contributor to The Guardian, New Statesman, and The Times Literary Supplement. Gray’s sharp insights and contrarian stance continue to shape contemporary debates on ethics, politics, and the future of humanity.

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The future of European thought

What is analytic philosophy and what is continental philosophy? And, perhaps most importantly, does this distinction make any sense?

The division between these two branches has divided Western philosophy for decades now, with the Anglo-Saxon world largely associated with the analytical school, and the European continent with the, well, continental one.

In this panel, our speakers discuss the future of thought for Western philosophy and Europe. Is the division between these schools obsolete? Are they both under threat? What can we expect?

Join our three philosophy professors, Christoph Schuringa, Genia Schönbaumsfeld, and Babette Babich to discuss these themes. Hosted by Danielle Sands.

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Language shapes how we think, remember, and reason. But does it help us to uncover the fundamental nature of reality? Join the author of Language vs. Reality and linguistic anthropologist, Nick Enfield, as he explores why language excels at persuasion but falters at faithfully representing reality. From media spin to courtroom rhetoric, he reveals how words reframe our world, often without us noticing. Drawing on two decades of research, Enfield shows why understanding the limits and power of language is essential in an age of misinformation and cognitive bias.

Nick Enfield is Professor of Linguistics at the University of Sydney and Director of the Sydney Centre for Language Research.

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